This article is from page 50 of the 2009-08-11 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 50 JPG
THERE was a 1966 Clare registered Mustang parked up outside Shana- han McNamara Park on Saturday – however, it wasn’t the only display of a different vintage in Doonbeg on the day.
Cooraclare and Kilrush also dipped into their past – unhappy history from Cooraclare’s point of view as they crashed to a defeat that had all the hallmarks and failings of their un- happy years from 2005 to ‘08; happy history for the Shams as they showed that tradition still counts for a lot on championship afternoons.
In many ways we should have seen it coming – Cooraclare are better as underdogs as they proved against Eire Og, Doonbeg and Kilmurry Ibrickane recently.
Kilrush, meanwhile, haven’t been beaten by Cooraclare at champion- ship level since 1986 – they always expect to beat Cooraclare and so it proved here as a storming finish to the first half gave them a six-point half-time cushion that they defended doggedly in the second half to get home by the minimum margin.
It had looked promising for Co- oraclare early on as they raced into a 0-3 to 0-1 lead after seven minutes thanks to points from Cathal Lillis (2) and Michael Kelly, but they failed to score for the rest of the half as the Shams eventually made hay thanks
to Jim Young’s dominance in the full-forward line.
Peadar McMahon had opened the scoring with a free in the second minute but they had to wait until the 12th for their second when Eoghan O’Kelly landed a fine effort from 50 yards out on the right wing.
However, the real spark came in the 25th minute when Chris Dixon’s long delivery was brilliantly fielded with one hand by Jim Young 12 yards from goal – from there he turned and blasted to the net to put the Shams
1-2 to O-3 ahead.
The game was then turned on its head when four more points fol- lowed in the next five minutes from Brendan Crowley, Peadar McMahon (2) and Jim Young to give the Shams were 1-6 to 0-3 lead at the break.
Kilrush were dominating all over the field, while Young and Donal O’Sullivan at midfield the standout performers. Cooraclare, meanwhile, were reeling and slipped seven adrift three minutes into the second half when Peadar McMahon fired over
his third pointed free.
This was a far cry from the per- formance that swept them to the Cu- sack Cup title two weeks ago – the in- tensity and energy just wasn’t there.
They did manage to claw their way back into contention with pointed frees from Mark Tubridy (3) and Ca- thal Lillis to pull it back to a 1-7 to Q-7 game by the 40th minute. How- ever, a Peadar McMahon free in the 46th proved to be the crucial score and the difference between the sides as Cooraclare piled on the pressure
in the closing ten minutes.
Further points from Lillis (2) and Tubridy brought the margin down to the minimum entering injury time, but the Shams were not to be denied the victory that now puts them in pole position in Group 3 with three points from two games.
The 1966 Mustang was probably a Kilrush car too.