This article is from page 117 of the 2009-03-03 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 117 JPG
THE Kilmurry Ibrickane train is moving again.
Many of their marquee names might still be in winter/spring hiber- nation or even devoting themselves ot other codes, but their strength in depth is such that they could have to be missing a raft of players and still win this season opener with some- thing to spare.
Kilmurry won by nine in the end, but it did flatter them somewhat. Co- orclare’s first half profligacy when they failed to build on Joe Considine’s midfield dominance and a storming finish from the champions when they outscored their opponents by 2-2 to Q-1 in the final 15 minutes put such a lop-sided look to the scorecard.
Aided by a cracking Thomas O’Connor goal on the stroke of half- time, Kilmurry enjoyed a 1-5 to 0-2 interval lead.
Others on the mark in the half for Kilmurry were Enda Coughlan, Michael Hogan, Johnny Daly and Stephen Moloney (2).
The six point deficit should have broken Cooraclare’s resolve, as they dominated large tracts of the half, only to spurn a host of scoring op- portunties. Cathall Lillis was left to rue a number of missed from some very scoreable frees.
It left the Aidan Moloney managed Cooraclare with a mountain to climb but they stuck to their task admirably in the opening quarter of the half.
A Padraig Looney goal dragged
them back into contention and left matters delicately poised going into WeComNOT-UmOLUT-Na tose
Kilmurry led by 1-7 to 1-5 and the force seemed to be with a resurgent Coorclare side – no doubt they were still smarting from hammering that a shadow Kilmurry team handed them
out in a challenge game the previous week.
However, when the hour was at its greatest, Kilmurry’s pedigree shone through in the final 15 minutes as their forwards upped their game con- siderably and closed out the contest with the clinical efficiency of cham-
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In this regard, Michael Hogan was the man apart over the hour. He only bagged QO-2 in comparison to the |- 2 hauls of both his full-forward line colleagues, Johnny Daly and Noel Downes, but his overall industry and workrate made him the real engine
OM ONE LEOentce
A brilliant strike for a goal by Noel Downes with ten minutes remaining was the defining score of the game, while Johnny Daly applied the gloss in the final moments when convert- ing a penalty at the second attempt.
Kilmurry had started where they left off in Clare in 2008 – on a win- ning note.
They seem determined to defend that unbeaten run through Clare.