This article is from page 80 of the 2011-09-27 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 80 JPG
Wolfe Tones 1-10 – St Senan’s Kilkee 0-09 at Lissycasey
WHERE there’s football there’s hope.
It must have been the mission statement around Rineanna at the start of the year when they took a stock take of the footballers they had left at their disposal.
Privately they may have been talking about safeguarding senior status as their goal for 2011, but now they’re publicly stoking the dream of a landmark first ever county final appearance.
And, why not. Their chance seemed lost when they surrendered a fourpoint lead to the old dogs of Kilkee in the final minutes of the drawn game, but that theory was well and truly cast to the Kilmihil wind on Sunday afternoon as the Tones finally brushed aside the off-colour Blues.
It’s true that the Tones again made life difficult for themselves when racking up 11 sides over the hour and failing to kill the game in the second half when they had enough chances to ease away from their one-dimensional opponents.
But, they still got there, with the final nail driven into the Seasiders’ championship challenge deep in in jury time with a Patsy Keyes point that finally put the Tones into the comfort zone.
Until then there was always the threat of another Harry Houdini act from Aidan O’Keeffe’s charges – by dint of spirit and never-saying-die they had clawed their way to the safety of a draw the first day out and tried valiantly to go down the same road this time out, but lightening didn’t strike once more.
Two David Russell points off his left foot and another from Darragh Kelly had reduced matters to a 1-9 to 0-9 game deep in injury time as the Blues clawed their way back into contention, but it just wasn’t to be.
That this was the case was down to the Tones’ first half display when they were in complete control and racked up an impressive 1-7 to 0-2 interval lead. Midfield dominance from Patsy Keyes and Joe McGauley gave them the platform, while the forwards made light of the absence of the injured Chris ‘Chippy’ Dunning in grabbing the game by the scruff when playing with the breeze.
Full-forward Darren Ryan opened their account with a first minute point, before a seventh minute goal from Daniel Gallery had them on the high road as the blazed away from a lethargic Kilkee side.
A fisted point from the influen- tial Stephen Monaghan in the ninth minute had them 1-2 to no score clear before Chris Williamson finally broke Kilkee’s duck with a 15th minute point.
However, it wasn’t until injury time that Kilkee raised another flag and in between those scores Wolfe Tones tacked on five points, while their cause was further boosted when Michael O’Shea retired injured in the 20th minute.
Monaghan landed a long range point in the 16th minute while Daniel Gallery and Gary Leahy added two each before the Blues finally raised some cheer for themselves with a Barry Harte pointed free just before the break.
Michael O’Shea did re-appear in the second half while a Barry Harte point two minutes after the re-start threatened to spark another trademark Blues revival, but truth told they just hung in until the death on the back of some alarming profligacy by a Wolfe Tones team that lacked the ruthlessness to kill the game long before the end.
Points from free by Stephen Monaghan’s in the 40th minute and Gary Leahy free in the 59th was all they could muster from ample possession, a poor return that gradually enabled the Blues to chip away at their deficit.
A point from Michael O’Shea in 44th minute and two by Barry Harte by the 54th minute really kickstarted the comeback, while points by David Russell (2) and Darragh Kelly in injury time ensured that the Tones were living on their nerves in the final minutes.
Enter Patsy Keyes to ensure that Wolfe Tones’ remarkable journey from the departures lounge of Shannon Airport towards Cusack Park in high October continued.
Wolfe Tones
Jason Casey (7), Stephen Carroll (6), Sean Brennan (6), Craig O’Brien (7), ColmMcCaul (6), Brendan Hughes (7) WilliamFlynn (7), Patsy Keyes (7) (0-1), Joe McGauley (7), Daniel Gallery (8) (1-3), Kevin Cahill (7), Kevin Corbett (6), Gary Leahy (7) (0-3f), Darren Ryan (6) (0-1), Stephen Monaghan (7) (03, 1f).
Subs
Aaron Cunningham(6) for Ryan [29 Mins], Stephen McInerney (7) for O’Brien [HalfTime], Chris Dunning (6) for Corbett [60 Mins].