This article is from page 84 of the 2009-09-01 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 84 JPG
AT the beginning of the year, the Kilrush management sat down and put their faith in the up and com- ing talent at the club. A few months later and the first hurdle has been navigated. In reaching the quarter- final stage of the championship, they haven’t even clipped the hurdle and go into the next round without hav- ing the bitter taste of defeat in their mouths. a
It means that Eire Og are out of the championship. The county capital will thus have no representative in the quarter-final of the senior hurling or the senior football championship.
That’s something that needs to be ad- dressed for a number of reasons, but this isn’t the place.
A couple of swings in this game more or less broke down Eire Og’s resolve and resigned them to defeat. The first came with the introduction of Paddy Clancy to midfield for Kil- rush. He put in a storming second half around the centre of the field, covering ground, winning possession and breaking down Eire Og attacks.
If Clancy’s performance helped Kilrush to the points, then so too did the hour logged by Con O’Brien. The wing-back was a constant thorn in the side of the Ennis club. He defended well, raided up the field at every op-
portunity and ended the game with three points to his name.
But that wasn’t all. With a quarter of an hour to go, Kilrush had a one point lead, Peadar McMahon having just scored to keep Kilrush ahead, their first point in 18 minutes.
Right after McMahon’s score, it looked for all the world as though Eire Og were about to put their stamp on the game and take the lead for the first time all afternoon.
David Russell was through on goal, the Kilrush defence having breached for one of the only times in the game. Russell struck and the crowd waited for the net to bulge. That it didn’t was down to a fantastic save from Tony
Burke. It kept Kilrush in the lead and heaped added frustration on Eire Og. From there, it took Eire Og a further 11 minutes to score, by which time Con O’Brien had rattled over his third score of the game.
They were now ahead by three and as clock began to wind down, ste Og pushed on and heaped an amount of pressure on the Kilrush defence. After mounting a number of attacks in search of a goal that could draw the game, they eventually had to set- tle for a point.
It came from the boot of Shane Daniels — their most effective play- er on the day — but it was far from enough.
A poor season ended for Eire Og ended in the grey of Kilmihil but for GUT MU e Med eomcl ube ebeeto) mm orca LUrcimoleraUbOe