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*St Breckan’s senior football manager, Donie Garrihy. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill
INTERMEDIATE WINNERS in 2019, St Breckan’s will line out in the quarter-finals of the Clare SFC for the third season on the trot later this month.
Donie Garrihy’s side had a 3-07 0-09 win over St Joseph’s Miltown on Saturday to seal their place in the knockout stages and keep their fight alive to claim the Jack Daly for the first time.
To be making this stage of the competition is the primary objective for St Breckan’s, Garrihy outlined. “We’ve done the business back to back years, three years in a row actually at senior football championship in a county that is non-stop in Division 2 of the National Football League and All-Ireland quarter-finalists this year, we’re playing senior football championship and we’re holding our own, I’m happy”.
They had to adapt in their clash with Miltown taking place in the setting of Ennistymon, the North Clare club had requested the fixture be held in Cusack Park. “Pity about the grass, the grass is a bit long and we stated that to ourselves before the game. When you win you’re happy, you don’t have to win pretty all the time”.
Character has been building within this squad since Garrihy’s very first session in January 2019, the two-time Oscar Traynor winning manager believed. “We came in as a management in January 2019 and they asked me to do it, I asked how much are you interested in it, they said what do you want me to do, this was a miserable night in the month of January, I said I’d see you in the pitch tomorrow morning at quarter to seven, ‘but shur there’s no light’ they said, my response was ‘so you don’t want to do it’, they were there and they’ve been there since, in the dark and in the shit”.
Goals from Jamie Stack, Alan Sweeney and Rowan Danaher sealed the win for the men from Doolin, Kilshanny and Lisdoonvarna. Danaher’s effort topped off a very workmanlike display for the former county minor. “Rowan was excellent, I always reference his Dad, his Dad was a tiger and you saw Rowan was a tiger there, that’s the way he plays Rowan is a tiger, he has actually found his feet this year, he’s doing really well, he was an excellent U14, U16 and minor footballer, he’s found his feet now at senior football”.
Having been pitted against reigning senior champions Éire Óg, current intermediate winners Corofin and 2018 and 2019 Clare SFC holders St Joseph’s Miltown, the task of making the quarter-finals was not facile for St Breckan’s. “There’s nothing easy, ask Newmarket’s hurlers there’s nothing easy, Newmarket beat Clonlara and Whitegate, they can all turn ye over and it’s the same in football, St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield hello like they are gifted footballers at U16A, Minor A, U21A, if you’re playing them you’re going to be in a game and I think that’s what Clare in Division 2 of the National Football League has brought to the Clare football championship, high demands on players, really professional from all the clubs, long may it last because I’m 57 years of age and I tell you one thing when I was in my teenage years I was around when Clare got beaten 9-21 1-07 by Kerry, I was in Miltown that was a miserable time and I don’t ever want us going back to that again”.
Garrihy added, “We are where we wanted to be at the start of the season, we suffered our one point defeat in the first game against Éire Óg, we were bitterly disappointed but we’ve found our feet as well”.
