Category: Sport

Clarecastle 1-18 – O’Callaghan’s Mills 2-12 at O’Garney Park, Sixmilebridge

IT’S 25 years since these sides met in a county final which will be marked at this year’s decider, but while Clarecastle and the Mills certainly won’t be in the reckoning for this year’s crown, there was still some restoration of pride to play for in this final round tie.

The inclement weather brought with it more unenforced errors than Ireland’s Rugby World Cup opener against the USA earlier in the day but it was Clarecastle’s blistering finish that really caught the eye on Sunday. Nine points in arrears at the start of the second half, it didn’t seem at all likely that the Magpies could stage a late recovery but in the last 24 minutes of the tie, they would hit 13 out of the last 15 scores to romp to a three point win.

All so different in the opening half of the game when the Mills, aided by two first half goals, set the pace. Three Alan Duggan points had them 0-3 to 0-1 clear by the sixth minute and just as it seemed Clarecastle had settled to wrestle control with three successive points from Darragh Moloney and two Eamon Callinan frees, the Mills struck for their opening goal.

Clarecastle’s tactic of playing Tyrone Kearse as a third midfielder against the breeze backfired somewhat when his marker Sean O’Gorman benefitted from a defensive mix-up to billow the net in the 22nd minute. And worse was to follow for the Magpies when Adrian Donovan rifled a 20 metre free to the net on the half hour mark followed by points from Eoghan Pewter and Gary Neville to hold a 2-6 to 0-5 interval advantage.

Early scores from Fergus Donovan and Patrick Donnellan stretched that lead to nine by the 32nd minute as Clarecastle appeared to lose their shape. However, the first signs of recovery came with Tyrone Kearse’s opening goal for the Magpies that moved from back to front through goalkeeper Donnagh Murphy, Fearghus Ryan and Derek Quinn before reaching the unmarked Kearse to find the bottom left corner of the net.

Unpeturbed, the Mills hit back with two Gary Neville points that sandwiched another goal opportunity for Eoghan Pewter, only for goalkeeper Murphy to pull off an excellent relfex save in the 34th minute.

Now a double scores game at 2-10 to 1-05, the Mills appeared comfortable but they would only score twice more for the remainder of the game as Clarecastle slowly began to chip away at their lead. The main protagonists of the fightback were Darragh Moloney, Jonathan Clancy and Eamon Callinan, with all three contributing to their side’s five point unanswered streak by the 47th minute to topple the lead to three. Mills’ substitute Kevin O’Callaghan stopped the rot in the 52nd but with the Magpies gathering momentum, they finished with aplomb with eight of the last nine points in only a nine minute spell.

Some suberb long range efforts from Callinan and Moloney in particular blitzed the tiring Mills while county senior Clancy finished the job when grabbing two late points and earning the last for Callinan to convert from a free in the 62nd minute.

It was too late in the campaign for Clarecastle to make a meaningful impact despite finishing on level points with quarter-finalists Tulla. Instead, Senior B will be these sides’ only chance of playing on county final day for this season.

Clarecastle

Kilmaley 1-20 – Ballyea 1-14 at Cusack Park, Ennis

THE real story of this game was that Ballyea gave Newmarket-on-Fergus a real dose of the blues, when not starting injury worry Tony Kelly and then hauling their other young starlet Gearóid O’Connell off at half-time.

With that and with two missed goal chances before half-time by former All-Star Tony Griffin went their chance of causing an upset, registering the first win of their campaign and bringing the Blues back into the championship race.

Hard to blame Ballyea though – Kelly and O’Connell are minors and 2011 for them has to be about winning a first ever Minor A championship and the intermediate football with Clondegad, hence this calculated decision to mind them ahead of more important battles.

Into this vacuum gladly stepped Kilmaley to book their place in the last eight, eventually reeling in a battling Ballyea side in the second half thanks to their combination of youth and experience that could make them dark horses in the Canon Hamilton race.

With seven minutes of this game remaining Kilmaley only led by 0-16 to 1-12, while the force was most definitely with a Ballyea side that had reeled off three points in as many minutes to peg it back to the minimum.

However, when in need enter Daire Keane for the defining score of the hour – his high catch, burst of pace and clinical finish from 18 yards finally killing off Ballyea’s dogged resistance.

The winning of the game, but the losing of it for Ballyea came in the first half when their failure to cash in on wind advantage cost them. That said, they were unlucky, because they played much the better hurling in the half, with Clare minor star Gearóid O’Connell being star of the show around midfield and on the scoreboard with five points to his name, while had former All Star Tony Griffin availed of two gilt-edged goal chances the black and amber would have been well down the road to a shock win.

That their challenge ultimately came to nothing was down to the perseverance of Kilmaley – they stayed in touch in the first half when recovering from a 0-6 to 0-3 deficit after the first 15 minutes to be only a point adrift at the break.

And, it was their veterans of many a battle going all the way back to their last county final victory in 2004 that showed the way – Diarmuid McMahon, Colin Lynch and Brian McMahon all registered good points from play, while young guns Daire Keane and Niall McGuane also chipped in with points as Kilmaley played catch-up in an entertaining first half.

Ballyea were very industrious in that opening half and would have been on course for a shock victory had Griffin crowned their efforts with a two-goal blast just before the break – firstly on 27 minutes he bril- liantly fielded the ball on the edge of the square but just when he was about to pull the trigger for a goal he lost possession, while two minutes later a rasping drive from just inside the 21 cannoned off the underside of the crossbar before being cleared to safety by a charmed Kilmaley defence.

However, it was game on when Ballyea got the goal their efforts deserved inside a minute of the re-start after a fumble by Kieran Dillon was kicked to the net by Francie Neylon to put his side 1-7 to 0-6 ahead.

Kilmaley were in a corner, but by reeling off six points in a row from Conor McMahon, Ken Kennedy (2), Diarmuid McMahon, Alan Markham and Eoin Enright were back in control of their own destiny by the 40th minute and leading by 0-12 to 1-7.

From there it was just a matter of holding their nerve, despite Ballyea’s refusal to die. Further Kilmaley points by Niall McGuane, Daire Keane (2) and Colin Lynch moved them 0-16 to 1-9 clear before Ballyea’s best period of the half had favouites living on their nerves for a few minutes until Daire Keane went about winning the man of the match award for himself and catapulting Kilmaley into the quarter final stage for the first time in two years.

Newmarket-on-Fergus 2-17 – Clooney/Quin 1-09 at O’Garney Park, Sixmilebridge

DESPITE keeping up their end of the bargain, Newmarket missed out on the knock-out stages for the first time in seven years on Sunday. However, what they need to learn, ahead of their last hope of silverware in the Clare Cup semi-finals, could all be taken from this latest championship offering.

At their ruthless best, as witnessed in the final quarter when outscoring Clooney/Quin by 1-7 to 0-1, there are few teams with the pace and power of the Blues. However, there were also large traces of their wasteful deficiencies this season in O’Garney Park on Sunday as they hit 15 wides over the hour and should have put the game beyond any doubt much earlier in the contest when squandering at least seven clearcut goal chances.

Clooney/Quin for their part, ap- peared a beaten side following their disappointing championship exit to Kilmaley last time out and while they were competitive for the opening 45 minutes, they lacked any conviction apart from Peter Duggan and Fergal Lynch.

The opening half was a relatively even affair with the sides level on six occasions by the 24th minute before Newmarket pushed 1-10 to 1-06 clear by the interval. However, inbetween Fergal Lynch’s seventh minute goal after cutting in from the right and Colin Ryan’s immediate reply from a 20 metre free, the Blues also had four glorious goal opportunities to stamp their mark on proceedings. Goalkeeper Damien O’Halloran was the Clooney/Quin hero for the first two when denying Anthony Kilmartin with first, his hurley and minutes later, with his feet. However there were also chances for Eoin Hayes who shot wide while a Shane O’Brien run that opened up the defence was wasted by a poor handpass behind the waiting Kilmartin.

Fortunately, they had county senior Colin Ryan to take up the slack as he converted all of Newmarket’s 1-4 total by the 18th minute. Inevitably Ryan was also instrumental in pushing his side four points clear by half-time when picking off the last two points of the half while setting up another for Eoin Hayes.

Clooney/Quin had their chances to wipe out the deficit on the restart as the Blues found it difficult to refocus their shooting radar. Peter Duggan and Fergal Lynch chipped away with points but they were also denied a much needed goal when Adrian Fleming was hauled down for a 35th minute penalty that was saved by goalkeeper Kieran Devitt from a rasping Duggan effort.

Meanwhile, Newmarket’s woes in front of goal continued. Shane O’Brien fell when racing through on goal, Eoin Hayes found Kilmartin once more but he dropped the ball under pressure at the vital moment while late on, substitute Jim McInerney pulled wide from close range.

However, as the game progressed, Newmarket totally regained control and after three Colin Ryan frees, the county senior also set up his side’s long awaited second goal in the 51st minute when his lineball broke to Shane O’Brien to pull to the net.

That was the start of a 1-6 unanswered haul that cemented the points long before the final whistle but as news filtered through of Kilmaley’s comeback against Ballyea, in the end it was all in vain.

Newmarket- on- Fergus

Kieran Devitt (7), Shane O’Brien Jnr (7), Stephen Kelly (6), Padraig Kilmartin (8), Darren O’Connor (7), James McInerney (7), Enda Barrett (7), Martin O’Hanlon (7) (0-1), Eoin O’Brien (7), Enda Kelly (6) (0-1), Shane O’Brien (7) (1-0), David Barrett (7), Eoin Hayes (8) (0-2),Anthony Kilmartin (7) (0-2), Colin Ryan (8) (1-9 1-7f, 1’65)

Subs
Sean O’Connor (0-1) for E. Kelly (50 mins), James Liddy for Hayes (56 mins), JimMcInerney for A. Kilmartin (56 mins),Alan Barrett for D. O’Connor (58 mins)

Clooney/ Quin
Damien O’Halloran (8), Joe O’Loughlin (6), Shane McNamara (7),Tony McMahon (6), Donncha Murphy (6), Cillian Duggan (6), Enda Harrison (7), John Earls (6) (0-1), Mike McNamara (7), Martin Duggan (6) (0-1), Cathal Egan (6) (0-2 1f), Seamus Conroy (6) (0-1), Peter Duggan (8) (0-3 2f), Fergal Lynch (8) (1-1), Mike Daffy (6)

Subs
Adrian Fleming (7) for Daffy (HT), Brian McInerney (6) for O’Loughlin (HT), Ruaidhrí McNamara for Conroy (50 mins), Padraig Ward for Earls (53 mins), Derek Ryan for M. Duggan (58 mins)

Man of the Match
Colin Ryan (Newmarket- on- Fergus) Referee KevinWalsh (WolfeTones)

Ennis Town Rock 1 – Hermitage A 0 at Lees Road, Ennis

ENNIS Town Rock finished their league cup campaign undefeated with a victory in this all Ennis affair but it was another town team, Avenue United, who were the real winners on the day.

Town’s victory ensured they finished level on points with Avenue at the top of Section A however the Clare Cup champions superior goal difference ensures they will progress to the tournament decider against the winners of group B.

Avenue put themselves in pole position with a seven goal victory over Burren United and 3-2 midweek win over Hermitage.

To have any chance of qualifying for the tournament decider, Town had to beat Tage by eight goals, an always impossible looking target.

After much huffing and puffing, Town finally found the back of the net in the closing stages through Francis Daniels’ goal.

Hermitage, minus eight or nine first team regulars, had their moments too, notably when Paul Dinan’s fiercely struck effort forced a good save from Stephen Loftus.

Town, who also entered Sunday’s game with a depleted squad, looked bright in the early stages.

Centre forward Matthew Kearney led the line superbly, drawing a string of excellent stops from Tage goalkeeper Joe Burke.

The movement of the impressive Dinan caused problems for Town but it was the home side who almost snatched the lead through Marty McLoughlin in the closing moments if the half.

McLoughlin was denied after the break by another superb save from Burke while substitute Stephen Hickey went close with a couple of efforts.

Hickey was then involved as Town took the lead. The striker laid of to Daniels whose curled shot flew into the top corner past Burke. A win for Town but its Avenue who progress.

Ennis Town Rock
Stephen Loftus, Brian McNulty, Ronan Judge, Shane Daniels, JasonWhite, Francis Daniels,Alex Bore, Ethan Coote, Rowan Eade, MatthewKearney, Marty McLoughlin

Subs
Stephen Hickey for Kearney, Sean Kennedy for Eade

Hermitage
Joe Burke,Chris Ryan, Caomhán O’Briaon, John Maher, David Moloney, Colin Ryan, Sean McGee, Francis Franks, Eoin O’Meara Daly, Paul Dinan, Robert Dunne

Subs
Darren Lynch

Referee
Tommy Guilfoyle

Sporting Ennistymon 3 – Ruan United 2 at the Community Field, Lahinch

SPORTING Ennistymon were made to work all the way for a hard fought victory over Ruan United on Sunday.

The north Clare side raced into a three goal lead but Ruan responded in strong fashion with two goals and almost snatched a point late on

Neither side look likely to qualify for the final but that factor didn’t deter from an entertaining game played in gale force conditions in Lahinch.

It was a measure of the strength of the wind that when the ball was kicked onto the roof of the stand, a gust blew it back halfway across the pitch.

The home side adapted to the conditions quicker and took the lead when Cathal McConigley blasted a half volley to the net from just inside the Ruan half.

Ennistymon doubled their advantage through John Mullane’s effort and looked set for victory when the same player scored another before half time.

However Ruan kept plugging away and were rewarded with a goal from Karl Mahony to leave them trailing 3-1 at half time.

Ruan were back in contention after the break when Shane O’Donnell coolly finished in a one on one situ- ation. The visitors piled on the pressure in the closing stages but despite loosing their goalkeeper to injury, Ennistymon held out for victory.

Sporting Ennistymon
Richard Lee, Michael O’Dwyer,Thomas McConigley, John Mullane, Mark Burke, Daniel Flannagan, Cathal McConigley, Declan O’Looney, Sean McConigley, Mícheal Crehan, Ciaran Monaghan

Subs
Michael Keating, Padraig Flynn, Eddie Crowe, Sean Crowe

Ruan United
Damien Maxwell, Conor Reeves,WillieTreacy, Hugh O’Donnell, Barry Cusack,Adrian Ballinger, Karl Mahony, Fergus Casey, Shane O’Donnell, Gavin Dinan Subs Patrick Keegan PREPARATIONS for this year’s Oscar Traynor Trophy campaign have kicked off, with the Clare team that will be managed by former Rineanna Rovers boss Colm Ryan playing a friendly recently against a Hermitage selection at the County Grounds that finished 1-1. Eoin O’Meara Daly opened the scoring for Hermitage in the first half with an excellent free kick. Clare piled on the pressure in the second half and got a deserved equalizer from Gary Collins. It was a good workout for Clare and preparations will continue over the next few weeks before a panel will be finalized for the Limerick match towards the end of September. Clare are in the same group as last season and will have a home match with

Galway towards the end of October. Ryan, who led Rineanna Rovers to Clare Cup glory in 2009 will be assisted by John O’Malley, who part of the Clare backroom team when they reached the final in 2010 only to go down to Wexford in the final played at the County Grounds. Clare John Healy Simon Cuddy David Russell Darren Murphy Ian Hogan Paul Butler Jason Regan Patrick Darcy Ryan Boyle Mikey Mahoney Colin Ryan Mattie Nugent Gary Collins Dean Gardiner Lunga Balman Adrian “Tom” White Ray Quigley Her m it age Joe Burke Neil Mills John Maher David Moloney Rhys Phillips Eoghan Ryan Eoin O’Meara Daly Richie Fitzgerald Adrian McDonagh Paul Dinan Liam Meaney Robert Dunn Colin Ryan Paul Dullaghan

A LATE October dateline has been put in place for the appointment of a new senior hurling manager, despite moves from the floor of last Thursday’s meeting of the Clare County Board to appoint David Fitzgerald to the position with immediate affect.

Moves to fast-track Fitzgerald’s appointment, only two days after he officially stepped down as Waterford manager, were knocked on the head by county board chairman, Michael O’Neill, who outlined a lengthy process by which Ger O’Loughlin’s successor will be appointed.

“I certainly haven’t spoken to David Fitzgerald about it,” said O’Neill in revealing the county board blueprint for putting a new manager in place. The blueprint will include a nomination process that’s open to the clubs, interviews by a special county board appointed committee and a final selection that will be put before a full meeting of Clare GAA for ratification.

“Between now and the 23rd of September we want all nominations for the county senior hurling management,” said O’Neill. “We will finalise it then and I will put a committee in place to interview the candidates and then come back to the county board.

“I can tell you that the chairman of the county board will be the chairman of the committee. I will be selecting the committee. It will be a combination of ex-players and officials,” the chairman added.

“I concur with what you’re doing,” said Newmarket-on-Fergus delegate Michael Clancy. “I sat down this evening and set out what I would like to see happening. In Clare senior hurling from 1932 to 1998 we won four Munster senior championships and two All-Irelands. From 1998 to 2010, a duck.

“The quality has to be in our underage structures with under age and minor producing a nucleus for a team capable of delivering. What do we do? We do up a development plan; we nurture, coach and develop these young fellas and they will deliver the silverware.

“Who does that? A manager of course. A mature, tactical, people person. The support team is critical to this guy. The county board ultimately makes the decision. Appoint a committee, ask the clubs to supply nominations, with clubs consulting the hurling people in their parish and coming back in two weeks.

“The committee screening the nominations and making a recommendation in four weeks and then the manager will be in place by 20 October 20, 2011,” he added.

“That is exactly what’s going to happen,” said Michael O’Neill.

Banner Ladies 1-14 – West Clare Gaels 1-13 at Shanahan McNamara Memorial Park, Doonbeg

A FRENZIED finish brought the senior championship to a heightened cresendo as the Banner Ladies hung on to reclaim the ultimate prize in Clare ladies football. Having led by seven points at one stage of the contest, the Banner’s character was severely tested when reduced to 13 players following the sinbinning of Clare Walsh and Niamh Keane that injected new life into defending champions West Clare Gaels’. However, the Ennis based side passed the test with flying colours to defy the numerical disadvantage and deservedly take back the senior crown.

The ultimate difference in the end was Niamh O’Dea who produced a majestic display of strength, pace and accuracy to take the game by the scruff of the neck when needed most. Allied to her impressive haul of 1-7, the county minor captain was tireless in her pursuit of glory and even gave her backline some much needed support and relieve the pressure in a mad-cap last quarter.

It wasn’t the classic of last year’s decider between the same pair and of course, there were major absentees on in both camps but it was still highly entertaining in terms of intensity. In truth however, last year’s encounter was too open for comfort which led to this year’s version being contrastingly over cautious on both sides but perhaps to West Clare Gaels eventual detriment.

Personal markers in all key positions made it a less than enlightening opening half, with Niamh O’Dea being closely watched by Shauna Harvey, Katie Geoghegan being picked up by Louise Woods and Niamh Keane guarded by Deirdre Troy to name but a few. Also Rita Boland was utilised as a sweeper for a large chunk of the game and therefore, it was only when the Banner were reduced to 13 that West Clare Gaels came out of their shell and went for broke.

After an even start, the Banner decisively took the initiative in the 14th minute when O’Dea showed her class to score the opening goal of the game. It stemmed from a Niamh Keane free to Louise Henchy whose ball over the top was expertly caught by county senior team-mate O’Dea despite the attentions of two defenders before cooly slotting the ball to the net.

Despite an immediate Niamh Lardner reply, that major was the catalyst for the Banner to step up a gear with O’Dea, Henchy, Keane and Rebecca Culligan kicking unanswered points to open up a 1-7 to 0-3 advantage by the 23rd minute.

Central to the Gaels’ problems was that in trying to avoid the dominance of Louise Henchy at midfield, the amalgamation repeatedly played their kick-outs to the opposite side, thus unleashing Niamh Keane to return the ball with interest.

The holders did finally regroup before the break however with the experience of Denise Geaney, Brid Troy (2) and semi-final star Niamh Lardner grabbing four unanswered points of their own to reduce the deficit to only three at 1-7 to 0-7.

There were changes aplenty at the break as the Banner introduced two new corner-forwards, Eva O’Dea and Orlaith Lynch, to bolster their attack while the Gaels brought on Ciara Harvey to allow her sister Shauna to push up the field.

The O’Dea sisters opened the scoring with a point apiece to restore the Banner’s five point advantage and it seemed once more that the Banner were about to pull away. However, the West Clare Gaels’ reign as county senior and Munster and All-Ireland intermediate champions meant that they were not about to give up their title without a major fight and with the returning Katie Geoghegan increasingly exerting her influence, they hit back with three points of their own by the 40th minute.

Louise Henchy started and finished a move to stop the rot and extend the lead to three but the Banner were hit with a major blow when Clare Walsh saw yellow and a ten minute sejour on the line for an over-enthusiastic tackle.

Brid Troy converted the free and the crowd could sense that the game was turning in the Gaels direction. Cue the indomitable Niamh O’Dea to wrestle back control, picking up successive kickouts from Emma O’Driscoll to solo up the field and grab two points. The second was simply a joy to watch as she made her way through several tackles in a full length run to inspire her side and she added a third in a row when linking up with Henchy to build up a five point advantage by the 48th minute.

O’Dea’s calming influence appeared to have weathered the storm for her side but nothing could be further from the truth. Instead, Niamh Keane’s dissent saw her join Walsh on the sideline and with positions and tactics flying out the window and the major of play in the Banner half, the Gaels’ storm began to brew for the third time.

A Troy free cut the deifict to four and while Clare Walsh returned to the action, the Gaels got a major boost when Brid Troy picked out the unmarked Maria Kelly to goal in the 57th minute and cut the deficit to only the minimum with three minutes remaining.

The tension could be cut with a knife as every pass was intensely scrutinised and the pressure on both sides intensified. Inevitably it was O’Dea who popped up again to ease the nerves but still their two point lead was a dangerous one. They were also boosted by the sinbinning of West Clare Gaels’ Deirdre Troy which coincided with Niamh Keane’s return for the Banner but there was still a manic final few minutes of injury-time to come.

A throw-in on the Banner’s 20 metre line saw all but West Clare Gaels goalkeeper Megan McGrath decend into the Banner half and in the resulting melee, a last gasp free gave the West Clare Gaels a final opportunity. The Banner packed the goal but they were not to be tested as Katie Geoghegan’s free agonisingly rifled over the crossbar for a point in the 65th minute.

The Banner’s relief turned to unbridled joy as referee Michael Talty blew the final whistle to end this nailbiting decider that saw the Banner rise to the summit once more. The biggest rivalry in Clare ladies football just took another major turn. What will next year bring?

BENEATH the obvious joy of a third senior title in four years, you could sense that between the handshakes and hugs, Banner Ladies manager Joe Reidy had been through the wringer for the previous hour. Having led from the seventh minute to the finish without decisively shaking off a stubborn West Clare Gaels challenge, Reidy was thoroughly relieved to have got over the line and wrestle back control from the west Clare amalgamation.

“You couldn’t put words into it at the moment. It’s an amazing feeling to win with such a young team. We were beaten here last year but at least five of the team that started last year weren’t there today for various reasons of work and family commitments so it makes it all the more amazing.

“I mean we finished up there today with two Under 14’s on the field and it’s a fabulous feeling because I love seeing young players coming through. The likes of Laurie Ryan, the captain of the team, she is only a minor but she played with the county all year as well as doing her Leav- ing Cert. The same goes for Naomi Carroll and Niamh O’Dea, they are all minors and it’s a great feeling to come out on top with young players like that.”

O’Dea’s was the decisive contribution however, picking up an impressive haul of 1-7 along with a tireless work-rate that saw her collect the player-of-the-match award from Clare County Board Chairman Johnny Hayes afterwards.

“The first day I saw Niamh O’Dea play, she was eight years of age playing in Kilfenora in a boys football game and I immediately went to her parents to ask would she play for the Banner. That girl played in an AllIreland Under 14 Féile at only eight years old above in Galway. And not only is she a brilliant footballer but she is a lady as well. You can play her full-back or full-forward and she just goes out and gives it everything, every day.”

With the county title secured, has he even considered a Munster assault?

“We are now in the senior competition, playing the likes of the Cork and Kerry champions who are in the senior ranks for years. Clare were never senior and because of the West Clare Gaels All-Ireland intermediate win last year, Clare have been moved to the senior competition and it’s like going from the League of Ireland to the Premier League in England.

“There is also the camogie to consider. When we played in Munster two years ago, there were five of our team missing as the camogie county final was on the same day so it will all depend on who is available to us.”

After such an inspiring victory, the Banner will certainly steele themselves for the challenge of Tipperary champions Cappawhite in the Munster Senior B Championship Semi-Final on Saturday, October 1. Although Joe Reidy is probably just hoping that it isn’t as nailbiting as Saturday’s county final.

O’Callaghan’s Mills 1-09 – Kildysart 1-08 at Shannon

WHITHER the big ball in the Mills and Kilkishen was the cry after they were pummelled by 14 points by Kilmurry Ibrickane in the opening round of the championship.

That was June; that was then; this is now as they’re now 60 minutes away from an historic first ever county intermediate final place after they edged past a determined and neversay-die Kildysart side on Saturday afternoon.

O’Callaghan’s Mills took control of the tie once Conor Cooney bagged a goal in the 12th minute – lead by four at half-time and by the same margin entering the last 15 minutes but in the end had to thank a last minute free from Bryan Donnellan to sneak through to a semi-final date against Clondegad.

Kildysart made a positive start with points by Damien Hill and Ger ‘Bobby’ Kelly inside the first ten minutes, but Conor Cooney’s goal settled the east Claremen and in the final 20 minutes of the half they outscored their opponents by 1-4 to 0-2 to take control of affairs.

Cooney’s goal was followed by points from Eoin Pewter, Bryan Donnellan (2) and Jonathon Lyons, while points from Damien Hill and Ger ‘Bobby’ Kelly left matters resting at 1-5 to 0-4 in the Mills favour at half-time.

That four differential remained after both traded four points between them with Ger ‘Bobby’ Kelly and Niall Ginnane on the mark for Kildysart, with John Cooney and Bryan Donnellan finding the range for the Mills.

However, the game was thrown back into the melting pot in the 49th minute when a Ger ‘Bobby’ Kelly point was followed immediately by a Damien Hill goal that left the sides deadlocked at 1-7 apiece entering the last ten minutes.

In the end it was Bryan Donnellan who came up trumps – he edged his side back in front with a point from play in the 54th minute, only for Kildysart to bounce back inside 30 seconds with the equaliser from Christy Clancy, but it was Donnellan who landed the decisive score with a 59th minute free to bring his tally for the hour to 0-6.

O’Curry’s 1-14 Corofin 1-06 at Pairc Naomh Mhuire, Quilty

THE O’CURRY’S machine cranked up a gear in its pursuit of a quick return to senior level by seeing off Corofin in this winner-takes-all semi-final decider. O’Curry’s displayed a healthy blend of youth and experience to recover from an early setback when Corofin grabbed a 12th minute goal against the conditions.

Perhaps it was the kickstart they needed after a slow start that saw a young Corofin side take the game to their opponents. The game wasn’t even a minute old when a Darragh Shannon lineball was worked from Jamie Malone to Stephen Heagney whose shot for a point dropped short and allowed Fergal Neylon to ghost in at the back post to punch the ball agonisingly wide. Corofin did opening the scoring through the impressive Jamie Malone in the right corner and despite Ger Quinlan’s equalising free and a glorious goal opportunity for Eoin Troy, the north Clare side finally made amends for their earlier miss when Jamie Malone played a pass across the square for the waiting Damien Ryan to volley first time to the net in the 12th minute.

Corofin failed to build on that ad vantage and if anything, the goal only angered O’Curry’s who despite six first half wides would manage to kick eight points without reply in the remainder of the half while keeping their opponents scoreless. Three Ger Quinlan frees bookended good ap- proach work from Michael Carmody and attacking centre-back Ollie Quinlan, and scores for impressive minor Jack Scanlon (2), Eoin Troy (2) and Damien Carmody to hold a 0-9 to 1-1 half-time advantage.

Corofin improved in the second period mainly through Damien Ryan’s free but with Ger Quinlan unerring from placed balls as well, they predominantly cancelled each other out.

Still, for all O’Curry’s control, they were still only four points up with just over ten minutes remaining, having survived a scare when Jamie Malone and Ryan again combined but this time goalkeeper Eoin Clohessy made the decisive save from Ryan with his feet.

That miss was magnified when substitute Mark Roche finished off a slick handpassing move from back to front with his first kick of the game finding the net.That goal put the result beyond doubt and with Corofin becoming increasingly desperate, O’Curry’s finished strongly with further points from Scanlon, Ger Quinlan and Roche again to cement their position in the last four against Kilmurry Ibrickane. However, Corofin’s young side still have a Under 21B final to look forward to in the coming weeks.

O’Curry’s
Eoin Clohessy (7), Gearoid Lynch (7), Michael O’Shea (7), Paul Roche (7), BrianTroy (7), Ollie

Quinlan (8),TomDownes (8), Ger Quinlan (8) (0-7f), DerekTroy (7), Damien Carmody (7) (0-1), EoinTroy (7) (0-2), Michael Foran (7), Michael Carmody (8), Sean Haugh (7), Jack Scanlon (8) (0-3)

Subs
JimDownes (6) for Ml. Carmody (47 mins), Mark Roche (8) (1-1) for Foran (48 mins), Ryan McMahon for O’Shea (57 mins), Eoin Murray for E.Troy (57 mins), DeclanWalsh for D. Carmody (60 mins)

Corofin
Kieran Carkill (7), Brian McGauran (5), Brendan Keane (6), Ollie O’Loughlin (6), Diarmuid Daly (6), Eamon Malone (7), Manus Malone (7), John Keane (7) (0-1), Luke O’Loughlin (7), Fergal Neylon (6), Damien Ryan (7) (1-3 3f), Darragh Shannon (7), JasonTierney (6), Jamie Malone (8) (0-2), Stephen Heagney (6)

Subs
Donnacha Kelleher (6) for McGauran (21 mins), HaulieVaughan (6) for Neylon (48 mins), Killian Neylon (6) for Tierney (48 mins)

Man of the Match
Ollie Quinlan (O’Curry’s) Referee Michael Talty (Kilmurry Ibrickane)