Little to choose between two fine teams

Has Éire Óg’s moment finally arrived, or will Tulsk follow in the footsteps of St. Dominic’s, Castlerea St. Kevin’s and Strokestown to ensure that the West Roscommon club’s wilderness from the limelight continues?

Éire Óg’s consistency at intermediate level since 2022 has been incredible. They’ve only lost five championship games during that time but, crucially, three of those losses have been in finals.

On the other hand, Tulsk are a grizzled, experienced outfit, sprinkled with a little bit of X-Factor. In other words, they’re well-positioned to prolong Éire Óg’s agony.

Since claiming the Jamesie Murray Cup in 2019, following their dramatic penalty shootout win against Oran, they’ve spent four seasons at senior level before returning to the intermediate ranks in 2024.

They were favoured for an immediate return to top-flight football last year but an O’Gara Cup final victory against Sunday’s opponents was followed by a shock exit to Fuerty at the quarter-final stages of the championship when they simply failed to perform.

Crucially, they’ve more than held their own in the O’Rourke Cup this season, while Éire Óg were relegated. How that feeds into Sunday’s final in the Hyde, which has a 2.30 p.m. throw-in, is anyone’s guess, as both managers have stressed the importance of playing O’Rourke Cup football this season in the lead-in to Sunday’s final.

As with all Éire Óg’s finals of recent vintage, realistically, Brendan Greene’s side’s prospects will rest on the shoulders of one player.

It’s no coincidence that Conor Cox’s transfer from Listowel Emmets has been a game-changer. Once again, this season, he has been shooting the lights out with 0-46 over five games, including 11 two-pointers.

Last year, ahead of the final against Strokestown, 18 orange flags helped him to 0-53. A paltry return of 0-2 in the opening round defeat against Fuerty at the beginning of August put him on the back foot in terms of emulating last year’s tally but it’s hard to disguise the reality that Éire Óg won’t win if Tulsk manage to keep the shackles on him.

For Tulsk to do that, it will mean not conceding silly frees within 60 metres of goal, alongside a firm policing job when the Éire Óg full-forward drifts out to the middle third to try and dictate the play.

Even if the operation is a success, Cox is still likely to kick seven or eight points, so it’s up to players like Jason Doory, Brian Greene and Ronan Cahill to have the game of their lives.

It’s also worth noting that in the four games that Éire Óg and Tulsk have met each other in the last two seasons, Cox hasn’t featured in any of them. The result is 4-0 to Tulsk.

It’s safe to assume that Éire Óg’s midfield and defence will be solid, and if Enda Crawley can come anywhere near the heights he scaled in last year’s final against Strokestown, the West Roscommon side will have erected a potentially match-winning platform further back to the field.

In essence, it will come down to how the Éire Óg forwards fare against the Tulsk defence.

Given that Tulsk are a well-balanced side with strength-in-depth in all areas of the field, they have the capacity to stifle Éire Óg’s main threats.

An impressive half-back line of Padraig Scott, Evan Flynn and Dylan Gaughan will be utilised as their launchpad for success.

Ryan Larkin and Tadhg O’Rourke have been one of the most consistent midfield pairings in the championship, while Thomas O’Rourke, Callum Fahey and Danien Connolly are capable of lighting up any final.

Both goalkeepers can have a say too, with the long-range kicking of Colm Lavin and Seán Martin representing another important string to both teams’ respective bows.

Both teams flattered to deceive in their opening round games, with Tulsk losing out to St. Dominic’s and Éire Óg suffering a rare group game defeat against Fuerty.

Since then, Tulsk have played in fits and starts. They looked well on their way to victory against 14-man St. Dominic’s in the semi-final until the introduction of Cian Duggan literally moved the goalposts.

In Tulsk’s defence, some of the two-pointers that Duggan kicked were out of this world, leaving maroon and white defenders scratching their heads afterwards wondering what they had done wrong.

On the other side of the draw, Éire Óg have beaten teams they would expect to get the better of since that humbling experience against Fuerty, but it’s the arrival of former Roscommon players Niall Daly and John Rogers as part of the management ticket that has raised more eyebrows than any results on the field.

In other words, Éire Óg are throwing the kitchen sink at trying to end the club’s 33-year wait for adult silverware. The brief that has been handed to Daly and Rogers is simple — to ensure that this team can extract the maximum performance from their soul to finally get over the line.

In the end, it might be the single biggest factor in tipping the scales in Éire Óg’s favour.

Verdict: Éire Óg