Month: August 2011

AFTER the seemingly interminable wait to first decide their opponents, then the date before taking their case to the clubs of Clare, the road is now clear for the minor hurlers to hone in on neighbours Galway in this much anticipated last four clash.

And for selector Eamon Fennessy who has served in numerous roles for both club and county and is currently Clare GAA’s Coaching Officer, the mood is the camp is heartening ahead of the knock-out tie.

“Really we are delighted it is on this weekend and therefore sooner rather than later because we have a clean bill of health at the moment and clubs have been good to us in putting back fixtures. We are grateful for that because we have a full week’s run of training which is huge. Ideally we would have liked two weeks but it’s a good compromise being one week. If the 14th was the option, then there was definitely going to be a round of fixtures around the 5th, 6th and 7th that would have been detrimental to us because you would have fatigue and the possibility of injuries so we are happy with where we are.”

On entering their domain, there is always a distinct family type atmosphere that permeates the county minor camp, with a huge mutual respect and admiration between players and management that has built up over the last three years. And that strong bond has in turn reflected in the squad’s performances, according to the Sixmilebridge clubman, to where they are now the undisputed kingpins of Munster with back-to-back titles for the first time in the county’s history.

“The thing about it is that no training session is the same. The players don’t know what’s happening until they come in and they go away afterwards nice and happy and I think that’s been the thing that Paul [Kinnerk] has brought to it really. His sessions are never the same and there is a different intensity and a different level of focus required on the players and anyone that doesn’t behave or have their diet in proper shape before they come in, they know then that they are in for a tough evening. It’s never mundane and that’s one thing we’ve tried to do is keep it fresh so that nobody is going to go home totally fed up or bored so the whole lot of us really have worked hard on that to try and ensure that there is a positive atmosphere from all of us.

“The encouragement is there from everybody. They encourage each other in the dressing room when they are getting ready to go out in the session, we encourage them during the session and afterwards we explain where they have gone wrong and how they can improve themselves and it’s never a case of giving a player a rollicking. We give them constructive criticism and they take it on the chin and equally they give it back to us and they tell us where they feel that sometimes play is breaking down and it’s a two way thing.

“And with that there is trust there and I think trust is key. They trust us on the line and we trust them to go out and do a job and whatever 15 are picked, the other 15 on the panel know that those guys are picked because of the effort that they have put in. For instance we had a full length game in training on Friday and we wanted to see how players are going in certain positions, what our Plan A is, what our Plan B and Plan C is and they know that. They know that they have the opportunity to prove themselves and I think they are honest enough to admit that.”

That competition for places will be vital ahead of the squad’s toughest test to date in this derby clash. And for Fennessy and Co, Galway have been the side they would have outlined out as the county to watch out for since the outset of the championship, having played them twice in challenge games during the year.

“We always picked out Galway and even when they came down here to play us, they showed that they are a big powerful team. People have made us favourites for the All-Ireland but we are saying ‘look hang on a second, we have a new panel’ and okay we have lost an All-Ireland but Galway are the form team that have All-Ireland’s won, especially under Mattie Murphy. He never picks a team that are just going to turn up. We know that they are a formidable outfit. They came down here and played us and it was helter skelter until half-time and they give us a lesson on where we needed to be.

“And the one thing we knew from last year was that from the Munster final, there is a huge step up to an All-Ireland semi-final. People thought we are just playing Dublin but no, it was a complete step up again and that’s the education that these fellas got and the players that are lucky enough to have been on the panel since last year are reflecting that back to the new guys. They are saying that ‘hang on now, whatever you thought of playing in Cork, Croke Park is a different animal’ and Galway are definitely the team, as far as I’m concerned, to beat. They are the form team and we would have put them in there with Waterford from the start. Kilkenny are always an unknown entity until you get them out onto the field but Galway are the ones we have been targetting all year, as well as Dublin to be fair.”

Facing Galway is a daunting task in itself but there is also the Croke Park factor that inevitably brings with it an intensity far greater that anything this year’s side have faced up to this point.

“It is a nervous thing. I think when you go to Croke Park, you suddenly realise that it is a different level, a different pace, a different intensity, a different physicality and it’s an education for these fellas. We have planned to go up there beforehand and take them all out there for a walk and explain to them about last year. We will also get the players that were there last year to explain to them where they felt they went wrong so we are hoping that this time our preparation will be better and that we are more prepared for it. The players themselves from last year will be able to pass on the advise of the higher intensity that is needed and focus that is needed from now on.”

And Fennessy is confident that Clare can hit the ground running, just as they did for the majority of the Munster final against Waterford last time out.

“People said our second half against Waterford was poor but people hadn’t realised that Tony Kelly was in hospital for 24 hours, that Colm Galvin hadn’t trained since the Tipp game and there was always going to be a period of the game where fatigue was going to set in but we know now, that for the full 70 minutes aainst Galway that we just can’t afford to take our foot off the pedal. If we go a goal down, two goals down or even three goals, we still have to keep hammering away. If we get the start that we did against Waterford, which is always out focus in training, then there is no reason why we won’t give Galway a good game of it.”

The waiting is over. It’s time to let their hurling do the talking in the country’s biggest stage.

Mattie Murphy’s record of reaching and subsequently winning All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship finals speaks for itself. In all, the Gort clubman has guided his native county to nine national deciders in three separate terms which is unparralleled.

He even led the seniors to two National League finals as well. How- ever, Clare supporters will hope that their record against Murphy’s teams continue this Sunday as they bid for a unique two-in-a-row of All-Ireland deciders themselves. All because after winning two All-Ireland minor titles in 1992 and 1994, Murphy was promoted to the senior set-up but fell on thorny ground against the Banner in the 1995 All-Ireland Semi-final as Clare went on to eventually achieve All-Ireland glory.

O’Callaghan’s Mills 1-11 – Kilrush Shamrocks 0-07 at Eire Og Ennis

The Mills are on the rise, not only due to their automatic promotion to Division 4 along with Monday’s opponents Kilrush but because this was a vintage running display that means that they should mean business when the championship recommences in a few weeks time.

Kilrush had experience in abundance but simply couldn’t live with the Mills constant overlapping and movement, even if the east Clare side made harder work of it than was wholly necessary.

In Kilrush’s defence, this was an intermediate versus Junior A affair while it is also the Mills’ first team as opposed to Kilrush’s second string but aside from two brief rallies that yielded six points in a total of sev- en minutes, the Shams were on the backfoot.

Indeed, the winners opened up a 0-6 to 0-0 advantage by the 20th minute with Fergus Donovan (3), Padraig Hickey (2), and Conor Cooney sharing the scoring duties. However, it was the overlapping of wing-backs Eoin Pewter and John Cooney that caused Kilrush most concern as they were outnumbered far too often and the Mills will point to missed goal chances for Fergus Donovan and Noel Nash in the same period.

Kilrush finally settled with a John Kelly free in the 22nd minute and gathering momentum, David Walsh doubled their tally a minute later before John Kelly saw a glorious goal chance just skim the top of the crossbar. Had Kilrush grabbed that goal, perhaps they could have regrouped for the second period but as it was, they went in at the break 0-7 to 0-3 in arrears after a late Bryan Donnellan point.

David Walsh pointed to give Kilrush a glimmer of hope immediately after the restart but it was to be only a brief mutiny as Bryan Donnellan and Eoin Pewter replied down the other end while Patrick Donnellan had an excellent effort parried away by goalkeeper Ger Griffin.

The Kilrush number one could not do anything about the goal when it came however as Bryan Donnellan won and executed a penalty to the top corner of the net in the 41st minute. With the Mills in overdrive, the margin could have been much greater at that stage only for ten second half wides and the solid defending of Paul O’Sullivan and Niall Brennan.

Credit Kilrush for not throwing in the towel though and with David O’Shea gaining a foothold in midfield, they hit three points in as many minutes through Sean Naughton, Dan Ryan and Gerard O’Brien while Jamie Gilligan seemed through for a goal but miscontrolled the the vital moment.

Without a goal, it was never going to be enough to make O’Callaghan’s Mills sweat and they finished the stronger side with Fergus Donovan and Conor Cooney sealing the silverware which will give them a significant boost ahead of their championship clash with Junior A champions Kilfenora in three weeks time.

O’Callaghan’s Mills
Enda McNamara, Garry Neville, Niall Donovan, Gerry Cooney, John Cooney, Declan Donovan, Eoin Pewter (0-1), Conor Cooney Jnr, Conor Cooney Snr (0-2), Patrick Donnellan, Bryan Donnellan (1-2 1-0 Pen, 1f), Padraig Hickey (0-2), Fergus Donovan (0-4), Noel Nash, Billy Donovan

Subs
Paul Lynch for B. Donovan (32 mins), James Murphy for Hickey (51 mins), Eoin Kelly for Nash (60 mins)

Kilrush Shamrocks
Ger Griffin, Niall Brennan, Paul O’Sullivan, Shane Carey, David Shannon, Martin Griffin, Gerard O’Brien (0-1), CalumBond, Matt Fitzpatrick, David O’Shea, Paul Cahill, John Kelly (0-2 1f), Jamie Gilligan, Sean Naughton (0-1), DavidWalsh (0-2)

Subs
Ross Cullinan for Shannon (8 mins, inj), Sean Madigan for Fitzpatrick (28 mins), David Moran for Madigan (35 mins), Kian Murray for Kelly (38 mins), Dan Ryan (0-1) for Moran (50 mins)

Man of the Match
Eoin Pewter (O’Callaghan’s Mills)

Referee
JimHickey (Cratloe)

Kilmurry Ibrickane 2-10 – Cooraclare 0-11 at Shanahan McNamara Memorial Park, Doonbeg

ONE could say that after the lull of 2010 on domestic front that normal service has been resumed by Kilmurry Ibrickane as they picked up their second piece of senior silverware in a week in this entertaining decider played on Bank Holiday Monday.

But, while neutrals may have been expecting a comfortable outing for the 2010 All-Ireland Club finalists, it was far from such as a dogged Cooraclare team took up the fight to the favourites.

And when they led by 0-10 to 0-6 seven minutes into the second half they looked very comfortable, before a rousing finish by the recently crowned Cusack Cup champions saw them turn that four-point deficit into a five-point victory.

Enda Coughlan was at the core of this comeback, bagged two crucial goals in the final quarter, even though by then he had been relocated from his centre-forward starting berth back to centre-back.

The first came on 47 minutes that edged Kilmurry a point 1-8 to 0-10 clear before the killer second arrived five minutes from time when the former countyman made another decisive burst up the field.

It was a huge about-turn, because before that the Aidan Moloney managed Cooraclare side seemed to be on the road to emulating their 2009 Cusack Cup final over the same opposition.

The led by 0-7 to 0-5 at the interval, thanks to a closing burst before the break when injury time points from John Looney and David Marrinan edged them clear. Prior to that the sides had been level on four occasions in the half.

Andrew O’Neill and Ian McInerney swapped points early on, as did John Looney and Johnnie Daly, before Cooraclare showed their intent by moving 0-4 to 0-2 clear thanks to efforts from Michael McMahon and John Looney. Paul O’Connor and Ian McInerney restored parity by the 23rd minute before Andrew O’Neill and Johnnie Daly traded points in normal time.

However, it was those two closing Cooraclare points, coupled with three more via John Looney (2) and Gearóíd Looney, with a lone reply coming from Johnnie Daly hinted at a big shock.

However, Enda Coughlan had other ideas – his point in the 40th minute cranked the Kilmurry train to life, while another from man of the match Peter O’Dwyer a minute letter narrowed the gap to two before a rousing final quarter that in which they outscored Cooraclare by 2-2 to 0-1 sealed their comeback victory.

Cooraclare’s final score came in the 51st minute via a John Looney free that left Kilmurry ahead by 1-9 to 011, only for Coughlan’s second goal and a Noel Downes point to give Kilmurry a cushion that scarcely seemed possible early in the second half.

Kilmurry Ibrickane
Peter O’Dwyer, Shane Hickey, Darren Hickey, JohnWillie Sexton, Paul O’Connor (0-1), Evan Talty, Seamus Lynch, Peter O’Dwyer (0-1), Seamus Murrihy, Mark McCarthy, Enda Coughlan (2-1), Ian McInerney (0-2f), Stephen Moloney, Noel Downes (0-2), Johnnie Daly (0-3, 1f).

Subs
Michael O’Dwyer for Sexton, Colm Donnellan for Moloney, Niall Hickey for Murrihy, Vincent Talty for Coughlan

Cooraclare

Declan Keane,Thomas Downes, Conor Marrinan, Fergal Lillis, David Marrinan (0-1),Thomas Donnellan, Declan McMahon,AndrewO’Neill (0-2), Sean Maguire, Kieran Hassett, Michael McMahon (0-1), Gearóid Looney (0-1), Cathal Lillis, John Looney (0-6, 4f), Michael Kelly.

Subs
Don Garry for Cathal Lillis, Joe Considine for Maguire,Thomas O’Connor for Hassett.

Man of the Match
Peter O’Dwyer (Kilmurry Ibrickane)

Referee
Pat Cosgrave (Corofin)

A BATTLE of youth against experience with Doora/Barefield’s younger legs eventually edging this Division 6 decider. Kilkee had the county senior winning experience of Denis Russell and Derek Deloughery to name but two while St Joseph’s lined out with three of their Minor Division 1 winning side from last year in Paudie Nugent, Leo Duggan and Stephen Barron. Nugent and Martin Brooks were among those to impress in the backline while up front Mark Hanrahan and Eoin Kane did the majority of damage on the scoreboard.

The winners held a slender 0-6 to 0-5 half-time advantage with points from Conor O’Reilly (2), Eoin Kane (2) and Mark Hanrahan and the latter pair were instrumental in getting their side over the line for their second successive victory over the seesiders in sharing out St Joseph’s second half tally of eight points between them.

St Joseph’s Doora/ Barefield
Gerry Dullaghan, Martin Brooks, Barry Galvin, Paudie Nugent, Leo Duggan, Noel Nagle, Eamonn Clohessy, Don Barron, Pa Mannion, Stephen Barron, Jamie Collins, Mark Hanrahan, Conor O’Reilly, Rory Mullane, Eoin Kane

Subs
Brian Dilleen for Mullane, Joe McNamara for Collins, Peter O’Toole for S. Barron

St Senan’s Kilkee
Georie Roche, Eoin O’Sullivan, Robert Fitzpatrick, Ronan Browne, Darren Clarke, Robert Daly, Alan Russell, Derek Deloughery, John Hickey, Brian Harte, Denis Russell,Trevor Clancy,Thomas McGrath, Brian Cummins, Gavin Melican

Subs
John Garvey, Brian Keane, Rory McCarthy, Eugene O’Meara

Referee
Vivian Killeen (Doonbeg)

Meelick 1-5 – Coolmeen 0-8 at Clareabbey, Clarecastle

COMPELLING viewing if not always because of the quality of the football but mainly due to the incident packed nature of this decider.

It was a strangely ill tempered affair dogged by an explosive undercurrant with eight cards shown, one of those red for Coolmeen corner-back Kevin McMahon that sometimes took from the undoubted potential of two sides that would also fancy themselves to be in the shake up come the business end of the Junior A Championship.

And while Coolmeen were always chasing the game and never headed their opponents, a draw was arguably the fairest result for the sides’ endeavours over the hour.

With a strong breeze blowing towards Ennis, Meelick had the advantage in the first half and while they did score 1-3 without reply, there is no doubt that they could have been out of sight by the interval.

Unbeaten Coolmeen were surprisingly slow to settle into the game, needlessly kicking away and coughing up too much possession but took great heart from the fact that they were only five points in arrears by half-time after Kieran Neenan had finally opened their account in a rare attack in the 34th minute of the first half.

Instead, county senior Kevin Harnett and Patrick Finucane pulled the strings for the south east Clare side with the former scoring his side’s opening two scores by the fourth minute. However, their prolifiacy in front of goal halted their further progress until Darragh Quinn fed Brian O’Neill to score the only goal of the game in the 11th minute.

There should have been a second for Meelick seven minutes later when first a Gary Moloney shot was deflected by Dermot McMahon off the post while only seconds later, Paul Flannery’s penalty was excellently stopped by goalkeeper Pa McMahon.

That save should have inspired Coolmeen but instead in the 20th minute, an off-the-ball incident saw Kevin McMahon sent to the line while Meelick’s Niall Mullen was yellow carded.

There were only two more scores before the break however, with Harnett converting another free while Kieran Neenan gave Coolmeen a much needed lift with an injury time opener at 1-3 to 0-1.

With the wind now at their backs, Coolmeen were a much improved side on the restart, even though it took them seven minutes to open the scoring when a Sean McMahon lineball broke to Kieran Neenan who might have scored a goal but struck his shot just over the crossbar.

It was the beginning of Coolmeen’s best period of the game as they simply owned the ball for the next ten minutes, with Meelick unable to win their own kick-outs. A further four unanswered points followed to level up the game by the 47th minute, with county senior Cathal O’Connor finally finding his range with three points, the highlight of which came from the right sideline in the 41st minute.

It appeared as if Coolmeen’s momentum would see them take the game from that juncture but somehow Meelick found another gear and two settling frees from Harnett put them clear once more by the 50th minute.

Up stepped Kevin Val McMahon to save the day for Coolmeen, first striking a free from distance and then deep into injury time he collected a pass from Brian Markham to gain parity for the final time. Further skirmishes, and talk of Coolmeen’s 15th man for a brief period of the second half, at the final whistle only heightened the ante ahead of the much anticipated replay.

Meelick
Gerry Markham, Peter Reidy, Sean Cooney, Mickey Kelly, Eanna Mulvihill, Niall Mullen, Brian Barrett, Stephen Hayes, Kevin Harnett (0-5 4f), Darragh Quinn, Patrick Finucane,WilliamO’Shaughnessy, Paul Flannery, Brian O’Neill (1-0), Gary Moloney

Subs
Jamie O’Sullivan for Flannery (HT), Michael Russell for O’Shaughnessy (56 mins)

Coolmeen
Pa McMahon, Noel McMahon, Kevin (Val) McMahon (0-2 1f), Kevin McMahon, Michael Kirrane, Noel Meaney, Brian Markham, Cathal O’Connor (0-3 1f, 1’45), Sean McMahon, Martin McMahon, David Neenan, Dermot McMahon, Enda Haugh, Donal Houlihan, Kieran Neenan (0-3)

Subs
Joe Corry for M. McMahon (15 mins), Martin McMahon for N. McMahon (41 mins), Kevin Corry for K. Neenan (49 mins), Shane McMahon for Sean McMahon (58 mins)

Man of the Match
Kevin Harnett (Meelick)

Referee
Flan O’Reilly (Cratloe)

Tippeary 3-13 – Clare 1-6 At St Brendan’s Park, Birr

LAST year Clare were unlucky losers against Dublin in the All-Ireland quarter-final and watched enviously as the Jackies marched on to All-Ireland glory; this year it was a case of the nightmare of the 2008 All-Ireland final revisited as they were ambushed by Tipperary.

And, Clare’s meltdown from AllIreland senior contenders to be being dumped out of the championship race was every bit as comprehensive as the final scoreline suggests – they were outclassed in all departments by a rampant Tipperary side who were full value for the 13-point victory.

Where did it all go wrong?

Everywhere is the curt answer, as early dominance in the possession stakes, but a failure to take a nubmer of gilt edged scoring chances was subsequently punished in clinical mannner by a ruthless Tipperary side that had this Qualifier in the bag by half-time as they led by 1-9 to 0-4.

That was bad, but it only got worse on the turnover as the Premier County’s rampage continued – they played within themselves to out-score David O’Brien’s shell-shocked charges by 2-4 to 1-2 to inflict what can only be looked on as a hammer blow to the ladies game in Clare.

And, it would have been much worse but for the first half heroics of Emma O’Driscoll in goal. Twice she foiled Máiréad Morrissey from point blank range with brilliant saves before her goal was finally breached by Tricia Hickey in the 27th minutes.

Up until that point, Clare were still in this game, even though they were mal-functioning badly. They had opened the scoring through Niamh Keane in the first minute, while a great point by Louise Henchy in the sixth minute had them 0-2 to 0-1 ahead.

However, as Clare’s wides mounted in the half, all they could muster before the break was two Louise Henchy frees as Tipperary upped their intensity and ripped through Clare at pace and grabbed this game by the scruff.

After Ailish Considine and Mairéad Morrissey spurned gilt-edged goal chances before the tenth minute, points by Tricia Hickey (2) and Gillian O’Brien which were responded to by two Henchy frees left Tipperary 0-5 to 0-4 ahead by the 20th minute.

Things looked very different at half-time though, with Hickey’s goal, which she followed with a point and two points form Máiread Morrissey eased them into an eight point lead.

And, Clare’s nightmare got worse when Morrissey blasted home a goal a minute after the resumption. Eimear Considine hit hit back with a Clare goal two minutes later, but it was damage limitation stuff for most of that second half as Tipperary kept their composure to win as they pleased.

Morrissey’s second goal after 40 minutes stretched the lead into double figures and in the closing 20 minutes added to that as Clare’s challenge petered out – the rich promise they had shown in that game against Dublin in Banagher last year and in the Division 3 final against Fermanagh in Parnell Park ebbing away with every passing minute.

This was a disaster. Pure and simple.

And, mysteriously there was no Niamh O’Dea on the Clare team.

Clare
Emma O’Driscoll (The Banner), Claire Hester (Fergus Rovers), Sinead Eustace (Coolmeen), Laurie Ryan (The Banner), LouiseWoods (The Banner), Róisín McMahon (Newmarket-on-Fergus), Carmel Considine (Liscannor), Eimear O’Connor (Coolmeen), Louise Henchy (The Banner) (0-4, 3f), Colette Corry (Shannon Gaels), Niamh Keane (The Banner) (0-1), Marie Considine (Liscannor), Eimear Considine (Kilmihil) (1-0), Naomi Carroll (The Banner),Ailish Considine (Kilmhil) (0-1).

Subs
Sarah Bohannon (Shannon Gaels) for Corry, Fiona Lafferty (St Joseph’s Miltown) for Carroll, Carole O’Leary (Newmarket-on-Fergus) for Woods, Lorraine Kelly (Fergus Rovers) for Eustace, Naomi Caroll for Ailish Considine.

Tipperary
Nora Noonan,Treasa McGrath, Carmel Condon, Claire Carroll, Siobhan Condon, Samantha Lambert, Barbara Ryan, Gennifer Grant, Sile Carew, Gillian O’Brien, Mairead Morrissey (1-8, 7f), Siobhan Costello,Aine Staunton,Tricia Hickey, Caitriona Walsh.

Player of the Match
Mairéad Morrissey (Tipperary)

Referee
KeithTighe (Dublin)