*Ennistymon captain Eoin Rouine in possession. Photograph: Burren Eye Photography
ENNISTYMON showed a spirited display to overcome Doonbeg in the first round of the Clare SFC for the second year running.
Ennistymon 2-9
Doonbeg 0-14
Venue: Hennessy Memorial Park, Miltown Malbay
Before a ball was kicked in this year’s championship, new Ennistymon manager Declan Downes spoke of the “tremendous character” within their ranks and it came to the fore as they recorded a vital one point win over battle-hardened Doonbeg.
Not so much was it the performance that impressed for the winners but their spirit in that they managed to get over the line despite being without seven of last year’s semi-final starting team, underlining their ability to deal with setback after setback.
Both Magpies swapped the colours of their wings for this tie. Ennistymon played in an all-black strip as they will be for the year in memory of their late and beloved teammate Éanna Rouine, Ennistymon have also retired the number fifteen jersey in his honour.
Fittingly it was his older brother and the team’s captain Eoin Rouine who set the way, he had three possessions in the lead up to their first scoring opportunity on forty five seconds, made a vital turnover to stop Mikie Tubridy when bearing down on goal with twenty nine minutes.
However the most important contribution he made so far as the scoreboard was concerned was to palm a dropping ball from James Cullinan to the net on twenty minutes which gave his side a six point cushion.
That remained the distance between the sides at half time but Doonbeg showed the importance of two pointers and the manner in how they change a game. They had the first three scores on the restart, two of which were two pointers, Mikie and David Tubridy splitting the posts.
Doonbeg finished with fourteen men after Barry Kelly dismissed Kevin Pender with a straight red card, a decision that left the West Clare Magpies fuming. This red arrived after Ennistymon struck for their second goal, a penalty from Brendy Rouine.
Starting off against the wind, Doonbeg took the lead from an Eamon Tubridy 45, this arising after Ennistymon made two important saves, first Noel Sexton from Paul Dillon and then Ciaran McMahon cleared a palming Darragh Burns effort off the line.
Seán Rouine opened Ennistymon’s account on five minutes with Cillian Rouine and Brian McNamara extending their advantage by the twelfth minute. McMahon again making a timely turnover to snuff out a David Tubridy pass to Burns which started the move for McNamara’s score.
Darragh Conneely and Mikie Tubridy swapped scores before Keelan Guyler landed a free which was followed by captain Rouine raising a green flag. Guyler then kicked a two pointer before Tubridy, Eoin Conway and Gavin O’Shea responded for Doonbeg.
Scores dried up for Ennistymon against the wind, it took them until the fifty first minute via Brendy Rouine to add to their tally, in the meantime Doonbeg had their run of two pointers and the distance was three points. Joe Concannon had a goal disallowed for Ennistymon but the same fate fell to Eoin Killeen at the other end in the final quarter.
It was a Rouine worked move which led to Brendy dispatching the penalty to the net. Seán won the turnover in the middle of the park, a darting run was made by Cillian and he ended up getting fouled with Brendy gladly obliging to stick the ball to the bottom corner of the net.
Make no mistake it wasn’t game over here despite the 2-9 0-10 score on fifty seven minutes. Doonbeg popped up with another brace of Mikie Tubridy two pointers and they had further scoring opportunities but not enough to overturn the deficit and thus they fell to a one point loss.
For Ennistymon, they gave a small hint of what they can do with a more attacking and urgent approach, bad habits die hard and examples of their defensive orientated style snuck into their game at times. When running at teams they are certainly difficult to stop and the psychological lift of winning despite such a high level of absentees will be a massive lift for them.
When the sides met last year, Darragh Burns was a thorn in Ennistymon’s side kicking 0-4 from play, Ciaran McMahon did an excellent job marshalling him to keep him scoreless this time round, he along with Eoin Rouine and Cillian Rouine were most impressive for the winners.
All is not lost for Doonbeg and all is not achieved for Ennistymon it must be said. Brian Shanahan’s side face Lissycasey in the second round, they didn’t appear as athletic as Ennistymon but their ability to kick scores and an abundance of two pointers is a huge weapon to call on.
Scorers Ennistymon: B Rouine (1-2 1’Pen), K Guyler (0-3 1TP), E Rouine (1-0), S Rouine (0-1), C Rouine (0-1), B McNamara (0-1), D Conneely (0-1).
Scorers Doonbeg: M Tubridy (0-7 3TP), D Tubridy (0-3 1TP 1f), E Tubridy (0-1 1’45), G O’Shea (0-1), E Conway (0-1), K McInerney (0-1).
Ennistymon:
1: Noel Sexton
8: Brian McNamara
4: Sean O’Driscoll
5: Ciaran McMahon
10: James Cullinan
7: Cillian Rouine
3: Darragh Conneely
12: Eoin Rouine
13: Brendy Rouine
18: Mark Kelleher
19: Seán Rouine
20: Seanie Conneally
21: Joe Concannon
17: Keelan Guyler
27: Gearoid Barry
Subs:
6: Liam Cotter for McNamara (43) (inj)
9: Adam Ralph for Concannon (62)
Doonbeg:
1: Eamon Tubridy
3: James Killeen
5: Cian O’Mahoney
4: Jason Linnane
12: Eoin Conway
6: Tadhg Lillis
10: Michael Tubridy
9: Kevin McInerney
8: Kevin Pender
2: Shane Bermingham
11: Cathal Killeen
7: Gavin O’Shea
13: Darragh Burns
25: Paul Dillon
14: David Tubridy
Subs:
22: Eoin Killeen for Dillon (HT)
17: Brian Behan for Conway (44)
Referee: Barry Kelly (St Joseph’s Miltown)
