Clare Senior Football Championship Final – Kilmurry-Ibrickane 0-10 St Joseph’s Doora-Barefield 0-4

Hickey sets the tone for Kilmurry men to retain title

Report from the Irish Independent newspaper

Kilmurry-Ibrickane 0-10 St Joseph’s 0-4

Kilmurry-Ibrickane proved that they are modern-day kingpins of Clare football when they claimed a second senior title in a row and a fourth in five seasons in Ennis. In a repeat of last year’s final, the holders built up a winning lead early on and enjoyed 0-8 to 0-1 lead at half-time. Similar to 12 months ago, Kilmurry’s greater experience was vital. Man of the Match Niall Hickey kicked their opening score, with two further points by wing-back Thomas O’Connor and midfielder Peter O’Dwyer inside 10 minutes. St Joseph’s scoring chances in the opening half, though few, were snuffed out by a combination of bad finishing and strong play by the Kilmurry backs. With O’Dwyer and Ian McInerney dominant in the centre of the park, the champions controlled matters.

Joseph’s had to wait until injury-time to open their account when Cathal O’Sullivan pointed from distance. The winners were well prepared by former Kerry star John Kennedy and even though they only registered two scores in the second period, their intelligent passing game served them well throughout. Early second-half scores by Niall Hickey and a free from Ian McInerney were replied to by three from Cathal Duggan for St Joseph’s, who had Greg Lyons sent off with eight minutes remaining on a second yellow card. Kilmurry, who won their 13th title, introduced 37-year-old Odran O’Dwyer in the second half to claim his seventh medal since 1993.

Scorers — Kilmurry: N Hickey, I McInerney (3f) 0-3 each, T O’Connor, P O’Dwyer, N Downes, J Daly (f) 0-1 each. St Joseph’s: C Duggan 0-3 (2f), C O’Sullivan 0-1.

Kilmurry-ibrickane — P O’Dwyer; M McMahon (capt), D Hickey, S Hickey; T O’Connor, P O’Connor, D Callinan; P O’Dwyer, I McInerney; N Hickey, M O’Dwyer, E Talty; E Coughlan, J Daly, N Downes

Subs: S Murrihy for Talty (49), O O’Dwyer for Daly (50), M McCarthy for P O’Dwyer (58), C Morrissey for McInerney (60).

St Joseph’s — D O’Keeffe; P Nugent, S Collins, M Brooks; S Flynn (capt), K Dilleen, D Malone; A O’Neill, M Hallinan; G Lyons, C O’Sullivan, P Dullaghan; D O’Brien, I Whyte, C Duggan

Subs: E Lyons for Malone (22), B Clancy for O’Brien (42), C O’Brien for Hallinan (49), L Brannock for Dullaghan (50), E Clohessy for O’Sullivan (59).

Ref — M Rock (Ennistymon)

Kilmurry Ibrickane’s guile sees them home

By Terry Reilly for the Irish Examiner newspaper

Kilmurry-Ibrickane 0-10 St Joseph’s Doora Barefield 0-04

The form guide told us we were in for a ground-breaking day. Not since 1898 had a Doora name been etched into a Clare SFC cup. There were tales of an ageing Kilmurry side that didn’t have the same hunger. And there were the final records. Last year, Kilmurry blitzed Doora Barefield 0-17 to 0-5 in the final. This year they added the O’Gorman final by four points and the Cusack Cup by three, each at Doora’s expense. The gap was narrowing. Maybe it would be a historic day.

And in those first few moments it all looked to be coming together for the underdogs. Kilmurry struggled with the pace of the game and early chances were falling Doora Barefield’s way. By the eight minute, though, they hadn’t taken any of those chances. And for the following 22 minutes of the half, Kilmurry-Ibrickane turned on the style. “We had a couple of chances for two or three frees and I thought we might have had them but it didn’t go our way,” said Tyrone native and St Joseph’s Doora Barefield manager, Mark Rafferty. “The next thing they go down and get a couple of soft frees and a couple of scores and tack on a few from play and they got a bit of a run on us.”

That run started with a flash. Niall Hickey, Thomas O’Connor and Peter O’Dwyer all fired over scores from long range within 90 seconds of each other. Panic grew within the St Joseph’s camp. They pulled Kevin Dilleen from his sweeper role to pick up Johnny Daly who had been free to operate in a playmaker’s role. Run of the mill hand-passes became ordeals and their kick passing game ceased. Alan O’Neill, the late replacement picked for his physique on the edge of the square, was pulled out the field. But their biggest regret will be their shooting. It was deplorable.

The failure of those basics encouraged Kilmurry to play to their strengths. They opened up their foes for the second year running to exploit them. Points by Ian McInerney (two), Noel Downes, Johnny Daly and Hickey again gave them a seven-point lead going in at the break. “I don’t think we deserved to be 0-8 to 0-1 down at half-time because we had played pretty well. We needed to score earlier in the first half than we did,” admitted Rafferty. “They should have probably carried the ball in that little bit further because it wasn’t easy to score into that end.”

The sole St Joseph’s score came in the final seconds of first-half injury time from Cathal O’Sullivan. If he hadn’t raised the white flag, it would have matched the scoreline from last year’s rout. In the second half they showed glimpses of the team they can be and gave Kilmurry captain Martin McMahon reason — in his victory speech — to suggest they are the up and coming team of Clare football. Long balls into O’Neill reaped two scores for Cathal Duggan. The defence shut down Kilmurry’s attack and they won the half 0-3 to 0-2. But it mattered little. “There was a period where we had a couple of bad wides and turned over the ball in their 21-yard line and that was four or five scores and would have brought it back to a two or three-point game,” said Rafferty. “It was game on then but we missed those chances and the game petered out after that. They got a score after that and that was the difference.”

Scorers for Kilmurry-Ibrickane: N Hickey, I McInerney (3fs), 0-3 each, T O’Connor, P O’Dwyer, N Downes, J Daly (f) 0-1 each.

Scorers for Doora Barefield: C O’Sullivan 0-3 (2fs), C Duggan 0-1 each.

Subs for Kilmurry-Ibrickane: S Murrihy for Talty (49), O O’Dwyer for Daly (50), M McCarthy for P O’Dwyer (58), C Morrissey for McInerney (60).

Subs for Doora Barefield: E Lyons for Malone (23), B Clancy for O’Brien (42), C O’Brien for Hallinan (47), L Brannock for Dullaghan (50), E Clohessy for O’Sullivan (60).

Referee: M Rock (Ennistymon)

Match Preview from thescore.ie

Kilmurry-Ibrickane are the kingpins in Clare with three title wins in the last four years. In contrast their oppnents St Joseph’s Doora-Barefield last year featured in their first decider in 113 years at this grade. It was not a pleasant experience twelve months ago either as they were flattened by 0-17 to 0-5 by Kilmurry-Ibrickane. The champions needed all their resolve to better Kilrush Shamrocks after a replay last week with just a point to spare and they will hope Martin McMahon, Ian McInerney and Enda Coughlan can shine here. Ivor Whyte, Cathal Duggan, Kevin Dilleen and Greg Lyons are the key men in the St Joseph’s Doora-Barefield ranks.

Paths to Final

First round: Kilmurry-Ibrickane 0-15 Cratloe 1-12; St Joseph’s Doora-Barefield 1-3 Cooraclare 0-11.

First round replay: Kilmurry-Ibrickane 0-17 Cratloe 0-9.

Second round: St Joseph’s Doora-Barefield 0-12 St Senan’s Kilkee 0-8.

Third round: Kilmurry-Ibrickane 2-6 Éire Óg Ennis 0-6; St Joseph’s Doora-Barefield 0-8 Clondegad 0-6.

Quarter-finals: Kilmurry-Ibrickane 1-15 Cratloe 0-3; St Joseph’s Doora-Barefield 1-12 Cooraclare 0-6.

Semi-finals: Kilmurry-Ibrickane 0-9 Kilrush Shamrocks 1-6; St Joseph’s Doora-Barefield 0-7 Doonbeg 0-6.

Semi-final replay: Kilmurry-Ibrickane 0-11 Kilrush Shamrocks 3-1