This article is from page 74 of the 2011-09-20 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 74 JPG
Kilrush Shamrocks 0-09 – St Breckan’s 0-07 at Miltown
THIS battle of the old versus the new in terms of cemented senior status saw Kilrush claim victory over their North Clare rivals St. Breckans by a slim margin of two points. Kilrush’s ideal blend of a few experienced old heads with a splash of future youthfulness was enough to account for last year’s intermediate champions who in many ways will see this season as being a huge success and be thankful for this game rather than a possible relegation fight that was predicted for them by some. Breckan’s played the first half with the aid of a gale force wind that most of their players would be used of from a stormy Winter’s night around Doolin Pier and it’s surroundings.
The familiarity may have been no- ticeable but this advantage was not made the most of and in many ways this led to the team’s ultimate downfall. To enter at the break trailing by a point after being on the positive side of the fierce conditions always meant a huge uphill task in the second half. The first point of the match arrived after ten minutes when a poor kick out was intercepted by half-forward Cathal Lyons who despite the ominous elements in front of him made no mistake in forcing his kick straight between the posts.
Two minutes later and the advantage was doubled. This time the difficult kick was mastered from a placed ball on the 20 metre line.
Midfielder Jim Young floated it over the bar expertly from the ground out near the stand side of the field. The quarter mark saw Breckans finally get on the scoreboard when a fast paced burst saw Conor Cormican poke the ball over the black spot with the outside of his right boot. Anything he could do, the threatening Rory O’Connor could do better at the opposite end of the field to locate his team’s third point.
A duo of missed frees by Pat Nagle was redeemed with three of his more usual and expected accurate attempts to surprisingly boost the north Clare outfit in front for the first time after 25 minutes.
Kilrush however could not and did not relinquish all their hard work before the interval so Young and O’Connor stood up and were counted for again with a brace of excellent scores. Their efforts left it at 0-5 to 0-4 at half time.
The second half was even more entertaining than the first. Kilrush managed to increase their lead steadily as the half progressed but this was a mere sub plot to some incredible goalmouth action that could have sent the result either way. O’Connor found himself through on goal after 40 minutes but a super save by Breckan’s Craig Flanagan kept his team’s hopes alive.
Soon after Cormican had an equally good match winning opportunity. He did everything right before his powerfully drive shot cruelly bounced off the Kilrush crossbar which at the time would have given Breckan’s a lifeline and levelled the score.
The eventual losers continued to fight on for the last quarter but Kilrush held out and sealed victory with a last minute free by man of the match Young to end the contest at 0- 9 to 0-7.
Kilrush
Tony Burke (7), Seamus Bolton (7), James Hehir (7), Niall Kilbride (7), Niall Clancy (7), John Hayes (7), MatthewMoloney (7), JimYoung (8) (0-4f), Martin Griffin (7), Padjo McGrath (7) (0-1), Cathal Lyons (7) (0-1), Steven Sweeney (7), Peadar McMahon (7), EoinTarrant (7), Rory O’Connor (8) (0-3)
Sub
Donal Madigan (6) for Griffin
St Breckan’s
Craig Flanagan (7), Donal Howley (7), Daniel Carey (7), Cathal Blood (7), Mikey Keating (7), Greg O’Leary (7), StephenTierney (7) (0-1f), Sean Cormican (7), Shane O’Connor (6), Dennis O’Driscoll (7), Eric Murrihy (6), Conor Cormican (7) (0-1), Neil Hawes (6), Conor Howley (6), Pat Nagle (7) (0-5, 4f) Subs Michael Reddan (6) for C. Howley, John McDonagh (6) for O’Connor, Declan Curtin (6) for Murrihy
Man of the Match
Jim Young (Kilrush) Referee Barry Kelly