Online Club Football Championship coverage brought to you by the Shannon Springs Hotel—home of The Old Lodge Gastropub.
*Mark McInerney accepts the MD MyClubShop.ie / The Clare Echo top scorer from sponsor Martin Donnelly. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.
WHEN ÉIRE Óg’s current crop won their first of five titles over the past six years back in 2021, star forward Mark McInerney said he could only dream of coming close to matching his father’s medal haul but he is now putting serious pressure on former Clare captain Francis.
Doubling up county final celebrations are becoming par for course for the McInerney clan.
As was the case in 2021 when Mark won his first medal, Francis was part of the twenty five year Doonbeg team getting honoured at half-time. They also repeated the act in 2024 when the Magpies side of 1999 were toasting their success.
After winning his first senior championship in 2021, Mark told The Clare Echo, “to get one is amazing, if I finish up in however many years and I only have one I’ll be delighted”. He added, “If we can build on this for the next ten years or so and keep everyone together hopefully we could make a Doonbeg-esque dynasty or something like that, it is probably wishful thinking but we’ve a serious team”.
His words have been prophetic with Éire Óg winning a further four titles and with it narrowing the gap between the senior medal haul of Mark and Francis. “He has seven, I’ve five but he doesn’t have three-in-a-row so that is a great one to have over him,” Mark quipped.
Further silverware came Mark’s way when he walked home with the MD MyClubShop.ie / The Clare Echo top scorer for the second year running, finishing the Clare SFC with a personal haul of 4-48. “I think he has two of them at home, they are nice crystals, I’ll have to get a third one to beat him again,” the PhD student when calculating the maths on the latest father versus son duel.
Sunday’s final saw Mark chip in with 1-6, the goal arriving on five minutes after Ikem Ugwueru intercepted Ian McInerney’s kickout to dent Kilmurry Ibrickane’s cause very early on. “We performed really well, we’ve controlled large spells of that game, we bounced back really well from their big scores. When they got the goal in the first half, we got a few points on the bounce and when they got the two pointers from Cathal Talty, he kicked two boomers and the crowd was up but we responded really well”.
Speaking to The Clare Echo following their latest SFC success, Mark outlined, “It is great to win three in a row, it is just amazing, it is a great feeling and it doesn’t go away, to be with your family and friends out on the pitch after a county final is unreal so it’s great”.
Every moment of success is to be treasured but nothing will match their 2021 breakthrough, he admitted. “I don’t think anything will ever beat the first one, that was a weight off our chest, they are all amazing and especially three in a row is a nice nugget on top of it”.
As the years have progressed, the quality of the Éire Óg panel has gone to a new level, the Clare vice captain maintained. “This is the best panel we’ve had over the last five years if I can say that, we have Colm and Gavin Cooney to come back, Éinne O’Connor is back, Danny Lyne is flying it and Jack Joyce too, I could name everyone really, Bernie Power in goals is great so we have a really strong team and hopefully we can make a dent in the Munster championship”.
It is time for Éire Óg to make a serious dent in the Munster club, Mark acknowledged. “We haven’t really performed quite well in Munster, we will celebrate this tonight and for the next few days then we will turn our heads towards Munster. If we can go a few steps further than we have before then that is a bonus on top”.
