This article is from page 63 of the 2011-08-16 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 63 JPG
St Senan’s Kilkee 3-6 – St Breckan’s 0-12 at Hennessy Memorial Park, Miltown Malbay
WHEN Barry Kelly blew the final whistle in his home patch of Miltown Malbay last Sunday evening, many of the St Breckans players fell to their knees with a sudden weight of disappointment and regret.
As the week will progress this will definitely be viewed as missed opportunity by both players and management alike and who knows how costly this case of a one that got away could be in this year’s senior football championship for the North Clare men. To have merely been behind two points at the interval after playing against a gale of a breeze in the first half and then to have actually regained the lead midway through the second half and to still come out on the wrong side of this 3-6 to 0-12 result will really have hurt the Lisdoon faithful.
On the other hand St Senans Kilkee were far from feeling the blues as their drive, hunger and most important of all, their experience drove them over the winning line to really open up group two after this second round of matches.
This victory arrived in many ways not only because of Breckan’s gradual decrease in control of proceedings but crucially Kilkee’s clinical nature in front of goal. The Blues found the net on three occasions while Breckans never saw that magical moment of the green flag waving in the blustery conditions of Miltown.
The first of the hat-trick of killer blows was in fact the opening score of this encounter. Despite Breckans adopting a defensive formation from the thrown in with Denis O’Driscoll acting almost as a sweeper, their tactics were to no avail when Gearoid Lynch crept in behind the far too hesitant and unresponsive Lisdoon full-back line.
Michael O’Shea’s expertly judged over the top pass landed safely in the hands of the on rushing wing forward who remained calm and confident to blast the football low into the bottom left corner of the net. Last year’s intermediate champions now needed to awaken from their early match snooze and to realise a senior encounter was going to have to be contested and fought for.
The eventual response came from the boot of accurate free taker Pat Nagle five minutes later. His first sailed between the posts from the ground while his next attempt from his hands from practically the same spot in front of the goals reduced the deficit to one.
A Conor Cormican kick levelled the game after quarter of an hour after good work from midfielder John McDonagh who would find a score of his own later on in the match.
The comeback however was short lived when killer blow number two materialised in the form of a Kilkee penalty. Again the lively Lynch was involved as another perfectly planned run this time only prevented and stopped by a Michael Reddan foul. O’Shea did the honours and left it at 2-1 to 0-3 to push Breckans back to square one.
Another response was needed and duly it came minutes before the break. O’Shea and the powerful Christopher Williamson had added scores to the Kilkee tally but the half would finish with a flurry of scores from the eventual losers. Cormican and Nagle found their range again while the excellent Stephen Tierney burst forward from defence to pitch in with two other fine points from play to leave it at 2-3 to 0-7 at half time.
The second half erupted into action with a trio of placed kicks from key marksman Nagle. His reliability in front of goal nudged Breckans into the lead for the first time. The momentum appeared to have followed the outfit who had now the wind at their backs. Strike three though would prove this advantage to be full of hot air as the treble of three pointers was completed with Kilkee’s first score of the second half also being a goal as in the first.
A scramble and goal mouth scrum somehow so the ball land in David Russell’s hands before he popped off a hand pass to Lynch who again found himself in the right place at the right time.
The football was hammered high into the net as was the final nail in the Breckans coffin. Of course the towel was never going to be thrown in with Nagle and Tierney the bravest of the losing warriors finding the last two punts of the game but unfortunately it was too little too late as Kilkee found the win they so desperately desired.
St Senan’s Kilkee
Kevin Harte (7), Darren Clarke (7), Darragh Kelly (7) Darren Owens (6),Thomas Galvin (7), David Russell (7),Alan Russell (7), Micheal Keane (7), Christopher Williamson (7) (0-2), Gearoid Lynch (8) (2-0), Kevin Larkin (7) (0-1), Brian Clancy (7), Barry Harte (7), Michael O’Shea (8) (1-2, 1-0pen), Diarmuid Keane (6)
Subs
Senan Larkin (6) (0-1) for D. Keane, Keith Downes (6) for M. Keane, Robert Fitzpatrick (6) for Galvin
St Breckan’s
Craig Flanagan (7), Daniel Carey (6), Conor Howley (7), Michael Redden (6), Raphael Considine (7), Greg O’Leary (7), StephenTierney (8) (0-3), John McDonough (7) (0-1), Michael Keating (6), Donal Howley (7), Sean Cormican (7), Dennis O’Driscoll (7), Conor Cormican (7) (0-1), Pat Nagle (8) (0-7f), Eric Murrihy (6)
Subs
Mark O’Donnell (6) for Murrihy
Man of the Match
Gearóid Lynch (St Senan’s Kilkee) Referee Barry Kelly (St Joseph’s Miltown)