This article is from page 92 of the 2011-12-06 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 92 JPG
IT WAS A heart-rending end to another memorable campaign as yet again provincial glory eluded Crusheen. A near perfect domestic record of one defeat in 14 over the past two years made them undisputed kings of Clare but their ascension to the throne of Munster proved to be a trickier stepping stone as a young Na Piarsaigh side carved out their own provincial history.
Of course, as in the drawn game, there will be some regret that they didn’t put away the tie earlier but as Na Piarsaigh rallied in the final quarter, Crusheen agonisingly ran out of gas as manager Michael Browne admitted afterwards in typical noble fashion.
“We are very disappointed. We were level with I think eight minutes to go and maybe at the end of the day, the youth came through and the fact that they had the slightly younger team and the quick turnaround in the heavy conditions, got them through. But in the end, we can have no complaints, the better team won and that’s it.”
At 0-9 to 0-6 up with less than 15 minutes to go, it was looking good for his side.
“It did look good and they had missed a couple of scoring chances and frees and stuff that they never do, and you couldn’t but begin to think that maybe it was going to work out for us. But in that last eight or nine minutes, they were just outstanding. They just hurled us all over the pitch and in every area they were on top and they were simply better when they needed to be.
“We were just out on our feet at the end of that because we had battled hard all through. Which we did and that is one thing that I can’t let go without paying huge tribute to this great Crusheen team. I mean they have come through two campaigns in Clare, putting county titles backto-back having never won one before that.
“This was the icing on the cake but yet, the sportsman in all of us meant that when you get there, you try and win it if you can. Having said that, this was a huge day for Crusheen, a huge day for our parish and we are all very disappointed that we couldn’t have maybe done just a little bit better. But they are a superb team, a great bunch of lads and they worked extremely hard, you saw that on the pitch and they are do the exact same thing off the pitch as well. So fair play to them but on the day, in the last couple of minutes, the slightly fresher, slightly faster, slightly sharper team won out and you have to take your beating as well as your victories.”
There was also the matter of a first half penalty claim that might have decisively altered the narrative of the game but again Browne was not about to grumble.
“At this time of the year, you are not surprised at anything because it is very difficult for referees and I’m not going to criticise the referee here because they have a job to do as well and they do their very best. It wasn’t easy. There were a few things that I would wonder about but sometimes when you look back on it on DVD afterwards, you realise that the referee was right.”
So what now for his Crusheen side?
“This team have been around for a while and I suppose maybe that is part of what caused the problem at the end of the day today that some of them have a lot of mileage on the clock. Even the younger lads have been playing senior hurling since they were 16 but having said that, they will be back and will be a strong force in Clare again.
“I have to pay tribute to Na Piarsaigh as well. A great team, a great victory, great strength and great character when they needed it and you can’t take from that. Fair play to them, we wish them well for the rest of the competition.
“I certainly think that they have aspirations to do so and with the different skills and character that they have got all over the pitch, you certainly would have to fancy their chances. But I’m sure Coolderry, Gort and Loughgiel would have other ideas so it will be interesting to see how it unfolds.”
Bounteous words indeed for a Crusheen man that was so obviously crestfallen on Sunday. But considering his impressive managerial record, Browne and his Crusheen side will be back gunning for county and provincial glory.