Hanrahan the hero as Eire Óg earn replay with late free

Kilmurry Ilbrickane 2-6 Éire Óg 1-9

He came forward to kick the equalising free from 45 metres six minutes into injury time to earn a draw in a thrilling Clare SFC final at Cusack Park yesterday.

Éire Óg will forever wonder how they found themselves in such a predicament.

Playing superb football, they completely overran their opponents in the first-half, confining them to just two points from frees and it looked odds on a victory for the home side as they deservedly led 1-6 to 0-2 at half-time.

But this game underwent a remarkable transformation after half-time, and in a devastating 15-minute spell, the Quilty side rattled in 2-3 without reply. It took Hanrahan’s late heroics to foil them.

Backed by the strong wind in the first period, Éire Óg set their stall out early using the long ball to great effect.

A great run by Sean O’Meara set David Monaghan up for a goal chance after three minutes but he shot straight at the keeper. Monaghan atoned for his miss a minute later when Barry Ryan put him through and the big full forward coolly slipped home the opening goal.

It would get better for Éire Óg. Peter Cosgrove and Shane Daniels were dominating midfield and with Sean O’Meara and Cathal Shannon sparkling on the wings, Éire Óg hit over three points in a row to lead 1-3 to nil after just eight minutes.

Surprisingly, the well dried up for Éire Óg, giving Kilmurry a chance to clear their heads and gain a foothold in the game through a pair of pointed frees. Nevertheless 1-6 to 0-2 down, something happened in the Quilty dressing room to explain the startling second-half surge in spirit.

The introduction of Paul O’Dwyer was crucial, and inspired by the brilliance of wing back Declan Callinan they hit Éire Óg with a devastating scoring blitz which yielded 2-3 without reply - Johnny Daly began the scoring burst with a point; Michael O’Dwyer added two from frees, before Daly finished a great move to the net, and after 40 minutes Éire Óg’s seven point half time lead was down to two.

And it got better for Kilmurry after the outstanding Declan Callinan broke up an Éire Óg attack to send Paul O’Dwyer away. He picked out the unmarked Johnny Daly who billowed the net from five metres - from a position of almost no hopers, the Quilty side found themselves a point in front at the end of the third quarter.

Éire Óg were completely rocked by the ferocity of the Kilmurry recovery but the impressive Sean O’Meara raised their spirits with an equalising point in the 50th minute, their first score of the second-half.

Unfortunately for the home side they lost the services of O’Meara with an ankle injury soon after and when Johnny Daly edged Kilmurry a point in front in the 52nd minute, it looked as if it was going to be their day.

Players and mentors weren’t to know at the time, but with eight minutes to go the referee was going to add six more for injuries and in that 14 minutes, the sizeable crowd was treated to grandstand finish.

Kilmurry thought they had won it and substitutions and officials poured onto the pitch to celebrate, but they had clearly misinterpreted the referee’s sign for a wide ball and play went on for another two minutes during which Éire Óg’s never-say-die attitude won them that dramatic equalising point by James Shanahan, and a second bite of the cherry that on their first-half display alone, they fully deserved.

Scorers: Kilmurry: J. Daly 2-2; M. O’Dwyer 0-3 (0-1 free); M. Hogan 0-1. Eire Og: S. O’Meara 0-4 (0-3 free); D. Monaghan 1-0; C. Shannon 0-2; S. Daniels (free), B. Malone, J. Hanrahan (free) 0-1 each.

KILMURRY: D. O’Brien; J. O’Connor, B. Moloney, E. Talty; D. Callinan, V. Talty, M. O’Connor; P. O’Dwyer, M. Cahill; E. Coughlan, O. O’Dwyer, S. Hickey. M. Hogan, J. Daly, M. O’Dwyer.

Subs: M. Keavey for E. Talty; P. O’Dwyer for M. O’Connor; A. Moloney for M. Hogan.

ÉIRE ÓG: J. Hanrahan; M. O’Regan, M. Kelly, B. Malone; A. Malone, T. McNamara, D. Lyne; S. Daniels, P. Cosgrove; B. Ryan, A. Keane, C. Shannon; E. Glynn, D. Monaghan, S. O’Meara.

Subs: N. Hogan for A. Keane; B. Fitzpatrick for S. O’Meara.

Referee: D. Timmons.