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Éire Óg 2-06 – Kilmihil 0-10 at Labasheeda

2006 CHAMPIONS Éire Óg preserved their senior football status for 2012 with a hard fought two point win over Kilmihil on Saturday evening. Played in blustery condi- tions, Éíre Óg played with the elements in the opening half and duly dominated for large periods only for poor finishing including seven wides to see them only a point ahead after ten minutes. However, this game would be ul- timately decided by two defensive mistakes by the Kilmihil defence in the 11th and 13th minutes. Firstly a lineball for the west Clare side on their own 13 metre line was intercepted by corner-forward Eoin Glynn to convert to the net. Then just two minutes later, a free kick from the full-back line was again intercepted by Glynn and after a one-two with Sean O’Meara, he cooly slotted the ball past the advancing goalkeeper. The goals made up for the amount of poor wides as both sides exchanged a flurry of late points to leave the Townies seven clear by the break at 2-4 to 0-3 but would it be enough? Kilmihil resumed full of determination and straight from the whistle, they went on the attack but must have caught Éire Óg’s poor finishing bug as they kicked six wides early in the half. Gradually their forwards began to find their range and as they ate into their opponent’s lead, it became clear that this game was going to go right down to the wire. Kilmihil came in droves and with every passing score, they began to believe as they laid siege to the Éire Óg goal. But the goal that they craved never came, with a Martin O’Leary shot that was parried by goalkeeper Eoin Slattery their best chance and they will now play St Joseph’s Miltown in a final chance at consolidating their senior status.

Éire Óg
Eoin Slattery, Michael O’Regan, Donie Lyne, Saran Butler, Conor Healy,Alan Malone, Dean Ryan, Shane Daniels (0-3f), Brian Frawley, Sean O’Meara (0-1), David Russell, David Monaghan, (0-1f), Eoin Glynn (2-0), Sean Crotty (0-1), Brian McMahon

Subs
Darren O’Neill for Frawley, Darren O’Meara for Monaghan, David Ryan for S. O’Meara

Kilmihil

MEATH’s, Tim McNulty (Subaru WRC) and his Sligo co-driver, Paul Kiely clinched the Dunlop National Rally Championship with a fine victory in the Ennis based Auburn Lodge Clare Rally.

It was their sixth victory in as many Dunlop outings, on this occasion, they finished 53 seconds in front on the Subaru of Niall Maguire/Barry Goodman (Subaru WRC) with Kevin Barrett/Sean Mullally (Subaru WRC) a distant third.

Sam Moffett/James O’Reilly (Mitsubishi) won the Group N category and the top Modified crew was that of Wesley Patterson/Martin McGarrity (Ford Escort).

The Dunlop “Drive of the Day” award was won by Mike Quinn/ Grainne McEnery (Ford Escort).

Meanwhile, in the Dunlop Junior Rally Championship, Monaghan’s, Johnno and Padraig Doogan (Ford Escort) finished second and took top points to move into the lead of the series with just one round remaining, remarkably, all three of their championship rivals failed to finish.

On the opening stage near Ruan village, McNulty took a 12 second lead over Niall Maguire, who had no intercom for the last four kilometres as a connection became undone. Kerry’s, Mike Quinn (Escort) with local Clare co-driver, Grainne McEnery slotted into third – five seconds further behind. Kevin Barrett, McNul- ty’s Dunlop Championship rival, was fourth in a top six that also featured the Escort of Wesley Patterson and local hero, Anthony O’Halloran, reunited with his Opel Manta after a lapse of some four years.

On S.S. 2, McNulty moved 27 seconds ahead of Maguire, who was just a second ahead of Barrett. Maguire punched in the best time on the third test.

McNulty arrived at the Gort Road Industrial Estate service halt with a 24 seconds advantage over Maguire. The Dunlop Championship leader was quite relaxed. I’m taking it steady, it is very slippery and greasy out there. We are making some minor suspension adjustments and switching to a cut slick tyre as opposed to the intermediate tyres we had for this first loop.”

Maguire was also quite composed while Barrett, who was 12 seconds behind Maguire, admitted he lost some 15 seconds with an overshoot on the third stage.

One of the drives of the rally was that of Monaghan’s, Josh Moffett, the 19 year old held fourth overall and led the Group N category; he was 14 seconds ahead of his 21 year old brother, Sam, who was seventh in general classification. Sandwiched between them were the Escort duo of Mike Quinn and Wesley Patterson, the latter lost time on the opening test when he caught the spray from Shane Maguire’s Subaru. On the third stage, he also overshot one of the junctions. Meanwhile, Quinn, who occupied fifth overall remarked that the newly fitted Proflex suspension was of great benefit.

Sam Moffett (Mitsubishi) in seventh also had new suspension but was taking time to get accustomed to the handling of the car. Limerick’s, Ed O’Callaghan (Escort), despite an off road excursion after a series of jumps, was eighth; O’Halloran was ninth and Washington James in a Darrian completed the top ten.

A straying horse caused problems on the fourth stage with McNulty being the worse affected by the equine species. He lost time and the lead with Maguire, who also encountered the horse, moving into a seven second lead while Barrett was a further 28 seconds behind. Mike Quinn displaced Josh Moffett in the race for fourth.

McNulty regained top spot with a fine performance on S.S. 5 to move eight seconds ahead of Maguire with Barrett slipping 43 seconds behind Maguire.

At the final service halt, McNulty, who was fastest on S.S. 6, led Maguire by 25 seconds, the latter remarked that he had no brakes for the closing section of the sixth stage. A broken seal was replaced at service although the replacement seal was not the exact fit.

Barrett in third, was a further 35 seconds behind but needed to finish second to keep his Dunlop Championship hopes alive. Following the demise of Josh Moffett, who slid his Mitsubishi off the road following a series of jumps, Wesley Patterson (Escort) moved into fourth. Adjustments to the suspension system transformed Sam Moffett’s Mitsubishi, he occupied fifth and also led Group N. Mike Quinn’s Escort broke the fan belt, having lost the oil coolant, he was hoping that no damage was caused to the engine. Frank Kelly (Escort) set some very strong times to move into seventh overall. The top ten was completed by O’Halloran, Declan Gallagher (Toyota Starlet) and Shane Maguire (Subaru). Washington James retired his Darrian after an off road excursion.

McNulty was quickest on all three stages of the final loop and won by a margin of 53 seconds, it was his sixth win in six Dunlop outings and was enough to clinch the Vard Memorial Trophy. At the finish, he remarked, “I couldn’t have asked for better, the horse was the only moment of concern. We have worked hard at this championship, people also worked hard in the background, we have a great team. Aside from your rivals, you have to cope with the weather, indeed, there are so many things that can go against you, nobody knows that better than myself. I’m delighted.

Maguire took second and Barrett, requiring a second place finish to keep his Dunlop hopes alive, had to be content with third.

The Clare Motor Club “Noel Mc- Cullagh Award” for the fastest clare crew on the day went to Anthony O’Halloran and Charlie McEnery driving their Opel Manta. They also finished third in Class 14.

Club members George Whelan / Noel McMahon won the “Dermot Molloy Award” in their 1.6 Honda Civic. While Ruan’s Martin Casey / Sean Hegarty won the Junior Section in their Honda Civic. Ennis Navigator Grainne McEnery along with Kerry driver Mike Quinn finished second in Class 14 and won the “Dunlop drive of the day” award in their Ford Escort 1.T. McNulty/P. Kiely (SubaruWRC) 1h. 11m. 38s. 2. N. Maguire/B. Goodman (SubaruWRC) 1h. 12m. 31s. 3. K. Barrett/S. Mullally (SubaruWRC) 1h. 14m. 05s.. 4.W. Patterson/M. McGarrity (Ford Escort) 1h. 14m. 27s. 5. M. Quinn/G. McEnery (Ford Escort) 1h. 14m. 47s. 6. S. Moffett/J. O’Reilly (Mitsubishi) 1h. 14m. 58s. 7. F. Kelly/L. Brennan (Escort) 1h. 15m. 15s. 8.A. O’Halloran (Opel Manta) 1h. 16m. 00s. 9. D. Gallagher/R. Moore (Toyota starlet) 1h. 16m. 03s. 10. S. Maguire/C. Foley (Subaru) 1h. 16m. 49s. Dunlop National Rally Championship (Provisional Positions after Round 8): 1.T. McNulty 120pts (Dunlop Champion); 2. S. Moffett 96pts; 3. K. Barrett 92pts; 4. R. Barrable 72pts; 5. N. Maguire 67pts.

Cratloe 2-07 – Lissycasey 0-06 at Cusack Park, Ennis

THERE must be something about the scoreboard goal and Padraigh Chaplin – maybe he likes the look of the posts, maybe it’s the wet day, because whatever the day he seems to be the man to spring from the bench and work some magic.

He famously did it in the county hurling final two years ago with his last gasp goal that pucked them into history – ditto here with two exquisite points within three minutes of entering the fray to finally put Colm Collins’ charges on the high road into their first county semi-final in 124 years.

Chaplin’s brace within 40 seconds of one another in the 48th minute put Cratloe six clear for the first time and put paid to any slender hopes that Lissycasey might have entertained about mounting a comeback.

They were against the wind and against a vastly superior footballing side, albeit that the slippery conditions didn’t suit Cratloe’s passing game in what turned out to be a pedestrian and error-ridden encounter from start to finish.

The fact that it took Lissycasey 20 minutes to register a score in the first half and the same again in the second tells its own story – they were outclassed by a Cratloe side that could afford to stroll through this game for a victory that was every bit as comprehensive as the seven-point winning margin suggests.

In truth, it could have been over at half-time, but Cratloe’s failure to translate possession into scores ensured that Lissycasey’s late rally when they hit three points without reply before the break gave them some semblance of hope.

Cratloe weren’t duly bothered by being only 1-2 to 0-3 up at the interval – after all they were playing against the gale and at times toyed with a Lissycasey team sadly lacking the urgency and momentum they showed against Ennistymon last time out.

Cratloe should have been 2-2 to no score up inside the 15th minute. They made a fast start with 1-1 inside seven minutes – Cathal McInerney landed a free in the fourth minute, while three minutes later a brilliant move that involved Martin ‘Ogie’ Murphy and Conor McGrath was finished to the net by Sean Collins when he rifled past Joe Hayes from 14 yards.

Cathal McInerney tacked on another free in the 13th minute, but the turning point of the half came when Cratloe carved through the Lissycasey defence with McGrath making in the final pass to Liam Markham but in electing to fly-kick the ball past the advancing Joe Hayes his effort just drifted wide.

It would have been game over, but from there Lissycasey gave themselves hope for the second half with points from play by Paul Nagle and Francis Hayes in the 20th and 23rd minutes, while they also had the last say in the half with a Niall Kelly free in the 33rd minute.

Alas, they didn’t have much of a say after half-time as an early point from Conor McGrath re-asserted Cratloe’s superiority, while Chaplin’s introduction was the spark for them to kill the game with by moving 1-6 to 0-3 with still 12 minutes left.

Pride alone meant that Lissycasey kept plugging away and points from frees by Niall Kelly and Óisín Talty by the 54th minute reduced the gap back to four, but within seconds of Talty’s 35-yard effort Cratloe had waltzed down the field, with Conor McGrath teeing up Cathal McInerney for the perfect riposte.

McInerney coolly rounded Joe Hayes and slammed to the net to put Cratloe’s golden generation into the bigtime of a county semi-final.

A TALE of two dressing rooms.

Kilkee bounding into theirs as if they’d won a county final; Wolfe Tones wearily as if they’d won one, yet lost it.

Blues celebrating; Tones downcast, even if both lived to die another day.

“It’s spirit,” said full-back Darragh Kelly of the Blues’ remarkable comeback. “Never say die. We don’t have too many more years left on the road with this team. This is a chance for us again this year,” he added.

“Maybe we should have won it,” offered Tones manager Brendan Reidy, “but we’re still in the county quarterfinal and we’re back on the training field Monday night and we will be all guns blazing for next weekend. We are far from out of this, far from it”.

Both had just drawn breath after a remarkable finale that saw Kilkee dig deep to secure a draw, or the Tones meltdown. Your perspective depended on your dressing room.

“When we were four points down, a man down with ten minutes to go and playing against the wind, it was tough going,” admitted Kelly. “We were delighted to get out with a draw. Afterwards it felt like we won the game, but still we have to go out and win it the next day. That’s the challenge for us now.

“We looked a bit rusty. We haven’t played that many games. It’s been a stop start season. It’s hard to get any momentum, but you have to credit Wolfe Tones too. They played a very defensive game and made it very hard for us.

“We just couldn’t break them down, but thankfully we came through in the end to get the draw. We had no choice but to push on and try to retrieve it. It was there for Wolfe Tones to take it on, but they played into our hands and sat back – if they had pressed on and hit another point or two, we were gone,” he added.

“Our handling let us down a bit,” admitted Reidy. “It was very hard conditions out there and Kilkee are an experienced team. We dropped back near the end and we had no one in the half-forward line. We were four up and we seemed to lose our way. They kept plugging away.”

St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield 0-07 – Doonbeg 0-06 at Lissycasey

FROM THE rags of losing their opening two games to the riches of reaching a first ever senior semi-final under the St Joseph’s banner, the Cinderella boys of Doora/Barefield have certainly become the fairytale story of the senior championship to date. And fairytales don’t come much bigger than stripping the defending champions of their crown that was earned through sheer persistence and determination as they stormed back from a 0-6 to 0-2 deficit by the 40th minute to snatch an injury-time winner.

The undoubted hero of the hour was substitute Colm Mullen who received a pass in space from Paul Dullaghan before kicking over the winner from 35 metres but in truth, they were all heroes. The hard graft of a dogged first half sowed the seeds of victory but when the holders pushed four clear by the 40th minute, it seemed as if they would close out the game.

St Joseph’s showed their true character after that though and after a second Declan O’Keeffe ’45 and a brace of Cathal O’Sullivan points, momentum was in their favour for the decisive impact from their substitutes.

In hindsight, the holders will rue their short handpassing game in the first half when they had the wind at their backs. With a starved full-forward line of Shane Ryan, David Tubridy and Kevin Nugent, they failed to supply them with any meaningful possession and as a result, only held a two point half-time advantage. In addition, the normally unerring David Tubridy will look back on missed frees late in the game when the Magpies craved a score to stop the rot.

It wasn’t to be however as a relentless Doora/Barefield side refused to lie down, traits that also worked to their advantage in a evenly-matched first half. Despite the strong breeze, Doonbeg took 13 minutes to open the scoring through Shane Ryan. Prior to that though, there were goal chances aplenty for both sides.

The game had barely begun when a teasing Greg Lyons pass inside was anticipated by David O’Brien who got to the ball ahead of goalkeeper Nigel Dillon, only to shoot wide. Down the other end, a slick passing move from Doonbeg ended with Shane Ryan but his shot was excellently parried by the legs of goalkeeper Declan O’Keeffe. The Kerry native was soon in action again when failing to hold a long range Conor Whelan effort, Shane Killeen duly gathered the ball only to be dispossessed by a Greg Lyons tackle that the Doonbeg forward felt was illegal.

However, once Shane Ryan kicked the opening score, Doonbeg appeared to have finally settled and added two more in the next six minutes, a 50 metre effort from Colm Dillon as well as one for Kevin Nugent.

St Joseph’s had the chance to cancel out that advantage in the 22nd minute when Enda Lyons weaved his way through the Doonbeg defence but this time, a sharper Nigel Dillon excellently repelled his stinging effort. His oppositie number O’Keeffe converted the resulting ’45 for Doora/ Barefield’s opening score but it was soon nullified when Conor Downes replied two minutes later.

Tensions were heightened approaching the break as the game threatened to boil over but instead, a late Aidan O’Connor free cut the deficit to two at the break at 0-4 to 0-2.

Now playing into the conditions, the Magpies upped the ante and after points from Tubridy and Downes, looked to be in the driving seat for their fourth successive semi-final.

St Joseph’s had other ideas however and after substitute Colm Mullen earned a ’45 for O’Keeffe to convert once more in the 44th minute, two Cathal O’Sullivan points in the space of a minute got them to within a point of the Magpies. Tubridy missed two frees that gave St Joseph’s the impetus to push on for the equaliser with Kevin Dilleen’s growing influence on the game significant in the turnaround.

First he offloaded to substitute Christy O’Brien to point and gain parity with his first touch of the game in the 59th minute and the former county senior also began the move for Mullen’s winner when feeding Dullaghan who in turn picked out the substitute to fire over from the right wing in the 61st.

What their fairy godmother has in store for the remainder of the championship is anyone’s guess but now in bonus land, the sky is the limit for a momentum-filled Doora/Barefield.

Kilmurry Ibrickane 0-07 – Cooraclare 1-03 at St Michael ’s Park, Kilmihil

THEY’LL tell you in Oliver Plunkett’s on the Navan Road that at the start of the season they had their man – it was just a matter of processing a transfer form and the missing piece in a jigsaw that included the Brogan Bros, Jason Sherlock, Anthony Moyles and more to finally land them the senior championship was in place.

The man was that giant of a footballer Martin McMahon – that it didn’t come to pass is the reason why Kilmurry Ibrickane’s hopes of landing a third championship in four years are still in place.

With two minutes left on the clock and Kilmurry having gone 17 minutes without a score and kicking seven bad wides in the process, it was McMahon who showed the lead- ership to fire the ‘Bricks into their fourth successive semi-final.

It was the defining moment of a hugely competitive hour, even if Cooraclare were given two chances to bring this standout game of the quarter-final stage to another installment only for John Looney’s accuracy from frees to let him down as two long range efforts drifted wide in injury time.

Time for Kilmurry to breathe sighs aplenty of relief – and it was no wonder as they very nearly committed hiri kiri in a game they should have been able to close out comfortably in the second half when backed by the gale that was blowing towards the scoreboard end of St Michael’s Park.

That it was as dour a struggle as this team has ever faced was down to their own profligacy in the second half, a malaise that also affected their play in the first half when they played confidently into the breeze only to come up lamentably short when it came to converting their chances.

Kilmurry led by 0-3 to 0-1 after 15 minutes and were motoring well. Rory Donnelly had opened the scoring for Cooraclare with a ninth minute point but frees by Ian McInerney and Johnnie Daly had Kilmurry ahead by the 14th minute before Stephen Moloney swept over another a minute later after taking a clever pop pass from Daly.

John Looney pegged one back in 21st minute to close the first half scoring as Kilmurry were left to bemoan two missed goal chances that could have killed the contest by midterm. Niall Hickey dragged his shot wide in the 25th minute and Johnnie Daly’s thunderbolt was kept at bay by a combination of Declan Keane and his charmed defence.

This wastefulness was to rear its ugly head again on the turnover, but early points by Mark McCarthy and Johnnie Daly inside five minutes of the restart suggested an easy enough second half for Kilmurry as they settled down to play with the breeze.

This feeling was magnified when Cooraclare’s warhorse and lone starter from their last championship triumph in 1997 in Joe Considine was called ashore in the 36th minute.

They did peg a point back in the 38th minute through John Looney’s second free, but this was quickly cancelled out by Ian McInerney which left Kilmurry 0-6 to 0-3 ahead and comfortable entering the last 20 minutes.

What followed was anything but comfortable, however, as Mark Tubridy grabbed matters by the scruff when deserting his post in defence and storming up the field for a levelling goal in the 46th minute.

From a sideline on the stand side of the field Tubridy was twice involved in the move before crashed to the net past Peter O’Dwyer Jnr. Suddenly Cooraclare believed and as Kilmurry wides started to rack up – they had 14 in all over the course of the game – the unthinkable scenario of defeat must have flashed across their minds.

Michael Hogan, Michael O’Dwyer, Noel Downes and Enda Coughlan were all guilty of bad wides before Martin McMahon did the kind of thing that leaders do – storming forward, latching onto an Enda Coughlan free and stroking the ball over the bar nonchalantly from 25 years.

Class from a great player, who along with that other pocket rocket Michael Hogan lorded over this game. How badly they needed them and then thanked the high heavens that John Looney’s accuracy betrayed him at the death.

IF YOU were a betting man, you probably would have put your rainsoaked car on defending champions Doonbeg once they pulled four points clear near the turn of the final quarter. St Joseph’s had fought the good fight in the first half against the breeze to contain Doonbeg to a two point half-time advantage but after early scores from David Tubridy and Conor Downes, it seemed as if Doora/Barefield’s chance had gone.

“It wasn’t looking good,” admitted St Joseph’s manager James Hanrahan, “but when we got up the other side of the field, the whole thing started to turn around.

“There was a bit of a shower of rain and the breeze kind of rose up for a few minutes and we managed to get a couple of scores. And when we got a run on them, we always looked like we were going to get back into the game fairly fast.

“They still had one or two frees towards the finish and it didn’t look good because if one of them went over, we probably would have needed a goal to get back in the game but luckily enough for us, those frees went wide.”

Uncharacteristically they did drift wide and Doora/Barefield used those misses to inspire them further as they toppled the lead and eventually snatched an injury-time winner to set up a semi-final date with either Wolfe Tones or St Senan’s Kilkee.

So after resurrecting their championship campaign following two open- ing losses, how far does he reckon his side can potentially go this year?

“We will go as far as the semi-final anyway and we’ll take it one game at a time. I suppose after the first round, there is such a long break that it doesn’t really matter sometimes if you win the first match or lose it.

“The championship really started ten weeks after that and against Cratloe, while we were beaten, I felt that we had nine chances but kicked nine wides in the first half against them.

“We probably had a 21 yard free to go a point up with maybe ten minutes to go but missed that so it wasn’t the case that we were playing badly or being well beaten in every game, it was more of a case that we weren’t taking our chances at the time.

“On the Saturday morning before we played Shannon Gaels, we would have settled for staying out of the relegation places so to be in the quarter-final at the end of that was a big bonus and it drove the fellas on a bit more. We can’t afford to look any further now than the semi-final.”

“THESE things happen in games,” said Colm Collins afterwards. “I prefer if they didn’t but they do happen. It didn’t affect our players though – they’re very focused about what they do and we’re now looking forward to a semi-final,” he added.

Captured this game in a nutshell really. Collins was banished to the stands in the first half after an onfield altercation, but it was business as usual throughout for a remarkable bunch of players who are now on the cusp of bringing Cratloe to a first county senior football since ’87.

That’s 1887 – the first ever final way back then against Newmarket Dalgais. It shows you how far this Cratloe generation has come, even if Collins did his best to play down this whole football revolution down in this pocket of south east Clare that himself, Martin Murphy and others have stirred up from nowhere.

“It’s progress,” he said of this comprehensive seven-point win. “It’s better than where we were last year, but we didn’t play well today. We played poorly. We wasted a lot of chances and didn’t do well.

“The surface was bad, with all the rain that fell last night, but all things considered the pitch wasn’t that bad. The first goal was something we worked on and we should have created more of those, but we didn’t.

“Liam Markham should have scored a second goal, but unfortunately he didn’t. Lissycasey fought well after we missed that chance and came back into the game and showed great spirit. They showed us that we need to tidy up a lot. We’re just delighted to win, but we need to play an awful lot better.

“In the second half Padraigh Chaplin came on and did well. He’s very accurate and got two good scores. There was a very strong breeze there in the second half and it was just a matter of time before we got scores.”

So it is that Cratloe now face into Kilmurry Ibrickane in the semi-final – the team that beat them by a point in last year’s quarter-final. Not that they’re thinking of that – instead they have Tulla on their mind in the county hurling quarter-final.

“They’re a dedicated bunch and they live for sport,” said Collins. “They don’t mess around. That’s what does it for them and they have hurling to look forward to next week.”

Kilmurry Ibrickane 0-07 – O’Curry’s 0-05 at Captain Tubridy Memorial Park, Kilrush

KILMURRY IBRICKANE’S dream double of senior and intermediate took another leap forward on Saturday when upsetting the odds to see off favourites O’Curry’s. And it was the second team that showed example for their senior side by grinding out victory in the final minutes when scoring the last two points to seal a memorable victory,

With a swirling gale and intermittent rain making conditions difficult, it was never going to be a classic. Only two points from play over the hour empitomised a titanic struggle that really could have gone either way.

Kilmurry Ibrickane made life difficult for themselves in the first half when failing to sufficently supply their forward line and so depended on the free-taking accuracy of their most experienced player, Odran O’Dwyer to give them a 0-4 to 0-2 half-time advantage.

However, it was in the second period that the Bricks really showed their mettle and despite being pegged back to 0-5 to 0-5 by the 55th minute, they didn’t panic and got their rewards with late points from O’Dwyer and substitute Senan McCarthy,

O’Curry’s only have themselves to blame for not taking advantage of a host of second half chances but their decision to attempt shots from distance was ill-fated as they kicked eight wides in the final 30 minutes, and 12 overall.

In saying that, on another day, Kilmurry Ibrickane might have raided for three goals as livewire Adrian Murrihy proved a constant thorn in O’Curry’s side. He could have been awarded a penalty in the first half while twice in the second half, he was clear on goal but was given a free rather than advantage to finish to the net.

O’Curry’s too had no fortune in front of goal as an early Michael Carmody shot went straight at goalkeeper David Talty while in the 20th minute, he appeared to be pushed in the back as he shot and the ball trickled wide of the far post.

Those incidents merely added spice to an already tense occasion which took six minutes to record the opening score when county senior Ger Quinlan played a quick one-two from a free with Michael Carmody to dissect the posts.

With Sean Haugh playing as a sweeper for O’Curry’s against the conditions, Kilmurry Ibrickane were frustrated by the final ball to the forwards, with their only joy coming through Odran O’Dwyer and Murrihy in the inside line.

O’Dwyer was fouled for his opening score in the 12th minute and despite Quinlan doing likewise at the other end three minutes later, Murri- hy earned another free for O’Dwyer to convert from 20 metres and gain parity once more.

Indeed, he would maintain that unerring accuracy from placed balls until the break when adding two more to give his side a slender 0-4 to 0-2 interval advantage.

Now facing into the gale, Kilmurry Ibrickane changed tactics for the restart by bringing out O’Dwyer to centre-forward and using Thomas Lernihan as a sweeper. It seemed to be effective as O’Dwyer extended their lead to three in the 32nd minute but there was still a bigger storm to come.

O’Curry’s broke their 22 minute barren spell with a Ger Quinlan free from 40 metres in the 37th minute and inbetween a plethora of missed opportunities, he converted two more to level matters as late as the 55th minute.

Momentum appeared to be in the peninsula side’s favour but Kilmurry Ibrickane broke on the counter-attack in the 59th minute to alter that trend. A Lernihan free to Murrihy saw him head for goal but was fouled for O’Dwyer to give them the lead once more. And in injury-time, another Lernihan free over the top picked out substitute Senan McCarthy to finish the job and earn his side a final place against Clondegad.

Kilmurry Ibrickane
DavidTalty (7), Pat Sexton (7), John Sexton (7), Eamon Dunne (7), Thomas Lernihan (7),Thomas O’Connor (8), Mark Moloney (6), Gary Donnellan (7),Vincent Talty (7),Thomas Greene (7), Martin O’Connor (7), ColmDonnellan (7),Adrian Murrihy (8), Odran O’Dwyer (8) (0-6f),Aidan Moloney (6)

Subs
Senan McCarthy (0-1) for A. Moloney (52 mins), John McNamara for M. O’Connor (55 mins), Darragh Sexton for M. Moloney (55 mins)

O’Curry’s
Eoin Clohessy (7), Gearoid Lynch (7), Michael O’Shea (6), Paul Roche (7),TomDownes (6), Ollie Quinlan (8), BrianTroy (7), Ger Quinlan (7) (0-5 4f), DerekTroy (7), Damien Carmody (7), EoinTroy (7), Michael Foran (6), Michael Carmody (6), Jack Scanlon (6), Sean Haugh (7)

Subs
Mark Roche (6) for Haugh (37 mins, inj), JimDownes (6) for M. Carmody (46 mins), Ryan McMahon for Lynch (52 mins, inj)

Man of the Match
Adrian Murrihy (Kilmurry Ibrickane) Referee Damien Fox (WolfeTones)

Wolfe Tones 2-06 – St Senan’s Kilkee 0-12 at St Michael ’s Park, Kilmihil

AH the Blues. You never know with those boys from by the sea.

Yeah they’re long in the tooth; yeah they’re supposed to be fading away; but one thing about them this past decade since Denis Russell scored that point to draw the 2003 county final is, that they never say die. Never ever.

Even when they looked to have been administered the last rites and were dead and buried by a Wolfe Tones side that were four points up with as many minutes left, a man up after Michéal Keane’s sending off and if that wasn’t enough the Shannonmen also had the advantage of the gale.

But the Blues aren’t called moody for nothing, because just when they were in the gap of certain defeat they summoned up one of those grandstand finishes reminiscent of their tour de force against Shannon Gaels at the same venue three years ago.

Thing is, this was better even if Wolfe Tones disastrously played their part at the death by retreated into a tried and most-times failed tactic of defending a lead instead of kicking on to win comfortably.

They looked set for a comfortable win and a first county semi-final spot in four years when hitting 1-2 without reply in a 13-minute spell from the 40th minute that put them 2-6 to 0-8 clear.

By then Micheál Keane was marched – seeing red in the 43rd minute, but in adversity Kilkee’s old guard thundered to the fore. David Russell muscled his way into the game to win vital possession out the field after being a peripheral figure when posted at full-forward in the first half; Michael O’Shea tacked on three frees to bring it back to the minimum before Barry Harte hit the equaliser in the fifth minute of injury time.

It was just desserts for the Blues, simply because they kept chipping away against a Tones team that had this game for the taking on a number of occasions, but weren’t ruthless enough when it came to closing it out.

They got the best possible start when poor defence by Kilkee resulted in Kevin Harte in having no option put to pull down Chris Dunning for a penalty – there were only 22 seconds gone and up stepped Gary Leahy to rifle home the kick.

When Kevin Corbett, Daniel Gallery and Joe McGauley tacked on points and the game yet to pass the five-minute mark, the Tones were sensationally 1-3 to no score clear despite play against the gale.

However, an injury to Chris Dunning soon afterwards, which even- tually saw him leave the field in the 20th minute, was a huge blow to the Tones. He had been involved in everything, tearing through middle of a very porous and laborious Blues defence.

They didn’t register a score until the tenth minute when Michael O’Shea tapped over a 14-yard free, while another from the same distance in the 19th minute and a fine effort from play by Micheál Keane halved Kilkee’s deficit by the 23rd minute.

Gary Leahy hit back with a good point in the 25th minute but three injury time points from Barry Harte, a Michael O’Shea free and Christy Kirwan gave the Blues some hope at the break as they were only 1-4 to 06 adrift.

Hope turned to confidence when two Michael O’Shea points inside four minutes of the restart gave them the lead for the first time, but a Kevin Cahill goal in the 40th minute when he latched onto a long free from Gary Leahy and coolly dispatched the leather beyond Kevin Harte was the platform the Tones needed.

They were back in control, while a superb Stephen Monaghan point in a minute later should have teed them up for victory, especially since it was followed soon afterwards by Michéal Keane’s red card.

A Gary Leahy free in the 52nd minute put them 2-6 to 0-8 clear, but from there they just imploded – going into retreat mode, going down with cramp, which allowed the Blues five extra minutes in which they saved their season.

Michael O’Shea got them going with a couple of frees by the 60th minute – his eighth in the 64th brought it back to the minimum before Barry Harte’s leveller.

Best score of the game too with his left, drilled into the wind that was going over from the second it left his boot 40 yards from goal.