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*Kilmurry Ibrickane’s Evan Cahill keeps the ball from Danny Lyne of Éire Óg. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.
ÉIRE ÓG and Kilmurry Ibrickane face off in the biggest football game of the year in Clare this weekend while Banner, Wolfe Tones, O’Currys and Parteen/Meelick are also chasing silverware in adult finals.
Cusack Park is the setting for the Clare SFC final between holders Éire Óg and sixteen-time champions Kilmurry Ibrickane on Sunday (15:30) with the country grounds also hosting the Clare IFC decider between Banner and Wolfe Tones on Saturday (16:00).
It is the fourth time that Éire Óg and Kilmurry Ibrickane meet in the showpiece event, the record currently stands at 2-1 in favour of the Ennis side. Both teams are unbeaten and have been the two best teams of the championship, the expectation is that their clash will be closer than their most recent final meeting of 2024 when the Townies prevailed 1-10 0-6.
Shane Daniels’ champions have been very consistent, apart from a second round scare against Doonbeg they have dominated every opposition they have faced. Mark McInerney’s form has been imperious while Ronan Lanigan, Aaron Fitzgerald, Ikem Ugwueru, Darren O’Brien, Manus Doherty, Ciaran Russell and Gavin Murray have been to the fore in them reaching their fifth final in six seasons.
Enda Coughlan’s Kilmurry Ibrickane have made strides in his debut season. The mix of youth and experience has heightened expectation on the Bricks. Daniel Walsh has delivered one of his most consistent campaigns for the club with Evan Cahill, Dermot Coughlan, Darragh Sexton and Josh Moloney on form in every game. Conor Burke, Cathal Talty and Ajay Daly have shown what the young guns can offer while Keelan Sexton has demonstrated his ability to win games in the past.
One of the most interesting match-ups is off the field with the battle of two esteemed coaches, ex Limerick footballer Seánie Buckley who has been heralded with turning around Éire Óg’s fortunes and nine-time Clare SFC winner Evan Talty who has tasted success with St Brigids, Rathmore and Roscommon’s U20s.
Colm Walsh O’Loghlen (knee), David McNamara (rib) and Gavin Cooney (achilles) are the big names with injuries for Éire Óg. “It’s no secret that we have had our injuries, we’ve been missing a number of players at vital times, our captain Aaron Fitzgerald missed a game, Colm Walsh O’Loghlen and Gavin Cooney have missed every game, David Fitzgerald has been out for two, Aidan O’Connell broke a finger, Aidan McGrath was coming back and was in really good shape until he hurt his leg the last day. We’ve had our injuries but they are all working extremely hard to try get back, they are all doing everything they can to get back, if they don’t get back the lads stepping in have been amazing. One thing I’m really passionate about is getting young lads into the team, if you can get three or four every year more players into the team or panel it will give that bit more energy, we’ve had guys stepping in at the last minute, Danny Lyne has done fantastic for us, David Loftus has been fantastic, Darren Moroney came in last year and has been fantastic, Luke Pyne has been fantastic since he came in, we’re very lucky that the young fellas coming in have bought into straight away. David Loftus only found out a minute before the semi-final that he would be starting, he came in and did a super job, for any young fella to come in to an established team and do that is a credit to him and the club,” manager Daniels told The Clare Echo.
On whether he would be able to call on either of Walsh O’Loghlen, McNamara or Cooney for the final, he said, “It’s too early to say at the moment, they are all working really hard, there’s none of them ruled in or ruled out, we won’t have all three, that would be wishful thinking, if we got one of the three then we would be happy with that”.
Coughlan is optimistic he will have a full panel to pick from apart from long-term injury Diarmuid King (knee). “We still have one or two niggles, I’d be hoping that everyone is okay, most of them have trained, after a game we always have a few niggles but nothing major to be concerned with”.
For the first time in their history, Banner line out in the Clare IFC final creating a novel pairing versus Wolfe Tones. It is the battle of the towns with Ennis taking on Shannon. The form team has certainly been Shane Mernagh’s Banner but the Tones managed by John Riordan have experience of the big days and that will certainly stand to them.
Outstanding displays have been produced by Shane Meehan, Ronan Kilroy, Thomas Meenaghan, Seán McMahon, Eoin Walsh, James Coakley and Cian Rynne to push Banner on the brink of senior football.
For Wolfe Tones, Darragh Leahy Jayme O’Sullivan, Daithí Lohan, Damien Lyne, Eoghan Casey and Tan Greene have been their leading lights while the return of Craig Riordan was a primary reason why they overcame Naomh Eoin in the semi-finals.
St Michael’s Park is the setting on Sunday where O’Currys and Parteen/Meelick square off in the Junior A decider.
O’Currys are looking to bounce back to intermediate at the first attempt, Brian Troy’s key lieutenants include the Downes brothers, Cathal and Danny along with the consistent Thomas Clancy, the experienced Michael Foran and captain Shane Browne.
Parteen/Meelick who five years ago won the Junior B title are vying to play intermediate football for the first time. Their dual players Jack Kirwan, Tom Collins and Dara Nolan are leading lights but Liam O’Connell will need a strong collective performance from his side to take the spoils.
