The Clare People Archive

REGRET IS an insight that comes a day too late and while Liam McHale wasn’t suggesting that Clare could have beaten the All-Ireland champions in their own backyard, he stood in the tunnel afterwards crestfallen that Clare didn’t come out of their shell from the outset.

“We started very tentitatively. I was full sure that we were going to go out and give it a lash as we have talked for the last few weeks about just going out and playing, looking to perform well and take it from there but we didn’t do that in the first half.

“I thought for 20 minutes there in the second half, we played very well, we got some great scores, our forwards were playing well and we started to look comfortable on the ball but then the sending off was an absolute unmitigated disaster and we collapsed.

“When you are preparing for a big game like this against the All-Ireland champions, you are going to talk about winning the game and putting in a big performance. We got that for a little bit today but we didn’t get it for long enough to be competitive. I was hoping at half-time that we could play well in the second half and maybe lose by three or four points. Now it looked that way for a long period; we had a couple of goal chances but then it went away from us again.

“We are a Division 4 team that is not used to the size that’s out there, we are not used to the pace that’s out there and we are not used to the way they tackle. It’s a learning curve and it’s very disappointing now to have to gee them up again for the qualifiers but we will be hoping for a good draw at home and continue on.

“But it’s disappointing that we weren’t a little more competitive. I thought that we were doing fine but the lads eventually just downed tools. The lads made a promise at half-time that they were going to give it their best shot and keep playing for the whole second half but we didn’t do that. We only did it for the first 20 minutes and only for that, we could have been a lot closer really. Five or six points would have been more of a reflection of the game.”

If only Clare had the same belief in the opening period as they showed early in the second when temporarily reducing the All-Ireland winners to mere mortal status for an all too brief period?

“We got three points without reply at the start of the second half and you think that’s great. But then we make a few handling errors when controlling the situation and we lose the ball or carry it into the tackle and all of a sudden, the three points that you scored have been cancelled out because these guys [Cork] are so efficient. You make a mistake and they will punish you and that’s the disappointing thing.

“We kicked a lot of wides there today, we turned the ball over in the tackle an awful lot despite telling them not to carry the ball into the tackle so that would disappoint you because if we were a little bit cleverer and a little bit more efficient, we probably would have scored four or five more points and Cork would have scored four or five points less and all of a sudden then, you can walk away with you’re head held high. It’s disappointing but you know, what can you do but just keep encouraging, keep their confidence up and keep working on them.”

The draw for the first round of the qualfiers will tell a lot.

CLARE’S Munster championship is over for another year – the fifth time in the last six year’s that they’ve bowed out at the first hurdle. All that’s left is for some Clare players to get a prized Cork geansaí, and for the management to gather in a huddle on field and mull it over for a few minutes before talking to some waiting pressmen. It’s hard to know which is more depressing – the way it ended with the sending off of Graham Kelly; the result itself or sobering statistic that Clare’s only win in Munster in the last decade have been against Waterford. As for the sending off, manager Micheál McDermott missed the incident that led to the Miltown man seeing red and what happened afterwards as well. He tells us so. “I didn’t really see it to be honest and couldn’t comment on it as a result, but it’s disappointing any time you lose a man on a second yellow. The referee makes decisions and we have to live with that,” he says. “I wouldn’t condone anything,” he adds, “but I didn’t see the incident, so I can’t comment. I am very much a man who lives by discipline on the pitch and discipline off the pitch. I can’t comment on the incident when I didn’t see it, so I’m not going to say yes, I or no, whether to condone or not condone it. It’s only going on hearsay, but I didn’t see it.” What everyone saw was the way Clare imploded near the end in the face of the Cork juggernaut at fulltilt. And, no one is more downcast than McDermott.

“I am very disappointed with the collapse in the last 12 minutes because were competitive,” he says. “We said we were going to take the game to Cork in the second half and we did well to get within six points of them. We just collapsed in the final 12 minutes.

“We lacked a lot leadership on the field in that crucial period – we could have got at them and made life a little bit difficult for them, but at times there the power and strength and physicality of Cork at times made it a miss-match in a lot of areas of the field. That’s what we have to try and live with and that’s what we have to try and progress towards.”

As for the positives, there many before the were out-weighed by the negative ones as Cork’s class came to the fore once more in the closing stages.

“When our forwards got the ball inside, I thought we caused them a lot of trouble. Our full-back line was very, vry competitive, because there was good quality ball going in there. There was a lot of times in the game when we actually played well, but it comes back to that we have to learn from our mistakes.

“We made a lot of mistakes. We carried ball into the tackle and gave away the ball cheaply and that’s where a lot of Cork’s scores came from. That’s disappointing, but we’ll look to the qualifiers now and try and learn from our mistakes.”

Cork 1-23 – Clare 0-11 at Páirc Uí Chaoimh, Cork

LET’S indulge Clare senior football for a moment by picking positives from what was in the end a 15-point pummelling at the hands of the AllIreland champions.

Ten points from play; the revelation that was Rory Donnelly as he hit five of them in his greatest day in a Clare geansaí; the spirit the side showed in the early stages of the second half when pegging it back to six points.

It was this revival on the back of three points in a row that opened up the possibility of Clare making a game of it with the wind at their backs. Rousing stuff as Cork looked bothered. ALAS, it was Clare who were bothered by the end, especially Graham Kelly as his sending off for the second successive championship match being the final implosion of a home stretch that saw them concede the final seven points of the game to a rampant Cork side.

To say it was a disastrous finale is putting it mildly – the spirit and honest endeavour that had characterised much of their performance was washed away in the welter of controversy near the end.

That it came to this with Kelly leaving the field to a chorus of boos from the Cork supporters in the crowd of 4,186 was rough justice on the rest of the team – they’d taken the fight to Cork thanks to Rory Donnelly’s tour de force and played themselves into the parish of having their honour intact.

This didn’t look like happening in the first half as Cork picked up where the left off in the National League final win over Dublin by cruising into a 1-9 to 0-4 interval lead. They had the wind, but at times it was too easy as they used the midfield dominance of Aidan Walsh and Alan O’Connor to rack up the scores.

Ciaran Sheehan made hay down the right flank; Donncha O’Connor was his chief ally in attack; Daniel Goulding never looked like missing and with that the scores tumbled as they moved 0-6 to 0-2 clear by the 18th minute.

It took a very good save from Joe Hayes to foil Ciaran Sheehan’s goalbound effort in the 20th minute, but a minute later Hayes was powerless to prevent Donncha Walsh palming the ball to the empty net after being put through by Paddy Kelly. Daniel Goulding (2) and Aidan Walsh followed up with points and it was Cork in a canter, with Clare in radical need of surgery around the field.

One change saw Gary Brennan relocated to full-forward, a move that yielded a score before half-time as he slipped Michael Shields before firing over his second point.

Brennan stayed on the edge of the square for the start of the second half as Clare started with Darren O’Neill and Ger Quinlan at midfield and set about making a game of it.

They did just that with three points inside the first three minutes and with that hope floated that Clare could make a game of it. Alan Clohessy, Rory Donnelly and David Tubridy hit those points as the space opened out before Clare’s forwards.

The same space was there for the remainder of the game, but the gaping holes that Cork managed to open up in Clare’s defence meant that whenever danger threatened they had a ready supply of scores on tap.

Clare’s early rally was snuffed out quickly thanks to points from Donncha O’Connor (2) and Pearse O’Neill – a pattern that repeated itself after Donnelly and Tubridy again found the range.

However, when Cork hit four-in-arow between the 52nd and 59th minutes – the last of those coming from full-back Michael Shields – there were reduced to playing for pride in the closing stages.

Pride that took a battering when Graham Kelly received a red card in the 69th minute as Cork cantered to their point-a-man win.

LESS said about this the better, really. Suffice to say Clare came to their home patch with real hope; presumably they came with a game-plan too, but whatever it was they must have left it in the dressing room because it was hard to believe after this excruciating hour that they brought it out onto the field.

It was that bad and worse as Clare endured a dark day – their biggest defeat against the Rebels at championship level in 15 years.

Yes, conceding a goal to Mark Sugrue inside 15 seconds was a hammer blow, but equally as bad was the lack of any pattern to Clare’s play – apart from bunching and following the ball like an under 10 that is.

Harsh yes, but true to as Clare were given a harsh lesson in the real realities of championship football at the knockout stage.

The goal came when midfielders Sean Kiely and Kevin Kavanagh fed Sugrue who sailed through on goal before blasting to the net. It was an exocet missile to Clare’s chances at the same time as the Rebels, despite playing against the breeze and being very profligate over the 30 minutes still cruised into a 1-5 to 0-3 lead.

Clare were scoreless until the 21st minute when Niall Hickey pointed a free, while their only point from play in the half came seven minutes later when Eoin Cleary’s goalbound effort was tipped over the bar.

Truth told, that goal effort was as good as it got from Clare as Cork turned the screw with the wind at their backs as they tacked on four points inside the first ten minutes from O’Mahony, Sugrue, the impressive MacEoin and Cian O’Sullivan to move nine clear before Eoin Cleary converted a 43rd minute free.

Cork
James McDonnell, Jamie Davis, Conor Dorman, Kevin Fulignati, Kevin Crowley, Brian O’Driscoll (0-2, one 45),Tadhg Brosnan, Sean Kiely, Kevin Kavanagh, Mark Sugrue (1-2), David Harrington, Cathal Vaughan (0-3, 2f), Dan MacEoin (0-5), Stephen O’Mahony (0-1), Cian O’Sullivan (0-2).

Subs
Alan Cadogan for Harrington (37), J Corkery (0-1) for O’Mahony (40), DMurphy for Brosnan (47), Killian McIntyre for O’Sullivan (54), Andy O’Connell for Kavanagh (57).

Clare
Darren Sexton (Kilmurry Ibrickane), OisinVaughan (Ennistymon), Jamie Malone (Corofin)(0-1), Conor Gavin (Clondegad), Stan Lineen (Kilmihil), Darragh McDonagh (St Joseph’s Miltown), Jarlath Colleran (St Joseph’s DooraBarefield),Alan O’Neill (St Joseph’s DooraBarefield), Conor Cleary (St Joseph’s Miltown), Eoin Cleary (St Joseph’s Miltown) (0-2, 1f), Ciaran Devitt (Ennistymon), Joey Rouine (Ennistymon) Martin O’Leary (Kilmihil), Niall Hickey (Kilmurry Ibrickane) (0-3f), Jack Scanlon (O’Curry’s).

Subs
WilliamFlynn (WolfeTones) for Rouine (half-time), LiamCorbett (Corofin) for Devitt (40), Craig O’Brien (WolfeTones) for Lineen (48), Eoin Donnellan (Clondegad) for Scanlon (54).

Man of the Match
Dan McEoin (Cork) Referee Sean Joy (Kerry)

Cork 2-14 – Clare 0-06 at Pairc Uí Chaoimh, Cork

WHEN APPROACHING a game more in hope than confidence, the last thing one needs to hear from a Corkman in the know is that ‘it’s a fair strong Cork team.’ For anyone that isn’t fluent in Cork speak, that phrase alone would have sent shivers down the Clare squad’s spines as the visitors were ill-prepared and realistically little more than lambs to the slaughter.

That old chestnut of whether the Banner should either provide proper preparation for a junior panel or alternatively withdraw from the competition altogether inevitably came to the fore as it’s simply not sufficient to assemble players at the last minute just to fulfil a fixture.

That’s not to take away anything from those who both made and answered the call to arms because they gave it their all, and it’s also not to say that Clare would have beaten Cork had they trained together since January but surely the hour long procession that followed was of little or no benefit for either side.

That said, there was a brief reprieve as wind-assisted Clare did surprisingly open up a 0-3 to 0-1 advantage, all through Mark McCarthy before the home side finally settled. An early warning sign when a Mark Cronin shot rebounded off the butt of the post wasn’t heeded as a slick 12th minute move involving Seamus O’Sullivan and Kevin O’Driscoll ended with Cathrach Keane who turned marker Conor Marrinan and found the net. From that point on, Cork never looked back, adding six of the last seven points of the half to hold a comfortable 1-7 to 0-4 halftime lead.

Clare rang the changes at the break, most notably with Podge Collins fulfilling his usual roaming role and interacting with brother Sean and Mark McCarthy to good effect. Aside from those cameos though, Cork simply shifted through the gears and hit six more unanswered points with all the front eight eventually getting in on the scoring action.

Clare did produce a glorious goal chance starting with a Podge Collins dispossession and ending with Mark McCarthy whose shot was smothered by goalkeeper Tom O’Connor in the 38th minute.

They also finally broke their 23 minute scoring drought with another brace from McCarthy but it was only a mere distraction as Cork finished strongly, with Cathrach Keane grabbing his second goal of the afternoon with only minutes remaining.

He was right. It was a fair strong Cork team. Champions elect maybe.

Cratloe 3-09 – Corofin 1-08 at Clarecastle

CRATLOE CAPTURED their first Under 16 title in six years and their first ever at Division 2 level on Thursday evening in gusty Clarecastle.

The seven point winning margin tells little of the gutsy second half endeavours of opponents Corofin however who used the conditions to topple a ten point half-time deficit to just a kick of a ball before a late Cratloe rally cemented victory.

The game of two halves saw Cratloe hold the advantage in the first half but it took them a while to firmly take control as a Mark Quinn goalbound shot was saved off the line by Diarmaid Cleary as was Conor Deasy’s late effort while a Shane Gleeson shot drifted just wide of the post.

However, through key forwards Conor Deasy and Shane Gleeson, Cratloe eventually pulled clear just before the break with a defensive error allowing Shane Gleeson to gather and goal while two minutes later, a second hammer blow came by way of a Pat McMahon bullet that billowed the top of the net for a 2-7 to 0-3 interval lead.

Even the large north Clare following could not have envisaged the stirring fightback from their side on the turnover though as the Liam Corbett led Corofin took the game to their opponents from the outset.

It started withCorbett’s 34th minute goal that came after Eoin Davoren had rattled the crossbar and the chief marksman would add four of the next six points to cut the deficit to only a goal by the 54th minute.

With only a Conor Deasy pointed free to show for their second half efforts, Cratloe found it difficult to stop the rot but Corofin failed to take further advantage as time drifted by and the tension heightened.

Corofin would eventually lament their nine second half wides, especially when in the final minute, Cratloe finished the game as a contest with Gleeson and Deasy combining to set up substitute Sean Moloney for the deciding goal, much to their relief.

Clooney/Quin 2-18 – Wolfe Tones 3-11 at Shannon

BEING THE only Division 1 game played this weekend, Clooney/Quin took advantage to move to the top of the table when they recorded their third successive victory in the league over a Wolfe Tones side that has yet to register a win in five on Thursday evening. However, far from being a routine victory for the visitors, Wolfe Tones made them work all the way before an injury-time flurry put some gloss on the final scoreline.

After Martin Duggan found the net after only ten seconds, it seemed as if it would be a comfortable for Clooney/Quin. That claim was made even stronger after Padraig Ward (3f), Mike Daffy (2), Cathal Egan and Duggan had them 1-7 to 0-4 clear early in the opening quarter.

However, Wolfe Tones would pull level by the break after the game opened up with three goals, two of them crucially going the home side’s way. Gareth McPhillips snatched the first, an effort that was cancelled out by Mike Daffy’s 25th minute goal, only for Mark Regan to lift his side to a 2-7 to 2-7 interval stalemate.

Clooney/Quin pushed clear once more on the resumption, with five points without reply from Ward, Daffy, Duggan, Fergal Lynch and Ronan Gallagher but try as they might, they were unable to shake off a stubborn Shannon side.

Daithi O’Connell’s goal allied to a Gareth McPhillips point cut the deficit to only the bare minimum entering injury-time before Cathal Egan (2) and substitute John Earls made the points safe for the new table-top- pers.

Clooney/ Quin
Damien O’Halloran, Joe O’Loughlin, Conor Harrison, Shane McNamara, Mike McNamara, Cillian Duggan, Enda Harrison, Padraig Ward (0-5 4f), Sean Conheady, Ronan Gallagher (0-2), Cathal Egan (0-3), Martin Duggan (1-3), Mike Daffy (1-3), Fergal Lynch (0-1), Daire Hannon

Subs
Adrian Fleming for Lynch, John Earls (0-1) for Conheady, Derek Ryan for E. Harrison, Peter Duggan for Hannon, Patrick Cunninghamfor O’Halloran

Wolfe Tones
Paul Hogan, Niall Murphy, Patsy Keyes, Joe McAuley, Brendan Hughes, Bobby McPhilips (0-1), Barry Loughnane, Daithi O’Connell (1-0), Shane Chambers,Aaron Cunningham(0-3), Declan O’Rourke 0-1), Mark Regan (1-2), Ronan Hehir, Gareth McPhilips (1-4, 4f), Paul Walsh

Subs
John Guilfoyle for Murphy,Alan Hehir for Walsh, John Madigan for Guilfoyle, Eamon O’Neill for Chambers

Referee
JimHickey (Cratloe)

Sixmilebridge 0-14 – Ogonnelloe 0-07 at Sixmilebridge

SIXMILEBRIDGE’S bid to avoid a second successive relegation from Division 2B received a massive boost on Sunday as they comfortably held off fellow struglers Ogonnelloe in this low scoring tie. The home side played against a strong wind in the first half but still made the better start with four early points from Tomas Liddy (2) and one each from Earol Touhy and Sam O Sullivan. Ogonnelloe kept in touch with points from John McKenna, Barry Kiely and Peter English but two late frees from Sam O’Sullivan gave Sixmilebridge a 0-10 to 0-6 half-time lead. Ogonnelloe were guilty of some bad wides in the second half with their only score coming from Kieran Forde while points from Sam O’Sullivan and Rory Liddane kept Sixmilebrige in control as they ran out easy winners in the end to keep winless Ogonnelloe rooted to the bottom of the table.

Ogonnelloe
Tomas McKenna, John O’Brien, Michael Costelloe, Eoin Sheedy, Pascal Sheedy, Patrick Barton,Tomas Condon, Eoghan Collins, Barry Kiely, Ozer McMahon, Henry Mooney, Kieran Forde, Peter English, John McKenna, Michael O’Brien

Subs
Paul Healy for M. O’Brien, Patrick Mooney for English

Sixmilebridge

Corofin 3-15 – O’Callaghan’s Mills 1-13 at Corofin

A MUCH needed win for intermediate side Corofin who took the scalp of an understrength Mills side on Saturday. The home side, boosted by the championship first round victory over Ennistymon, were in contrasting mood to a wounded O’Callaghan’s Mills side who still appeared to be picking through the bones of their disappointing championship derby defeat to Tulla. Only a point separated the sides at the break at 0-10 to 1-06 with Corofin coming to life after conceding a soft Gary Neville goal from distance at the turn of the opening quarter. That goal put the Mills five points clear but they would only score one more point until the break as Corofin rallied, led by centre-forward Declan Lee who picked off three eyecatching points on their way to the slenderest of half-time margins.

The game however was eventually decided in the third quarter after two quickfire Corofin goals through a Stephen Heagney free followed by one from full-forward Eamonn Malone. The Mills heads subsequently dropped and Corofin punished fruther in injury time when an Eamonn Malone shot was initially repelled and Stephen Heagney was on hand to steer the rebound to the net and push Corofin up the table.

Corofin
Patrick Burke, Darren Malone, Luke O’Loughlin, Keith O’Loughlin, MartinTierney (0-1), Gerry Quinn, Damien Ryan, John Keane, Fionn Clancy, Kevin Heagney (0-4), Declan Lee (0-3), Neil Killeen, Stephen Heagney (2-5 1-4f), Eamonn Malone (1-1), Killian Neylon (0-1)

Subs
Killian O’Loughlin for Neylon, Killian Malone for Keane

O’Callaghan’s Mills
James Hook, Sean O’Gorman, Ger Frost, Gerry Cooney, Damien Noonan, Conor Cooney, Bryan Donnellan, John McGrath, Gary Neville (1-3),Adrian Flaherty (0-4 3f), Patrick Donnellan (0-2),Aidan Fawl (0-1),Alan Duggan (0-1), Fergus Donovan, Eoin Pewter (0-2)

Subs
Michael McGrath for O’Gorman, Conor Cooney for Fawl, Ian Donnellan for Pewter

Referee
Damian Fox (WolfeTones)

Kilmaley 0-07 – Newmarket-on-Fergus 0-05 at Clareabbey

THE BIGGEST rivalry in Clare camogie took another turn on Sunday as Kilmaley overcame Newmarket and the extreme weather conditions to secure back-to-back league titles. The current kingpins of the domestic game have met in five out of the last major deciders, with Kilmaley exacting revenge for last October’s county final defeat at the hands of Newmarket who were denied a famous threein-a-row.

Arguably, that final defeat only sharpened Kilmaley’s hunger to get back to the top of the pile as unquestionably, they showed the greatest hunger for victory on Saturday despite an incessant downpour that threatened to wreck this showpiece event. Central to that appetite was a hardworking team ethic that never allowed Newmarket to get into their stride as was not the case in the drier sod of Cusack Park for the county final.

In addition, there was considerable leadership shown from their more experienced members, notably the McMahon sisters, Helen and Claire who were seemingly everywhere over the hour while Shonagh Enright also had an influential second half showing when the pressure was on.

Newmarket didn’t have such luxu- ries in that department although Joanne Walsh and Erica Minogue did their upmost to stem the tide while Niki Kaiser wasn’t supplied with enough ball in the forward division.

Therefore, with the conditions ensuring a low scoring affair and little separating the sides, it was all about which side wanted it more and was prepared to fight for the crown.

With the wind favouring Newmarket in the opening half, they dominated the early stages but allied to a greasy ball, they found the Kilmaley defence in stubborn form. Three early wides along with three potential goal chances went abegging and it was Kilmaley who literally weathered the storm to put up the first two scores of the half through Ashling Darcy and a Denise Lynch free.

A frustrated Newmarket slowly got into their stride in the second quarter however and in their best period of the game, they hit five points without reply in a nine minute spell, three from the stick of Aine O’Brien while Jenny Kelly and Sharon McMahon benefitted from breaking balls.

However, with Denise Lynch scoring the final point of the half to leave just two between the sides at the break (0-5 to 0-3), it didn’t seem enough for Newmarket to hold out against the breeze.

And so it proved as Kilmaley came out fighting on the restart and managed to keep their opponents scoreless for the latter half while just doing enough to secure victory at the other end. Claire McMahon got them started in the 32nd minute with a ’45 while she almost added a goal only minutes later only for goalkeeper Carol Toomey to pull off a stunning reflex save that was subsequently aided by the crossbar.

The equalising score came in the 36th minute when Aida Griffey fed Emma O’Driscoll and while Sharon McMahon roamed deep as an extra midfielder for Newmarket, the mo mentum was now firmly with the defending champions who took the lead in emphatic style when Shonagh Enright soloed down the left wing before firing an accurate shot between the uprights in the 45th minute.

That advantage was doubled when Emma O’Driscoll fired her second point of the afternoon but while Kilmaley were now evidently on top, they were unable to get the scores to make the game comfortable. Claire McMahon hit two frees wide while substitute Ailish Considine hit the side netting with a powerful shot and while the expected Newmarket fightback never materialsed, Kilmaley were still glad to hear the final whistle that maintained their impressive haul of silverware and reaffirms their championship credentials.