Munster Minor Football S-Final – Cork 1-16 Clare 0-6

Clinical Cork crush Clare to seal final spot

Cork 1-16 Clare 0-6

By Fintan O’Toole for the Irish Examiner newspaper

Thursday, May 19, 2011

LAST season, in Brian Cuthbert’s first competitive game in charge of the Cork minor footballers, they departed Cusack Park with a huge sense of relief after a late scoring spree helped them defeat Clare. But when the teams met again at the Ennis venue last night, there was no such anxiety as Cork cruised to an emphatic Munster MFC semi-final success. Clare helped create a genuine contest when these teams met in the opening round in Páirc Uí Rinn last month with a determined display. They had made substantial progress through the backdoor stages since that clash, which left the team and its supporters in an optimistic mood.

However, Cork proved far too strong for their Banner opponents and forging a five-point lead while playing against the wind in the first-half laid the foundations for their victory. Cuthbert had taken the scalpel to his starting 15 since their first round tie and that surgery paid off in the quality of performance that they produced here. Brian O’Driscoll’s relocation from wing-forward to centre-back was a major success as he was the launchpad for Cork’s best spells of play. At midfield Kevin Kavanagh provided Cork with a distinct aerial advantage and along with the impressive Sean Kiely, they helped control that sector. Newcomer Cathal Vaughan from Iveleary shone in attack in the first-half with bright play while Mark Sugrue benefited from being switched to wing-forward for this game. In defence Conor Dorman was authoritative at full-back while the dynamic Kevin Crowley sparkled at right half-back and was constantly at the heart of passing movements while Cork’s attacking talisman claimed five points from play.

Clare were left reeling after only 15 seconds. Cork won the ball from the throw-in and when Kiely and Kavanagh combined to feed Sugrue, the Bandon player careered through the defence before unleashing a blistering shot to the net. That set the tone for the game with Clare struggling to win clean ball around the middle third. Cork were denied a goal in the 15th minute after a wonderful double-save by Clare netminder Darren Sexton to block efforts by MacEoin and Stephen O’Mahony. But Cork were still in a healthy position at the break, leading 1-5 to 0-3. Clare did not get off the mark until the 21st minute when Hickey converted a free and their best attacking move failed to yield a green flag in the 28th minute when Cork goalkeeper James McDonnell did brilliantly to tip over a shot by Eoin Cleary.

As they turned in the second-half with the wind at their backs, Cork started to play with confidence. O’Mahony, Sugrue, MacEoin and Cian O’Sullivan all claimed early points and although Eoin Cleary struck over a 43rd minute free, Clare were facing an eight-point deficit. It was too much for them to overcome and Cork maintained their high standards until the finish with MacEoin the scorer in chief as they sealed a 13-point victory.

Scorers for Cork: D MacEoin 0-5; M Sugrue 1-2; C Vaughan 0-3 (0-2f); C O’Sullivan, B O’Driscoll (0-1 ‘45) 0-2 each; J Corkery (0-1f), S O’Mahony 0-1 each.

Scorers for Clare: N Hickey 0-3 (0-3f); E Cleary 0-2 (0-1f); J Malone 0-1.

CORK: J McDonnell; J Davis, C Dorman, K Fulignati; K Crowley, B O’Driscoll, T Brosnan; S Kiely, K Kavanagh; M Sugrue, D Harrington, C Vaughan; D MacEoin, S O’Mahony, C O’Sullivan.

Subs: A Cadogan for Harrington (37), J Corkery for O’Mahony (40), D Murphy for Brosnan (47), K McIntyre for O’Sullivan (54), A O’Connell for Kavanagh (57).

CLARE: D Sexton; O Vaughan, J Malone, C Gavin; S Lineen, D McDonagh, J Colleran; A O’Neill, C Cleary; E Cleary C Devitt, J Rouine; M O’Leary, N Hickey, J Scanlon.

Subs: W Flynn for Rouine (half-time), L Corbett for Devitt (40), C O’Brien for Lineen (48), E Donnellan for Scanlon (54).

Referee: Sean Joy (Kerry)

For the Record

MUNSTER GAA FOOTBALL MINOR CHAMPIONSHIP 2011

First Round

Wednesday April 13^th

@ Kilmallock                                     Tipperary 1-13 Limerick 0-9

@ Austin Stack Park Tralee           Kerry 4-16 Waterford 0-6

@ Pairc Uí Rinn                               Cork 2-10 Clare 0-11

Semi-Final Play-off 1

Saturday April 16^th

@ Fraher Field Dungarvan                        Clare 4-14 Waterford 1-9

Semi-Final Play-off 2

Saturday April 23rd

@ Gaelic Grounds Limerick           Clare 1-10 Limerick 0-10

Semi-Finals

Wednesday May 18^th

@ Semple Stadium Thurles           Kerry v Tipperary 7:00pm

@ Cusack Park Ennis                    Cork v Clare 7:00pm

EXTRA TIME IN ALL GAMES UP TO THE FINAL

Final

Sunday July 3^rd

2011 Munster Minor Football Championship Matches played to date

Tipperary 1-13 Limerick 0-9 – April 13^th @ Kilmallock (Munster First Round)

Tipperary: G Slattery; O O’Flynn, C O’Sullivan, P McGuire; B Maher, F Ryan, C O’Riordan; S O’Brien, D Butler; J Martin, P Quirke, I Foley; L McGrath, M Quinlivan, TJ Ryan.
Subs: D Lonergan for Martin (30); C Kennedy for Quirke (50); G Henry for Fahey (55); L Vance for O’Brien (59); E Fitzgerald for TJ Ryan (63)

Limerick: D Condron; S Barrett, K O’Donoghue, B McCarthy; E O’Donnell, S O’Connor, K Brosnan; D Tracey, T Griffin; J Quaid, D O’Dea, F O’Riordan; D Neville, K Larkin, D Frewen.
Subs: W Shanahan for Larkin (35); D Lillis for Quaid (43); K Meade for Barrett (48); L Hanly for Neville (52); N Mann for O’Dea (57)

Referee: Sean Jay (Kerry)

Cork 2-10 Clare 0-11 – April 13^th @ Pairc Uí Rinn (Munster First Round)

Cork: J McDonnell; J Davis, C Dorman, K Hayes-Curtin; K Crowley, K Fulignati, K O’Hanlon; S Kiely, M Sugrue; B O’Driscoll, A Cadogan, D Harrington; D McEoin, S O’Mahony, C O’Sullivan.
Subs: D Murphy for O’Hanlon (half-time), S Ryan for Fulignati (42), J Corkery for Harrington (55), K McIntyre for Cadogan (57).

Clare: D Sexton; C Gavin, C O’Brien, O Vaughan; J Colleran, S Lineen, D Bolton; A O’Neill, D McDonagh; E Cleary, C Cleary, A Murrihy; M O’Leary, N Hickey, J Malone.
Subs: W Flynn for Malone (38), J Rouine for Bolton (42), C Devitt for O’Leary (52), J Sweeney for O’Brien (56), J Scanlon for Murrihy (58).

Referee: Richard Moloney (Limerick)

Kerry 4-16 Waterford 0-6 – April 13^th @ Austin Stack Park Tralee (Munster First Round)

Kerry – S Murphy, P O’Se, T Morley, C Fitzgerald, M O’Connor, R Murphy, K Murphy, G O’Leary, S Keane, T Hickey, P Boyle, J O’Donoghue, D O’Brien, C Keating, J Moriarty
Subs: P Wrenn for K Murphy ( 54), K McCarthy for J Moriarty ( 54), I McCarthy for D O’Brien ( 56)

Waterford – C Mulcahy, P Houlihan, D Power, P Curran, L O’Corrain R O’Ceallaigh, S Hyslop, E O’Toole, D Hallihan, G Nugent, E Power, T Burke, E Kiely, R Donnelly, M Kiely
Subs: M Curry for D Power (41), J Jones for E O’Toole ( 51)

Referee: Keith O’Brien (Tipperary)

Clare 4-14 Waterford 1-9 – April 16^th @ Fraher Field Dungarvan (Munster Semi-Final 1^st Playoff)

Clare – Darren Sexton; Conor Galvin (Captain), James Malone, Oisin Vaughan; Jarlath Colleran, Darragh McDonagh, Stan Lineen; Alan O’Neill, Conor Cleary; Eoin Cleary, Ciaran Devitt, Adrian Murrihy; Martin O’Leary, Niall Hickey William Flynn
Subs: Jack Scanlon for Adrian Murrihy, Conor McNeils for Jarlath Colleran, Luke Brannock for William Flynn, Cathal McConigley for Eoin Cleary, Paudie Nugent for Ollie Vaughan

Waterford – Conor Mulcahy; John Heffernan, Ray O Ceallaigh, PJ Curran; Lorcan O Corrain, David Hallihan, Sean Hyslop; Emmet O’Toole, Gavin Nugent; Michael Curry, Eamonn Power, Tadhg Burke; Michael Kiely, Ryan Donnelly, Eoin Kiely
Subs: Paul Connors for Emmet O’Toole, Dale Sheridan for Eoin Kiely, Jeff Jones for Michael Kiely, Adam O’Donoghue for Ryan Donnelly, Daniel Power for Sean Hyslop

Referee: James Bermingham (Cork)

Clare 1-10 Limerick 0-10 – April 23rd @ Gaelic Grounds Limerick (Munster Semi-Final 2nd Playoff)

Clare: Darren Sexton; Conor Gavin, Jamie Malone, Oisin Vaughan; Stan Lineen, Darragh McDonagh, Craig O’Brien; Alan O’Neill, Conor Cleary; Eoin Cleary, Ciaran Devitt, Adrian Murrihy; Martin O’Leary, Niall Hickey, Daragh Bolton
Subs: William Flynn for Adrian Murrihy (injured), Joey Rouine for Daragh Bolton, Jack Scanlon for William Flynn, James Sweeney for Craig O’Brien

Limerick: David Condron; Kevin Brosnan, Brendan McCarthy, Kevin O’Donoghue; Eoin O’Donnell, Shane O’Connor, Sean Barrett; Dara Tracey, Tommy Griffin; Dean Lillis, Denis O’Dea, Francis O’Riordan; Danny Neville, William Shanahan, Danny Frewen
Subs: Jamie Quaid for Francis O’Riordan (injured), Eoin Roche for William Shanahan, Kieran Larkin for Danny Neville, Kevin Meade for Denis O’Dea

Referee: Jer Lynch (Kerry)

2011 Top Scorers – Munster Minor Football Championship

Niall Hickey (Clare)  2-12 (0-7 frees)
Conor Cleary (Clare) – 1-6
Eoin Cleary (Clare) – 0-8 (0-5 frees)
Thomas Hickey (Kerry) – 1-5 (0-4 frees)
Danny Frewen (Limerick) – 0-8 (0-3 frees)
Martin O’Leary (Clare) – 1-4 (1-0 penalty)
Dan MacEoin (Cork) 1-4 (0-2 frees)
Padraig Boyle (Kerry) –  2-1
Tadhg Burke (Waterford) 0-7 (0-6 frees)
TJ Ryan (Tipperary) – 0-6 (0-3 frees)
Jeff O’Donoghue (Kerry) – 0-5 (0-3 frees)
Michael Quinlivan (Tipperary) – 1-2
Gavin Nugent (Waterford) 0-5
Jamie Moriarty (Kerry) –  1-1
Adrian Murrihy (Clare) – 1-0
Cian O’Sullivan (Cork) 0-3
Stephen O’Mahony (Cork) 1-0
Francis O’Riordan (Limerick) 0-3 (0-2 frees)
Dara Tracey (Limerick) 0-2
Dean Lillis (Limerick) 0-2
Eamonn Power (Waterford) 0-2
Ciaran Keating (Kerry) –  0-2
Philip Quirke (Tipperary) 0-2 (0-1 free)
Dean Lonergan (Tipperary) 0-2
Jamie Quaid (Limerick) – 0-2

Michael O’Connor (Kerry), Shaun Keane (Kerry), Brian O’Driscoll (Cork) (0-1 free), Kevin Crowley (Cork), Killian McIntyre (Cork), Jamie Malone (Clare), William Flynn (Clare), Liam McGrath (Tipperary), Denis O’Dea (Limerick), Jack Scanlon (Clare), Alan O’Neill (Clare), Cathal McConigley (Clare), Dale Sheridan (Waterford), Emmet O’Toole (Waterford), Danny Neville (Limerick) – 0-1 each

Munster Minor Football Championship Roll Of Honour

Kerry (41)

1931, 1932, 1933, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1940, 1941, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1954, 1957, 1958, 1962, 1963, 1965, 1970, 1975, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009.

Cork (29)

1939, 1952, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1964, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1981, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1999, 2000, 2005, 2007, 2010

Tipperary (5)

1934, 1935, 1955, 1984, 1995

Clare (3)

1929, 1930, 1953

Limerick (1)

1956

Munster Minor Football Cup

The Tadhg Crowley Cup was presented by Munster Council in 1990 to commemorate late Munster Council Treasurer. Tadhg was elected as Munster Council Treasurer in 1968 and served until his death in December 1989. A teacher by profession, he also served as Kerry County Board Secretary from 1955 until 1970. Tadhg was recognized as a specialist in organizing and handling styles and gates at big Munster Championship games.

All Ireland Minor Football Championship

In the Minor Football All Ireland Roll of Honour, Kerry top the charts with 11 titles while Cork are tied for second with Dublin with 10 titles. Clare won the first All-Ireland Minor Football title in 1929 while Tipperary only All-Ireland success at this grade came in 1934. Between them Munster counties have accounted for 23 All-Ireland Minor Football titles, ahead of Leinster and Ulster (20 titles each) and Connacht (17 titles).

The All-Ireland Minor Football title has not been won by a Munster county since Cork’s 2-12 to 0-13 victory over Mayo in the 2000 Final. Since then, Ulster counties have won 7 of the 10 finals played, Connacht 2 titles and Leinster have 1 title.

Kerry were All-Ireland Minor Football Champions in 1931, 1932, 1933, 1946, 1950, 1962, 1963, 1975, 1980, 1988, 1994

Cork were All-Ireland Minor Football Champions in 1961, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1972, 1974, 1981, 1991, 1993, 2000

Odds and Ends

Cork are the defending Munster Minor Football Champions following a 1-8 to 1-7 victory over Kerry at Fitzgerald Stadium Killarney. Corner-forward Brian Hurley scored 1-6 for the winners, including a 58^th minute goal to complete a come from behind victory.

The winning Cork team and scorers were as follows – David Hanrahan; Kevin Fulignati , Damian Cahalane, Darren Murphy; Sean Ryan, Tom Clancy, Jamie Wall; Jamie Burns, John O’Rourke; Kevin Hallissey (0-1), Mark Sugrue, Alan Cronin; Kevin Sheehan (0-1 free), Shane Duggan, Brian Hurley (1-6, 0-4 frees)

Subs: Daniel Fitzgerald (Captain) for S Ryan (45), Dan McEoin for M Sugrue, Stephen O’Mahony for S Duggan (50).

Since 1956, Cork and Kerry have won every Munster Minor Football title with the exception of 1984 and 1995 when Tipperary were successful.

Tipperary have played 45 matches in the Munster Minor Football Championship since 2000, more than any other Munster county.

Waterford have won 1 Munster Minor Football Championship match out of 14 played since 2005.

Cork, Kerry and Tipperary have won at least 1 match in the Munster Minor Football Championship every year since 2001.

The Kerry manager Pat O’Driscoll was the manager of The Ardfert Senior Football team that captured All Ireland Club Junior Championship honours in 2006 and won the All-Ireland Club Intermediate Championship in 2007.

Clare Minor Footballers Eoin and Conor Clancy from the Milltown club are twin brothers.