*Cathal Morgan of St Breckans. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.
FIVE years after last winning the Clare U21B football championship, St Breckans have sealed their return back to the final withstanding a second half comeback from Clooney/Quin.
St Breckans 2-11
Clooney/Quin 0-12
Venue: Banner GAA Grounds, Ennis
Ahead by ten points at half time, St Breckans had to sweat it out when holding off Clooney/Quin to advance to the finals of the U21B football championship.
Saturday morning saw the semi-final moved from Páirc Finne in Corofin to the Banner’s GAA grounds in Ennis due to the vandalism of the North Clare venue which has caused within the community and across sporting circles.
There was a strong breeze for Saturday afternoon’s tie which favoured St Breckans in the opening half and aided them to build up a 2-7 0-3 interval advantage. Clooney/Quin were well able to make use of the elements and outscoring their opponents 0-9 0-4.
Crucially their comeback came undone by not being able to raise a green flag. James Garrihy pulled off three vital saves in the final six minutes, pushing a Cian Maxted effort over the crossbar, denying Darragh White in the next attack and then keeping out a Conor McCarthy attempt in additional time.
Both St Breckans goals came in the closing stages of the first half and were very similar. Aidan Howley during his long stint as a blood sub managed to flick a dropping Eoin Byrne free to the net while in the last kick of the half, a free from Byrne was dropped into the net by corner back Dylan Browne.
Howley may have the distinction of being the longest blood sub in action to be taken off. He was introduced on eight minutes and departed in the second half with forty three minutes on the clock. He replaced Eoghan Garrihy who managed to get stiches on his chin at the local injury unit in Ennis before returning to the field of play, the move of the game from Corofin to the county town making his return manageable.
Byrne had the score of the match when firing over a two pointer off his left boot on ten minutes to make it 0-3 0-1, Lorcan Doolin having opened the scoring for the Spa before John Cahill replied with a well-taken score. His two pointer kick started St Breckans getting six points in a row, a two pointer free from Doolin also mixed into their dominant spell.
On the restart it was Clooney/Quin that took control with five points in the first ten minutes and an unanswered seven points across the third quarter. The seventh of these scores came from Cian Maxted, St Breckans had been unable to break past the middle of the field but they did for the first time on forty two minutes yet bizarrely went back with the ball and ended up getting turned over where they were rightly punished.
Valuable scores then arrived for St Breckans via Cathal Morgan and Cathal Morgan to open their second half tally on forty nine minutes. Two Doolin frees in the final moments plus the Garrihy saves provided the insurance to send them through to the final.
With Donie Garrihy at the helm, St Breckans sides are always well prepared and never far from the shake-up. His U21 charges are now sixty minutes from winning a county championship to put a positive end on what was a very disappointing football year for the club. Donncha O’Dwyer won big breaks in the middle of the field in the closing stages, James Garrihy stepped up with the three crucial saves, Cathal Morgan was a constant threat with Pádraic O’Dwyer leading from centre back.
In the opposing camp to Garrihy was Declan O’Keeffe who was in charge of St Breckans when they contested the 2023 Clare SFC final and was part of Donie’s management ticket when they won the Clare IFC in 2019 and remained a strong senior force over the subsequent four seasons.
If football was given greater focus in Clooney/Quin, they would climb the ranks and at the very least would be one of the most competitive sides in the Clare IFC. That’s a debate and an issue the club needs to tackle. On this occasion, John Cahill, Donnacha O’Donovan, Jack O’Neill and Donncha Mahon impressed.
Scorers St Breckans: L Doolin (0-6 3f 1TPf), E Byrne (1-2 1TP), A Howley (1-0), C McNamara (0-2 1f), C Morgan (0-1).
Scorers Clooney/Quin: D White (0-3 2f), C Maxted (0-3), J Cahill (0-2 1f), D Mahon (0-2 1f), PJ McCarthy (0-1), J O’Neill (0-1).
St Breckans:
1: James Garrihy
2: Paddy Haugh
3: Mark Healy
4: Seán Óg Creedon
7: Jack O’Loughlin
6: Pádraic O’Dwyer
5: Noah McNamara
8: Eoghan Garrihy
9: Donncha O’Dwyer
12: Lucca Mullins
11: Eoin Byrne
10: Mac Dara Garrihy
15: Lorcan Doolin
14: Cathal Morgan
13: Cathal McNamara
Subs:
23: Adam Howley for E Garrihy (blood) (8-43)
31: Ronan Fitzpatrick for Creedon (43)
24: Ronan Garrihy for Mullins (58)
26: Noah Nibbering for N McNamara (63)
Clooney/Quin:
1: Paddy O’Keeffe
4: Dylan Browne
3: Kevin McCarthy
2: Seán Cassidy
5: Euan Begg
6: Donnacha O’Donovan
7: David Cahill
8: John Cahill
9: David Considine
14: Jack O’Neill
11: Donncha Mahon
12: PJ McCarthy
13: Damien Guilfoyle
10: Michael Hannon
15: Darragh White
Subs:
24: Seán McNamara for Begg (28)
26: Cian Maxted for Hannon (HT)
17: Mark McGrath for Guilfoyle (52)
20: Conor McCarthy for McCarthy (58)
Referee: Eoin Keane (Corofin)
