Category: Sport

CHRISTY ‘Rusty’ Chaplin was braced. His team too, once the draw pitted a ‘Bridge team with Tony Carmody in its ranks against Inagh/ Kilnmona. Braced for a battle to the last.

Against this backdrop, it’s always about coming out the right side of the battle, something Chaplin hammered home to his players when dragging them up to the Stamer Park end of the field for a talk after that battle was over.

Chaplin wasn’t to know that medical prognosis was that goalkeeper Derek Fahy has fractured cheekbone and right half-back Barry O’Connor a double-break on his wrist and out of the semi-final.

“Look, it’s over, it’s done with,” he says before hearing the bad news. “We move on from here. We are delighted we’re in the next round. What we came up here to do was to get to a semi-final. We’re there. We didn’t play that well and that’s down to In- agh/Kilnamona.

“It was a tough, tough battle. We coming up to his all week that it was going to be a serious battle. We played Inagh/Kilnamona once or twice in the cup and you get nothing easy.

“They have a great bunch of hurlers and they were never going to die. They were going to used everything they could. We played it down, but they were going to use the Tony Carmody thing. They hounded us and won a lot of personal battles all over the field.

“We gave away a lot of stupid frees that were were punished for. That was our ill-discipline and we could have suffered for it. We knew young Arthur would punish us – he did it in the last round against Tubber and we had our lads warned but we gave away stupid frees.

“We turned up a bit flat today and it’s very hard to push the button when you’re not going well. We have two weeks to get ready and have a lot of work to do on that display,” he adds.

But what better way to focus the minds of his players than dangle Cratloe blue in front of them. “The ‘Bridge and Cratloe,” smiles Chaplin. “We’ll be drinking with them tonight and we’ll be enemies in two weeks time. It’s a game of hurling. We live together. We have players with some Cratloe women, they have players with Sixmilebridge women. There’s a lot of families tied up. It’s going to be a battle. We’ll enjoy this but two weeks time will be a different day and a different situation.”

MUNSTER Colleges Dean Ryan Hurling champions St. Flannan’s will open their challenge to hold onto the title on Wednesday next when they travel to Cashel to play De La Salle at 1.30p.m.

The contest is a repeat of last year’s semi-final which took place at the same venue where St. Flannan’s scored a 2-11 to 1-6 to top the roll of honour with Thurles CBS.

In recent years, De La Salle has been prominent at all levels within colleges hurling and they are expected to be strong challengers for this title.

Mike McInerney and Mike Kelly are again in charge of the Flannan’s side, who will be looking to Mark McGuane (Clarecastle) and Cian Moloney (Kilmaley) from last year’s side to lead their challenge

Ard Scoil Rís from Limerick are expected to include some Clare players when they open their challenge for honours against Gaelcholaiste Mhuire from Cork at Charleville at 1:30pm on Wednesday.

In the B competition St.Anne’s from Killaloe will play Bandon in Mallow at 1:30pm on Wednesday. While St.Caimin’s from Shannon will travel to Ballygran on Tuesday to play Rochestown and this tie has a 12:15pm throw in time. St. Joseph’s Tulla await the winners of this tie in round two.

Three Clare schools are also challenging for the C title. Rice College Ennis got there challenge off to a winning start when they defeated St.Munchin’s on Tuesday on Cratloe. They will play Killmallock on Bullngarry in their next outing in October 12.

Cratloe will be the venue on Wednesday at 1.30pm for the meeting of Ennistymon CBS and Hospital from Limerick while on Friday of next week, Scarrif Community College will play Pallaskenry at 12.30pm.

Scariff’s senior team will play NewcastleWest in the opening round of the senior C hurling at Patrickswell on Wednesday at 1.30pm.

In the U-15 C football competition, St.Anne’s Killaloe will travel to Kildimo on Wednesday next to play Mounthawk from Tralee while, at Clareabbey, Mary Immaculate College from Lisdoonvarna will play St.Pat’s from Shannon. Both football games will not get underway at 1.30pm.

The open rounds in the race for the Dr Harty cup and Corn Phadraigh (Senior B will take place on Wednesday, October 5. First round games in the race for the senior football titles which will take place a week later, October.

Cratloe 4-12 – Tulla 0-15 at Cusack Park, Ennis

WITH three minutes of normal time left – not to mind the four injury time minutes to be added – it’s safe to say that Tulla scented an escape to victory. They still trailed by three, but had just reeled off hat-trick of points from the mercurial Andrew Quinn (2) and David McInerney and had Cratloe shaken.

But not stirred – they never are and by game’s end they had rattled the Tulla net twice more to cruise to a nine-point win and into their third successive county senior semi-final.

It’s true that the final scoreline flattered Cratloe and did a grave disservice to a battling Tulla, but at the same time the 2009 county champions certainly rediscovered their swagger as they closed to within 60 minutes of a remarkable third county final appearance in a row.

Just reward too because Cratloe’s class up front was visible all through and it meant that Tulla seemed to be chasing the game for most of the hour – building their challenge of raw intensity, while Cratloe had the craft.

Early on Cratloe raced into a 1-3 to no score lead after only six minutes – the goal coming when Podge Collins teed up Cathal McInerney the first of his hat-trick that ultimately ripped the heart out of Tulla’s brave resistance.

It looked routine enough for Cratloe at that stage in they way they’d hit back from Aidan Lynch’s opener for Tulla with points by Conor McGrath (2) and McInerney before the latter struck for his goal.

However, Tulla were resolute all through, slowly cranking to life thanks to an effort from play by Cathal Dinan and two placed balls from Andrew Quinn as the game settled down into a really competitive contest.

Tulla’s tour de force continued with points from Andrew Quinn (2), Danny O’Halloran, David McInerney and Darragh Corry. With the only riposte coming by way of points from Martin ‘Ogie’ Murphy and Conor McGrath, it meant that the 2007 champions had overcome their dreadful start to move 0-9 to 1-5 ahead by the 25th minute.

However, crucial to the outcome was Cratloe’s response before the break when they reeled off three on the trot from Conor McGrath, Podge Collins and Cathal McInerney to edge 1-8 to 0-9 clear.

Cathal McInerney’s second goal two minutes into the second half when he pounced on a rebound after Philip Brennan foiled Conor McGrath moved Cratloe 2-8 to 0-10 clear but try as they might they couldn’t shake off Tulla’s dogged pursuit for much of the half.

A brilliant display of point taking from Andrew Quinn helped keep Jim McInerney’s charges alive, while points from Danny O’Halloran and David McInerney also aided their cause as they chased the game in the second half.

Quinn’s eighth in the 50th minute, which was followed by an inspirational effort from McInerney seven minutes later had the game back in the balance, with Tulla threatening to steamroll past Cratloe’s faltering challenge.

However, they needed to take every chance that came their way, meaning that Brian Lynch’s 58th minute wide was the break that Cratloe needed – a fact they hammered home less than 30 seconds later when Conor McGrath stroked the sliotar home to an empty net was another Brennan save, this time from Cathal McInerney, fell invitingly into his path.

Game over, but the highlight was yet to come, when McInerney crowned his brilliant individual display with a wonder goal.

Controlling a high delivery with his hurley, the dual star then eschewed handling the sliotar and instead met the dropped ball with a full volley into the top left corner of the net.

What Cathal McInerney the footballer would give for a few of those against Kilmurry Ibrickane on Saturday.

Cratloe
Sean Hayes (7), John O’Gorman (7), Barry Duggan (7), David Ryan (8), Enda Boyce (7), Michael Hawes (7), LiamMarkham(7), Sean Chaplin (7), Martin ‘Ogie’ Murphy (7) (0-1), Damian Browne (6) (0-1),

Sean Collins (6), Conor Ryan (7), Cathal McInerney (9) (3-2), Conor McGrath (8) (1-6, 5f), Podge Collins (8) (0-2).

Subs
Tomás O’Connor (6) for Browne [50 Mins], Padraigh Chaplin (6) for Collins [59 Mins], Gearóid Ryan (6) for Conor Ryan [62 Mins]

Tulla

IT WAS A double helping of top tier seven-a-side football for the Banner Ladies last weekend when the Senior and Under 14 teams appeared in the prestigious All-Ireland finals.

The Under 14 panel, most appearing in their third seven’s tournament, were well up for it this year and topped their group taking wins over Kildare, Down and Offally teams.

In the knockout stages, they dashed the hosts dreams when Grainne Nolan rallied the Banner with a couple of fine goals to defeat them by two points, aided by two crucial Niamh O’Brien saves. Then they dismantled the Emyvale, Monaghan machine by 2-9 to 3-0 before their semi-final meeting with Sarsfields, who were much fancied.

The Kildare side were rattled by the Banner’s blistering start, with scores from Eva O’Dea, Aoife Keane, Gráinne Nolan, and Aoibheann Malone. The second half belonged to Sarsfields, but the Banner were too far ahead to be stopped at 5-5 to 4-3 with solid performances from Elaine Casey, Emma Neylon and Aisling Maher.

An All-Ireland final meeting with Féile rivals and two-in-a-row champions Claregalway, was a very competitive affair with Clare Hehir and Laura Chesser showing great determination. The Banner held the advantage in the first half until Claregalway got two late goals to lead by two points at half–time.

The second half was all Claregalway with the Banner feeling the effects of their seven game marathon and a flurry of goals sealed it for the Galway side.

Banner Under 14
Elaine Casey, Emma Neylon, Eva O’Dea,Aoife Keane, Niamh O’Brien,Aisling Maher, Clare Hehir, Laura Chesser and captains Grainne Nolan and Aoibheann Malone. THE BANNER senior squad, AllIreland intermediate champions in 2010, went into senior grade action for the first time and reached the final with a perfect record too. They topped their group with wins over Down, Meath, Galway and Dublin sides.

An expected crucial decider with St. Ultan’s of Meath was averted when Down side Bryansford, came out on top in their game with Utlan’s.

The Ennis girls met Carrickmore in the All-Ireland semi-final and a sterling team performance delivered a big win over the Tyrone side 12-4 to 7-2.

When debutants Banner faced seven time champions Ballymacarbury of Waterford in the All-Ireland final they were unphased and were leading by the minimum at half-time. Ballymacarbury opened with two points but Niamh Keane started with a point, followed by a Niamh O’Dea goal and Louise Henchy tacked on a point shortly after for the Saffron and Blues.

The Waterford side had two more points scored when Niamh O’Dea goaled again and she replicated it when they went over and under the bar before the break at 2-3 to 1-5 in favour of the Banner.

Ballymacarbury started the second half with a point but Henchy was back with a penalty to go three points up. Captain O’Driscoll had them at sixes and sevens with long and short range kick-outs while Louise Woods, Laurie Ryan and Sinead O’Keeffe were outstanding in defence. Katie Cahill, Shonagh Enright and Louise Henchy in the middle were very strong.

The third quarter was frantic as O’Dea, Carroll and Orlaith Lynch tried to open up a solid Waterford defence but some harsh decisions and a couple of missed opportunities let the Déise through for 2-1 to leave the Clare side four points adrift.

In the last Banner attack of the day, Naomi Carroll buried to bring it back to the minimum but the whistle went up on the dot and Ballymacarbury were lucky to escape with the Cup.

Overall, it was a good day’s work for the Banner club with two teams in All-Ireland finals and surely they will feel they can return next year for seniors honours.

Banner
Emma O’Driscoll (Capt), LouiseWoods, Niamh Keane, Sinead O’Keeffe, Katie Cahill, Rebecca Culligan, Louise Henchy, Niamh O’Dea, Shonagh Enright, Naomi Carroll, Orlaith Lynch, Laurie Ryan County Junior A champions Doonbeg also reached the knock-out stages of the All-Ireland Junior Seven’s on Saturday after an perfect group stage campaign. The Magpies won all four of their opening games against Carryduff (Down), Aghada (Cork), Beagh (Galway) and Dublin’s Clontarf to reach the last eight but unfortunately, their hopes of emulating the Banner ended at the first hurdle when coming up against a clinical St Bridget’s squad from Mayo who advanced on a 7-2 to 1-5 scoreline.

Doonbeg
Edel Conway,Amanda Ryan, Caroline Haugh,Yvonne Downes, Patricia Nugent, Sarah Cahill,Aoife Conway, Siobhan Beehan, Linda Russell, Kevina Kenny, Rachel Ryan, Mairead Madigan Munst er Senior Club semi fina l Pr eview

ON it goes. The Cratloe carousel where players flit between kicking ball one week and pucking it the next.

Occasionally the lines become blurred, like they did when Cathal McInerney showcased his prodigious talent with one swing of his left leg on the sliotar to finally kill off Tulla’s challenge, but in Cratloe’s case it’s always a case of one game com- plimenting the other.

So it is that they’ve two county semi-finals to look forward too, and an under 21 final too. “It is like 2009,” admitted manager Mike Deegan, “but this year we’re used to it because we’ve done it before. We have more experience and hopefully that will pay to us in the end.

“All we want to do is keeping winning. It’s basically the same panel of players for both. Every day you win you get confidence and hopefully they’ll be able to carry that through to the next round.”

The footballers got to their penultimate round with a facile win over Lissycasey – the margin of victory here may have been nine points, but it was far from facile, as Deegan was quick to admit.

“It’s championship hurling and you’re not going to win a match very easily. The couple of goals at the end weren’t really fair on Tulla because they played really well and were very tough in the second half.

“Our guys started very well and then dropped off a small bit. When you go out in championship you hope that there will be an improvement everyday and we’ll be hoping for that the next day.”

Cratloe only managed 0-7 in their final group game against Inagh/Kilnamona – to say a haul 4-12 represented a massive improvement is putting it mildly. When asked for an explanation Deegan put it down to “the real important end” of the 2011 hurling year.

“Every match counts. The nervousness was there in the last couple of matches that we played, especially after the bad start we got against Tubber. After being beaten by Tubber we knew what we had to do. Every match we played was a knock-out game for us – obviously there were nerves there because we were afraid to lose but now it’s great to be back in a semi-final.”

Kilmihil 0-11 – Kilmurry Ibrickane 1-07 at Shanahan McNamara Memorial Park, Doonbeg

THE club’s senior team may be walking a tight rope when they go into a relegation decider against St Joseph’s Miltown in Quilty this weekend, but it could be Kilmihil’s year at minor level.

They’re in a county final against Ennistymon thanks to this dramatic win over favourites Kilmurry Ibrickane – the fourth time in the campaign to date that they’ve secured a one-point win, against Clondegad, Cooraclare, St Joseph’s and now Kilmurry Ibrickane.

And they did this the hard way, coming from 1-6 to 0-1 adrift early in the second half to storm to victory on the back of a brilliant scoring performance from dual star Martin O’Leary who hit eight points over the hour to put his club to within 60 minutes of a first Minor A title since 1995.

Kilmurry Ibrickane played with the wind in the first half after winning the toss, but were slow to get into their stride and only led by 0-2 to 0-1 after the opening 15 minutes.

However, a penalty that was converted by Darren Sexton was the tonic Kilmurry needed and it helped them into a 1-5 to 0-1 interval lead. Darren Sexton bagged 1-1 in the half for Kilmurry, while three Niall Hickey frees and an effort from play by Aaron Murrihy ensured they enjoyed a healthy seven-point interval lead.

Within a minute of resumption Kilmurry Ibrickane added a further point but from there on Kilmihil took control. Inspired by their Captain Stan Lineen, Kilmihil began to take control and with 10 minutes to go they had reduced the lead to a single point. Up front Martin O’Leary was causing all kinds of problems for the Kilmurry Ibrickane backs, he kicked the four points in a row to give Kilmihil a two-point lead entering the final minutes.

With less than a minute on the clock Kilmurry Ibrickane launched a final attack which resulted in a point leaving just a point between the sides at the death.

Kilmihil
MatthewKeane, Conor O’Flaherty (0-1),Alan Dalton, Stephen Coughlan, David Coughlan, Jack

Browne, Diarmuid Lorigan, Stan Lineen, Niall Pender (0-1), Conor Egan (0-1), David Blake, Conor Dennehy, Conor Finucane, Martin O’Leary (0-8, 2f) Geróid Johnson.

Sub
Ronan Flaherty for Johnson.

Kilmurry Ibrickane
Dara Pender, Ciaran O’Neill, Ciaran Morrissey, Shane Kavanagh (0-1), Danny Murphy, Padraig Lynch, Conor Killeen, Niall Hickey (0-4f), John McNamara, Gary Sexton,Adrian Murrihy, Diarmuid Downes,Aaron Murrihy (0-1), Darren Sexton (11), Keith Sexton.

Sub
Darren Callinan for Downes.

Man of the Match
Martin O’Leary (Kilmihil) Referee Michael McGann (Michael Cusacks)

Clonlara 0-20 – Kilmaley 0-05 at Clooney

AND SO it came to pass. The perfect year of a clean sweep of league and championship honours that encompassed a 15 match winning run was finally realised on Saturday. Even the dogs around Clonlara could have told you that the title was destined for the club, especially after romping to the Junior A league.

And while this wasn’t their most impressive of displays this year, particularly in the opening period when only holding a 0-7 to 0-3 advantage, having benefitted from the aid of a strong breeze, once they opened up on the turnover it was merely a matter of how much the winning margin would eventually be.

Kilmaley for their part, fought the good fight in the opening half but against such a clinical outfit, they simply needed to take every opportunity and missed frees ultimately proved costly, six in the first half alone.

That said, it’s unlikely it would have mattered to the overall result as Clonlara were devastating in the second half with Barry Moloney unerring through frees while captain Alan O’Connell tacked on three points to cap off another masterful display.

Junior A championship beware.

Clonlara
Patrick Stritch, Patrick Conlon, Fergal

Barron, Owen Hackett, Patrick Clancy, Brian Woods, Ronan Carey, Diarmuid O’Meara (0-1 s/l), Barry Moloney (0-9f), Harry Horgan, Jason Murphy (0-1), Michael Collins, Ryan Morris (0-2), Paul Barry (0-2),Alan O’Connell (0-4)

Subs
Kieran Murphy for Clancy,TomBegley (0-1) for Horgan, Kenneth Haskett for Collins, Eoin Meehan for Conlon, Padraig Hession for Morris

Kilmaley
Eoin Meehan, ColmLynch, James Murphy, Darragh McMahon, Jacko Neylon (0-1), Gerard O’Sullivan, Sean Hogan, Ciaran O’Loughlin, DavidTalty, John McMahon, Dick Pyne, Darragh Gregan (0-1), Eamon Bracken (0-1), Gerry Kennedy (0-2), Dermot Queally

Subs
James O’Rourke for Queally, Eibhear Slattery for Pyne, Shane O’Malley for O’Loughlin, Dermot Maher for J. McMahon, Flan Queally for Talty

Man of the Match
Barry Moloney (Clonlara) Referee Michael Fitzgerald (Ballyea)

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].

AS Wolfe Tones players trooped off the field and into the dressing room after the first installment against St Senan’s Kilkee, the management team of supremo Brendan Reidy, coach Jerome Stack, Tony O’Gorman and a few more held back for a few minutes.

They were deep in conclave, talking it through, before finally going into the players. You could say that they were in game mode still – just as Brendan Reidy was when talking to reporters after the Tones eventually reappeared from behind the closed doors.

“We’re still in this in a big way,” said Reidy. “You better believe it,” he added. What’s more, he said a number of times – not to raise the spirits of some disconsolate clubmen around him after they had blown a four-point lead in the final minutes, but because he believed it.

The result was this performance – again they had a healthy lead, this time they closed it out to reach a first county semi-final in four years. Dreamland for a team decimated by emigration before a ball was kicked at the start of the year? Surely?

“When we gathered in January the main thing for the year was to safeguard our senior status,” admitted Reidy.

“We were totally down in numbers and it was just about re-grouping and staying up, because if we didn’t there was always the danger that football could go down in Wolfe Tones in a flash.

“We were lucky against Kilrush in the first game – total enthusiasm and workrate got us through that day and we built from there.

“There has been a great attitude in the dressing room all year. Small numbers bring that.

“After the drawn game we sat down as a team on Monday night and we thrashed it out. We got fellas’ opinions and there were a lot of fellas who didn’t play well the first day. Then we had a great training session on the Tuesday night and a lot of the fellas stood up in this game.

“I could never see the game being gone from us after the first day. We had the speed, we had the legs on them, it’s just that we didn’t finish them off.

“We did it this time and are looking forward to the semi-final.”

A TALE of two dressing rooms.

Kilkee bounding into theirs as if they’d won a county final; Wolfe Tones wearily as if they’d won one, yet lost it.

Blues celebrating; Tones downcast, even if both lived to die another day.

“It’s spirit,” said full-back Darragh Kelly of the Blues’ remarkable comeback. “Never say die. We don’t have too many more years left on the road with this team. This is a chance for us again this year,” he added.

“Maybe we should have won it,” offered Tones manager Brendan Reidy, “but we’re still in the county quarterfinal and we’re back on the training field Monday night and we will be all guns blazing for next weekend. We are far from out of this, far from it”.

Both had just drawn breath after a remarkable finale that saw Kilkee dig deep to secure a draw, or the Tones meltdown. Your perspective depended on your dressing room.

“When we were four points down, a man down with ten minutes to go and playing against the wind, it was tough going,” admitted Kelly. “We were delighted to get out with a draw. Afterwards it felt like we won the game, but still we have to go out and win it the next day. That’s the challenge for us now.

“We looked a bit rusty. We haven’t played that many games. It’s been a stop start season. It’s hard to get any momentum, but you have to credit Wolfe Tones too. They played a very defensive game and made it very hard for us.

“We just couldn’t break them down, but thankfully we came through in the end to get the draw. We had no choice but to push on and try to retrieve it. It was there for Wolfe Tones to take it on, but they played into our hands and sat back – if they had pressed on and hit another point or two, we were gone,” he added.

“Our handling let us down a bit,” admitted Reidy. “It was very hard conditions out there and Kilkee are an experienced team. We dropped back near the end and we had no one in the half-forward line. We were four up and we seemed to lose our way. They kept plugging away.”