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County finals call for big game players and after deservedly earning the man-of-the match in back-to-back county deciders, they don’t come much bigger than Cian Dillon. Still only 22, Cian was one of five Dillon brothers on the panel with elder siblings Cathal and Cronan also playing their part on Sunday in this historic second ever title for the club.

The centre-back was simply immense throughout, so much so that some supporters wondered how he was able to glide through the rainsodden pitch while practically every other player was hampered by the underfoot conditions.

“We are thrilled. Our focus from the start of the year was to get back here and once we got here, we knew we weren’t going to let it go so it shows the character we have in the team from one to 31. There were some serious men out there and we battled right through.

“It was tough out there and wasn’t a day for fancy touches or anything like that but we showed out true character, we supported each other, we encouraged each other and we were just not going to let this go today.”

And the main ingredients of Crusheen’s remarkable turnaround in the last two years?

“Ever since Michael Browne got on board, he changed a lot of things about our play. One was discipline, two was workrate and our forwards worked right into the backs and viceversa and we support each other as much as we could. And it paid off because we are delighted to get the Canon Hamilton back.”

However, his ambitions don’t end there.

“Hopefully now we will have a good shot at Munster now. We have the Cork champions coming up so we will take a few days and then we will get back and start preparing for it. And hopefully we will be able to put up another good show there.”

With Cian in this type of unstoppable form, it will take a very good team to stop them.

Crusheen 0-10 – Sixmilebridge 0-04 at Cusack Park, Ennis

TITLE RETENTION eventually superseded water retention as the menfor-all-seasons Crusheen maintained their history making assault on the senior championship. In a pitch that would in normal circumstances be deemed totally unplayable, it was the defending champions that also proved to be unplayable in a barnstorming second half display that ultimately stamped their superiority on Clare hurling for the second successive year, the first time that such a feat had been completed in 12 years.

To win a championship, a team has to be able to prevail in all conditions and essentially, it was the holder’s superior ability to adapt to the rainsoaked mudbath that greeted the final which saw them grind out the victory.

Aside from Crusheen’s match-win ning flurry of six successive points midway through the half, the contest was far from pretty and for anyone watching the TG4 screening from the comfort of their living room, it must have been more akin to a local rugby match than a showpiece hurling occasion for long periods.

There were endless rucks and throw-ins as the ball repeatedly plugged in the mud but to their great credit, Crusheen were able to raise their game sufficiently and shut the door with a superb defensive display while unlocking it at the other end with a far more efficient strike rate.

All seven defenders and occasional sweeper Paddy Vaughan must take huge kudos in nullifying Sixmilebridge’s threat but it must be said that brothers Cian and Cathal Dillon were immense throughout, as was Gearoid O’Donnell in the forward division.

Last year’s experience certainly stood to the Blood and Bandages as they literally soaked up the Sixmilebridge pressure and hit on the counter-attack at every opportunity. And after a tentative first half, it seemed as if Crusheen had an extra man or two in the second period as they won the physical battle and always appeared to have a spare player at the breakdown to clear their lines.

It was not understating it either to say that this was simply a season defining masterclass from the champions, considering the unprecedentedly dire weather conditions. No one could have grumbled had referee Rory Hickey called a halt to proceedings at any stage of the contest. After all, it’s a miracle that no one was seriously injured in the treacherous underfoot conditions.

Sixmilebridge certainly wouldn’t have complained in the second half but they may look back with a tinge of regret that they failed to take a host of scoring opportunities. Five first half wides saw their second quarter superiority fall on stoney ground as a more efficient Crusheen took all of their opportunities to lead by the minimum at half-time.

And with Sixmilebridge’s young charges being stuck in the mud for long periods, the onus fell on Niall Gilligan and Tony Carmody to inspire, with captain Gilligan perhaps attempting to take on too much in an attempt to find a lifeline. He chose to put a first half penalty over the bar while immediately after halftime, the ‘Bridge legend bore down on goal but hit his shot into the mud instead of aiming for the top corner of the net.

Those misses allied to Crusheen’s second half dominance conspired to turn the tie decisively in the champions favour and once they opened up midway through the half, the writing was on the wall for the Bridge.

Crusheen were also quick to settle into the contest in the opening half when a brace of Jamie Fitzgibbon points as well as a Paddy Vaughan free saw them hold a 0-3 to 0-1 lead by the end of the first quarter. The ‘Bridge’s point came from a Gilligan 20 metre free that could have easily resulted in a goal for Caimin Morey who fielded a Carmody delivery before being pulled down by John Brigdale.

The second quarter was the ‘Bridge’s but while they pulled level through Danny Morey and that Gilligan penalty that he earned himself, they still found themselves trailing at the break after a defensive error was punished by Gearoid O’Donnell.

The ‘Bridge might have made up for that first half profligacy on the restart when Tadgh Keogh expertly picked out fellow 2002 title winner Gilligan to gather and head for goal but he struck his effort into the muddy goalmouth which took the sting out of the shot for goalkeeper Donal Tuohy.

Crusheen wiped their brows and hit back to decisive effect as they shut up shop at the back, thanks in the main to the unstoppable Cian Dillon while also beginning to find holes in the Sixmilebridge rearguard.

Four points from Gearoid O’Donnell (2), Paddy Meaney and Fergus Kennedy in an amazing two minute blitzkrieg around the turn of the final quarter left their opponents shellshocked. And while Gilligan and Co. tried their upmost to find a way back into the contest, they were left continually frustrated by Crusheen’s miserly rearguard that threatened to match Kilmurry Ibrickane’s remarkable feat of keeping their opponents scoreless for an entire half in a county decider.

Points from Paddy Meaney and Vaughan at the other end more or less put a tin hat on the result but Gilligan did manage to end Sixmilebridge’s 35 minute scoring washout on the hour mark with a consolation point.

Considering the atrocious inclement conditions, nobody will hark on the fact that Sixmilebridge’s final total was the lowest in 52 years as this was entirely Crusheen’s day. A day in which they carved out their own piece of history with a exhibition of hurling expertise, and successfully mastered not only their opponents but the weather Gods as well.

Crusheen
Donal Tuohy (7), John Brigdale (7), Cronan Dillon (7),Alan Brigdale (7), Ciaran O’Doherty (7), Cian Dillon (9), Cathal Dillon (8), PatrickVaughan (7) (0-2f), Joe Meaney (7), Gearoid O’Donnell (8) (0-3), Jamie Fitzgibbon (7) (0-2), David Forde (7), Paddy Meaney (7) (0-2), Gerry O’Grady (7), Fergus Kennedy (7) (0-1)

Sixmilebridge
Derek Fahy (7),Tadgh Keogh (7),Aidan Quilligan (7), Seadna Morey (7), John Fennessy (7), Paidí Fitzpatrick (7), Robert Conlon (7), Shane Golden (7),Tony Carmody (8), Jamie Shanahan (6), Rory Shanahan (6), Declan Morey (6), Danny Morey (7) (0-1), Niall Gilligan (7) (0-3 1f, 1 Pen) Caimin Morey (7)

Subs
Trevor Purcell (6) for Conlon (46 mins), Brian Culbert (6) for Declan Morey (46 mins). David O’Connor for Carmody (55 mins)

Referee
Rory Hickey (Éire Óg)

MAYBE we should have known that Crusheen’s name was written on the Canon Hamilton in 2011.

You see, the last man to captain back-to-back county final winning teams was St Joseph’s Doora-Barefield’s Lorcan Hassett in 1998/’99, while the second of those titles came at the expense of Sixmilebridge.

So with 2010 winning captain Gerry O’Grady filling the same role in ’11 and with the ‘Bridge as opposition, the rune stones around Inchicronan might well have told us that Clare hurling’s greatest prize was heading north to the Village of the Little Cross once more with O’Grady emulating Hassett.

There’s more. The same stones might have been a superstitious lot, pointing to that third time lucky factor when it comes to teams defending their title – where Clonlara and Cratloe had failed in ’09 and ’10 respectively, Crusheen would go on to succeed.

And there’s more again. Consider that the 25-year team honoured on county final day – the flying Magpies of ’86 were captained by Anthony Scanlon, a man who also led them to back-to-back triumphs the following year.

All of the above points to the fact that this was meant to be.

Regardless of piseoga, rune stones and all that, one thing is certain: when Gerry O’Grady finally left Cusack Park’s Ard Comhairle for a pitchside reunion with his teammates with Canon Hamilton in hand, it was all still a bit of a blur.

“It hasn’t sunk in really,” he said on the achievement of lifting the Canon on successive years. “We came here to today just to battle it out and do everything to get over the line. Thankfully that’s the way it worked out. The conditions were so bad out there it was about battling, fighting it out and keeping the workrate up.”

They did more than that, of course, restricting the ‘Bridge to two points from play and only four points, while running up what must of felt like a veritable cricket score of 0-10, such were the conditions of the day.

Where did it come from?

“It was the most important game we’ve played in our lives,” said O’Grady in response. “We lost in 2007 to Tulla and this was our third final. If we had gone away from three finals and only won one of them, it would have been a bad return.

“That was really driving us on here today. We wanted that second title. When you get to a final you have to take your opportunity. The backs were very good and in the second half we took the chances we got up front. We opened them up and when we were able to stretch our lead we were able to hold out after that.”

The quietly spoken captain was be ing kind to ‘Bridge. This was a rout.

Newmarket-on-Fergus 1-16 – Clarecastle 2-06 at Clareabbey

NEIGHBOURS Newmarket and Clarecastle have had some memorable county final clashes in the last 50 years and while this wasn’t one of them, the Blues deservedly maintained their final hold over the Magpies.

This was the 14th county final derby meeting between the pair in that period, with Newmarket proving to be the Magpies bogey side on 12 occasions and while it wasn’t the county final that both sides would have aspired to at the beginning of the year, it still attracted a sizeable crowd.

Newmarket were full value for their latest title after sowing the seeds of victory in a clinical opening half display that saw them score the first six points of the game by the 30th minute. As ever, central to that scoring feat was county senior Colin Ryan who gave an exhibition of placed balls over the hour in an unerring mix of frees, ‘65’s and a late lineball.

Indeed, while his team-mates opted to try and kill off their opponents early with goals that was met with defiance from goalkeeper Donnagh Murphy and some dogged defending from the Magpies’s last line, Ryan’s experience in tacking on points saw him pick up the first five scores of the game, four of those from placed balls.

Jonathan Clancy had Clarecastle’s best chance of a goal but after being put under pressure, his effort hit the side netting. David Barrett put the Blues six clear in the 30th minute but the Magpies did spare themselves from an opening half whitewash two minutes into injury-time when Eamon Callinan converted a free from 35 metres.

Newmarket came storming out of the blocks once more on the restart, with county seniors Colin Ryan (2) and an inspirational long-range James McInerney point from 65 metres extending their advantage to eight by the 34th minute.

The game seemed to be drifting away from Clarecastle but they received a major shot in the arm with two quick-fire goals in as many minutes to make a contest of it once more. The first stemmed from a Darragh Moloney delivery that was broke by Derek Quinn to the unmarked Danny Scanlon who had the simple task of hitting to an empty net. And only two minutes later, a slice of fortune got the Magpies to within two points of their opponents when a Derek Quinn shot for a point rebounded off the upright into the path of Darragh Moloney to pull past goalkeeper Kieran Devitt.

The intensity was lifted once more and the Blues almost replied in kind but David Barrett hit his goalbound effort into the ground, although Colin Ryan did point the rebound.

With the bit between their teeth however, Clarecastle hit back once more, this time a superb solo effort from captain Tyrone Kearse who gathered possession on his own ’65 before soloing to halfway and arrowing over the bar.

Game on it appeared but Newmarket ruthlessly shut the door on their neighbours around the turn of the final quarter when an Anthony Kilmartin goal was sandwiched by Colin Ryan frees to restore a seven point lead.

Clarecastle kept plugging away with Eamon Callinan picking off three frees to cut the deficit to five with seven minutes remaining. However, the Blues finished the job when Ryan expertly cut a sideline over the bar followed by two successive Anthony Kilmartin points to complete their A, B and C hat-trick of adult titles.

Although the Canon Hamilton still eludes them, Newmarket are certainly moving in the right direction as their adult teams won championships this year in Junior A, Senior B and Junior C. And with a Clare Cup semifinal against Kilmaley this weekend, the push to make next year’s Senior A county final is already gathering momentum.