Category: Sport

Kilmurry Ibrickane 1-7 – Cratloe 0-9 at Lissycasey

FOR a few fleeting minutes this had all the appearances of a changing of the guard. Out of the west, into the east, seismic shift and all that.

The young turks from Cratloe had hit five unanswered points to draw level by the 55th minute – they could smell something special.

The old dogs from the barony of Ibrickane were creaking as Cratloe had them on the run, more than that they had the legs on them and looked primed to close in on their biggest scalp in senior football since beating Ennis Thomas Davis at the same stage of the championship way back in 1887.

With Liam Markham and Martin ‘Ogie’ Murphy thundering forward from the half-back line, the Collins brothers humming and deadeye Cathal McInerney up front, the stage was set.

Everyone in Lissycasey could feel it, but it never happened because in the gap of danger and with perhaps the end of Kilmurry’s greatest ever era at hand, like the true champions they are, they bounced off the ropes to land the knockout blow through Johnnie Daly two and half minutes from time.

It was gripping stuff. Kilmurry had bossed this game for 40 minutes and had enough possession to kill the game early in the second half, but Cratloe’s derring-go, fitness and football helped tee up a titanic battle that has set the standard for this year’s championship.

And, it was Kilmurry who raised the bar highest in an impressive opening when they raced into a 1-3 to 0-1 lead after 15 minutes. With Noel Downes and Michael O’Dwyer revelling in the space of a two-man full-forward line, Enda Coughlan retreated to the third midfielder’s role he played so effectively in those two epic county finals against Éire Óg in 2004.

It worked with Downes opening the scoring on three minutes, while five minutes later a long ball from Coughlan miss-judged by Barry Duggan was brilliantly flicked by Downes into O’Dwyer who slammed to the net beyond Jamie Joyce.

It was vintage Kilmurry – they were tight at the back, 30-somethings Peter O’Dwyer and Paul O’Connor were shading the midfield war against Brendan Bugler and Conor Ryan and the forwards were dangerous in front of goal.

Cratloe, meanwhile, were ponderous in their approach and if anything suffering from stage fright in the club’s first county semi-final in 124 years.

When Kilmurry followed up O’Dwyer’s goal with an Ian McInerney free and a brilliant Enda Coughlan point on 15 minutes after good work in the build-up by Ian McIn- erney, Noel Downes and Michael O’Dwyer, it looked a case of men against boys.

But whether it’s small ball or big, Cratloe are nothing if not resilient and two Cathal McInerney frees by the 24th minute – to add to Liam Markham’s opener in the eighth – raised their spirits before McCarthy’s fine effort from play eased Kilmurry 1-4 to 0-3 clear at the break.

Ian McInerney and Cathal McInerney swapped pointed frees inside four minutes of the re-start, before an exquisite crossfield ball from Stephen Moloney teed up Mark McCarthy for his second point to put five between the sides.

Kilmurry were in control, but as their wides started to mount Cratloe gradually played their way back into the game with pointed frees from Cathal McInerney and Liam Markham by the three quarter stage, pegging it back to a three-point game.

From there Cratloe took complete control – Conor Ryan and Brendan Bugler took a stranglehold of midfield as the Blues gradually turned the screw only to lack the killer instinct to win the game.

Two more Markham frees by the 50th minute left only a point between the sides, while Cathal McInerney levelled matters in the 54th, only for a couple of glaring misses to cost Cratloe their slice of history.

Padraigh Chaplin should have put Conor McGrath through on goal in the 53rd minute, but in electing to go for a point drove the ball wide from 18 yards, while McGrath, who was brilliantly policed by Shane Hickey throughout, should have pointed in the 56th minute only to be foiled by a brilliant Peter O’Dwyer block.

These misses effectively saved Kilmurry, who then showed nerves of steel in lifting the siege, with substitutes Niall Hickey and Johnnie Daly combining to seal their great escape.

Daly gathered the ball 35 yards from goal, turned and showed his enduring class when thumping the ball between the sticks for a great point.

Cratloe were crestfallen – their day will mostly definitely come but it was Kilmurry’s day as they close in on a third county title in four years.

Avenue United 7 – Coole FC 0 at The County Grounds, Doora

AVENUE United reigned supreme in this one-sided cup decider on Sunday afternoon – cruising to victory over their Galway opposition when rattling home seven goals to take home the silverware.

It was a stroll for the Ennis side as they led 5-0 at half-time, with Evan Courtney leading the way with a brace, while he then crowned his brilliant afternoon’s work by grabbing another in the second half to claim his hat-trick.

It was the other Evan in the Avenue starting line-up that opened the scoring – defender Evan McNamara getting the all-important goal to set his side on their way in the tenth minute.

From there the floodgates opened with Evan Courtney adding a second five minutes later before Barry and Brian Guilfoyle added to Avenue’s total, while Evan Courtney had the final say of the half with his second. Courtney notched his third early in the second half while Cian Crim- mins completed the scoring.

Coole kept trying though with Stephen McCarthy putting in a great display despite the tidal wave of goals against his side, while Calvin Finn was also prominent throughout.

The win keeps alive Avenue’s hopes of a league/cup double for 2011. The league is still up for grabs as they chase down their county capital rivals Ennis Town as the campaign enters its concluding stages.

MANAGER Patrick Murrihy was speechless at the end of it all, words failing him after the tumult of the final minutes when his charges looked to be staring defeat in the face only for Johnnie Daly to save the day with a brilliant point.

It was no wonder – he was as breathless as his players, still gathering himself in the minutes after the game as he deferred to trainer/coach John Kennedy.

“It wasn’t anything less than we ex- pected. We knew that Cratloe were a serious team and they proved that,” said Kennedy. “When we were five or six points up we could have kicked on and we didn’t. Cratloe never give up and it was very close.

“Football can be cruel and it went to the wire right a the end. It was a real intense game and scores were very hard to come by.

“No better man to get a chance at the end than Johnnie Daly who had just come on and kicked a great point. An old head and experience is what was needed at that stage and he did it and it was a score worthy of winning the game,” he added.

It was enough to book Daly’s sixth county final day out and Kilmur ry’s third in four years, but already Kennedy was looking for more.

“We have a lot of work to do with our forwards because we didn’t turn out superiority into scores,” he said. “The aim at the start of the year was to get to a county final and we’re there.

“You couldn’t be happy with the display of our forwards today. We showed well for the ball and won a lot of good possession but we didn’t translate it. We could have been comfortable with ten minutes to go if we had transferred it into scores but we didn’t.

“We’ll be favourites because Kilmurry are favourites going into most games. You have to take that. They have great experience and we’ll be hoping that we can bring home the Jack Daly,” he added.

Banner Ladies 3-13 – Cappawhite 3-11 (after extra-time) at Sean Tracey Park, Tipperary Town

NOBODY said it was going to be easy. This proved to be the case on Saturday for Banner Ladies who won their first ever Munster club match in a pulsating Senior B semi-final. It took extra time to separate the sides for a finish and the feat was made all the more remarkable as for six of the Banner side, it was their second game in a matter of hours.

Earlier in Shannon, Emma O’Driscoll, Shonagh Enright, Katie Cahill and Sinead O’Keeffe played key roles in Kilmaley’s county senior championship camogie semi-final win over a Clooney/Quin side that included Louise Henchy while Naomi Carroll was a member of Limerick Institute’s Hockey side that defeated U.C.C. in a league match.

Back to football and in the third game of a triple header. a total of six goals and 24 points kept the small attendance on their toes right up to the final whistle.

Cappawhite full-forward Siobhan Costello had her first of eight points in the third minute while Niamh O’Dea equalised with her first score of what would be a whopping tally of 2-9. Sinead Buckley put the Tipperary side back in front with a goal but by the tenth minute, the Banner had responded with points from Rebecca Culligan and Louise Henchy. Two O’Dea frees put the Clare senior champions back in front but what O’Dea could do at one end, Costello could equally accomplish at the other. She also pointed two frees while also causing endless problems for the Banner rearguard. Another O’Dea free and a point from play from the outstanding Naomi Carroll put the Banner ahead again but Costello with two points from play, sent Cappawhite in with a point to spare at the interval at 1-5 to 0-7.

Banner resumed with Laurie Ryan at full-back marking Costello while Louise Woods and Shona Enright exchanged positions. And those switches appeared to have the desired effect as the Banner got the half off to a great start when full forward Niamh O’Dea goaled after Henchy picked her out from a ‘45 to put her side 1-7 to 1-5 in front in the 37th minute. Credit to Cappawhite though as within a minute Sinead Buckley struck for her second goal when she shot low to beat Emma O’Driscoll who had a fine hour. Another Costello point was cancelled out by Eva O’Dea who had been introduced just three minutes earlier. Her sister added two from frees and the scoreboard now read 2-9 to 2-7 in favour of the Clare champions. Costello again and Shauna Quirke with a point apiece levelled matters with 58 minutes played. And before the whistle sounded to complete the normal time, the game’s top scorer O’Dea had edged the Ennis side in front but during the additional time of which there was a justified six minutes, Quirke levelled for Cappawhite to send the game to extra-time as the evening closed in.

Cappawhite dominated the first half of extra-time. A goal from midfielder Sheelagh Carew and a point from Claire Mullins pushed them four ahead while the Banner failed to score in that ten minute period.

When Costello pointed her eighth score early in the second half, it looked like curtains for Banner Ladies who trailed by five with eight minutes remaining. 1-1 from the mighty Niamh O’Dea, who took a lot of punishment over the hour, brought them to within a point and with about a minute to go, centre-forward Naomi Carroll had the ball in the back of the Cappawhite net to crown an unbelievable Banner comeback and send them through to the Munster Senior B final against Kerry’s Sliabh Luachra next Saturday.

Apart from O’Dea and the outstanding Naomi Carroll, Banner had solid performances from Katie Cahill, Louise Woods, Sinead O’Keeffe, Laurie Ryan, Louise Henchy and Emma O’Driscoll.

Clondegad 1-10 – Kilmurry Ibrickane 0-09 at Cooraclare

THE DREAMS of generations of Clondegad followers were finally realised on Sunday as the intermediate side’s long held tussle for the Talty Cup was surmounted. The victory bridged a 67-year gap to the last Clondegad side led by Flan McCarthy to secure the crown but really it is only in recent seasons that their love-hate relationship with the trophy really ignited. Final defeats in 2004, ’06 and last year’s loss to St Breckan’s left them wondering if they would ever reached the promised land of senior football but through sheer persistence and determination, they eventually got over the line.

And that’s essentially what was needed on a day when the pressure piled upon their shoulders certainly had an effect as they led from start to finish without ever putting away their opponents. However, getting over the line by whatever means possible was Clondegad’s only concern and in that regard, Tony Kelly’s 46th minute goal must go down as one of the most important in the club’s history.

Of course, Kilmurry Ibrickane being the ferocious competitiors they are pushed them all the way and never made it a comfortable journey for the champions elect. And if Tony Kelly hadn’t finally converted that goal, one wonders how this game would have actually turned out. Kilmurry Ibrickane knew that if the game was still in the melting pot in the final quarter, they had the experience to cause an upset and they certainly lived up to that reputation as Kelly’s goal was sandwiched by five Kilmurry points that left supporters chewing their nails right up to the final whistle.

Clondegad deserved their victory however as they were by far the more creative side over the hour, even if they were hampered in their progress by 12 wides and three missed goal opportunities.

Kilmurry Ibrickane were fully aware of the scoring prowess of Gary Brennan, Padraig McMahon, Brian Carrigg and Tony Kelly and so counteracted that by playing Thomas Lernihan as a sweeper, just as they had done to great effect in the second half of the semi-final against O’Curry’s when facing into a gale.

The gale was all on the playing side in the opening ten minutes as Clondegad hit the ground running with all four aforementioned attacking protagonists heavily involved. Tony Kelly picked out Gary Brennan for the opening score inside the first minute, the county senior doubled that advantage a minute later following a foul on McMahon while further scores for McMahon, Carrigg and Kelly opened up a 0-5 to 0-1 lead by the tenth minute.

The game appeared to be getting away from Kilmurry Ibrickane but they duly packed the defence and with chief marksmen Odran O’Dwyer and Adrian Murrihy often the only forwards in the Clondegad half, they finally got a footing in the game. Points from O’Dwyer and Murrihy closed the gap to two by the turn of the opening quarter while frustrating Clondegad at the other end when pressuring them into five successive wides.

Clondegad did finally emerge from that malaise to pick off scores from McMahon and Gary Brennan but by half’s end, another Murrihy score left only a goal between the sides at 0-7 to 0-4.

Again Clondegad flew out of the blocks on the restart, led by the inspirational Kieran Browne, without ever wrestling clear of a stubborn Kilmurry side. Gary Brennan did knock over a free in the 33rd minute but two further wides along with three missed chances in front of goal ensured that they would not ease clear. Shane Brennan put Padraig McMahon through on goal only to be smothered by the brave goalkeeping of David Talty who had to succumb to a head injury and be replaced by Darren Sexton.

If Clondegad thought that the replacement goalkeeper would weaken Kilmurry’s resolve, they were to be sorely mistaken as Sexton produced an even better stop to somehow deny Tony Kelly, only three minutes after his introduction. So when Shane Brennan’s goalbound shot was blocked by Thomas Greene in the 40th minute, Clondegad must have wondered what they had to do to get a goal.

They did finally break their nine minute scoring deadlock with another Gary Brennan free but Kilmurry Ibrickane took inspiration from their dogged defending and brought the lead back to three through the unerring accuracy of Odran O’Dwyer who rattled off two points within a minute by the turn of the final quarter.

Kilmurry began to believe once more which made Tony Kelly’s goal a minute later all the more significant after good work from Gearoid

Bride Rovers 1-13 – Shannon Gaels 4-02 at Sean Tracey Park, Tipperary Town

SHANNON Gaels’ Munster club campaign was brought to an end on Saturday when they went down by two points to a fine Bride Rovers side in a keenly contested Intermediate semi-final at Tipperary Town. While the east Cork side registered fourteen scores to Shannon Gaels six and were the better team overall, much credit has also to be given to Shannon Gaels who played with great passion and were right in this contest up to the final whistle courtesy of their four goals.

The Clare Intermediate champions couldn’t have asked for a better start. Colette Corry won the throw-in and found Sarah Bohannon who in turn shot towards Bride Rovers goal. Her effort came back out off the crossbar and in raced Edel Dillon to boot it to the net all inside 30 seconds.

The impressive Sinead Walsh got the Cork side off the mark while in the eighth minute, Sarah Bohannon scored a second Shannon Gaels goal when her free went all the way to the top right after Michelle Madigan had been fouled on the 30 me- tre line at the end of a fine Shannon Gaels move. Elaine Dee replied with a point for Bride Rovers before a foul by Adrienne Nugent gave away a penalty which Sinead Walsh made no mistake with. The Cork side dominated the next 15 minutes in terms of scores adding three points while they also kicked seven wides to the Gaels’ two in the opening half. Grace Lynch was introduced for Ger Corry in the 18th minute and despite carrying an injury, she made a telling contribution. Four minutes from half-time, she rattled the net when expertly finishing a move that put the Gaels back in the lead and Sarah Bohannon pointed to see the Clare side lead 31 to 1-5 at the interval, much to the delight of their large following.

A feature of Shannon Gaels game was their workrate with Maryruth Neylon, Helena Flanagan, Susan Neylon and Adrienne Nugent particularly impressive in defence while Colette Corry and Sarah Bohannon really worked hard with the latter covering a lot of ground. Michelle Madigan and Carmel Bohannon all played their part but needed a better supply up front. The win against Clashmore of Waterford in the quarter-final definitely boosted their confidence and they battled hard for every ball.

The second half started very like the first for Shannon Gaels and Grace Lynch scored her second goal when she perfectly connected in flight to palm home her team’s fourth goal. Five points ahead, it was a pity that Shannon Gaels could not capitalise on this lead. Bride Rovers didn’t panic however and gradually, by kicking point after point they kicked seven unanswered scores, one from Colette Hogan, three from the impressive Grace Kearney, an All Ireland medal winner with Cork six days earlier, and three frees from Sinead Walsh to lead by two.

With three minutes of normal time remaining, Lynch pointed a Gaels free but Grace Kearney had the final say with her fifth point from play as her side held on for a deserved two point win despite playing the last ten minutes with fourteen players due to the sin-binning of wing-back Caroline Broderick for a high tackle on Colette Corry.

The season is now over for Shan- non Gaels and while they will be disappointed not to have reached the Munster Intermediate Final, they will look back on the year with satisfaction as they finally captured the county title and will look forward to playing senior championship football next year. Incidentally, Bride Rovers will play St. Ailbee’s of Limerick in the final on October 16.

Shannon Gaels
Serana Carmody, Eilis Moran, Maryruth Neylon, Imelda Kennedy, Helena Flanagan, Susan Neylon, Adrienne Nugent, Colette Corry, Kate O’Brien, Croidhe Glynn, Sarah Bohannon (1-1f), Michelle Madigan, Edel Dillon (1-0), Carmel Bohannon (Capt.), Ger. Corry

Subs
Grace Lynch (2-1 1f) for G. Corry (18 mins), Carla Beehan for Glynn (HT), G. Corry for Dillon

Bride Rovers
CatrionaVaughan, Emma O’Keeffe (capt.),Arlene O’Callaghan, Bridget Forde, Niamh Barry,Annette Raher, Caroline Broderick, Michelle McAteer, Jennifer Barry (0-1), Grace Kearney (0-5), Elanor Ahern, Colette Hogan (0-1), Jennifer Cahill, Elaine Dee (0-1), SineadWalsh (1-5 3f, 1-0 pen)

Subs
Sinead O’Driscoll for Cahill, Mary Hazelwood for O’Keeffe

Referee
Sean Joy (Kerry)

CLONDEGAD captain Gary Brennan summed it up best in his speech by stating that he had to take a second look at the cup to make sure it wasn’t all a dream. It wasn’t a dream, it was finally reality for Clondegad after the nightmare of recent finals and for Brennan, it was difficult to put his feelings into words.

“It’s hard to to be honest because it hasn’t really sunk in yet. I’m just absolutely delighted. We’ve put a lot of work into it and I suppose it’s relief more than anything because we really felt we had a chance and if we had been beaten today, I suppose it would have been really hard to come back again. So I suppose we are relieved but also absolutely delighted.”

Relief because they never really put Kilmurry Ibrickane away at any stage despite holding the larger share of possession and chances.

“I wouldn’t say we were nervous coming into the game. We felt quite calm and confident, and not over confident at the same time, but look games go that way. Kilmurry are a fantastic club with a great pedigree and a lot of those players have won county championships and Munster championships so they don’t give up easy and were never going to give in.

“We were coming under severe pressure but the goal just pushed us ahead again and made it that bit harder for them to come back.”

And with Brennan leading a very young squad into top flight action next year, did he feel that this maturing crop could blossom at senior level?

“We won’t worry about blossoming yet,” he says with a smile, “we will worry about surviving to start with and we’ll see where we go from there. But look, there is great work going on in the club, a lot of good young players coming through and hopefully we can start building ourselves as a senior club but it will be all about survival to start with.”

CLUB commitments and championship structures are a barrier between Clare and success at senior intercounty hurling, outgoing manger Ger ‘Sparrow’ O’Loughlin told club delegates when giving a detailed report on his two-year as county senior manager.

In his wide-ranging comments on the state of Clare senior hurling as he hands over the management reins to fellow All-Ireland winner Davy Fitzgerald, O’Loughlin urged clubs to “look at the bigger picture” to help the flagship hurling team in the county prepare properly for the Munster championship and All-Ireland.

This, said O’Loughlin, demands a more streamlined and smaller county senior championship, while he also hammered home the need for the county senior manager to be given a two-month lead-in to the Munster championship, which would be free of county championship fixtures.

The two-time All-Ireland winner said that progress could can only be achieved as senior inter-county level “if we continue to work hard at all levels and the co-operation of clubs will have a significant bearing on this.

“I cannot stress loud enough that the incoming management must be given the most important months of May and June to prepare the team for what is their most important time at championship,” said O’Loughlin.

“We cannot have a situation that I faced this year when two rounds of the senior hurling championship was played in mid-May, which ultimately brought the Clare preparation to a halt and out of these two games we got four injuries, whereby we lost two players for the rest of the season and the other two could hardly train up to the week before the Tipperary game,” he added.

And, O’Loughlin said that a restructuring of the county championship by way culling eight clubs from the senior grade – a figure that represents 40 per cent of senior clubs – and re-grading them intermediate was his radical blueprint to benefit club and county hurling.

“I firmly believe we need to reduce the number of senior teams in Clare from 20 down to 12 and start playing mid-week championship matches over a shorter period of time,” he said.

“There is no doubt that we have not got 20 senior teams capable of playing to a decent senior level and we would be best served with a more competitive senior championship. We need to look at the bigger picture for once and for all to see what’s best going forward for Clare hurling,” he added.

THE old ‘if you enlist, you must drill’ quote sprang to mind on Sunday as Clondegad manager Dermot Coughlan was placed in the unenviable position of having to face his native side in the intermediate final. On any other day, he would have been roaring on Kilmurry Ibrickane but after four years in charge of Clondegad that had seen the club come so close, no more so than last year’s final defeat to St Breckan’s, Coughlan had to prioritise head over heart to get his side over the line.

“To be honest we are delighted. There were a lot of near misses down through the years and I suppose you wonder is your day ever going to come. I knew playing Kilmurry Ibrickane, my own club, that they had experience and they knew how to win. I knew it would go down to the wire and I said during the week that whoever got the breaks on the day would take it and I suppose we got the breaks today and maybe that was the difference in the end.

“The thing about is that we were creating. Against St Breckan’s last year, we didn’t create and I felt that today we were creating enough chances but never putting them away. But you always feel that some of those chances would eventually go your way and it duly did when Tony Kelly got onto the end of the move to stick it in the back of the net and give the breathing space to bring us home.”

They needed all that breathing space against an obstinate Kilmurry Ibrickane second string that never said die over the hour and who better than Coughlan to sum up the spirit of his own club.

“You don’t win two Munster clubs, six Under 21’s, four minor and five county senior championships in the last nine or ten years by giving in and they brought that philosophy onto the field today. You could see the five or six very experienced players they had. But look it, a two point lead or a 12 point lead for us made no difference because they [Kilmurry Ibrickane] were always going to fight it out to the finish.”

However, Coughlan’s highly emotional week was not just confided to football matters.

“I have to say on a personal note, it was a tough week. I lost a fatherin-law, a good friend of mine, Tom Mc [Namara] so I was delighted we could do it today down in his home club. It was an emotional week I suppose and I’m just delighted it worked out for us in the finish.”

So after making the breakthrough, what will senior football hold for Clondegad according to their manager.

“I always said it is harder to come up out of intermediate than it is to survive at senior. Any team that has gone down have never gone straight back up. Some have taken seven or eight years so if it was that easy, why aren’t the senior teams going straight back up?

“It’s a dogfight down there and you probably have a bit more breathing space and play with a bit more freedom in your football at senior.”

With the shackles of intermediate football finally broken off, Clondegad and Coughlan will relish the prospect of pitting their wits against the very best in Clare for 2012.

HEATED exchanges erupted at Tuesday’s monthly meeting of the county’s Gaels with chairman Michael O’Neill accused by one delegate of getting “personal” when issuing a trenchant challenge to anyone who questioned his commitment to confronting the football crisis within the county.

The fires of controversy were stoked by Doonbeg delegate Michael Neenan, who called on Michael O’Neill – who admitted that Clare football was “at rock bottom” – to lead the way by giving a commitment to institute a Director of Football post within Clare.

“You have to front it Mr Chairman,” said Neenan. “What has happened over the last ten years is not working. I think we should be putting in place a Director of Football and starting at the ground level up and doing proper coaching,” blasted the outspoken delegate. “We should take lead from the Tipperarys in football and the Dublins in hurling and look at it from that point. We have to take it seriously. A Director of Football should be immediately set up to look at the standard of football. We have too look at it more deeply. “We need proper coaching at ground level up and full backing from the county board. We have to over the next four to five years put a plan in place and working with a plan and everybody working together and people who are genuine about bringing Clare football to the top again. “Chairman, are you going to look into and put in place a Director of Football, putting proper structures in place at ground level, proper coaching done. It’s going to cost money and the clubs will have to raise money for that.

“Unless we do that we are fooling ourselves. We will be here next year talking about the same thing. If this is not addressed we are going to go further down the ladder. I am proposing that,” added Neenan.

“I honestly believe because of the financial implications it’s not a proposal we can take,” the county chairman responded.

“If you’re not serious about if Mr Chairman, we are not going to get off the ground,” responded Neenan. “Will you put a Director of Football in place? he added.

“No. I will work towards it. I’m not giving a commitment here tonight that I would put a Director of Football in place,” said O’Neill.

“Will you outline to the meeting here tonight how you’re going to go about it?” said Neenan hitting back.

“No. I won’t outline it,” responded O’Neill before saying “I want to tease it out to see what we can do”.

“But Mr Chairman we’re at rock bottom,” said Neenan.

“I couldn’t agree with you more,” said O’Neill, “but have I all the answers tonight? I don’t think so”.

“What are you afraid of about putting a Director of Football in place,” said Neenan.

“I’m not one bit afraid of anything, until we have the groundwork done and to make sure it’s the way to go and that we have the funding in place to pay that person. You can’t come in here blandly and say that we put a Director of Football in place. End of story. Michael O’Neill as chairman cannot do that.”

“This is where it can be put in place,” retorted Neenan.

“It can be discussed here tonight and can work towards it over the next couple of months. If we can come up with the finance and if it’s the right thing to do, it is part of the way forward,” admitted O’Neill.

“There is a better structure in place for the hurling,” said Neenan , “and it annoys me and it sickens me to think, why are we afraid to go down that road for the football. You have to take it seriously,” he added.

“I take exception to you saying I’m not taking it seriously,” said a visibly angry O’Neill. “If I’m not taking it seriously get me to hell out of here at the December meeting and come up to this table yourself, but you’ll have a job to get up here. I can assure you that.”

“There’s no need to get personal about it,” said Neenan, before the chairman claimed that the work is being done with football in the county. “We have worked very hard,” he said. “A lot of work has gone on on the ground. It won’t reap rewards for some years to come. There is an awful lot of good working going on in the county with football.

“Maybe a Director of Football is the way to go. I don’t disagree with you on that, but I’m not going to say blandly here that we are going down that route until we tease it our properly. What ever will be changed will be changed here by the clubs. It won’t be changed by me,” the chairman concluded.