This article is from page 92 of the 2009-10-13 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 92 JPG
TENSION filled the air in Tulla on Saturday evening but in an evenly matched battle of endurance that saw the sides level on seven occasions, as late as the 55th minute, it eventu- ally came down to which side really wanted it more in the final moments. Ruan had been the ones who looked most likely to get over the line after taking the lead six times during the opening three-quarters of the match but unable to shake off Feakle at any stage, it was the east Clare men who eventually displayed the greater hun- ger and momentum when it mattered most.
A repeat of the 1988 county sen-
ior final, one that also went Feakle’s way, those halcyon days have been merely a distant memory in recent times as both clubs looked to rebuild after an interminably long period of transition. There was also the added ingredient of John Punch taking on his native club with always an under- lying fear permeating amongst the Feakle support that the script was written for the forward to score the winning point. What made this such a unique oc- casion though was the carrot of an intermediate final appearance, com- ing about after the quarter-final draw pooled all three champion- ship favourites Whitegate, Eire Og and Killanena on the one side of the draw. With neither Feakle nor Ruan expected to be in the shake up for championship honours this year, this was a huge opportunity to make the last two and as a result, a pressure cooker atmosphere magnified every touch of the ball.
It was Ruan who settled into their stride the quicker, bouncing back from a Gary Guilfoyle free to erab a fourth minute goal. Killian Ryan played a neat pass to Michael
Vaughan down the left wing and his high delivery broke off Aiden Lynch to the waiting O’ Regan to scrable the ball over the line.
Feakle meanwhile, despite having numerous chances, were guilty of some poor misses and Ruan added to their woes with a sixth minute point through Michael Vaughan.
Slowly Feakle got back into the game and after a superb lineball by Gary Guilfoyle was cancelled out by
a Punch free, the east Clare side hit the next three points to gain parity by the 24th minute. Three more times Ruan edged ahead before the break only to be dragged back by a stub- born Feakle challenge as the sides went into the interval at 1-5 to 0-8. The tables quickly turned on the resumption as again Feakle earned a free from the throw-in that Tommy Moroney converted before taking a two point advantage for the first time
in the game three minutes later when a good passing move involving Ray- mond Bane and Stevie Moloney re- leased Colin Nelson to fire over from the left wing.
This time it was Ruan’s turn to react and they did so through their inspira- tional leader Jonathan Clohessy who grabbed the first of three unanswered points by the turn of the final quarter to edge Ruan in front once more.
The seesaw battle for supremacy
continued as twice in the next seven minutes, Feakle equalised to set up a grandstand finish. It appeared to be heading for a draw but somehow Feakle found an extra gear, with sub- stitute Ronan Harrington and Tom- my Moroney scoring a point apeice in the 57th minute to push their side Q-14 to 1-09 ahead.
Cigarettes were smoked to the butts and fingernails was gnawed to the bone as John Punch cut the deficit to only the minimum with two min- utes remaining. However, a monster Gary Guilfoyle free from his own ’65 in the final minute raised a huge roar of approval from the Feakle support and it inspired them to battle admi- rably in the dying seconds before se- curing their first final appearance in SIX years.