Youth and experience give Kilkee the title
The goals came at critical stages. Ger Keane’s goal came after just five minutes and had a settling effect on the team while the second, six minutes into the second half, scored by half-time substitute, Gearóid Lynch, gave them a valuable cushion.
Keane’s goal was a real gem. Much of the groundwork was done by corner-forward Michael O’Shea, who instigated the movement and then sprinted through to provide the pass for the perfectly positioned Ger Keane.
In between, centre forward Denis Russell provided the touch that sent O’Shea on his merry way and when the ball reached Keane he was not going to be denied.
“Mike made a great run through the middle,” Keane recalled. “It was an important goal because it settled us down. We knew that they would come back strong at us.”
It took the defending champions a while to recover but Kilmurry equalised five minutes from the break when Johnny Daly won possession just inside their own 45 metre line and passed ahead to Noel Downes who, in turn, found Michael O’Dwyer on the run.
The wing forward maintained the momentum that carried him into the square where he was surrounded and ended up on the ground. Referee Kevin Walsh had no hesitation in awarding a penalty and Johnny Daly placed the ball perfectly, out of reach of goalkeeper Kevin Harte.
Kilkee responded with a well taken point by Denis Russell at the end of a four-man movement that gave them the lead again going into half time.
Ger Keane increased their lead with a point two minutes into the second half but it was just a prelude to the second goal, scored by teenager Gearóid Lynch, who had been introduced at half time.
“That was a very important score for us,” Ger Keane said. “We had gone in a point up at half time but we needed a cushion and that gave it to us for the first time.”
Kilkee went seven points clear at the end of the third quarter but a point from a Johnny Daly free sparked a revival that resulted in four Kilmurry points without reply and cut the deficit to a goal. An uncharacteristic wide from another Daly free stopped the momentum and the kick out, picked up by David Russell, launched the attack that ended in a fisted point from substitute Michael Keane.
Kilkee’s third goal came in injury time when another second half substitute, Jimmy Larkin, was on the end of a movement involving the speedy Gearóid Lynch and Kevin Larkin, to provide the perfect finish.
Said Senan’s coach, Noel Roche. “We stuck to our game plan and every man gave it 100% because we looked for that from every single player.
“We felt we had let ourselves down last year in the championship. We knew that we had not become a bad team and we wanted to prove that this year.”
On Sunday week they face Monaleen in the Munster club championship but the man who starred for Clare as a player and played for four Irish International Rules teams against Australia was not making any predictions.
“It is going to be difficult for us to emulate Kilmurry-Ibrickane or Doonbeg, but we will give it one good shot. We think we have the players and we showed that today when we brought players off the bench to score goals.”
Scorers for Kilkee: G. Keane 1-1, D. Russell 0-3 (0-2 frees), G. Lynch and J. Larkin 1-0 each, B. Harte 0-2, M. O’Shea (free) and M. Keane 0-1 each.
Kilmurry-Ibrickane: J. Daly 1-3 (penalty 0-2 frees), M. O’Dwyer 0-2, E. Coughlan, S. Hickey, N. Downes and P. O’Dwyer 0-1 each.
ST. SENAN’S: K. Harte; C. Kirwin, D. Kelly, G. Crotty; D. Garvey, D. Russell, T. Galvin; D. de Loughery, M. Galvin; N. O’Shea, D. Russell, K. Larkin; G. Keane, B. Harte, M. O’Shea.
Subs: G. Lynch for D. de Loughery (half time), L. Fitzgerald for B. Harte (55 mins), J. Larkin for G. Keane (60 mins).
KILMURRY-IBRICKANE: D. O’Brien; B. O’Neill, M. Killeen, B. Moloney; D. Callinan, M. Cahill, J. O’Connor; P. O’Dwyer, E. Coughlan; S. Moloney, S. Hickey, M. O’Dwyer; N. Downes, J. Daly, O. O’Dwyer.
Subs: P. O’Dwyer for S. Moloney (35 mins), M. Hogan for O. O’Dwyer (44mins), E. Talty for D. Callinan (51 mins).
Referee: Kevin Walsh (Wolfe Tones).
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