*Seanie Malone and Shane Hickey square off. Photograph: James Downes
KILMURRY IBRICKANE took the spoils in the West Clare derby against St Joseph’s Miltown to begin their Clare SFC campaign with a win.
Kilmurry Ibrickane 2-15
St Joseph’s Miltown 1-13
Venue: Cooraclare
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In what was the most entertaining game of the opening round, last year’s beaten finalists were the more consistent over the hour and produced the stronger start and finish to emerge victorious on Saturday evening.
At the start of the game, they kicked 1-2 without reply, in the final quarter they hit 1-3 on the bounce and overall gave a display which showed based on the opening round they are the nearest to red-hot favourites Éire Óg.
From their quarter-final clash last season which Kilmurry Ibrickane won 2-15 0-10, Miltown were down six of their starting team and the Bricks without five from their side.
Both sides have a different look for 2025. Among the most striking changes from Kilmurry Ibrickane was the move of Clare wing-forward Dermot Coughlan to centre back but he took to it like a duck to water and really showed his attacking ability from deep, he was instrumental to them getting on top in the first ten minutes and he wasn’t found wanting on the physical side of proceedings either. One run from deep saw him force Ger Malone to make an excellent save to stop the umpires reaching for the green flag.
Cathal Talty stepped up the mantle as their leading shooter, kicking excellent scores from play and frees. Evan Cahill gave glimpses of what he can do when moving forward with power while the impact of Daryn Callinan from the bench was influential particularly with his fielding ability.
An unforeseen late change was made to the Miltown line-up with a groin injury forcing the experienced Gordon Kelly to sit out the derby. The shuffling of the pack saw Conor Cleary revert to centre back, a move which deprived them of a strong fielder in midfield but also someone capable of kicking points. The roles of Micheál Murray and Darragh McDonagh were altered as a result of Kelly’s absence.
Talty and Coughlan were first off the mark with points for Kilmurry Ibrickane and before the clock struck five minutes they had raided for goal, Shane Hickey with an excellent finish to the net, following a well-worked team move.
St Joseph’s Miltown worked the ball up-field from the kickout and Cormac Murray was fouled with referee John O’Connell awarding a penalty which Seanie Malone came all the way from full-back to dispatch to the back of the net.
Dermot Coughlan replied with a free for Kilmurry Ibrickane before his first cousin Eoin Cleary hit back with a two pointer on eight minutes. Talty then landed his side’s first two pointer, curling an effort well from a free, they extended their lead to four points through Caoilfhinn O’Dea on fourteen minutes.
Five points without reply saw Miltown go ahead for the first time but their opponents a fourteen minute spell without a score, Talty converting a free to have the sides level on 1-7 apiece at the half-time whistle.
Entering the final quarter, the sides remained on level terms, Miltown pulling themselves back on each occasion.
However, they were unable to bounce back from the concession of a second goal. From a David Sexton kickout, the ball spilled through Oisin Looney and Daryn Callinan got onto the break to feed Caoilfhinn O’Dea who made no mistake when firing the ball under the legs of goalkeeper Ger Malone. They added the next two points via Diarmuid King and Callinan to carve out a six point lead on fifty three minutes.
Converted frees from Cleary and Euan Lineen lowered the deficit but the final score of the game fell to O’Dea to see The Bricks come out on top.
Seven wides when playing with the elements were costly for Miltown. They needed to be ahead at the interval but were only level which hindered their chances of claiming a first championship win over their rivals since the 2019 county final replay.
Martin Guerin’s side can still have a big say in how the Clare SFC unfolds but will need to play to their strengths a little bit more. They have plenty of quality within their ranks but on this occasion too many players didn’t hit championship form. Eoin Cleary, Seanie Malone and Conor Cleary did well while Seán Neylon grew into the game in the second half.
Without serial Clare SFC winners, Martin McMahon, Mark Killeen, Keelan Sexton, Andrew Shannon and Ciaran Morrissey, for Kilmurry Ibrickane to perform and pick up a win against quality opposition is a statement in itself. New leaders stood up to the task and experienced players such as Shane Hickey, Dermot Coughlan and Daragh Sexton paved the way. A return of 2-15 will certainly please David Egan and his management.
Scorers Kilmurry Ibrickane: C O’Dea (1-2), C Talty (0-5 1TPf 2f), S Hickey (1-1), D Coughlan (0-2 1’45 1f), D Sexton (0-1), C Considine (0-1), J Moloney (0-1), D King (0-1), D Callinan (0-1)
Scorers St Joseph’s Miltown: E Cleary (0-6 1TPf 2f), S Malone (1-0 1’Pen), E Lineen (0-3 1TPf 1f), C Murray (0-2 1M), M Murray (0-1), S Neylon (0-1).
Kilmurry Ibrickane:
1: David Sexton
2: Conor Kearney
3: Darren Hickey
7: Darragh Sexton
4: Maurice Donnellan
6: Dermot Coughlan
5: Joshua Moloney
8: Evan Cahill
9: Diarmuid King
10: Kevin Tubridy
11: Caoilfhinn O’Dea
12: Colin Considine
15: Shane Hickey
14: Cathal Talty
13: Joe Campbell
Subs:
28: Daryn Callinan for Campbell (HT) (inj)
19: Cillian Darcy for Considine (44)
17: Diarmuid Comber for Tubridy (54)
24: Jason Cushen for S Hickey (54)
Colin Considine for Sexton (61) (inj)
St Joseph’s Miltown:
1: Ger Malone
2: Euan Reidy
3: Seanie Malone
4: Cormac Devitt
5: Sean Neylon
9: Conor Cleary
7: Stephen Murphy
11: Darragh McDonagh
8: Micheál Murray
19: Gearoid Curtin
12: Cian Mahony
10: Paul Frawley
13: Eoin Cleary
34: Cormac Murray
15: Euan Lineen
Subs:
18: Oisin Looney for M Murray (37)
17: Conall Meade for Mahony (47)
30: Enda O’Gorman for G Curtin (53)
Referee: John O’Connell (Cooraclare)
