*Dan Keating and Kevin Pender battle for possession. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill
EIGHTEEN time Clare SFC champions Doonbeg secured their status in the top flight by overcoming Kilmihil with two points to spare.
Doonbeg 1-10
Kilmihil 0-11
Venue: Cooraclare
Paul Dillon’s tenth minute goal proved to be a defining score in the battle of the rivals as it saw Doonbeg regain a lead which they would hold onto for the remainder of the contest.
This despite losing centre back Tadhg Lillis to a quad injury at half time and the straight red card issued to captain Kevin McInerney in additional time of the opening half.
Darragh Burns was once again in outstanding form. Although Doonbeg were in relegation, he has been one of the standout players of the championship, finishing the campaign with 0-14 to his name, all but one of which were from play and the majority exceptional scores.
Burns was the man to open the scoring at a sunny Cooraclare but Kilmihil responded with scores from Ciaran Downes and Jack Keating, the second of which arrived after Fionn Febbraro recycled possession to Stan Lineen, he powered forward and found Sean Crowley who offloaded to Keating to kick them into the lead.
That lead was short-lived with a Dan Keating attempt hitting the upright before Doonbeg struck for their goal. David Tubridy did very well to keep the ball in play and he passed to the on-rushing Dillon who delivered a tidy finish to the net.
Kilmihil responded with a Ciaran Downes score on their next attack, the kickout from Damien Lineen was well won by Shane Downes who kicked into Cathal Murray who made the wise move of popping back to the Clare forward.
David Tubridy and Downes swapped scores frees at either end while there was also spurned goal opportunities, Gavin Downes hit the post while Damien Lineen made a nice save from Burns on thirty one minutes.
As the half was drawing to a close, Kilmihil had the greater momentum, receiving a bounce from Lineen’s save and their cause was also strengthened when a straight red was dished out to McInerney for an erratic high challenge.
In the last attack of the half, Doonbeg extended their advantage to two points with David Tubridy slotting a free which was moved forward to the 21m line for dissent.
Eoghan Tubridy was among two substitutes to enter the fray at half time for Doonbeg, a free of his dropped short but was well caught by Burns to make it 1-5 0-5, two minutes into the second half. Jack Keating kicked Kilmihil’s first score of the second half on thirty four minutes but it was cancelled out by Burns who pointed from distance with a tremendous score.
Successive points from Jack Keating and Ciaran Downes saw Kilmihil close the gap to a single score on forty three minutes but a big lift arrived for Doonbeg in the guise of a well-taken Sean Conway point.
A foul on Eoghan Tubridy who had the assist for Conway’s previous score, allowed David Tubridy to kick their eighth point on forty seven minutes. The all-time National Football League top scorer extended their lead to four points with another free before two Downes placed balls in a row reduced the deficit back to two on fifty six minutes.
Burns kicked Doonbeg’s final score on fifty seven minutes and for the remainder Kilmihil focused on trying to pull back a goal. Dan Keating had a shot saved, Fionn Febbraro did excellent with a double dummy to create the chance while David Coughlan’s attempt went above the crossbar and then Gavin Downes’ last minute opportunity was cleared away.
After two very difficult hours from round one and round two, Kilmihil have put together two solid displays in their third round loss to Kilmurry Ibrickane and this defeat to Doonbeg. Their use of the extra man in the second half was not effective and they didn’t make it count. Another hindrance for them was keeping their danger men Ciaran Downes and Marty O’Leary inside for too long when they could have benefitted by moving one of them to the half-forward line for a prolonged spell, that they didn’t opt to make a substitution to throw fresh legs into the mix didn’t help their situation.
All they can do is knuckle down and focus on Corofin in the relegation final, they will be able to take positives from their last two outings despite coming up short but they must use this relegation semi-final to their advantage. Jack Keating, Shane Downes, Padraig O’Grady, Ciaran Downes and Fionn Febbraro stood out for them.
Heading into Cooraclare, Doonbeg expected a battle and it was what they got. The dismissal of McInerney didn’t make things easy while losing Tadhg Lillis was another blow. They missed seven scoreable chances over the hour and their absence of a more clinical approach is a reason why they are struggling to make inroads in the championship.
Once again Darragh Burns excelled for Doonbeg with strong performances also from Eamon Tubridy, Jason Linnane and Mikie Tubridy while Eoghan Tubridy made valuable contributions in the second half. They are senior for 2025 and whether it is John Keane in charge or other personnel, they will have to get more out of Sean Conway, the former Clare U20 has an awful lot to offer his club given his strength and skill, if they can get him firing along with Burns and Lillis they will be in a much healthier position in twelve months time.
Scorers Doonbeg: D Burns (0-5), D Tubridy (0-4 4f), P Dillon (1-0), S Conway (1-0).
Scorers Kilmihil: C Downes (0-7 3f), J Keating (0-3), D Coughlan (0-1)
Doonbeg:
1: Eamon Tubridy
4: Jason Linnane
3: James Killeen
7: Cian O’Mahoney
18: Kevin Pender
6: Tadhg Lillis
2: Conor O’Mahoney
5: Sean Conway
8: Kevin McInerney
11: Mikie Tubridy
10: Eoin Killeen
9: Cathal Killeen
15: David Tubridy
12: Paul Dillon
13: Darragh Burns
Subs:
17: Eoin Conway for Lillis (HT) (inj)
19: Eoghan Tubridy for P Dillon (HT)
14: Gavin O’Shea for Conor O’Mahoney (49)
20: Cian Clancy for E Tubridy (55)
Kilmihil:
1: Damien Lineen
3: John Finucane
7: David Coughlan
2: Mikey Keating
6: Fionn Febbraro
4: Pádraig O’Grady
5: Gavin Downes
8: Dan Keating
9: Jack Keating
11: Stan Lineen
13: Sean Crowley
10: Shane Downes
14: Cathal Murray
12: Ciaran Downes
15: Marty O’Leary
Referee: John O’Connell (Cooraclare)
