Jubilant Quinn savours famous Tulla victory

TOP scorer Andrew Quinn may have been forced to watch the major part of Sunday’s Clare county hurling final from the sideline after an early injury, but it didn’t prevent him from celebrating a famous victory for Tulla which had special relevance for himself and his brothers Brian, Mark and Karl.

The club’s last triumph was back in 1933 and the winning team was captained by their grandfather Paddy. Brian, a member of Clare’s winning squad in 1995 and 1997, made a major contribution in the full-forward, Mark lined out at centre-back, Karl was a substitute and Andrew had been at centre-forward before suffering a groin injury in an early tackle before being forced off in the ninth minute.

Highly rated as a defender in the inter-county arena, Brian paid tribute to his club-mates for the way they responded to Andrew’s loss (vital in the context of his tally of 1-40 over the course of the campaign).

“We had got the breaks in the last few games, but the time was going to come when things were not going to go well for us,’’ he commented. “And that happened on Sunday when Andy got injured in the opening minutes. But, everybody just got stuck in and kept their heads and eventually it got us over the finish line.

“I thought the final whistle would never come, because there was so much pressure on our full-back line. But, in fairness, they kept the ball out, they kept hitting it back up the field.’’

His concern was understandable, because Crusheen managed to win a lot of ball in the closing minutes and had the winning of the game until they missed a great chance of a goal.

“We were very lucky. They missed a lot of chances, especially in the finish. But, that’s the way it goes.

“The feeling afterwards was indescribable. I was off the field (after picking up an eye injury) and I thought they’d never get me stitched up.......It was a great day for Tulla.

‘‘We have had a few disappointing years, especially last year. But the lads stuck together. They just kept going.’’