Offaly 2-13 Tipperary 0-12: THE CLASS of Niall McNamee shone like a beacon at a sparsely attended O'Moore Park yesterday as Offaly emerged victorious from yesterday's disappointing Division Four final. McNamee finished with a tally of seven points, all bar one from play, while having a major hand in both his side's goals.
Offaly manager Pat Roe was pleased with the win and his talisman's contribution but warned he would be a marked man in the championship, where Offaly await the winners of the game between Westmeath and Longford.
"Getting out of Division Four was the priority but once we got to the final we wanted to win and I think we had the job done by half-time," said Roe. "We have to realise every team we play will see Niall as our main threat and double-team him so we've got to get support players around him.
"Thomas (Deehan) was good as well today so we have two good inside men, but we have to get players close to them."
With Tipperary pulling 12 or 13 players back into their own half, they offered little threat up front. One would have expected the absence of Barry Grogan to be keenly felt and though Brian Coen played his part with 10 points - eight from frees - he ploughed a lone furrow up front.
The Fethard man opened the scoring from a free but though it took Offaly nine minutes to get on the scoresheet, Ciarán McManus's goal gave them a lead they never looked likely to cede. McNamee's intelligent ball placed John Reynolds, who in turn fed McManus to finish from close range.
Tipperary goalkeeper Paul Fitzgerald was forced into a spectacular save from McNamee almost immediately afterwards and Coen brought the margin to the minimum from another free.
That was as close as John Evans's men got as McNamee converted a free and then added four points from play.
With David Egan, Thomas Deehan and McManus (free) also on the mark, Offaly were six clear at the interval, 1-8 to 0-5.
Tipperary had that margin down to four by the three-quarter mark thanks to four points from Coen, the highlight a spectacular 51st-minute effort from play launched from the right touchline.
Offaly responded with scores from Deehan and McNamee and a lovely effort by substitute James Coughlan but with Coen showing customary efficiency from frees and Paul Johnson fisting over, it was back to four with time running out.
McNamee did get the support Roe was calling for in the 70th minute and Niall Smith took his pass before cracking a shot that rebounded off the stanchion in the back of the net. The umpires stayed motionless but referee Con Reynolds awarded a goal.
OFFALY: P Kelly; G Rafferty, S Sullivan, S Brady; B Darby, P McConway, N Grennan; C McManus (1-1, point free), A McNamee; D Egan (0-1), N Smith (1-0), P Kellaghan; T Deehan (0-3), J Reynolds, N McNamee (0-7, one free). Subs: J Coughlan (0-1) for Reynolds (55 mins), S Ryan for Kellaghan (59 mins), G Comerford for Egan (66 mins).
TIPPERARY: P Fitzgerald; A Foley, M Peters, C McDonald; P Codd, R Costigan, C Maher; K Mulryan, G Hannigan; P Austin, E Kearney, L Coskeran; D O'Brien, S Grogan (0-1), B Coen (0-10, eight frees). Subs: P Johnson (0-1) for Maher (26 mins), E Hanrahan for Hannigan, B Jones for Kearney (both half-time), S Stapleton for Austin (53 mins), H Coghlan for Codd (60 mins).
Referee: C Reynolds (Down).
