A dejected Emmet McMahon at the final whistle. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill
CLARE’S senior footballers fought gallantly but came up short in their bid to cause the sporting shock of the year against Kerry in the Munster final.
Kerry 0-23
Clare 1-13
Venue: Cusack Park, Ennis
Kerry deservedly claimed their eighty fifth provincial title in Ennis, they punished Clare’s mistakes and did so on the scoreboard to emerge victorious by a margin of seven points.
For the first time since 1919, the Munster final was held in Co Clare and it marked the first time ever that Cusack Park hosted the senior football decider with an attendance of 12,059.
It was also the first time since 1937 that Clare contested back to back finals and there’s no doubting that this attempt was much better than their disappointing showing in last year’s provincial final in Limerick.
As one of the top teams in the country, Kerry were always poised to come out on top in this contest and while they tested by Clare, there was never a stage in the game where the unlikely event of a Banner victory seemed likely to occur.
With the firepower of Seán O’Shea, the Clifford brothers David and Paudie plus man of the match Tony Brosnan, there was too many flames for the Clare defence to quench.
Level twice throughout the contest, Kerry began to build up a gap in the second quarter when kicking four points without reply to hold a 0-7 0-3 advantage on twenty one minutes. While Dermot Coughlan, one of Clare’s best performers, responded with a swift point, the four point gap at half time was as close as it got for the hosts and was only reduced on the restart to three before Kerry exerted control again.
Every chance that fell Clare’s way needed to be taken to cause an upset and on this occasion opportunities were spurned and Kerry duly dished out the punishments. That said Kerry will know this performance wasn’t their greatest but it’s job done ahead of the All-Ireland series.
Seán O’Shea and Emmet McMahon traded scores to kick off the afternoon before Stephen Ryan made a tremendous save to deny Joe O’Connor from raising a green flag on six minutes, the concession of a goal here would have sucked life from the challengers and instead the save was followed by Clare working the ball up field and McMahon converting a free.
O’Shea and Tony Brosnan responded at the other end before Aaron Griffin provided a remarkable lift when kicking a nice score on twelve minutes.
An excellent team move saw Clare equalise. Ronan Lanigan turned over possession, Alan Sweeney, Cillian Brennan and Emmet McMahon combined before Dermot Coughlan produced a long-distance run that allowed him to pop to Gavin Murray and he kicked between the posts off his left boot.
Instead of making the most of this lift, Clare allowed Kerry to hit their 0-4 spree in succession and this was the period where the champions fleshed out their lead.
Ciaran Downes did manage to reduce the deficit back to three points and then a goal chance from Coughlan was well saved by Shane Murphy who was lining out in his first championship game in six years. By half-time, Brian Ó Beaglaoich had made it 0-11 0-7 in favour of Jack O’Connor’s side.
Another glorious goal chance fell Clare’s way at the beginning of the second half, Brian McNamara broke tremendously well with the ball in hand, he unleashed a shot but once again Murphy came up trumps, pushing the ball out for a 45m which Downes converted.
David Clifford and Tony Brosnan then pointed into the Town end of Cusack Park before Griffin kicked his second score of the afternoon.
A further three points on the trot kept Kerry in their dominant position even though Emmet McMahon had two converted frees in a row to follow, the game was drawing to an inevitable conclusion.
An eight point lead dropped to five points when Ikem Ugwueru thundered through the Kerry spine and tucked the ball low to the net for what was his first championship goal on sixty two minutes. It brought the Clare crowd to full voice but come the final whistle it would be the Kerry contingent that were cheering.
Although the draw for the All-Ireland series was called “a distraction” by Jack O’Connor, they showed no sign of having their attention diverted from the task at hand. Their best players included Jason Foley, Paudie Clifford and Tony Brosnan.
Soft turnovers and unforced errors would jump out as the biggest frustrations from the Clare camp as it gave Kerry chances which they were only glad to get. Stephen Ryan’s lengthy kickouts again underlined an area where Clare provided they win the subsequent breaks can punish teams but it wasn’t maximised and the Kilrush man also had obstacles in terms of the lack of players showing for restarts.
For Clare there’s more positives than negatives to take from the outing and a seven point loss against one of the country’s top sides is movement in the right direction, part of their journey must include overcoming Cork in the All-Ireland series. Dermot Coughlan and Ikem Ugwueru stood out for Mark Fitzgerald’s side.
Scorers for Kerry: S O’Shea (0-9, 0-5 frees, 0-1 ‘45); D Clifford (0-4, 0-1 free, 0-1 mark); T Brosnan (0-3); P Clifford (0-2); J Foley, T O’Sullivan, B Ó Beaglaíoch, D Moynihan, P Geaney (0-1 each).
Scorers for Clare: E McMahon (0-5, 0-4 frees); I Ugwueru (1-0); C Downes (0-1 free, 0-1 ‘45), A Griffin (0-2 each); D Walsh, D Coughlan, G Murray, M McInerney (0-1 each).
Kerry:
1: Shane Murphy (Dr Crokes);
2: Paul Murphy (Rathmore),
3: Jason Foley (Ballydonoghue)
4: Tom O’Sullivan (Dingle)
5: Brian Ó Beaglaoich (An Ghaeltacht)
6: Tadhg Morley (Templenoe)
7: Gavin White (Dr Crokes);
8: Diarmuid O’Connor (Na Gaeil),
9: Joe O’Connor (Austin Stacks)
13: Tony Brosnan (Dr Crokes)
11: Paudie Clifford (Fossa)
12: Cillian Burke (Miltown-Castlemaine)
14: David Clifford (Fossa)
15: Seán O’Shea (Kenmare Shamrocks)
10: Dara Moynihan (Spa)
Subs:
23: Mike Breen (Beaufort) for White (48) (inj)
21: Paul Geaney (Dingle) for Moynihan (57)
22: Stephen O’Brien (Beaufort) for Burke (57)
19: Barry Dan O’Sullivan (Dingle) for J O’Connor (58)
20: Dylan Casey (Austin Stacks) for Ó Beaglaoich (61)
24: Killian Spillane (Templenoe) for Brosnan (67)
Clare:
1: Stephen Ryan (Kilrush Shamrocks)
4: Ronan Lanigan (Éire Óg)
3: Cillian Brennan (Clondegad)
2: Manus Doherty (Éire Óg)
5: Alan Sweeney (St Breckan’s)
7: Ikem Ugwueru (Éire Óg)
6: Cillian Rouine (Ennistymon)
9: Brian McNamara (Cooraclare)
8: Darragh Bohannon (Shannon Gaels)
12: Gavin Murray (Éire Óg)
11: Dermot Coughlan (Kilmurry Ibrickane)
10: Daniel Walsh (Kilmurry Ibrickane)
13: Emmet McMahon (Kildysart)
14: Aaron Griffin (Lissycasey)
15: Ciaran Downes (Kilmihil)
Subs:
24: Joe McGann (St Breckan’s) for Murray (53)
17: Micheál Garry (Cooraclare) for Sweeney (56)
20: Cormac Murray (St Joseph’s Miltown) for Downes (60)
19: Mark McInerney (Éire Óg) for Coughlan (67)
18: Darren Nagle (Liscannor) for Ugwueru (74)
Referee: Fergal Kelly (Longford)
