*Seán Rynne celebrates at the final whistle. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.
A SUPERB performance from Seán Rynne helped lead Inagh/Kilnamona to a first U21A hurling championship in seven years and see him win a rare double at the grade.
Two weeks ago, Seán lined out at midfield, having an influential role for Ennistymon as they defeated Clondegad 3-7 0-8 in the Berwick Callinan Murphy U21A football final.
On Sunday, he hit 0-5 from centre forward delivering an excellent display for Inagh/Kilnamona as they edged out Éire Óg 0-17 0-16.
Finishing off his underage career with a double was a fitting finale for the Inagh man. “We didn’t really think of the double at the start of the year but once you get it then it’s pretty sweet so we’re delighted”.
Passing any test throw his way on the field for the final, Seán had to defer celebrations to prepare for an economics examination at the University of Limerick taking place on Monday. “I’ll be straight back to the library tonight, we’ve a long Christmas so we’ll get to celebrate it then”.
Falling five points down after seven minutes, Inamona narrowed this gap to three by the half time whistle. “We expected them to start quick enough but we didn’t expect them to start that well, it took us a few minutes to get into the game and once we did we settled nicely and got the few scores on the board and we brought that momentum into the second half,” the joint captain reflected.
It wasn’t until the fifty seventh minute that Inagh/Kilnamona took the lead for the first time. “Winning it like that with a one point win is what you dream of, they are the type of wins you want, you get a good buzz off that, we would have taken any kind of win but a one point win is sweeter,” Seán told The Clare Echo.
Inagh/Kilnamona’s management made the smart call to bring Rynne to centre forward for Sunday’s final compared with the full-forward role that he occupied for the majority of the U21 campaign. While he finished with 1-2 in their semi-final victory, he had a far greater impact on proceedings when positioned at centre forward. “I would prefer out around the middle, you’re limited inside on the ball you are getting but out the field you can do your own bit of movement, I was delighted with the amount of ball I got on today but the lads were picking out me so credit to them,” he admitted.
Switching from Gurteen to the astro turf at Clarecastle could have easily upset either side but the 2023 All-Ireland winner felt it didn’t derail their plans. “It didn’t throw us at all, it was the same for both teams, we said we’d play wherever it was, it didn’t seem to affect many of them but we’re delighted”.
Both Inagh/Kilnamona and Ennistymon are itching to win a first senior championship. Building on the success at U21 and underage levels is the target for both clubs said Seán a pivotal figure in each camp. “We have the pool of players in both clubs, it is about pulling together. We had a little motto there on workrate and working for each other, that is the panel of players that you want to push us on and launch us to a senior title, if we can get everyone to stick together and work as a team that is the aim”.
