Clare SFC: Gritty St Joseph's Doora/Barefield prevail to tee up derby with Éire Óg
St Joseph's Doora/Barefield will play Éire Óg in the Clare SFC final. Pic: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
A novel derby Clare SFC decider is assured after St. Joseph’s Doora/Barefield held off 2023 champions Cratloe to tee up a showdown with holders Éire Óg in a fortnight’s time.
Having squeezed through to the quarter-finals without winning a single match, the Parish certainly made up for lost time after adding Colm Collins’ side to last year’s finalists Kilmurry Ibrickane whom they overcame at the death last time out.
This penultimate stage clash was equally as dramatic though as this compelling seesaw battle saw the lead change hands four times alone in the second period before St. Joseph’s made the decisive break for the line with a 1-3 blitz.
Trailing by two entering the final quarter, points through Paddy Bugler and Tom McDonald regained full parity before the electric Tom Curran excelled with 1-1 in the space of a minute to completely turn this tie on its head at 3-11 to 1-13.
Having bizarrely failed to score in almost 20 minutes, a vastly experienced Cratloe did lessen the damage to just a goal thanks to a Sean Collins injury-time free. However, three elusive equalisers would be thwarted by a resolute Parish rearguard as Tadhg Lohan flashed a shot just wide, Podge Collins was denied by a last-ditch body block from Eoghan Boyle while a last-gasp Cathal McInerney 14m free was defiantly tipped away by goalkeeper Tom O’Brien.
That would prove the ultimate difference between the sides as Doora/Barefield’s superior eye for goal through strikes for Joe Rafferty and Curran were offset by two point blank saves by O’Brien from Rian Considine and Podge Collins.
Goals were a strong feature of the first half too as an Odhran O’Connell eighth minute strike after great work from Darragh O’Shea and Liam Clune saw Donagh Vaughan’s side defy the conditions to soar 1-4 to 0-1 clear by only the tenth minute.
True to form, a wind-assisted Cratloe refused to panic though and within four minutes would slash the arrears to just the minimum after Podge Collins’ teasing delivery picked out Mike Brennan to billow the net at 1-4 to 1-3.
Collins himself would have a subsequent goal sighting tipped over the bar by goalkeeper O’Brien as Cratloe again matched Doora/Barefield’s three-point cushion carved out by a brace of Tom McDonald points to raid for the last three points of the half at 1-7 to 1-7.
Indeed, Cratloe actually inched in front for the first time of the contest on the restart when substitute Conal O’Hanlon started and finished a move.
However, it would be answered emphatically as Liam Clune and Tom Curran combined to offload to Joe Rafferty to score his third goal in as many games at 2-8 to 1-8 by the 35th minute.
The seesaw pattern continued though as a resurgent Cratloe gathered pace with five points in a row as David Collins, Tadhg Lohan and Diarmuid Ryan fleshed out their number of different scorers to ten to power 1-13 to 2-08 in front by the three-quarters mark.
It was at this stage that goalkeeper O’Brien prevented Rian Considine and Podge Collins from potentially clinching victory as those saves would be magnified when the Parish not only regained full parity for the fourth time but scored a pivotal goal themselves through Tom Curran who was remarkably making his starting championship bow having struggled with injury since contesting the Cusack Cup Final against Éire Óg on the last weekend in June.
A fourth clash between the sides will take place on Sunday week back in Zimmer Biomet Páirc Chiosóg for the most prestigious prize in Clare football as Éire Óg chase down a fourth Jack Daly Cup in five seasons whereas it’s 127 years since St. Joseph’s Doora/Barefield were senior champions.
T Curran 1-5 (1tp, 1f); J Rafferty 1-2 (1f); T McDonald 0-3; O O’Connell 1-0; P Bugler 0-1
P Collins, S Collins (1f) 0-3 each; M Brennan 1-0; C McInerney 0-2 (1f); R Considine, L Markham, C O’Hanlon, D Collins, T Lohan, D Ryan 0-1 each
T O’Brien; E Thynne, D O’Shea, E Boyle; O O’Connell, C O’Brien, C McDonough; J Curran, M Nash; L Clune, T McDonald, J Rafferty; N Hardiman, T Curran, P Bugler Subs: C Hannan for Hardiman (HT), D Boyle for Hannan (55), S Costelloe for Bugler (62)
P Chaplin; D Collins, K Harnett, R McNamara; M O’Brien, L Markham, E Boyce; D Ryan, M Brennan; R Considine, S Collins, R Harkin; C McInerney, T Lohan, P Collins Subs: R C O’Hanlon for Harkin (28, inj), C Ryan for Markham (49-52, BS), T Rooney for Considine (58)
Fergal O’Brien (Broadford)
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