*Fergal Ginnane of Kildysart holds off the challenge of Doonbeg’s Eoin Killeen. Photograph: Ruth Griffin.
KILDYSART secured an immediate promotion back to the Cusack Cup and also claimed their place in the Garry Cup final, beating Doonbeg in a penalty shootout.
Kildysart 2-16
Doonbeg 1-19
Kildysart win 4-3 on penalties
Venue: Shanahan McNamara Memorial Park, Doonbeg
In what has been one of the most pulsating Garry Cup campaigns, it took the most dramatic of endings to determine that Kildysart will face off with Clondegad in the second tier league decider but also join their Shannon Estuary neighbours in securing promotion to the Cusack Cup. It is the first time a penalty shootout has determined which team has secured promotion to the top tier.
Heading into the final round, Kildysart were at risk of relegation to Division 3 but they have completed a remarkable turnaround to ensure they have bounced back to the Cusack Cup at the first attempt. They’ve gone unbeaten since defeating Corofin at the beginning of May, following it up with wins over Cratloe and Wolfe Tones to make the semi-finals where they just about took down Doonbeg.
One of the more impressive aspects to the outcome was that Kildysart were fairly threadbare, introducing two of their substitute goalkeepers from the bench in extra time while they were without Emmet McMahon, Diarmuid O’Donnell, Jamie Evans and Seamus Casey who offer serious firepower along with Conall Casey and Jamie Sheehan.
It was flagged in The Clare Echo that their 0-15 0-13 win over Corofin “could be the moment which sparked their year into gear” and they have certainly put their championship preparation on a solid footing and they will only go in an upward direction when they are back to full strength.
Missing out on promotion will hurt Doonbeg, especially so when they were the dominant side in the second half but were unable to close out the game. As they turn their gaze towards the Clare SFC, they can take solace in the fact that their Garry Cup run has more pluses than minuses, they are in a stronger spot for the championship with the influx of new talent like Darragh O’Sullivan and Gearoid White, seeing Darragh Burns back in action following an injury-ridden year is a massive boost and when they have David Tubridy back to full fitness and Tadhg Lillis on the field they will be better placed to cause upsets in Group 1.
Luke McGrath, Rory McMahon, Fergal Ginnane and Oisin Coyle all converted penalties in the shootout to send Kildysart into the Garry Cup final and to secure promotion. McGrath chipped his effort to the top right corner, McMahon and Coyle both opted for the bottom left with Ginnane putting power in his shot when hitting the bottom left. Liam Casey’s effort was superbly saved by Eamon Tubridy.
Proficiency with penalties wasn’t a strongpoint for Doonbeg, Cathal Killeen and Gavin O’Shea had tame efforts kept out by Conor Cusack, the netminder got a hand to Darragh O’Sullivan’s spot kick but he had too much power in his shot while Mikie and David Tubridy both hit the back of the net.
Level eight times over the course of normal and extra time, it was full-back Fergal Ginnane’s score on fifty three minutes that forced extra time while Darragh O’Sullivan sent the game to penalties when converting a free on seventy one minutes.
Shanahan McNamara Memorial Park didn’t seem to get the memo so far as the European heatwave was concerned with constant rain throughout the game. Kildysart started the brighter with Liam Casey and Luke McGrath scoring a single and two pointer respectively to hold a three point advantage by the third minute.
Cathal and Eoin Killeen replied to get Doonbeg off the mark and two Eamon Tubridy 45s had them level on the nineteenth minute. Darragh Burns kicked a two pointer on twenty minutes to give them the lead for the first time.
They should have gone further ahead, Darragh O’Sullivan who was fouled to win a penalty had his effort easily stopped by Conor Cusack. Instead of raising a green flag, they saw an orange flag waved at the opposite end with Kildysart working the ball up field to allow Liam Casey split the posts. Burns pulled back a free for the hosts before Casey landed two more points to give Kildysart a 0-9 0-7 half-time advantage.
Within twenty five seconds of the restart, Kildysart raided for goal. Daniel Moloney was on hand after Luke McGrath gifted him the ball to palm to the net.
Key to Doonbeg getting back into the game was how they responded to the concession of the goal. They kicked four of the next five scores, including two pointers from Eamon and Mikie Tubridy to lead by one entering the final quarter. They got three points alone from hurting Kildysart on their own kickouts, Darragh Burns winning two turnovers from Conor Cusack restarts and this is the big area that the Shannon Estuary side need to improve on for the championship.
Crucially the Magpies only landed two more scores in the remainder of the tie while Fergal Ginnane really stepped up with a brace of points in the final quarter, Darragh Murtagh also splitting the posts to set up extra time.
Black cards in either half of extra time hurt the Doonbeg challenge. Kevin McInerney was first to be ticked by referee Eoin Keane, heading for the sideline on sixty six minutes, Eoin Conway joining him on seventy four minutes, leaving them down to thirteen players for a period of two minutes. Ironically it was during this spell that they struck for their only goal, Eoin Killeen weaving through challenges before firing to the net.
When it was half time in extra time and once the additional period had concluded, the sides remained tied which meant the final outcome would be decided by penalties where Kildysart reigned supreme.
Standout players for Kildysart were Fergal Ginnane, Liam Casey, Luke McGrath and Oisin Coyle. For Doonbeg, Darragh O’Sullivan, Eamon Tubridy, Gavin O’Shea and Darragh Burns impressed.
Scorers Kildysart: L Casey (0-7 1TP 2f), L McGrath (0-4 1TP), D Murtagh (1-1), D Moloney (1-0), C Moloney (0-2), F Ginnane (0-2).
Scorers Doonbeg: D Burns (0-5 3f 1TP), E Tubridy (0-4 2’45 1TPf), E Killeen (1-1), D O’Sullivan (0-4 3f), M Tubridy (0-2 1TP), C Killeen (0-1), B Behan (0-1), G O’Shea (0-1).
All photographs by Ruth Griffin.
Kildysart:
1: Conor Cusack
4: Cillian Kelly
3: Fergal Ginnane
2: James Casey
7: Conor Moloney
6: Rory McMahon
5: Oisin Coyle
9: Daniel Moloney
8: Keith O’Connor
10: Darragh Murtagh
11: Luke McGrath
12: Kieran O’Brien
13: Colm Finucane
14: Shane McNeilis
15: Liam Casey
Subs:
18: Cillian McQuaid for McMahon (67) (inj)
17: Aidan O’Loughlin for McQuaid (72) (inj)
Rory McMahon for J Casey (78)
19: TJ O’Donoghue for Murtagh (80) (inj)
Doonbeg:
1: Eamon Tubridy
4: Jason Linnane
3: Cian Clancy
2: Shane Bermingham
5: Conor O’Mahoney
6: Gearoid White
7: Cian O’Mahoney
9: Cathal Killeen
8: Kevin McInerney
10: Brian Behan
11: Darragh O’Sullivan
12: Gavin O’Shea
13: Eoin Killeen
14: Mikie Tubridy
15: Darragh Burns
Subs:
22: Darragh Conway for Clancy (HT)
17: Eoin Conway for Behan (54)
25: David Tubridy for E Killeen (63)
Eoin Killeen for D Conway (FT)
21: David Conway for Conor O’Mahoney (72)
Referee: Eoin Keane (Corofin)
