Old stagers square up to great pretenders

TOMORROW’S Clare SHC Final at Cusack Park could be pitched as the battle of the has-beens versus the wannabes.

Starting this campaign, St Joseph’s Doora-Barefield were seen as old warhorses, great champions in their day, culminating in a glorious All-Ireland club title in 1999. Those days are now quickly receding.

Kilmaley meanwhile, had their own aspirations, but without a senior title since 1985 would have been equal long-shots. Yet here they are, totally on merit, St Joseph’s having toppled reigning champions, Clarecastle, in the semi-final, Kilmaley accounting for Sixmilebridge, 2002 champions, in their quarter-final.

“The most improving team in Clare versus the most impressive,” is how St Joseph’s supremo Louis Mulqueen describes them.

“A lot of people would say that Kilmaley are the best and most consistent team in Clare. They’re already beaten us at the roundrobin stage of the championship when they blew us off the field. The won by four but it should have ben 24 and that was only a month ago.

“Since then however, we’ve improved immensely. The three games we had against Wolfe Tones in the quarter-final brought us on. You can’t beat that type of championship experience. A week after we finally overcame Wolfe Tones we met Clarecastle and just kept it going.

“We played four weekends in a row and last Sunday was our first Sunday off in a while. In fact, this will be our eighth championship game. We won the All-Ireland playing that number.”

The reason both teams have reached this stage, according to Mulqueen, is simple.

“All the big guns on both sides have been contributing. They have Alan Markham dominating at centre-back, Diarmuid McMahon running midfield, Colin Lynch playing a captain’s role; Conor Clancy is also doing well for them.

“For us, a lot of people are saying that Jamesie O’Connor is back to his pre-99 form. Ollie Baker is playing his best hurling for the last three or four years, Seanie McMahon has been dominant at centre-back, while David Hoey is also playing well,” he says.

Then there are the unsung heroes. “Along with the senior inter-county guys, Kilmaley have three or four Clare minors and a couple of U21s. Eoin Burke is an outstanding wing-back, while their midfielder Ken Kennedy won the minor final for them almost on his own,” Mulqueen says.

And for his own team: “We have Kenneth Kennedy, Lorcan Hassett, Christy O’Connor while a few young guys, like Eoin Conroy, Emmet Whelan, and Patsy Fahy are coming in.”

There is an interesting undercurrent to all of this. Ciarán O’Neill, a full forward on three St Joseph championship winning teams is in charge of Kilmaley.

Michael McMahon, St Joseph’s chairman, is a Kilmaley man and was a member of their first county-winning side, the junior championship of 1963.

He is also father of Seanie, who will have four first-cousins facing him. There’s Diarmuid, Brian and Conor McMahon, sons of Eugene, a member of the 85 Kilmaley team, and Alan Markham, long-time Clare county team-mate of Seanie’s, and his opposite number tomorrow. As to the likely winner?

“From my own point of view, there is a welcome buzz back in the club”, says Mulqueen, who only returned to manage the club this year, after a two-year break.

“County final fever has gripped the place again, and that’s needed in places like this.

“The key now however, is to win, and that is the huge test.”