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Limerick 2-19 – Clare 1-15 at Cusack Park, Ennis

CLARE’S championship hopes evaporated into the summer sun as neighbours Limerick exacted full revenge for the previous two penultimate stage clashes on Tuesday.

In capturing their third victory of the year in Cusack Park, the Shannonsiders proved that this was no sunshine display either as without key players Graeme Mulcahy and James O’Brien, they were full value for their seven point victory.

It was, in physical terms, men against boys for much of the game as a powerful Limerick side had Clare in trouble in most areas of the field, with Clare finishing the game with a third of the side stemming from last year’s minor winning outfit.

With Limerick so dominant in the middle third, especially in the air, it is disappointing that Clare didn’t reconsider their decision to play as a straight 15 and perhaps opt for a go-for-broke Cratloe formation from early on. Essentially that would consist of putting county seniors Cathal McInerney and Conor McGrath inside as a two man full-forward line in order to create space for them to prosper and bring out the naturally roving Padraic Collins around the centre to boost the supply line. It may or may not have reaped the rewards to get Clare out of trouble but in light of how Clare’s challenge eventually petered out, at least it would have been worth a punt.

Instead, Clare were on the backfoot from Michael Ryan’s goal after only 80 seconds after a routine delivery was allowed to bypass Clare’s last line. It was the settling influence that Limerick craved and allowed them to brush off a Podge Collins reply and hit the next four points through Seanie O’Brien (2), Shane Dowling and Ryan to open up a 1-4 to 0-1 advantage by the tenth minute.

Fortunately for the home side, Limerick didn’t have it all their own way over the hour as Clare produced two significant rallies but on each occasion could only get to within two points of the winners.

The first started in the 13th minute with a purple patch of four unanswered points through Conor McGrath (2), Clare’s most impressive player on the night Tony Kelly and Cathal McInerney. There was a brief stalemate when a goal for either side could have made the difference but Kevin Downes shot for goal was ex- cellently blocked by Paul Flanagan while a Fergus Kennedy shot for a point at the other end only a minute later dropped short and was nervously spilled by goalkeeper Aaron Murphy for a ’65 that McGrath converted.

Still, once Limerick steadied the ship and reaffirmed their control around the middle, they restored a comfortable advantage by the break with five unanswered points to kill off Clare’s first half challenge at 1-10 to 0-06.

The home side rang the changes at the break, bringing on Davy O’Halloran and Aidan Lynch and it did have an immediate effect as the Éire Óg man pointed with his first touch. Still, it was Cathal McInerney’s 34th minute goal that lifted Cusack Park after good spade work by clubmate McGrath and when Clare minor captain Kelly grabbed another point immediately afterwards to cut the deficit to two, you could sense a mutiny.

It never happened though as Limerick were still the predominant ball winners from puck-outs in which three of their next five points stemmed and while Clare kept to within striking distance through Kelly, O’Halloran and McGrath, the killer blow came in the 51st minute with Limerick’s second goal. It arrived after a Cathal McNamara free dropped inside the square and after Patrick O’Connor gathered and moved along the endline, he lost possession that his marker Downes gladly took advantage off to bat past goalkeeper Kevin Brennan.

With that, the lights effectively went out on Clare’s challenge, despite being awarded a late penalty that saw Conor McGrath’s effort saved. There was an obvious tinge of sadness for the home side at the final whistle as it was the end of a memorable era at Under 21 grade. Not only because their hopes of a fourth successive final appearance had vanished into the ether but also down to the fact that with it went the management team of John Minogue, Cyril Lyons, Alan Dunne and Sean O’Halloran who brought such resplendency to Clare hurling when it needed it most.

Limerick
Aaron Murphy (Hospital/Herbertstown) (7), Alan Dempsey (Na Piarsaigh) (7), Patrick Begley

(Mungret) (8), Steve O’Reilly (Ballybrown) (7), Cathal McNamara (Doon) (7), Cian Hayes (Kildimo) (8),Thomas O’Callaghan (Monagea) (6), Conor Allis (Croom) (7) (0-3 1f, 2’65’s), Sean O’Brien (Patrickswell) (7) (0-2), Shane Dowling (Na Piarsaigh) (8) (0-4 2f), Declan Hannon (Adare) (8) (0-1), Niall Kennedy (Granagh/ Ballingarry) (7) (0-1), Michael Ryan (Murroe/ Boher) (8) (1-2), Kevin Downes (Na Piarsaigh) (8) (1-4),WilliamGriffin (Adare) (6) (0-1)

Subs
Brian Cleary (Knockainey) (6) for O’Callaghan (41 mins), Mark Carmody (Patrickswell) (6) (0-1) for Griffin (44 mins), Barry O’Connor (Kildimo) for McNamara (59 mins), Sean Madden (Ahane) for Ryan (60 mins),Timmy Fleming (Feohanagh/Castlemahon) for Downes (62 mins)

Clare
Kevin Brennan (Éire Óg) (7), Diarmaid Nash (Scariff) (7), Patrick O’Connor (Tubber) (7), Paul Flanagan (Ballyea) (6), Cillian Ryan (Ruan) (6), Cathal Chaplin (Broadford) (6), Stephen O’Halloran (Clarecastle) (7), Conor Ryan (Cratloe) (6), LiamMarkham(Cratloe) (7) (0-2), Cathal McInerney (Cratloe) (7) (1-1), Shane Golden (Sixmilebridge) (6),Tony Kelly (Ballyea) (8) (0-3), Padraic Collins (Cratloe) (6) (0-1), Conor McGrath (Cratloe) (7) (0-5 3f, 1’65), Fergus Kennedy (Crusheen) (6)

Subs
Aidan Lynch (Ruan) (6) for Ryan (HT), David O’Halloran (Éire Óg) (8) (0-3) for Kennedy (HT), John Fennessy (Sixmilebridge) (6) for Golden (41 mins)

Man of the Match
Kevin Downes (Limerick)

Referee
ColmLyons (Cork)

Tippeary 3-13 – Clare 1-6 At St Brendan’s Park, Birr

LAST year Clare were unlucky losers against Dublin in the All-Ireland quarter-final and watched enviously as the Jackies marched on to All-Ireland glory; this year it was a case of the nightmare of the 2008 All-Ireland final revisited as they were ambushed by Tipperary.

And, Clare’s meltdown from AllIreland senior contenders to be being dumped out of the championship race was every bit as comprehensive as the final scoreline suggests – they were outclassed in all departments by a rampant Tipperary side who were full value for the 13-point victory.

Where did it all go wrong?

Everywhere is the curt answer, as early dominance in the possession stakes, but a failure to take a nubmer of gilt edged scoring chances was subsequently punished in clinical mannner by a ruthless Tipperary side that had this Qualifier in the bag by half-time as they led by 1-9 to 0-4.

That was bad, but it only got worse on the turnover as the Premier County’s rampage continued – they played within themselves to out-score David O’Brien’s shell-shocked charges by 2-4 to 1-2 to inflict what can only be looked on as a hammer blow to the ladies game in Clare.

And, it would have been much worse but for the first half heroics of Emma O’Driscoll in goal. Twice she foiled Máiréad Morrissey from point blank range with brilliant saves before her goal was finally breached by Tricia Hickey in the 27th minutes.

Up until that point, Clare were still in this game, even though they were mal-functioning badly. They had opened the scoring through Niamh Keane in the first minute, while a great point by Louise Henchy in the sixth minute had them 0-2 to 0-1 ahead.

However, as Clare’s wides mounted in the half, all they could muster before the break was two Louise Henchy frees as Tipperary upped their intensity and ripped through Clare at pace and grabbed this game by the scruff.

After Ailish Considine and Mairéad Morrissey spurned gilt-edged goal chances before the tenth minute, points by Tricia Hickey (2) and Gillian O’Brien which were responded to by two Henchy frees left Tipperary 0-5 to 0-4 ahead by the 20th minute.

Things looked very different at half-time though, with Hickey’s goal, which she followed with a point and two points form Máiread Morrissey eased them into an eight point lead.

And, Clare’s nightmare got worse when Morrissey blasted home a goal a minute after the resumption. Eimear Considine hit hit back with a Clare goal two minutes later, but it was damage limitation stuff for most of that second half as Tipperary kept their composure to win as they pleased.

Morrissey’s second goal after 40 minutes stretched the lead into double figures and in the closing 20 minutes added to that as Clare’s challenge petered out – the rich promise they had shown in that game against Dublin in Banagher last year and in the Division 3 final against Fermanagh in Parnell Park ebbing away with every passing minute.

This was a disaster. Pure and simple.

And, mysteriously there was no Niamh O’Dea on the Clare team.

Clare
Emma O’Driscoll (The Banner), Claire Hester (Fergus Rovers), Sinead Eustace (Coolmeen), Laurie Ryan (The Banner), LouiseWoods (The Banner), Róisín McMahon (Newmarket-on-Fergus), Carmel Considine (Liscannor), Eimear O’Connor (Coolmeen), Louise Henchy (The Banner) (0-4, 3f), Colette Corry (Shannon Gaels), Niamh Keane (The Banner) (0-1), Marie Considine (Liscannor), Eimear Considine (Kilmihil) (1-0), Naomi Carroll (The Banner),Ailish Considine (Kilmhil) (0-1).

Subs
Sarah Bohannon (Shannon Gaels) for Corry, Fiona Lafferty (St Joseph’s Miltown) for Carroll, Carole O’Leary (Newmarket-on-Fergus) for Woods, Lorraine Kelly (Fergus Rovers) for Eustace, Naomi Caroll for Ailish Considine.

Tipperary
Nora Noonan,Treasa McGrath, Carmel Condon, Claire Carroll, Siobhan Condon, Samantha Lambert, Barbara Ryan, Gennifer Grant, Sile Carew, Gillian O’Brien, Mairead Morrissey (1-8, 7f), Siobhan Costello,Aine Staunton,Tricia Hickey, Caitriona Walsh.

Player of the Match
Mairéad Morrissey (Tipperary)

Referee
KeithTighe (Dublin)

Kilmurry Ibrickane 2-10 – Cooraclare 0-11 at Shanahan McNamara Memorial Park, Doonbeg

ONE could say that after the lull of 2010 on domestic front that normal service has been resumed by Kilmurry Ibrickane as they picked up their second piece of senior silverware in a week in this entertaining decider played on Bank Holiday Monday.

But, while neutrals may have been expecting a comfortable outing for the 2010 All-Ireland Club finalists, it was far from such as a dogged Cooraclare team took up the fight to the favourites.

And when they led by 0-10 to 0-6 seven minutes into the second half they looked very comfortable, before a rousing finish by the recently crowned Cusack Cup champions saw them turn that four-point deficit into a five-point victory.

Enda Coughlan was at the core of this comeback, bagged two crucial goals in the final quarter, even though by then he had been relocated from his centre-forward starting berth back to centre-back.

The first came on 47 minutes that edged Kilmurry a point 1-8 to 0-10 clear before the killer second arrived five minutes from time when the former countyman made another decisive burst up the field.

It was a huge about-turn, because before that the Aidan Moloney managed Cooraclare side seemed to be on the road to emulating their 2009 Cusack Cup final over the same opposition.

The led by 0-7 to 0-5 at the interval, thanks to a closing burst before the break when injury time points from John Looney and David Marrinan edged them clear. Prior to that the sides had been level on four occasions in the half.

Andrew O’Neill and Ian McInerney swapped points early on, as did John Looney and Johnnie Daly, before Cooraclare showed their intent by moving 0-4 to 0-2 clear thanks to efforts from Michael McMahon and John Looney. Paul O’Connor and Ian McInerney restored parity by the 23rd minute before Andrew O’Neill and Johnnie Daly traded points in normal time.

However, it was those two closing Cooraclare points, coupled with three more via John Looney (2) and Gearóíd Looney, with a lone reply coming from Johnnie Daly hinted at a big shock.

However, Enda Coughlan had other ideas – his point in the 40th minute cranked the Kilmurry train to life, while another from man of the match Peter O’Dwyer a minute letter narrowed the gap to two before a rousing final quarter that in which they outscored Cooraclare by 2-2 to 0-1 sealed their comeback victory.

Cooraclare’s final score came in the 51st minute via a John Looney free that left Kilmurry ahead by 1-9 to 011, only for Coughlan’s second goal and a Noel Downes point to give Kilmurry a cushion that scarcely seemed possible early in the second half.

Kilmurry Ibrickane
Peter O’Dwyer, Shane Hickey, Darren Hickey, JohnWillie Sexton, Paul O’Connor (0-1), Evan Talty, Seamus Lynch, Peter O’Dwyer (0-1), Seamus Murrihy, Mark McCarthy, Enda Coughlan (2-1), Ian McInerney (0-2f), Stephen Moloney, Noel Downes (0-2), Johnnie Daly (0-3, 1f).

Subs
Michael O’Dwyer for Sexton, Colm Donnellan for Moloney, Niall Hickey for Murrihy, Vincent Talty for Coughlan

Cooraclare

Declan Keane,Thomas Downes, Conor Marrinan, Fergal Lillis, David Marrinan (0-1),Thomas Donnellan, Declan McMahon,AndrewO’Neill (0-2), Sean Maguire, Kieran Hassett, Michael McMahon (0-1), Gearóid Looney (0-1), Cathal Lillis, John Looney (0-6, 4f), Michael Kelly.

Subs
Don Garry for Cathal Lillis, Joe Considine for Maguire,Thomas O’Connor for Hassett.

Man of the Match
Peter O’Dwyer (Kilmurry Ibrickane)

Referee
Pat Cosgrave (Corofin)

O’Callaghan’s Mills 1-11 – Kilrush Shamrocks 0-07 at Eire Og Ennis

The Mills are on the rise, not only due to their automatic promotion to Division 4 along with Monday’s opponents Kilrush but because this was a vintage running display that means that they should mean business when the championship recommences in a few weeks time.

Kilrush had experience in abundance but simply couldn’t live with the Mills constant overlapping and movement, even if the east Clare side made harder work of it than was wholly necessary.

In Kilrush’s defence, this was an intermediate versus Junior A affair while it is also the Mills’ first team as opposed to Kilrush’s second string but aside from two brief rallies that yielded six points in a total of sev- en minutes, the Shams were on the backfoot.

Indeed, the winners opened up a 0-6 to 0-0 advantage by the 20th minute with Fergus Donovan (3), Padraig Hickey (2), and Conor Cooney sharing the scoring duties. However, it was the overlapping of wing-backs Eoin Pewter and John Cooney that caused Kilrush most concern as they were outnumbered far too often and the Mills will point to missed goal chances for Fergus Donovan and Noel Nash in the same period.

Kilrush finally settled with a John Kelly free in the 22nd minute and gathering momentum, David Walsh doubled their tally a minute later before John Kelly saw a glorious goal chance just skim the top of the crossbar. Had Kilrush grabbed that goal, perhaps they could have regrouped for the second period but as it was, they went in at the break 0-7 to 0-3 in arrears after a late Bryan Donnellan point.

David Walsh pointed to give Kilrush a glimmer of hope immediately after the restart but it was to be only a brief mutiny as Bryan Donnellan and Eoin Pewter replied down the other end while Patrick Donnellan had an excellent effort parried away by goalkeeper Ger Griffin.

The Kilrush number one could not do anything about the goal when it came however as Bryan Donnellan won and executed a penalty to the top corner of the net in the 41st minute. With the Mills in overdrive, the margin could have been much greater at that stage only for ten second half wides and the solid defending of Paul O’Sullivan and Niall Brennan.

Credit Kilrush for not throwing in the towel though and with David O’Shea gaining a foothold in midfield, they hit three points in as many minutes through Sean Naughton, Dan Ryan and Gerard O’Brien while Jamie Gilligan seemed through for a goal but miscontrolled the the vital moment.

Without a goal, it was never going to be enough to make O’Callaghan’s Mills sweat and they finished the stronger side with Fergus Donovan and Conor Cooney sealing the silverware which will give them a significant boost ahead of their championship clash with Junior A champions Kilfenora in three weeks time.

O’Callaghan’s Mills
Enda McNamara, Garry Neville, Niall Donovan, Gerry Cooney, John Cooney, Declan Donovan, Eoin Pewter (0-1), Conor Cooney Jnr, Conor Cooney Snr (0-2), Patrick Donnellan, Bryan Donnellan (1-2 1-0 Pen, 1f), Padraig Hickey (0-2), Fergus Donovan (0-4), Noel Nash, Billy Donovan

Subs
Paul Lynch for B. Donovan (32 mins), James Murphy for Hickey (51 mins), Eoin Kelly for Nash (60 mins)

Kilrush Shamrocks
Ger Griffin, Niall Brennan, Paul O’Sullivan, Shane Carey, David Shannon, Martin Griffin, Gerard O’Brien (0-1), CalumBond, Matt Fitzpatrick, David O’Shea, Paul Cahill, John Kelly (0-2 1f), Jamie Gilligan, Sean Naughton (0-1), DavidWalsh (0-2)

Subs
Ross Cullinan for Shannon (8 mins, inj), Sean Madigan for Fitzpatrick (28 mins), David Moran for Madigan (35 mins), Kian Murray for Kelly (38 mins), Dan Ryan (0-1) for Moran (50 mins)

Man of the Match
Eoin Pewter (O’Callaghan’s Mills)

Referee
JimHickey (Cratloe)

Mattie Murphy’s record of reaching and subsequently winning All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship finals speaks for itself. In all, the Gort clubman has guided his native county to nine national deciders in three separate terms which is unparralleled.

He even led the seniors to two National League finals as well. How- ever, Clare supporters will hope that their record against Murphy’s teams continue this Sunday as they bid for a unique two-in-a-row of All-Ireland deciders themselves. All because after winning two All-Ireland minor titles in 1992 and 1994, Murphy was promoted to the senior set-up but fell on thorny ground against the Banner in the 1995 All-Ireland Semi-final as Clare went on to eventually achieve All-Ireland glory.

AFTER the seemingly interminable wait to first decide their opponents, then the date before taking their case to the clubs of Clare, the road is now clear for the minor hurlers to hone in on neighbours Galway in this much anticipated last four clash.

And for selector Eamon Fennessy who has served in numerous roles for both club and county and is currently Clare GAA’s Coaching Officer, the mood is the camp is heartening ahead of the knock-out tie.

“Really we are delighted it is on this weekend and therefore sooner rather than later because we have a clean bill of health at the moment and clubs have been good to us in putting back fixtures. We are grateful for that because we have a full week’s run of training which is huge. Ideally we would have liked two weeks but it’s a good compromise being one week. If the 14th was the option, then there was definitely going to be a round of fixtures around the 5th, 6th and 7th that would have been detrimental to us because you would have fatigue and the possibility of injuries so we are happy with where we are.”

On entering their domain, there is always a distinct family type atmosphere that permeates the county minor camp, with a huge mutual respect and admiration between players and management that has built up over the last three years. And that strong bond has in turn reflected in the squad’s performances, according to the Sixmilebridge clubman, to where they are now the undisputed kingpins of Munster with back-to-back titles for the first time in the county’s history.

“The thing about it is that no training session is the same. The players don’t know what’s happening until they come in and they go away afterwards nice and happy and I think that’s been the thing that Paul [Kinnerk] has brought to it really. His sessions are never the same and there is a different intensity and a different level of focus required on the players and anyone that doesn’t behave or have their diet in proper shape before they come in, they know then that they are in for a tough evening. It’s never mundane and that’s one thing we’ve tried to do is keep it fresh so that nobody is going to go home totally fed up or bored so the whole lot of us really have worked hard on that to try and ensure that there is a positive atmosphere from all of us.

“The encouragement is there from everybody. They encourage each other in the dressing room when they are getting ready to go out in the session, we encourage them during the session and afterwards we explain where they have gone wrong and how they can improve themselves and it’s never a case of giving a player a rollicking. We give them constructive criticism and they take it on the chin and equally they give it back to us and they tell us where they feel that sometimes play is breaking down and it’s a two way thing.

“And with that there is trust there and I think trust is key. They trust us on the line and we trust them to go out and do a job and whatever 15 are picked, the other 15 on the panel know that those guys are picked because of the effort that they have put in. For instance we had a full length game in training on Friday and we wanted to see how players are going in certain positions, what our Plan A is, what our Plan B and Plan C is and they know that. They know that they have the opportunity to prove themselves and I think they are honest enough to admit that.”

That competition for places will be vital ahead of the squad’s toughest test to date in this derby clash. And for Fennessy and Co, Galway have been the side they would have outlined out as the county to watch out for since the outset of the championship, having played them twice in challenge games during the year.

“We always picked out Galway and even when they came down here to play us, they showed that they are a big powerful team. People have made us favourites for the All-Ireland but we are saying ‘look hang on a second, we have a new panel’ and okay we have lost an All-Ireland but Galway are the form team that have All-Ireland’s won, especially under Mattie Murphy. He never picks a team that are just going to turn up. We know that they are a formidable outfit. They came down here and played us and it was helter skelter until half-time and they give us a lesson on where we needed to be.

“And the one thing we knew from last year was that from the Munster final, there is a huge step up to an All-Ireland semi-final. People thought we are just playing Dublin but no, it was a complete step up again and that’s the education that these fellas got and the players that are lucky enough to have been on the panel since last year are reflecting that back to the new guys. They are saying that ‘hang on now, whatever you thought of playing in Cork, Croke Park is a different animal’ and Galway are definitely the team, as far as I’m concerned, to beat. They are the form team and we would have put them in there with Waterford from the start. Kilkenny are always an unknown entity until you get them out onto the field but Galway are the ones we have been targetting all year, as well as Dublin to be fair.”

Facing Galway is a daunting task in itself but there is also the Croke Park factor that inevitably brings with it an intensity far greater that anything this year’s side have faced up to this point.

“It is a nervous thing. I think when you go to Croke Park, you suddenly realise that it is a different level, a different pace, a different intensity, a different physicality and it’s an education for these fellas. We have planned to go up there beforehand and take them all out there for a walk and explain to them about last year. We will also get the players that were there last year to explain to them where they felt they went wrong so we are hoping that this time our preparation will be better and that we are more prepared for it. The players themselves from last year will be able to pass on the advise of the higher intensity that is needed and focus that is needed from now on.”

And Fennessy is confident that Clare can hit the ground running, just as they did for the majority of the Munster final against Waterford last time out.

“People said our second half against Waterford was poor but people hadn’t realised that Tony Kelly was in hospital for 24 hours, that Colm Galvin hadn’t trained since the Tipp game and there was always going to be a period of the game where fatigue was going to set in but we know now, that for the full 70 minutes aainst Galway that we just can’t afford to take our foot off the pedal. If we go a goal down, two goals down or even three goals, we still have to keep hammering away. If we get the start that we did against Waterford, which is always out focus in training, then there is no reason why we won’t give Galway a good game of it.”

The waiting is over. It’s time to let their hurling do the talking in the country’s biggest stage.