Éire Óg weather the storm to pip Kilmaley and reach Clare decider
Eoin Enright of Kilmaley is tackled by Éire Óg Ennis players, from left, Danny Russell and Eoin O'Regan during the Clare County Senior Club Hurling Championship semi-final match between Kimaley and Éire Óg Ennis at Zimmer Biomet Páirc Chíosóg in Ennis, Clare. Photo by John Sheridan/Sportsfile
On a day when sheer grit was required to literally weather the storm, Éire Óg’s edge in experience finally shone through in hitting the last three points to advance to a first Clare SHC Final since 2022 in Zimmer Biomet Páirc Chiosóg.
A compelling derby of two teams with flawless records heading into this penultimate stage clash, the tie initially seemed to turn in Kilmaley’s direction when Sean O’Loughlin intercepted a short puck-out and offloaded to talisman Conor Cleary to fire to the net to inch his side in front at 1-12 too 1-11 entering the final ten minutes.
Having trailed by as much as five points in that second period, it was a remarkable turnaround but wasn’t to be the last as it turned out to be Kilmaley’s final score. Instead, chief marksman Danny Russell arrived over the final three points of the hour, all through placed balls, to take his overall total to 3-50 and catapult his Éire Óg side into their second decider in four seasons.
The Ennis side also undoubtedly started the better as from the throw-in David Reidy broke through to play in Darren Moroney to find the far right corner of Bryan O’Loughlin’s net after only ten seconds of the contest.
That goal was a dream start but what kept Gerry O’Connor’s side afloat was Éire Óg own goalkeeper Darragh Stack who pulled off an outstanding full length save to keep out a Tom O’Rourke third minute bullet before also denying an unorthodox Conor Cleary reverse flick later in the half.
Kilmaley did have more luck over Stack’s crossbar though as points from Sean Kennedy, Conor Cleary and Eanna McMahon repaired the early damage by the sixth minute. The sides would be level thrice moire before Mikey O’Malley inched Kilmaley into the ascendency for the very first time in injury-time and ensure a 0-7 to 1-3 interval edge with the tricky conditions to come.
Half-time couldn’t come soon enough for Éire Óg to regroup and re-arm, a tonic that resulted in a blistering third quarter in which they outscored their neighbours by 0-7 to 0-1 to power 1-10 to 0-08 in front.
Braces from Darren O’Brien, Oran Cahill and free taker Russell were matched by a second incredulous stop from the elastic Darragh Stack who somehow kept out a Tom O’Rourke piledriver at the three-quarters mark.
Credit Kilmaley for persevering though as Mikey O’Malley picked his side back off the canvas with four of the next five points before that Cleary goal completed a six point turnaround to hit the front as seemingly the perfect time at 1-12 to 1-11 in the 51st minute.
Leadership and cool heads were required as the weather deteriorated and the tension heightened, with Danny Russell levelling the contest for the seventh time in the 53rd minute before being denied a clinching goal themselves by an excellent double save by Bryan O”Loughlin from David Reidy and Danny Russell efforts.
Russell did convert the resulting ’65 to nudge Éire Óg back ahead but with Kilmaley failing to convert a similar free in injury-time to potentially force extra-time, it was left to Russell to convert the insurance point from 65 metres to tee up a final showdown against either Ballyea or Clooney-Quin in a fortnight’s time.
Scorers for Éire Óg: D Russell 0-6 (5f, 1’65); O Cahill 0-3; D Moroney 1-0; D O’Brien 0-2; D Reidy, D McNamara, A Fitzgerald 0-1 each
Scorers for Kilmaley: M O”Malley 0-7 (5f, 1’65); C Cleary 1-1; S Kennedy, E McMahon, S O’Loughlin, M O’Neill 0-1 each
D Stack; F Treacy, C Russell, R Mulcahy; R Loftus, A Fitzgerald, L Corry; O Cahill, D Reidy; D McNamara, D Moroney, D O’Brien; M Cleary, D Russell, S O’Donnell
J Collins for C. Russell (19-21, BS), J Collins for Corry (42, inj), Eoin O’Regan for Mulcahy (48), Tom Kavanagh for McNamara (53), James O’Dwyer for O’Brien (56)
B O’Loughlin; B McNamara, C McGuane, J Casey; C Carmody, D Keane, A McGuane; T Barry, S Kennedy; E McMahon, M O’Malley, C Cleary; S O’Loughlin, M O’Neill, T O’Rourke
C Killeen for McMahon (44), E Enright for Kennedy (51), C Darcy for Barry (51), S Ronan for O’Rourke (60)
F O’Brien (Broadford)
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