*Brendy Rouine in action for Clare. Photograph: Ruth Griffin./
CLARE’S National Football League campaign is finally off the ground after they picked up a vital two points at the expense of Fermanagh.
Clare 2-18
Fermanagh 0-18
Venue: Brewster Park, Fermanagh
It is the second year in a row that Clare have overcome Fermanagh in Division 3 of the NFL. Fermanagh with three defeats in as many matches are now very vulnerable to relegation to the bottom tier and only as recently as 2024 competed in Division 2.
This bottom of the table tie was must-win for Clare following defeats to Down and Westmeath. They dealt with adversity, notably the losses of captain Cillian Rouine and midfielder Darragh Bohannon to injury in the first half while in the third quarter of the game, the free count was ten to three in favour of the hosts.
Five points in a row including a Mark McInerney two pointer meant Ronan McCaffrey’s late score and the loss in personnel was not too noticeable as the hooter sounded in Enniskillen, Clare holding a 1-10 0-10 advantage at this juncture.
Aaron Griffin goaled for Clare on eleven minutes after captain Rouine made an excellent interception with a fine Ronan Lanigan run putting Griffin through.
A shaky start to the second half saw Fermanagh take control as Clare really struggled on their own kickout. The hosts kicked five points without reply to nudge ahead.
Another McInerney two pointer settled Clare, he followed with a point from play with Aaron Griffin and Eoin Cleary also on target to see the visitors regain their three point advantage.
This margin was reduced to one until Daniel Walsh stepped up with his first score of the league and Clare’s second goal, his Kilmurry Ibrickane clubmate Dermot Coughlan putting him through.
Fermanagh failed to score for the final eleven minutes of the encounter while Clare kicked 1-2 without reply, Walsh’s major followed by scores from Shane Griffin and Eoin Cleary. Griffin’s score was created following an exceptional hit by Brendy Rouine, a tackle that released four weeks of pressure felt by the footballers due to their poor league start.
Rouine was one of the standout performers for Clare along with Ikem Ugwueru, Mark McInerney and the full-back line of Ronan Lanigan, Alan Sweeney and Manus Doherty.
This result can serve as a turning point in Clare’s year if they utilise it to grasp some momentum and forge a winning run, such a task won’t be easy but it well within their possibilities of putting themselves in contention for promotion despite their shaky start. The second round loss to Westmeath may unfortunately come back to bite them.
It must also be underlined that Clare are far from safe in Division 3. They are still in the bottom three of the table and can only move up by continuing to put victories together.
Kickout retention was a massive failing for Clare in this round three tie. They really struggled on Stephen Ryan’s restarts, the responsibility for which doesn’t rest solely with the netminder. The Kilrush man would admit he should have varied his kickouts more but his teammates out the field did not supply sufficient options for him.
On the pleasing side, Clare finished the game much stronger than Fermanagh, outscoring the hosts 1-2 0-0 in the final eleven minutes. Resilience is slowly building as evident by how they recovered from losing captain Rouine and Bohannon to join the already sidelined Emmet McMahon, Colm Walsh O’Loghlen and Fionn Kelleher.
This is a start, two rounds later than anticipated, but Clare have put two points on the board, the focus now switches to doubling that tally and continuing to move up in the table.
Scorers Clare: M McInerney 0-9 (1TP, 1 TPf, 1f), A Griffin (1-3 1f), E Cleary (0-3) D Walsh (1-0), B McNamara (0-2), S Griffin (0-1)
Scorers Fermanagh: R McCaffrey 0-4, G Jones 0-4 (1tpf, 1f), Josh Largo Elis 0-3, C O’Hanlon (1tp), D McGurn (1tp), J McDade 0-2 each, C Love 0-1.
All photographs by Ruth Griffin.
Clare:
1: Stephen Ryan (Kilrush Shamrocks)
2: Alan Sweeney (St Breckan’s)
3: Ronan Lanigan (Éire Óg)
4: Manus Doherty (Éire Óg)
12: Brendy Rouine (Ennistymon)
20: Cillian Rouine (Ennistymon)
6: Ikem Ugwueru (Éire Óg)
9: Darragh Bohannon (Shannon Gaels)
8: Brian McNamara (Cooraclare)
10: Daniel Walsh (Kilmurry Ibrickane)
5: Dermot Coughlan (Kilmurry Ibrickane)
26: Joshua Vaughan (Ennistymon)
13: Eoin Cleary (St Joseph’s Miltown)
14: Mark McInerney (Éire Óg)
11: Aaron Griffin (Lissycasey)
Subs:
7: Cillian Brennan (Clondegad) for Bohannon (15) (inj)
22: Connor Meaney (Lissycasey) for C Rouine (29) (inj)
24: Shane Griffin (Lisseycasey) for Vaughan (58)
23: Gavin Murray (Éire Óg) for Walsh (62)
15: Cormac Murray (St Joseph’s Miltown) for A Griffin (66)
Fermanagh:
1: Jack Kelly
18: Ronan McCaffrey
2: Jonathan Cassidy
3: Oisin Smyth
5: Fionan O’Brien
6: Shane McGuillon
7: Josh Largo Elis
20: Joe McDade
9: Brandon Horan
10: Declan McCusker
11: Darragh McGurn
12: Paul Breen
22: Conor O’Hanlon
14: Garvan Jones
21: Jack Largo Elis
Subs:
13: Conor Love for Breen (HT)
15: Ciaran Corigan for O’Hanlon (49)
8: Stephen McGullion for McCusker (53)
24: Keelan Fitzpatrick for Jack Largo Elis (59)
25: Oisin Kelm for O’Brien (63)
Referee: Alan Coyne (Westmeath)
