*Ikem Ugwueru. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.
ÉIRE ÓG’s quest to win three senior football titles in a row is still alive but only just after they were brought to extra time by their neighbours St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield.
Éire Óg 0-15
St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield 1-11
AET
Venue: Cusack Park, Ennis
Extra time was needed to decide a winner and Mark McInerney kicked the all-important score on seventy five minutes to see them edge past their neighbours. Both sides clashed at the final whistle with words exchanged from either party, following a tense conclusion.
Although it may be a fourth successive win in this year’s championship, Éire Óg didn’t set the world alight but the manner of their victory may just be a timely bolt.
Six wides in the opening half hindered St Joseph’s from making sufficient inroads against the champions. Although they cut open the Éire Óg defence more than any other team this year to test Shane Daniels, there was no shot that would have had the Ennis supporters sweating that an umpire might be reaching for a green flag.
For the Townies, they had reason to cheer with Gavin Coney kicking four points in the opening half while their biggest round of applause arrived when Ikem Ugwueru landed the final score of the half to give them an 0-08 0-04 advantage.
Mark McInerney and Ronan Lanigan kicked the first scores on the restart pusing the gap to six points but Doora/Barefield responded with two in a row from Tom Curran and Eoghan Thynne.
Aaron Fitzgerald added a rare championship score with points contributed by McInerney and Gavin Murray. Tom Curran and Dara Nagle split the posts at the other end but it was only as the tie wore on that they begin to put a dent on the scoreboard.
Following Murray’s score, Éire Óg led by six but they failed to score for the remainder of normal time while Doora/Barefield had points from Tom Curran, James Curran and Tom McDonald to cut the deficit to three points.
McDonald began to run more at the opposing defence which created openings, he had an involvement in the all-important goal, splitting a gap before the ball fell to Tom Curran and his dangerous cross was sent high into the square and palmed to the net by James Curran to ensure a game that seemed over a quarter of an hour previous would be decided via extra time.
In extra time, both sides added a score each, Tom Curran put The Parish into the lead for the first time but Éire Óg came back with a score from Mark McInerney. Indeed the Clare forward came up trumps when the need was greatest, splitting the posts in the second half and also cleaning up a turnover in the dying seconds to see the Townies hold on.
MORE TO FOLLOW
Scorers for Éire Óg: M McInerney (0-6 1f 1’45), G Cooney (0-4 2f), P Talty (0-1), R Lanigan (0-1), I Ugwueru (0-1), A Fitzgerald (0-1), G Murray (0-1).
Scorers for St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield: T Curran (0-5 4f), J Curran (1-2), J Hannan (0-1), E Thynne (0-1), D Nagle (0-1), T McDonald (0-1)
Éire Óg:
1: Shane Daniels
2: Manus Doherty
3: Aaron Fitzgerald
5: Ronan Lanigan
7: Ciaran Russell
6: Niall McMahon
4: Jarlath Collins
8: Darren O’Neill
9: Gavin Murray
12: Dean Ryan
11: Ikem Ugwueru
10: Oran Cahill
18: Mark McInerney
14: Gavin Cooney
13: Philip Talty
Subs:
17: Darren O’Brien for Cahill (20) (inj)
20: Gearoid Collins for Collins (49)
21: Dean D’Auria for McMahon (60) (inj)
19: Ultan Shiels for Ryan (70)
St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield:
1: Tom O’Brien
19: Cathal O’Brien
3: Conor O’Brien
4: Conal Dorgan
2: Oisin O’Donnell
6: Darragh O’Shea
5: Jack Hannan
30: Cian Barron
8: James Curran
15: Darragh Nagle
11: Eoghan Thynne
10: Cian McDonagh
13: Tom Curran
9: Tom McDonald
14: Joe Rafferty
Subs:
12: Kieran Thynne for Rafferty (45)
17: Nicki Hardiman for Nagle (50)
23: Conor Brannock for O’Donnell (53)
Referee: Barry Kelly (St Joseph’s Miltown)
