Online Club Football Championship coverage brought to you by the Shannon Springs Hotel—home of The Old Lodge Gastropub.
Caoilfhionn O’Dea gets away from Alan Sweeney. Photograph: Burren Eye Photography
KILMURRY IBRICKANE kicked off proceedings in the Clare SFC with a bang, netting four goals in a comprehensive victory over St Breckans.
Kilmurry Ibrickane 4-14
St Breckans 0-17
Venue: Hennessy Memorial Park, Miltown Malbay
For those that needed reminding, this was a Kilmurry Ibrickane display that demonstrated they are going to be in the shake-up for honours when the business end of the Clare SFC comes around.
Not alone did they run in numbers, but they attacked with pace and purpose, it left St Breckans flustered, caught out of position and proved to be where they conceded the bulk of their scores.
Goal number one was a case in point when it was a 3v1 scenario as Kilmurry Ibrickane broke through their half-forward line, Caoilfhionn O’Dea then fired to the top right corner of the net. Similarly, Josh Moloney had the freedom of the park when kicking over on the fifteenth minute.
O’Dea’s return to action was a welcome sight, plagued by a hamstring injury since the early rounds of the National Football League, this game saw him get more minutes than he’s been able for all year. He kicked goals off either foot, one off his right to the top corner and the second off his left going to the bottom corner.
Nine different scorers contributed to the final tally for Enda Coughlan’s side who go top of Group 3 and start the campaign on a high point.
It is unlikely that this encounter will be cited in the years to come when the conversations over classic matches are debated. However, it will be referenced as the tie when one of the county’s most promising young footballers Conor Burke made his SFC debut for Kilmurry Ibrickane. Ajay Daly, a defender on last year’s Clare minor side also made his first championship start adding youth to the Bricks’ defence while ex county minor captain Donncha O’Dwyer made his bow in the maroon and white of St Breckans.
Kicking a blast of 1-8 in succession, Kilmurry Ibrickane took control of proceedings in the opening sixteen minutes. Despite their power, there was just two points between the sides on twenty four minutes, with the margin up to four by the half time whistle.
Indeed the margin would have been greater, had it not been for an excellently timed Alan Sweeney tackle on Dermot Coughlan with two minutes played and a Ronan Fitzpatrick interception from Conor Burke on five minutes.
There was a more accurate reflection on the scoreboard by the final whistle with the nine point gap a more realistic version of what happened in Miltown Malbay. Kilmurry Ibrickane raided for goals three and four within the first six minutes of the second half. Conor Burke fired home first after Tristan O’Callaghan had made a great save from Cathal Talty while Cillian Darcy palmed to the net following a brilliant Evan Cahill run.
Like all clinical teams, Kilmurry Ibrickane capitalised when St Breckans slipped up. Whether it was the poor tracking that enabled them to drive forward with an abundance of scoring options or when shots that dropped short were collected and moved all the way up the field such as O’Dea scored his second goal on twenty six minutes.
Both sides finished with fourteen, Padraig Kelly getting red for a second bookable offence for the North Clare side while a black card for the experienced Darren Hickey in the final ten minutes meant they were not back to their full ticket by the final whistle.
For the Bricks, they will point to letting their 1-8 0-2 lead be reduced to two points and then four by the half time whistle as the main area to work on. To their credit, they were able to build up their lead to twelve points by the thirty eighth minute.
Their showing has underlined their capability as one of the leading challengers to lift the Jack Daly but there is a long way from round one to October. Helping to set them off on the road with impressive displays were Caoilfhionn O’Dea, Joshua Moloney, Evan Cahill and their playmaker Dermot Coughlan.
St Breckans have been left with a lot of work to do but not an awful lot of time in which to get things settled. Their defensive structure needs to be examined along with their transition from attack to defence, this is where they were punished the most.
What will frustrate the Spa is they didn’t come close to showing what they can do on the field. They possess plenty of talent but there was an energy lacking from their challenge, apart from their second quarter burst where they landed four scores in a row, three of them were two pointers.
All photographs by Burren Eye Photography
Scorers Kilmurry Ibrickane: C O’Dea (2-1), C Burke (1-2 1f), K Sexton (0-4 1TP), C Darcy (1-0), J Moloney (0-2), C Talty (0-2), C Morrissey (0-1),. D Coughlan (0-1), D Walsh (0-1).
Scorers St Breckans: J Stack (0-7 2TPf 1TP 1f), P Kelly (0-5 3f 1TP), R Danaher (0-3 1TP), E Byrne (0-2 1TP)
Kilmurry Ibrickane:
16: Ian McInerney
2: Conor Kearney
3: Darren Hickey
30: Ajay Daly
7: Darragh Sexton
10: Diarmuid King
12: Daniel Walsh
8: Evan Cahill
6: Dermot Coughlan
19: Ciarán Morrissey
9: Caoilfhionn O’Dea
5: Joshua Moloney
13: Cathal Talty
11: Keelan Sexton
15: Conor Burke
Subs:
18: Cillian Darcy for King (20) (inj)
4: Diarmuid Comber for Daly (34)
29: Daryn Callinan for K Sexton (41)
14: Shane Hickey for Morrissey (41)
24: Colin Considine for O’Dea (54)
St Breckans:
1: Tristan O’Callaghan
18: Ronan Fitzpatrick
3: Cian Burke
4: Patrick Doherty
6: Maccon Byrne
2: Alan Sweeney
7: Jack Sheedy
8: Padraig Kelly
5: Páraic O’Dwyer
12: Donnacha O’Dwyer
10: Rowan Danaher
9: Denis O’Callaghan
13: Colm O’Brien
20: Eoin Byrne
11: Jamie Stack
Subs:
15: Cathal Morgan for D O’Callaghan (HT)
19: Eoghan Garrihy for M Byrne (HT)
14: Cian Jimmy Burke for E Byrne (36)
21: Micheál Flanagan for O’Brien (36)
Referee: Chris Maguire (Wolfe Tones)
