*Conor Cleary kicked the all-important goal for St Joseph’s Miltown. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.
ST JOSEPH’S MILTOWN claimed the last of the Clare SFC quarter-final spots when overcoming Doonbeg for the third year in a row.
St Joseph’s Miltown 1-12
Doonbeg 0-11
Venue: St Michael’s Park, Kilmihil
The Clare Echo’s online coverage of the Clare SFC is with thanks to The Shannon Springs Hotel.
It may have arrived two weeks later than they may have liked but St Joseph’s Miltown have grabbed a coveted quarter-final berth with Éire Óg, Cratloe and Lissycasey their potential opponents in a fortnight.
In what was the ninth championship meeting between the sides in eleven years, St Joseph’s Miltown have now been the victors in eight of these clashes, the only exception occurring in 2022 when they lost out in the relegation play-off to Doonbeg.
Cormac Murray who netted a hat-trick in the third round was ruled out of action for this tie due to broken bones in his foot sustained in their last outing. Cian Mahony was out of the country with Oisin Looney returning to his teaching commitments in the Middle East. They hope to have Murray back in their starting fifteen for the quarter-finals.
With the absentees, Ralph Whelehan and Eoin Devanney picked up their first Clare SFC starts and the duo did well over the hour, Whelehan securing possession, getting on the ball and making smart moves while Devanney was lively in the inside line and he chipped in with two points.
Experienced heads were central to the four point Miltown victory. Conor Cleary not alone scored the defining goal on twelve minutes but he was back in the heart of their defence at the death to snuff out any hope of Doonbeg landing a late green flag.
His twin brother Eoin Cleary kicked seven points including a two pointer from play in the final quarter responding to a Doonbeg run of three points without reply. In defence, Gordon Kelly and Seanie Malone formed a strong spine while Enda O’Gorman did an exceptional job in curbing Clare panellist Darragh Burns.
Captain Darragh McDonagh won the toss and opted to play against a strong breeze in Kilmihil but Doonbeg failed to utilise the elements and kicked one score from play in the entire first half, a two pointer from Darragh Burns on twenty three minutes. David Tubridy had converted a free for them in response to Devanney’s opener.
Chances must be taken in knockout football and this was underlined in the one sequence of play when Doonbeg were denied a goal when Mikie Tubridy’s attempt was stopped by Ger Malone and Eoin Killeen was unable to get onto the rebound, Miltown worked the ball up field and hit the net with a powerful shot by Conor Cleary in what was the key moment of the game. The Clare hurler showed tremendous strength when in possession to shake off his opponent and produced as much power when rifling his shot past Eamon Tubridy. A free from Eoin Cleary closed out the first half to give Miltown a 1-3 0-3 lead.
Cleary was the first on the board in the second half, slotting over from play and then converting a two pointer free to extend the advantage to six points with thirty five minutes on the clock.
David Tubridy and Ralph Whelehan then traded scores, the Miltown score arising from an Enda O’Gorman turnover with the Cleary twins combining to tee up Ralph on forty one minutes.
Doonbeg’s fight ramped up as they kicked three points on the bounce, Tubridy, Gavin O’Shea with a fisted effort and Cian O’Mahoney after a soujourn up the field all hitting the target.
Then came Cleary’s second two pointer, another score off the back of an O’Gorman turnover.
Cathal Killeen set up Eoin Killeen for Doonbeg to lower the deficit to four points and then they coughed up on a great goal chance, Cian Clancy beating the goalkeeper with his effort but just putting it to the right-hand side of Ger Malone’s goal. From the kickout, Miltown again punished their opponents, Cleary kicking his seventh score of the evening.
Clancy popped over a score with his next attempt, then full-back James Killeen split the posts with his left boot and Tubridy nailed another free to make it a two point game as the three minutes of additional time commenced.
However, there would be no more contribution from Doonbeg to the scoreboard, instead Miltown added two more points via Devanney and Seán Neylon to earn a four point victory.
Jumping out at Miltown will be the repeated occurrence of failing to finish games strongly. They were caught by St Breckans two weeks ago, leading by five points with fifty seven minutes played to end up drawing the game and similarly against Wolfe Tones they didn’t put the game to bed. They were five points up with fifty three minutes gone in this game and had the lead reduced to two entering additional time.
Getting another championship game under their belts will stand to them especially when they didn’t pick up any additional injuries. They have plenty of leaders and quality footballers in their ranks so once they get back to full-strength and produce a stronger finish they will be capable of progressing to the last four. Best for the winners were the Cleary twins, Conor and Eoin, Enda O’Gorman, Ralph Whelehan, Gordon Kelly and Seán Neylon.
Having took far too long to get into the game, Doonbeg will have no complaints with the final outcome. They had more of a say in proceedings from the third quarter onwards but a very poor first half showing proved costly for them. They lost captain Mikie Tubridy to injury early on but their mistake count was far too high and they gift-wrapped possession to Miltown frequently.
(All photographs by Gerard O’Neill)
Their last quarter-final appearance was back in 2019, a long wait for a club of their stature, they got over Éire Óg in extra time on that occasion before Miltown knocked them out in the semi-finals. James Killeen at full-back and Tadhg Lillis at centre-back did well for Brian Shanahan’s side as did Gavin O’Shea.
Scorers St Joseph’s Miltown: E Cleary (0-7 2TP 1TPf 1f), C Cleary (1-0), E Devanney (0-2), M Murray (0-1), R Whelehan (0-1), S Neylon (0-1).
Scorers Doonbeg: D Tubridy (0-3 2f), D Burns (0-2 1TP), G O’Shea (0-1), C O’Mahoney (0-1), E Killeen (0-1), C Clancy (0-1), J Killeen (0-1).
St Joseph’s Miltown:
1: Ger Malone
2: Enda O’Gorman
3: Seanie Malone
4: Cormac Devitt
5: Seán Neylon
6: Gordon Kelly
7: Stephen Murphy
9: Darragh McDonagh
14: Ralph Whelehan
10: Gearoid Curtin
11: Conor Cleary
12: Paul Frawley
13: Eoin Cleary
8: Micheál Murray
18: Eoin Devanney
Subs:
19: Jamesie O’Connor for Murphy (47)
20: Conall Meade for Murray (55)
17: Euan Reidy for Frawley (60)
15: Euan Lineen for Devanney (61)
Doonbeg:
1: Eamon Tubridy
4: Jason Linnane
3: James Killeen
5: Cian O’Mahoney
7: Gavin O’Shea
6: Tadhg Lillis
2: Shane Bermingham
8: Kevin McInerney
9: Kevin Pender
10: Michael Tubridy
11: Cathal Killeen
22: Eoin Killeen
12: Eoin Conway
14: David Tubridy
13: Darragh Burns
Subs:
15: Paul Dillon for M Tubridy (16) (inj)
18: Cian Clancy for Bermingham (34)
17: Brian Behan for Conway (37)
20: Rory Walshe for E Killeen (58)
Referee: Chris Maguire (Wolfe Tones)
