Munster MFC S-Final 2nd Playoff – Clare 1-10 Limerick 0-10

Clare defeated Limerick by 1-10 to 0-10 in the Munster Minor Football Championship Semi-Final 2nd Playoff on Saturday at the Gaelic Grounds Limerick.

Match Report

Munster Minor Football Championship Semi-Final 2nd playoff

Clare 1-10 Limerick 0-10

Clare qualified for the Munster Minor Football Semi-Final against Cork by virtue of a three point victory over Limerick at the Gaelic Grounds on Saturday evening. Clare started strong and built up a 1-2 to 0-0 lead in the first quarter with Adrian Murrihy raising the green flag. The impressive Danny Frewen scored Limerick’s first point in the 17th minute and three further Frewen points and white flags from Limerick’s Francis O’Riordan and Danny Neville meant Clare’s lead was reduced to 1-4 to 0-6 at the interval.

Clare’s play improved in the second half, creating numerous goal chances which they failed to convert meaning that entering the final quarter, the sides were level at 1-6 to 0-9. However, Clare full-forward Niall Hickey helped put his team back in front with 3 pointed frees and when the impressive Clare midfielder Conor Cleary kicked a point from play in injury time, it sealed a hard fought victory for the Banner County.

Teams –

Clare: Darren Sexton; Conor Gavin, Jamie Malone, Oisin Vaughan; Stan Lineen, Darragh McDonagh, Craig O’Brien; Alan O’Neill, Conor Cleary (0-2); Eoin Cleary (0-2, 0-1 free), Ciaran Devitt, Adrian Murrihy (1-0); Martin O’Leary (0-1), Niall Hickey (0-5, 0-4 frees), 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 (0-1 free); Danny Neville (0-1), William Shanahan, Danny Frewen (0-7, 0-3 frees)

Subs: Jamie Quaid (0-1) 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)

Score breakdown

Clare 1-10 Limerick 0-10

5th minute – Eoin Cleary kicks a point from play for Clare to open the scoring – Clare 0-1 Limerick 0-0

8th minute – Adrian Murrihy makes a long run through the Limerick defence and finishes with aplomb to score a goal for Clare, getting injured in the process forcing his retirement – Clare 1-1 Limerick 0-0

15th minute – Niall Hickey kicks a nice point from play for Clare – Clare 1-2 Limerick 0-0

17th minute – Danny Frewen opens the scoring for Limerick with a point from play – Clare 1-2 Limerick 0-1

18th minute – Francis O’Riordan points a 13 metre free for Limerick and injures his hamstring in the process before being replaced – Clare 1-2 Limerick 0-2

21st minute – Danny Frewen finishes off a good passing move by Limerick by scoring a point from play – Clare 1-2 Limerick 0-3

22nd minute – Danny Neville kicks a point from play for Limerick – Clare 1-2 Limerick 0-4

24th minute – Danny Frewen points a free for Limerick and the sides are level – Clare 1-2 Limerick 0-5

27th minute – Eoin Cleary kicks a pointed free for Clare to put the Banner County back in front – Clare 1-3 Limerick 0-5

29th minute – Niall Hickey points a free for Clare – Clare 1-4 Limerick 0-5

34th minute – Danny Frewen kicks a long range point from play for Limerick – Clare 1-4 Limerick 0-6

HALF-TIME – Clare 1-4 Limerick 0-6 Clare 2 wides Limerick 5 wides

34th minute – Danny Frewen kicks a point from play for Limerick and the sides are level – Clare 1-4 Limerick 0-7

36th minute – Martin O’Leary kicks a point from play for Clare – Clare 1-5 Limerick 0-7

37th minute – Conor Cleary kicks a point from play for Clare – Clare 1-6 Limerick 0-7

38th minute – Danny Frewen is fouled and points the free himself – Clare 1-6 Limerick 0-8

40th minute – Martin O’Leary (Clare) gets a couple of goal chances in the space of a minute – the first went wide, the second rattled the crossbar and away to safety

43rd minute – Jamie Quaid kicks a point from play for Limerick – Clare 1-6 Limerick 0-9

44th minute – Niall Hickey points a free for Clare after being fouled himself – Clare 1-7 Limerick 0-9

47th minute – Niall Hickey points a free for Clare after being fouled himself – Clare 1-8 Limerick 0-9

49th minute – Niall Hickey’s goal bound effort from close range is blocked out for a 45 metre free

51st minute – Niall Hickey points a free for Clare after Martin O’Leary is fouled – Clare 1-9 Limerick 0-9

52nd minute – Danny Frewen points a free for Limerick after Sean Barrett is fouled after a good run – Clare 1-9 Limerick 0-10

61st minute – Conor Cleary kicks a point from play for Clare – Clare 1-10 Limerick 0-10

RESULT – Clare 1-10 Limerick 0-10 – Clare 5 wides Limerick 8 wides

Match Preview

On tomorrow evening (Saturday), Limerick will host Clare in the Munster Minor Football Championship 2nd playoff in the Gaelic Grounds Limerick. The winners will have home advantage against the defending champions Cork in the Munster semi-final on Wednesday May 18th. In the Championship to date, Clare proved a match for Cork in the first round at Pairc Uí Rinn. However, Cork took their goal chances and Clare did not which proved the difference in a 2-10 to 0-11 victory for the Rebel County. Three days later, Clare got back on track with an impressive 14 point victory over Waterford at Dungarvan where goals proved no problem in a 4-14 to 1-9 victory. Limerick on the other hand have had one match to date, a disappointing 1-13 to 0-9 loss at the hands of Tipperary in a match played at Kilmallock. Based on known form, Clare would appear favourites to progress to a semi-final rematch with Cork. However, it’s less than a month since Limerick came from 5 points down against Clare in the Cadbury Munster Under 21 Football Championship to earn a draw before winning out in extra time. With home advantage, Limerick will look recover from their first round defeat and neither team will be taking anything for granted in what looks like being an entertaining match on Easter Saturday evening. Jer Lynch of Kerry is in charge of the whistle and throw-in on Saturday is at 7:30pm.

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           Limerick v Clare 7:30pm

Semi-Finals

Wednesday May 18^th

@ Tipperary venue                          Kerry v Tipperary 7:00pm

Cork v Winner of Semi-Final Play-off 2 (Limerick v Clare)

(See venue permutations below)

@ Cusack Park Ennis                    Cork v Clare 7:00pm

@ Gaelic Grounds Limerick           Cork v Limerick 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)

2011 Top Scorers – Munster Minor Football Championship
Niall Hickey (Clare)  2-7 (0-3 frees)
Thomas Hickey (Kerry) – 1-5 (0-4 frees)
Conor Cleary (Clare) – 1-4
Dan MacEoin (Cork) 1-4 (0-2 frees)
Padraig Boyle (Kerry) –  2-1
Tadhg Burke (Waterford) 0-7 (0-6 frees)
Eoin Cleary (Clare) – 0-6 (0-4 frees)
Martin O’Leary (Clare) – 1-3 (1-0 penalty)
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
Cian O’Sullivan (Cork) 0-3
Stephen O’Mahony (Cork) 1-0
Francis O’Riordan (Limerick) 0-2 (0-1 free)
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

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), Jamie Quaid (Limerick), Denis O’Dea (Limerick), Danny Frewen (Limerick), Jack Scanlon (Clare), Alan O’Neill (Clare), Cathal McConigley (Clare), Dale Sheridan (Waterford), Emmet O’Toole (Waterford) – 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.