Category: Sport

PAT ‘RICO’ Clancy is a passionate man when it come to his beloved Shams, so much so that putting his words to print after his side’s minor triumph on Saturday, don’t do really them their full justice. YouTube is the natural habitat for the his one-minute interview after the game, but still, his passion jumps from the page in the way he explained the Shams’ return to the winner’s enclosure.

“Great win lads,” he roars, before cranking up the volume. “A long time coming for Kilrush lads. We’re 21 years waiting for this lads. People might say it’s only a B, but it’s gone so long now we had to win something lads.

“I think today lads Kilrush have turned a corner. We will be back lads. We will build on it. We have to start somewhere. We had won noth- ing in 21 years and today lads, we have made a start. We are back,” he adds defiantly and furiously.

Then he peels away, gulping some air before piecing together the reasons for the Shams’ success story.

“There are five of us. Jimmy Murray’s experience had it all to do here. Pat Kelly was also there. Matthew Moloney trained the team all year, through thick and thin. We brought in Moloney and Christopher Dixon and they did great. It’s very hard for the older fellas to talk to young fellas, but they had the bond with them and they drove him.

“They showed a never-say-die attitude and that was always the day in Kilrush football. I’m sick and tired of it. Twenty one years of we should have won this and we should have won that. You make your own luck and we did that today.”

And the person who did more than only one else, the great white hope of Kilrush football on the strength of his brilliant display.

“Liam Madigan was the lifeblood. In fairness we always had great corner forwards in Kilrush. We had the best of forwards, but this young fella is something special. He’s only 15 years of age. The game was in the melting pot. He picked his spot, coolness personified lads. You can’t ask any more from a 15-year-old.”

Ennistymon 2-13 – Kilmihil 1-7 at Hennessy Memorial Park, Miltown

ENNISTYMON have never had it so good at minor level, but had they lost this one it would have been a case of never having it so bad.

It was never going to happen though – four successive final defeats in the grade from five finals in a row wasn’t on before a ball was kicked, something that was confirmed within 17 minutes of the start by which time a rampant north Clare Magpies had hit 2-6 without reply.

Game over. The Hennessy Cup was going from Hennessy Park to the town of the Cascades – it was already damage limitation for a shellshocked Kilmihil side that had been hit by the perfect storm.

And perfection it was from Ennistymon in that first half as they won their first title since 2007 thanks to building up a 2-10 to 0-1 interval lead as they pounded poor Kilmihil at every opportunity.

The goals were killers, the first coming in the eighth minute when Ryan O’Halloran latched onto a breaking ball from Cathal McDonagh’s free and drove the ball to the net from seven yards, while James McConigley’s wonder strike in the 16th minute settled the argument as early as that.

The bombardment started as early as the third minute when Eoin Ralph raided from centre-back to land a point, while Ryan O’Halloran goal in the eighth minute was the signal for one-way traffic towards the Miltown’s town goal.

When it was followed by two good Joey Rouine points from play, a Cathal McDonagh free, McConigley’s goal when he blasted to the top corner from 14 yards and points by Barry Keating and Ryan O’Halloran, Kilmihil were left wondering if they’d make any impact on the game.

Conor Finucane did land their first score in the 24th minute, but it was all they could muster against an Ennistymon team that dominated every line, with Rouine being the hub of operations at centre-forward, while Ciaran Devitt and Cathal McConigley ran riot around the middle.

A miss-match, in other words, as a hapless Kilmihil rolled over in that first half as four more points thorugh Joey Rouine, Cathal McConigley and two Cathal McDonagh frees left 15 points between the sides at the break.

Credit Kilmihil for stemming the tide in the second half when restricting Ennistymon to three points while hitting 1-6 of their own, but it was more a case of Mark Shannon’s side free-wheeling it to the final whistle.

The sides shared four points between them in the opening ten minutes – Barry Keating grabbing two for Ennistymon either sid of points from David Lorrigan and Martin O’Leary.

Remarkably Ennistymon went 23 minutes without scoring in the second half, during which Kilmihil hit 1-4 without reply, the goal coming when Niall Pender’s long shot was fumbled to the net by Liam Slattery in the 45th minute.

It was a little victory, however pyrrhic, because ultimately there was no denying Ennistymon, with the prospect of a doubling up in next Sunday’s under 21 final against Cratloe the next mountain they want to climb.

IT’S been a long and winding road for Ennistymon over the past five years. They won the minor A title back in 2007 with a group that followed through to win an under 21 title in 2010.

But in between that minor win four years ago and Saturday in Miltown they’d lost three finals in the grade – to Cratloe in 2008, Lissycasey in ’09 and Doora-Barefield in ’10.

“It hurt an awful lot losing the last three finals,” says manager Mark Shannon after the losing streak was finally ended.

“Yes it was a great achievement getting to five in a row, but we wanted to be getting another win on the board. We were really determined today and really wanted to get off to a quick start.

“Goals was the key for us this year. The year we won the minor championship in 2007 we got goals. This year in all our games we’ve had forwards of the calibre to get goals. They continually got goals for us all year and we got two more early in the game and that set us up. We lost our way a bit in second half but when it came to the crunch we did the business,” he adds.

As Shannon was parsing the year, one of his joint captains Óisín Vaughan was talking about bringing Jack Daly back to the north Clare capital. “It would be great,” says Shannon, but we can’t get complacent.

“Minor and under 21 success doesn’t automatically say that it’s going to happen in senior, but that’s what we’re working towards that and hopefully one day we can win a senior championship.

“For this minor championship I knew we would have been contenders because we had a lot of the same group that we had for last few years. I knew in the last two weeks that it was going to take a good team to beat us. We had an unbelievable amount of work done in the last few weeks in training.”

Clarecastle 2-14 – Clooney/Quin 1-10 at Cusack Park, Ennis

CLARECASTLE advanced to a Senior B final with a degree of comfort in Sixmilebridge on Saturday afternoon, the Magpies in control throughout against a dogged, but profligate Clooney/Quin. The Magpies broke the back of this game with a tidy first half performance into the wind and they turned around with a five point advantgae, 1-8 to 0-6 at the break.

That lead was earned with an economical performance in front of goal, while at the other end Clooney/Quin shot a succession of wides. Eamon Callinan and David Greene led the way for the winners in that opening period, with Conor O’Gorman cracking home a well taken goal, while Callinan kept the white flag umpire busy. The Clarecastle sharpshooter would finish the game with 1-9 to his credit.

Early in the second half the Magpies went nine points clear when Callinan was in a the right place to intercept an intended clearance, steadying himself before blasting to the net. That score put his side 2-10 to 0-7 clear and the writing looked to be on the wall. As is a trademark of Clooney/Quin in recent years however, they didn’t go quietly, hitting back themselves with a goal from Martin Duggan and two points to close the gap at one stage to four with over fifteen minutes still on the clock.

Clarecastle quelled the comeback however with a series of well taken points from play, David Greene, Tyrone Kierse and Callinan again with a spectacular effort from over seventy yards out in the murky condi- tions to put proper daylight between the teams.

The winners now await old foes Newsmarket or Smith O’Briens in the Senior B final. Best for Clarecastle were Stephen O’Halloran, Patrick Kelly, Kevin Clohessy, Eric Flynn, Eamon Callinan, Conor O’Gorman and David Greene.

Clooney/Quin had a stand out performer in centre back Cillian Duggan. Elsewhere Fergal Lynch, Mike McNamara, Shane McNamara, Mark O’Halloran and Joe O’Loughlin tried hard.

Clarecastle
Donagh Murphy, Seanie Moloney, Stephen O’Halloran, Kevin Clohessy, Fergus Ryan, Patrick Kelly, Eric Flynn, Danny Scanlon, Jonathan Clancy, Darragh Moloney, Ciaran O’Dwyer, Eamon Callinan (1-9, 0-6 f),Tyrone Kierse (0-1), David Greene (03), Conor O’Gorman (1-1).

Clooney/ Quin
Damian O’ Halloran, Joe O’Loughlin, Conor Harrisson, Shane McNamara; Donnacda Murphy, Cillian Duggan, Enda Harrisson, Mike McNamara (0-1), John Earls (0-1), Mark O’Halloran (0-1), Fergal Lynch (0-2), Martin Duggan (1-0), PaudieWard, Derek Ryan (0-5 frees), Mike Daffy.

Subs
Adrian Fleming for Ward, Seamus Conroy for Ryan

Inagh/Kilnamona 1-17 – Clonlara 3-09 at Clarecastle

INAGH/KILNAMONA’S lack of a clinical edge again proved costly on Sunday afternoon after a late Clonlara charge earned them another bite of the cherry. Five points clear with seven minutes remaining, Inagh/Kilnamona failed to close out the game and they were to be punished as a lacklustre Clonlara suddenly found a spark to almost snatch the game.

Frustratingly, Inagh/Kilnamona, for all their undoubted progress this year, still have not learned the lessons of previous campaigns when the lack of a killer instinct cost them dearly. Even in previous big games this year, against Crusheen in the drawn game of their play-off in this competition as well as the championship quarterfinal against now finalists Sixmilebridge, they failed to take the chances that they worked so hard to create.

Fortunately, an injury-time free from Ger Arthur saved their blushes on this occasion and means that they still have the chance to rectify those misgivings the next day and on the evidence of the majority of this display, they certainly are more than capable of achieving a historic final place.

They were the brighter team for the bulk of the hour even if some ambitious shooting as well as a tendency to leak goals hampered their progress. They blazed into a 0-4 to 0-2 lead by the 14th minute with corner-forwards Ger Arthur (2) and Conor Tierney causing an understrength Clonlara concern.

What would have been more concerning for Pat Conlon and his team however was the hangover from their championship exit to Kilmaley that meant they were slow to settle. But settle they did and who better than John Conlon to get them going when fielding a high delivery from Tomás O’Donovan to strike to the net from close range in the 14th minute. The county senior followed that up with a point soon afterwards and suddenly the 2009 champions found themselves 1-3 to 0-6 clear.

Inagh/Kilnamona eventually recovered from that blow to hit three unanswered points through Eamon Glynn, Tierney and the lively Ger Arthur but it was their injury-time goal that really restored their confidence. A slick move close to goal involving Ger Arthur and Eamon Glynn released the unmarked Conor Tierney at the back post to strike to the net and hand his side a 1-9 to 1-5 half-time lead.

The fact that they fully recovered from a second hammer blow midway through the second half should have spurred them on to a comfortable victory but it wasn’t as easy as that. Colm Galvin cut in from the right corner to cut Inagh/Kilnamona’s advantage to the bare minimum with a 42nd minute goal but the Combo’s reponse was admirable as they hit five out of the next six points, mainly through Ger and Niall Arthur to once again regain a five point lead by the 51st minute.

It seemed only a matter of running down the clock but out of nowhere Clonlara sprung to life, aided greatly by Tomás O’Donovan, now at fullforward, who grabbed a goal and a point in a late 1-3 purple patch. His 56th minute kicked goal was the catalyst and he also got the leading point on the hour mark to put them on the cusp of a memorable victory.

However, Inagh/Kilnamona did have enough time to stop the rot and launch one more attack and when Paul O’Looney was fouled 35 metres from goal, it was inevitably Ger Arthur who took the responsibility to give his side a second chance.

And for their continued development, it’s a chance that they simply must take.

Inagh/ Kilnamona
Patrick Kelly (7) (0-2f), Milo Keane (7), Brian Glynn (7), Dermot Lynch (7), Ronan O’Looney (7), David Hegarty (7), ColmPilkington (7), HaulieVaughan (7), Paul O’Looney (6), EoinVaughan (7), Eamon Glynn (7) (0-1), Niall Arthur (7) (0-3 2f), Ger Arthur (8) (0-8 3f, 1’65), Dermot Gannon (7) (01), Conor Tierney (7) (1-2)

Clonlara
Ger O’Connell (7), Senan Nihill (6), John Moloney (7), Shane O’Brien (6), Nicky O’Connell (7) (0-2 1f, 1’65), Paul Nihill (7), Cillian Fennessy (7), Cormac O’Donovan (7),WilliamSlattery (6), Pat O’Hare (6),Tomás O’Donovan (8) (1-1), Cathal O’Connell (7) (0-3), ColmGalvin (7) (1-0), John Conlon (8) (1-5 3f), James Hastings (6)

Subs
Jason Murphy (6) for O’Hare (HT), Oisin O’Brien (6) for Hastings (HT), Barry Moloney for S. Nihill (51 mins), Donal Madden for Galvin (58 mins)

Man of the Match
Ger Arthur (Inagh/ Kilnamona) Referee KevinWalsh (WolfeTones)

Kildysart 2-09 – Meelick 2-06 at Gurteen

KILDYSART supporters were put through the full gamut of emotions before finally clinching some much needed silverware on Saturday. 2-5 to 0-1 clear by the break, nothing but a comfortable victory looked on the cards but in the end, they can count themselves extremely fortunate to get out of Gurteen with the cup in what was a compelling tie.

Their superior scoring ability was the difference in the opening period when a brace of Ian Slobody goals along with points from Keith Murphy (2), Brian Eyres, Kieran Leahy and the tireless Keith O’Connor opened up a substantial ten point interval advantage.

However, that scoreline doesn’t tell the full story of a half in which Meelick had ample opportunities to make a telling impression on the game but misfired. In all, the south east Clare side would kick 11 wides and had numerous goal chances, two of which fell in the opening half when Oisin Hickey might have earned a penalty for his side while a minute later, the crossbar saved Kildysart before Colin Ryan blazed the rebound over the bar from close range.

But in those exchanges, Meelick could sense that there was still hope and they were given the perfect start to the second period when Niall Mullen found the top corner of the net after only two minutes.

Kildysart brushed off that blow to reply through Dermot Eyres and Slobody by the 42nd minute but by then, Meelick could smell blood and with Craig Madigan, Damien Moloney and Oisin Hickey to the fore, they gathered momemtum. Points from Moloney and Hickey who might have grabbed a goal started the charge which really ignited when Meelick’s best player Madigan sent a rebound to the net after Dara Quinn’s initial shot had been saved by Pa Kelly.

An Oisin Hickey point cut the deficit to just three by the 47th minute but try as they might, they were unable to grab an equalising goal. Keith O’Connor lifted the siege with a point while also setting up Slobody for a shot that grazed both goalkeeper and crossbar before bouncing to safety. While down the other end, Madigan had two good efforts repelled while a final chance for Hickey was stopped by Keith Murphy as Kildysart hung on for a memorable win.

Kildysart
Pa Kelly, Shane Murphy, David McMahon, Kieran Leahy (0-1), Brian Eyres (0-2), Brian Moloney, Keith O’Connor (0-2), Dermot Clancy (Capt.), Cathal Hogan, Damian Hill, Dermot Eyres (0-1), Ian Slobody (2-1), Keith Murphy (0-2)

Sub
Eamonn Murphy for Hogan (45 mins)

Meelick
Roy Duffy, Brian Barrett, Lee Ryan, Eanna Mulvihill, Niall Mullen (1-0), Eoghan Daly, Sean O’Connor, Damien Moloney (0-1), Dara Quinn,Adam Sherlock, Colin Ryan (0-1), Craig Madigan (1-2 1’45), Oisin Hickey (0-2)

Sub
Gary Callinan for O’Connor (13 mins, inj)

Man of the Match
Keith O’Connor (Kildysart) Referee Fergal Gray (Feakle)

Ruan 3-10 – Corofin 2-06 at Shannon

RUAN ARE back into a second consecutive county final and on the evidence of this emphatic display, they are doubly determined not to leave it behind them this time around. This was arguably Ruan’s best display of the season in what was essentially the most important game of the year to date and they certainly lived up to expectations.

There was little between the sides in the drawn game but in terms of intensity and hunger, there was only one side willing to grasp the nettle and put the result beyond any doubt on this occasion. Put simply, Ruan upped their performance a gear or two from their first meeting while if anything, Corofin dropped theirs by the similar margin.

It was clear from the outset that Ruan meant business as they blazed into a 1-3 to 0-0 lead by the eighth minute with Colin O’Donoghue grabbing 1-1 of that total.

They were also unlucky for another goal as Patrick Keegan gathered a John Punch delivery close to goal but first goalkeeper Patrick Burke and then Darragh Shannon smothered his efforts.

And even when Corofin finally settled with points from Gerry Quinn and Stephen Heagney, Ruan pushed them back under the water when John Punch seized on a defensive error to billow the net for a second time at the turn of the opening quarter.

Now seven points in arrears, Corofin needed a major spark and they got a brief lifeline when a Jamie Malone point was followed by a Kevin Heagney goal in the 18th minute to put only three between the sides.

However, Ruan closed out the half as they started it, with the ever-reliable Mikie Vaughan, the equally impressive Aidan Lynch and another John Punch free easing them to a double scores’ 2-6 to 1-3 advantage.

A more determined Corofin hit the ground running on the restart with Kevin Heagney creating a glorious goal chance but flashed his stinging shot just wide of Pakie Roughan’s far post. And after Ruan pulled further clear, Corofin did manage to get it back to a six point game by the 52nd minute.

Corofin needed a goal however if they were really going to kickstart a meaningful recovery but it was Ruan who would get that honour in the 56th minute when a move involving Darragh Roughan and Mikie Vaughan ended up with Brendan Lyons who made no mistake to finish off their neighbours.

Substitute Caimin Howard was immense for Ruan upon his introduction and allied to match-winning performances from Vaughan, Clohessy and the strength of Aidan Lynch, Ruan maintained their iron grip on the game.

Corofin did pull a goal back in injury-time when Stephen Heagney drove a 20 metre free to the net but it was a mere consolation as Ruan’s thoughts had already drifted towards Éire Óg and making amends for last year’s final.

Ruan
Pakie Roughan (7), Gary Bell (7), Niall O’Connor (7), Leon Quirke (7), Cillian Ryan (7), Jonathan Clohessy (8), Darragh Roughan (7), Eoin Hanrahan (7),Tadgh Hanrahan (7),Aidan Lynch (8) (0-2), Colin O’Donoghue (8) (1-3), MikieVaughan (8) (0-2), Patrick Keegan (7), John Punch (7) (1-2 2f), Brendan Lyons (7) (1-1)

Subs
Caimin Howard (8) for E. Hanrahan (39 mins, inj),Alan Bell for Punch (58 mins), Robbie O’Loughlin for Keegan (58 mins), Damien Brohan for Quirke (58 mins)

Corofin
Patrick Burke (7), MartinTierney (7), Luke O’Loughlin (6), Keith O’Loughlin (7), Darragh Shannon (7), Gerry Quinn (7) (0-1f), Darragh Clancy (6), Damien Ryan (8), Stephen Heagney (7) (1-1 1-0f), Jamie Malone (7) (0-2), Declan Lee (6), Neil Killeen (7), Kevin Heagney (8) (1-1), Eamon Malone (6), Cillian Neylon (6) (0-1)

Subs
Darren Malone (6) for Lee (HT), Diarmuid Daly (6) for D. Malone (42 mins), Eamon Dunne for E. Malone (50 mins), Donncha Kelleher for O’Loughlin (58 mins), Declan Stack for Neylon (58 mins)

Man of the Match
Aidan Lynch (Ruan) Referee Ger Hoey (Killanena)

WHEN Kilmurry Ibrickane had Doonbeg by the throat in last year’s county semi-final in Cooraclare – leading by a goal with just over ten minutes remaining, having hit six points without reply – Betfair would have closed its book where betting in running was concerned.

It looked that much of a cast-iron certainty. But then it happened. David Tubridy smashed home a gal and eventually after some toe-to-toe scoreless combat Enda Doyle landed a monster point that shattered Kilmmurry Ibrickane’s three-in-a-row dream.

The ‘Bricks were badly wounded that day – they are anyday they come out on the wrong side against the Magpies, but more than it was because their shot at history was gone, cast away by their failure to kill a game they were controlling.

In a way it has informed everything Kilmurry Ibrickane have done this year. Defeat, the bitter pill of defeat at that, made them hungry again overnight, whereas the wear, tear and tiredness that comes with any run to an All-Ireland club final eventually weighed them down in the 2010 domestic club championship and eventually found them out.

Alas, from the point of view of St Joseph’s Doora-Barefield, the hunger is well and truly back in 2011. Their formidable record ahead of this county final tells the familiar story of Kilmurry being the greatest team of their generation.

Cusack Cup: nine games, eight wins, one draw. O’Gorman Cup: seven games, seven wins. Senior championship: five games, five wins.

That’s a record of 2120-0-1 and the Cusack and O’Gorman cups already on the sideboard.

It all means that if St Joseph’s are to mount a successful roadblock to the completion of the treble – Kilmurry’s second in three years, it will be the biggest shock in a county final since the first bearers Decla n O’Keeffe More than just a goalkeeper – that’s aside from all he’s won, between All-Irelands, National Leagues, Railways Cup, All Stars and three county medals. Runs the show at the back, because backs tend to take on board what a player of his experience has to say. Kicks points too as he proved in the quarter-final win over Doonbeg. Will play a huge part if The Parish are to cause the shock of this century. St Joseph’s 9 St ephen Collins V Michael O’Dwyer Good match up here. O’Dwyer is a big game player, who comes into his own at the business end of Jack Daly. Collins in young though and an up and coming defender who won’t fear the Mullagh man, but he’ll have to be very sharp to get parity. St Joseph’s D-B 8 Kilmur r y Ibr icka ne 8 Ala n O’Neill V Paul O’Connor O’Neill has been the man to turn St Joseph’s season around. His goals have done that. He’ll run all day – that’s why O’Connor, the more mobile of Kilmurry’s midfield pair will pick him up. Coping with the

physicality of it all is key for O’Neill. O’Connor brings that as one of the driving forces of the Kilmurry side. St Joseph’s D-B 8 Kilmur r y Ibr icka ne 8 Ma r k Ha llina n V Pet er O’Dwyer Captain’s Battle. Hallinan

didn’t start the semi-final, but might get the nod over Mark Rafferty, but

then again the work ethic

that the Derryman brings to Joseph’s is legendary. Hard call, but these are the calls that have to be made. O’Dwyer’s work

ethic is equally legendary. Kilmurry only realised

how good he was when he

was billetted up in Gorey for a year in 2007. St Joseph’s D-B 7 Kilmur r y Ibr icka ne 9 Da mia n Kennedy V Enda Coughla n Maybe a match-up on paper only because Coughlan is not your conventional cornerforward. If selected there he will rove, going back to midfield and further. Kennedy wouldn’t mind though as he’s more used to being further afield himself. St Joseph’s D-B 7 Kilmur r y Ibr icka ne 9 Ger Fa nnin V Noel Downes Fannin has been on the county senior panel – Downes should be the marquee forward on the county senior team. This is about club, not county though and this duel will be crucial. Downes due a big game, Fannin will do everything to stop that happening. St Joseph’s D-B 8 Kilmur r y Ibr icka ne 8 Kevin Dilleen V Michael Hoga n Crucial match-up. Dilleen, a dual county senior, is the soul of The Parish, how he plays will depend on how they go in this final. Hogan is hugely important to Kilmurry because he wins the hard ball. What you want on county final day. St Joseph’s D-B 9 Kilmur r y Ibr icka ne 8 Gavin O’Su lliva n V St ephen Moloney Moloney was given a tough time of it in the semi when ‘Ogie’ Murphy had a stormer – this could be where he strikes back. O’Sullivan will have to have the game of his life to keep him in check. Mark Raffterty could be at wing-back though. St Joseph’s D-B 7 Kilmur r y Ibr icka ne 8 Gr eg Lyons V Ma r k McCa r t hy McCarthy was Kilmurry’s best forward in semi-final win – full of running and hitting two fine points. Lyons is nominally a defender though, as he likes to attack himself. Will have to blend defence and attack, because he has to try and keep tabs on ‘Cookie’. St Joseph’s D-B 8 Kilmur r y Ibr icka ne 9 J a mes Ha nr a ha n Michael O’Sulliva n J ohn Ha lpin Kier a n Kelleher Chr ist y O’Br ien (26) Dona l O’Ha llor a n (19) Eugene Moyniha n by Joe Ó Mu irch eart aigh Ma nagement

Sixmilebridge 1-17 – Cratloe 1-13 at Cusack Park, Ennis

FORTUNE certainly favoured the brave on Saturday as Sixmilebridge won the most important O’Garneyside derby in history to qualify for their first championship final in nine years.

Manager Christy Chaplin and his backroom team made the big calls in bringing Clare’s most decorated goalkeeper Davy Fitzgerald out of retirement after a four year championship absense while also reconstructing his defence to combat the threat of Cratloe’s lively attacking unit. And in the end, that bravery paid off handsomely as they walked the tightrope of success/failure on numerous occasions before eventually overcoming their nearest neighbours.

As outlined in the build up to the game, ‘The Fitzy Factor’ was always going to have a huge bearing on the game and after Conor McGrath struck early with an opportunist goal on their way to a 1-6 to 0-4 advantage after 20 minutes, Cratloe seemed to have unlocked the door.

However, ultimately the 2009 champions took their eye off the major prize of a third successive final when they started to misfire during Sixmilebridge’s recovery early in the second period and began to put all their eggs in the one basket of trying to blitz the former All-Star in the Sixmilebridge goals.

Rusty or not, Fitzgerald has always been a big game player and he relished the challenge of his young opponents, pulling off two fine saves in the process, one from Conor Ryan, and the other a full length parry to deny Conor McGrath.

The first lesson that every underage team is taught is to ‘take your points and the goals will come’ but bizarrely, the more frustrated Cratloe became, the more desperate they appeared, to grab a goal. In logical terms it didn’t make an ounce of sense as they were only three points down for the majority of the final quarter as the ‘Bridge couldn’t seem to find an insurance point and had Cratloe taken their points, there would have been noth- ing between the teams heading up the final straight.

Perhaps you can point to fatigue as well for their goal obsession as the alternating weeks of football and hurling finally appeared to take its toil as they cruelly exited a senior championship at the penultimate stage for the second successive weekend.

Cratloe were much more themselves in opening period when bouncing back from a 0-2 to 0-0 deficit to take a five point lead by the 16th minute, capped off by McGrath’s instinctive goal. It stemmed from an Oige Murphy ball over the top that appeared to be drifting wide before McGrath latched onto the ball one-handed to flick it past a hesistant Fitzgerald.

With that, they really opened up and their electrifying intensity saw Sean Collins hit two-in-a-row to put the ‘Bridge firmly on the backfoot. However, with Niall Gilligan to the fore as ever, Sixmilebridge didn’t panic and after settling back into the game with four out of the next seven points, three from the stick of Gilligan, they delivered a crucial suckerpunch just before the break.

Inevitably Gilligan was the catalyst when dispossessing Oige Murphy around the 20 metre line and the ball broke to Shane Golden who in turn released Declan Morey to strike to the net in the 31st minute and slash the deficit to the minimum at 1-9 to 1-8.

With the wind to come, it was the spark that Sixmilebridge craved and they were the dominant force on the restart when responding to a Conor McGrath free to hit the next three points, two from Gilligan as well as a goal chance for Caimin Morey that just flew over the crossbar to take the lead for the first time in almost 30 minutes.

Cratloe, meanwhile, surprisingly shuddered under the pressure as routine placed balls and hopeful shots drifted wide and it was at this stage that they began to concentrate on reaping the benefits under the crossbar.

Cratloe left McGrath isolated in the full-forward line and the chances duly came but none were ultimately taken. Tadgh Keogh produced an exceptional flick to deny McGrath a certain goal while Conor Ryan beared down on goal soon afterwards but found Fitzgerald in stubborn form.

Meanwhile, at the other end, the ‘Bridge were more than content to take their points and unanswered efforts from Declan (2) and Caimin Morey gave their side a healthy 1-14 to 1-11 advantage by the turn of the final quarter.

McGrath cut the deficit to two, only to see it cancelled out by an superb immediate reply from Gilligan. However, only a minute later a poor defensive clearance from Sixmilebridge arrowed straight to McGrath whose shot to the right corner was excellently turned away by Fitzgerald.

Still, the ‘Bridge’s heroics at the back failed to inspire the forwards who for all their chances, were unable to obtain that insurance point. Four successive wides kept Cratloe in the game and even when substitute Tony Carmody rose majestically to catch a Cratloe puck-out and fire the ball back over Sean Hayes crossbar, a McGrath free kept alive Cratloe’s hopes at 1-16 to 1-13.

The killer blow came right on the hour mark and it was a score worthy of winning any game as a Cratloe attack was broken up by Declan Morey in the right corner who moved the ball through Carmody, Rory Shanahan and Caimin Morey before setting up minor Jamie Shanahan for the clinching score.

Cratloe never gave up the ghost but tired legs and minds were not about to loosen Sixmilebridge’s grasp as in the end, they proved the theory that who dares wins.

THE PLAYERS come from far and wide back to Quilty for training. Captain Peter O’Dwyer travels back from Athlone, students Niall Hickey and Seamus Murrihy come down from Galway while Martin McMahon makes the long trek from Dublin. And all those miles on the road are wholly necessary considering the immense fight for places in such a large squad that has achieved unprecedented success in recent years.

McMahon was linked with a transfer to Dublin side Oliver Plunketts not so long ago which made sense in geographical terms but the sacrifice to journey down to Quilty from his Dublin base has been made all the more worthwhile as his native side closes in on a third county title in four years.

“You don’t really mind the journey once you are winning. When you are on a winning team like we have been this year with the Cusack and O’Gorman Cups as well as going well in the championship, you don’t mind the travelling. It would be a lot harder to be making the trip down every year if we weren’t getting there so thanks be to God, we are lucky enough to be successful and that we have won a few county titles. But we won’t be taking this one likely because Barefield are going to be a tough game too.”

Kilmurry will point to their vast experience at this level in not only getting to county finals but actually winning them in recent years as the key to success. And after exiting last year’s championship race at the semi-final stage, there is no shortage of appetite either.

“The bit of experience that Kilmurry have had in county finals over the past few years maybe does make it a bit easier going into this game. Last year we were very disappointed not to be back in the final again and maybe the pressure of trying to go for three-in-a-row as well as the long stint of the All-Ireland campaign got to us in the end. But it’s a great feeling to be back in the county final again. It’s where we want to be and hopefully we can drive on and bring back the Jack Daly home again.

“The most important thing that we had to get back this year was our intensity and hunger for it. Maybe last year we still had a h a n g o v e r from the Al l – I r e land final but t h a t w a s still no e x c u s e because at the end of the day in the semi-final, we had chances to put Doonbeg away and we didn’t do it.

“So this year we were determined that every game that we went out to play whether it was a league game or O’Gorman Cup game that we were going to go out and try to win every game as hard as we could. And fingers crossed, we have been lucky to have stayed injury-free and with the squad being fairly big, lads that have hit form have been playing but if you’re not on form, we have been lucky enough to have fellas there to come on and make a difference.”

So as the form player of Kilmurry’s season, how does he rate opponents Doora/Barefield?

“The way we are looking at it is that they are the team that dethroned the champions. It wasn’t Kilmurry Ibrickane that dethroned Doonbeg of their county title, it was Barefield. They went along then and beat a good Wolfe Tones team. We were possibly lucky that when we played Wolfe Tones, there was nothing at stake in the game because whoever won or lost were still going to go through from the group.

“Everyone has been taking about Barefield’s Under 21 winning team of 2008 but back in 2003, there were in the final then as well so everyone remembers the one final that they won but they have been there or thereabouts for a numbers of years and won a minor last year.

“As well as that everyone points to our experience but Doora/Barefield are an experienced team too and have guys that have played for the county team so they won’t shy away from it and will know what to expect. But hopefully the fact that we have been to two county finals in the last three years, maybe that can help us to get over the line.”

Getting over the line once more will make the eventual journey back to Dublin that bit sweeter.