This article is from page 73 of the 2009-08-25 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 73 JPG
WHAT a week it has been for O’Callaghan’s Mills. Seven days earlier, they ambushed county cham- pions Clonlara in the senior hurling championship to keep their qualifica- tion hopes alive and they needed all of that fighting spirit here as well to hold off a stubborn Kilmurry Ibrick- ane outfit.
Niall Donovan, Jonathan Lyons, Gerry Cooney, Declan Donovan, Patrick Donnellan, John Cooney, Conor Cooney, Brian Donnellan and Fergus Donovan were all part of that hurling triumph a week previous but in terms of influence and more sig- nificantly scores, it was Brian Don- nellan who stood out from the pack again to inspire the Mills latest vic- rays
In contrast, a luckless Kilmurry Ibrickane had no such leadership and while they have run all their group opponents close, the fact that they have no points on the board doesn’t reflect kindly on their efforts. They deserved better from those three games but not enough firepower and a failure to turn their possession into scores combined to twart them again ie) Ken
Instead, with the game in the bal- ance at 1-6 to 1-6 entering the final minutes, the Mills superior fitness bore fruit and it allowed them to sneak home with late points through Brian Donnellan and James Murphy to earn at least a play-off for their side, depending on the final group game between Cratloe and St Bre- ckan’s.
In saying that, for long periods of
that second-half, it seemed as if the strong breeze that blew towards En- nis was of little benefit to the Mills who found it difficult to pepper the posts. In fact, both sides played better against the conditions, with the Mills taking the game to Kilmurry I[brick- ane’s second string early on. Brian Donnellan picked off 1-1 as early as the eighth minute while Kilmurry Ibrickane misfired at the other end. They did finally settle though, kick- ing four of the next five points, two from Patrick Hogan to get to within deComecubevnecleneee
And what cemented their comeback was a flowing passing move in the 24th minute between Colm Donnel- lan and Paul O’Dwyer that attracted the defence and it allowed him to pop the ball inside to the unmarked Aid- an Moloney to billow the left corner of the net.
Again, however, the west Clare side switched off, giving the Mills re- newed hope and by the break, they were level after two Brian Donnellan frees left the half-time score 1-4 to eae
It should have spurred the east Clare side on for a rousing second period with the wind at their backs but they were surprisingly flat on the restart and it was Kilmurry Ibrick- ane who took up the mantle to take a two point lead once more after Paul O’Dwyer and Aidan Moloney pointed frees. It had to take two of their imports, Paul Lynch and substi- tute Padraig Hickey to get the Mills back on level terms by the turn of the final quarter and set the game up for a tense grandstand finish.
Conor Cooney rattled the post; at
the other end, Paul O’Dwyer should have goaled but found goalkeeper Emmet O’Brien in defiant mood to produce an outstanding point blank block and as the game petered out with a scoreless ten minute period, it seemed neither side wanted to win 1
Then with only three minutes re- maining, Brian Donnellan converted a free and only two minutes later, James Murphy went on the overlap to push the Mills two clear and al- though Kilmurry huffed and puffed in search of a goal, their efforts ulti- mately proved fruitless.