*Referee Nicky O’Toole is escorted off the field after the final whistle. Photograph: Ruth Griffin
O’CALLAGHANS MILLS’ memorable season which was full of highs has ended on a sour note following a fourteen point Munster final loss on an evening when they finished with twelve men.
Upperchurch/Drombane 3-20
O’Callaghans Mills 0-15
Venue: TUS Gaelic Grounds, Limerick
Boos echoed around the Gaelic Grounds at the final whistle not in protest over Upperchurch/Drombane winning a provincial title but among the O’Callaghans Mills supporters in the attendance of 2,434 following a refereeing display by Nicky O’Toole that won’t be forgotten in East Clare.
Within the space of thirty seconds, he brandished a total of five yellow cards all to two players as Jacob Loughnane picked up a second yellow card followed by a red before Conor Henry received two yellows in the space of seconds for sharing his views on the officiating.
Prior to this moment on thirty seven minutes, only a point separated the sides but the main criticism of the referee must be that he missed a series of three fouls before penalising Loughnane, a decision which turned the game on its head.
While the referee may have been correct in following the rules in his decisions when dismissing Loughnane, Henry and later Gary Cooney, he certainly missed fouls in the sequences leading up to the two major flash points of what was a relatively clean affair.
Unfortunately the referee is the main talking point following the Munster final and the dismissals resulted in the game becoming a lot more one-sided than it would have been had it remained fifteen on fifteen.
Indeed the teams were level on eight different occasions in the opening half and they remained within a score of each other ten minutes following the double dismissal. It was only when Upperchurch/Drombane first struck for goal that the dam burst and within a ten minute spell in the final quarter they bagged three green flags.
Decisions aside, the Mills were not at their best and hit four wides in the first quarter at a stage when they could have put down a foothold in the tie. Gary Cooney and Seán Boyce were their sharpest players up front but needed more support from their front eight, the remainder of which only gave sporadic glimpses of what they have done all year.
Cooney put the Mills in front on two minutes and equalised on five minutes with Seán Cotter nudging them ahead for the second time when powering up from wing back. Jacob Loughnane with his first two attempted frees of the evening had them on five points by the thirteenth minute with two Gavin Ryan frees and a Conor Fahey point keeping the Tipp side just two adrift.
Operating with a third man at midfield, Upperchurch/Drombane were making the most of the space afforded to them with Aaron Ryan hitting two points in succession to level matters as the game entered the second quarter.
Cormac Murphy finished off arguably the Mills’ best worked score of the evening when Gary Cooney offloaded to Darragh Moroney who hit the ball into space to Murphy to split the posts.
Luke Shanahan with a brace of frees put Upperchurch back in the ascendancy with another Loughnane free levelling the tie. Seán Boyce showed his sharpness to point from a tricky acute angle on twenty four minutes, both he and Cooney added further scores but their opponents had four of the final six points of the opening half to lead 0-11 0-10.
Loughnane levelled on the restart with a 65 but it was cancelled out by a Shanahan free before The Mills were reduced to thirteen men. Even though the Mills conceded two points without reply, all was not lost, further scores from Boyce and captain Aidan O’Gorman maintained their belief as they trailed by only two points with forty seven minutes on the clock.
However, one goal led to two which then became three as the domino green flag effect wrapped up matters in the space of ten minutes. Conor Fahey, Paddy Phelan and Colm Ryan all struck the sliotar beyond a helpless Killian Nugent to compound the frustrations for the Fireballs.
Goal number one zapped the belief from Seán Doyle’s charges who hadn’t experienced a defeat in championship this year until the provincial final. The final score would have been a lot tighter had it not been for the dismissals but they will must also admit they coughed up scores from failing to deal with the three-man midfield adapted by Upperchurch.
Ultimately the year’s sole focus for the East Clare outfit was bouncing back to the top tier, they did just that and also followed up with two wins in Munster. The manner of this defeat and the decisions makes it a sour ending but there’s a lot more to come from them next year.
All photographs by Ruth Griffin.
Scorers for Upperchurch-Drombane: C Fahey (1-2); L Shanahan (0-5, 3 frees); P Phelan (1-1); C Ryan (1-0); A Ryan, Pat Ryan (0-3 each); G Ryan (0-2, 2 frees); N Grant, D Grant, Paul Ryan, P Greene (0-1 each).
Scorers O’Callaghans Mills: S Boyce (0-5 3f), J Loughnane (0-4 3f 1’65), G Cooney (0-3), S Cotter (0-1), C Murphy (0-1), A O’Gorman (0-1).
Upperchurch/Drombane:
1: Ciarán Shortt
4: Dean Carew
3: Keith Ryan
2: Mikey Lavery
22: Toby Corbett
6: Gavin Ryan
5: Niall Grant
8: Diarmuid Grant
15: Luke Shanahan
9: Aaron Ryan
10: Conor Fahey
12: Paul Shanahan
18: Paudie Greene
13: Pat Ryan
11: Paddy Phelan
Subs:
21: Mikey Griffin for Greene (55)
7: Colm Ryan for P Shanahan (57)
14: Paul Ryan for Phelan (59)
17: Ger Grant for A Ryan (62)
19: Seán Ryan for L Shanahan (62)
O’Callaghans Mills:
1: Killian Nugent
2: Cathal McNamara
3: Conor Cooney
4: Keith Donnellan
5: Seán Cotter
6: Aidan O’Gorman
7: Aidan Fawl
8: Fionn Hickey
9: Cormac Murphy
12: Conor Henry
11: Darragh Moroney
10: Jacob Loughnane
13: Seán Boyce
15: Gary Cooney
14: Colm Cleary
Subs:
22: Patrick Donnellan for K Donnellan (46)
23: Bryan Donnellan for Moroney (56)
19: Mark Pewter for Cleary (56)
18: Mike McGrath for Cotter (56)
Referee: Nicky O’Toole (Waterford)
