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*Liam Cotter latches onto the ball for Ennistymon. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.
ENNISTYMON’s senior footballers are en route to the Clare SFC quarter-finals after defeating Kilmihil by sixteen points, a big turnaround from their shock three point loss to the same opposition last season.
Ennistymon 1-19
Kilmihil 0-06
Venue: Shanahan McNamara Memorial Park, Doonbeg
Definitely no upset this time around as Ennistymon’s growing maturity could be measured by a 19 point turnaround from last year’s result against the same opposition back in Shanahan McNamara Park in Doonbeg.
That sobering 0-16 to 0-13 defeat would have been central to their ruthlessness this time around as they led comfortably for the last 50 minutes to maintain their perfect start and cement a quarter-final spot with a game to spare.
What sums up the North Clare Magpies’ dominance most is that they raided for twenty scores through ten different players whereas Kilmihil could only muster up three, all from the boot of Martin O’Leary.
Ennistymon’s dominance stemmed from a powerful middle eight that ultimately sucked the life out of Kilmihil over the entire hour. With the wind at his back, Kilmihil talisman Martin O’Leary did provide the perfect start with a two point free after only 40 seconds but it would turn out to be an exception to the rule as Ennistymon may have taken eight minutes to repair their damage but once they did, there would only be one result.
Brendy Rouine was unlucky to see a goal chance deflected wide of the target but the county senior did convert three frees, two of which he won himself, while Josh Guyler, Mark Kelleher and Josh Vaughan ensured a 0-6 to 0-2 advantage by the midway mark off the opening half.
Again O’Leary punished with a two-point free entering the second quarter but it was quickly wiped out this time around as Darren McNamara (2), Brendy Rouine and Gearoid Barry provided the last four scores of the half to take a 0-10 to 0-04 advantage into the dressing rooms with the wind to come.
Any thoughts of a Kilmihil backlash or even another early O’Leary double soon evaporated on the resumption when a quick free picked out Eoin Rouine to beat the last defender and unleash a bullet to the roof of the Kilmihil net only four minutes into the new half.
Buoyed by that score, Ennistymon were hungry for more but a Josh Guyler back post effort hit the side-netting while Liam Cotter’s subsequent attempt cannoned off the left post but a brace of Sean Rouine points would allow the North Clare side brush off an O’Leary special entering the final quarter at 1-13 to 0-06.
Ennistymon emptied the bench and would be rewarded with the last seven points as substitutes Diarmuid Fahy (2) and Joe Concannon accentuated like scores for Brendy Rouine (2), Gearoid Barry and Eoin Rouine to ease up to a sixteen point triumph.
They may be in the last eight already but Declan Downes’ side will receive a stern preliminary quarter-final group decider against Kildysart in a fortnight’s time while his native club Kilmihil face an even more cut-throat winner-takes-all battle with St. Joseph’s Doora/Barefield that will see the winner advance to the knock-out stages and the loser spiralling into the demotion play-offs.
All photographs by Gerard O’Neill.
Scorers for Ennistymon: Brendy Rouine 0-6 (5f), Eoin Rouine 1-1, Darren McNamara 0-2, Sean Rouine 0-2, Gearoid Barry 0-2, Diarmuid Fahy 0-2, Josh Guyler 0-1, Mark Kelleher 0-1, Josh Vaughan 0-1, Joe Concannon 0-1
Scorers for Kilmihil: Martin O’Leary 0-6 (3TPf)
Ennistymon
1: Noel Sexton
2 James Cullinan
3: Darragh Conneely
4: Joey Rouine
9: Eoin Rouine
8: Cillian Rouine
10: Mark Kelleher
6: Liam Cotter
20: Brendy Rouine
7: Josh Guyler
14: Seán Rouine
11: Josh Vaughan
13: Gearoid Barry
24: Kealan Guyler
15: Darren McNamara
Subs
23: Joe Concannon for K. Guyler (13, inj)
26: Diarmuid Fahy for Barry (47)
22: Sean O’Driscoll for J. Rouine (50)
18: Adam Ralph for J. Guyler (53)
Kilmihil
1: Damien Lineen
4: Padraig O’Grady
3: John Finucane
2: David Coughlan
5: Michael Cotter
6: Mikey Keating
24: Fionn Febbraro
9: Jack Keating
11: Dan Keating
7: Dylan Downes Rigney
8: Gavin Downes
12: Sean O’Gorman
13: Mark Normoyle
14: Cathal Murray
15: Martin O’Leary
Subs
10: Darragh Connors for Coughlan (HT)
21: Mark Lineen for Cotter (57, inj)
18: Daniel Finucane for Normoyle (58)
2: Coughlan for Murray (63, inj)
Referee: Niall Quinn (St. Joseph’s Miltown)
