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*Keith O’Connor excelled in midfield for Kildysart. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.
KILDYSART showed some killer instinct to leapfrog Ennistymon to top spot in Group 2 of the Clare SFC with both sides already through to the last eight.
Kildysart 1-23
Ennistymon 2-9
Venue: Páirc Cuar an Chláir, Cooraclare
An emphatic showing from Kildysart, arguably their best senior display since returning to the top tier following their intermediate success in 2022, saw them defeat Ennistymon by eleven points to secure a seeded quarter-final berth.
Only their third round win over Cratloe in 2023 when they hit 2-14 have Kildysart come close to hitting the remarkable twenty four scores that they amassed in Cooraclare. They have only conceded less than 2-9 in five of their eleven championship games during their four seasons in the top flight.
Such a scenario didn’t look to be on the cards when Ennistymon forged a great start, led by Cillian Rouine to lead 1-2 0-0 by the eight minute. Then Kildysart kicked twelve points without reply, shifting the narrative completely and once again leaving Ennistymon supporters baffled.
Ripped apart in the middle third, Ennistymon found themselves unable to regain a grip on proceedings once Kildysart found their shooting boots. The men from the Estuary had nine different scorers over the hour as they hit a very impressive twenty three points.
Keith O’Connor may have been one of the older players on the field but he dominated proceedings in the middle of the park, claiming kickout after kickout with his teammates sharp to pick up on breaking ball whenever it spilled. O’Connor was central to Kildysart taking ownership of the contest.
Playing against the breeze, Ennistymon brought energy as the game commenced, Rouine converted a free and then came thundering up the field with power and pace to rifle to the net, finishing off a move where the North Clare men showed their patience on the ball before unleashing their main man.
Mark Kelleher and Josh Vaughan linked up to put Brendy Rouine through for their third score, leading 1-2 0-0 with eight minutes on the clock.
Getting off the mark with their third attempt, Kildysart opened their account on eleven minutes via Diarmuid O’Donnell. They went ahead, a minute later when Emmet McMahon kicked a two pointer free, awarded after Ennistymon breached at the other end of the field.
Two lost kickouts in succession paved the way for Liam Casey and Jamie Evans to split the posts with further orange flags from McMahon, O’Donnell and Luke McGrath combined with a Rory McMahon white flag leaving it 0-12 1-2 with twenty two minutes played.
Cillian Rouine kicked the last score of the half on twenty eight minutes with a free, though Ennistymon almost had a goal when Diarmuid Fahy had an effort cleared off the line by Kieran O’Brien after Conor Cusack almost gifted a green flag away.
Six down with the breeze behind them, there was hope for Ennistymon that they would reignite their cause but it took them seventeen minutes to register a score in the second half, Keelan Guyler getting them going but they had conceded four points at the other end prior to this. They had seven wides prior to Guyler’s score.
Diarmuid Fahy pointed in the next attack to Guyler’s but Kildysart replied through centre back Rory McMahon. Guyler cut the deficit with a two pointer which Kildysart responded to with a Liam Casey score.
Some much needed hope was extended to Ennistymon when Brendy Rouine finished to the back of the net, making it a six point game with three minutes of normal time remaining. Gearoid Barry who brought energy when introduced, reduced the arrears to five in the next attack, he and Tiernan Hogan both combined to set up Rouine for the major.
Killing off any hopes of a comeback was substitute Conall Casey who palmed to the net following Liam Casey’s run with Casey, a double from Jamie Evans and a Darragh Murtagh point rounding out the win while Diarmuid Fahy doubled his tally at the other end.
Already through to the quarter-finals before a ball was kicked, Ennistymon are still in the same position but really need to utilise the three week window. They are lacking firepower up front and are heavily reliant on centre-back Cillian Rouine for big scores, they lacked leadership to steady the ship when Kildysart blitzed them for 0-12 without reply while similar to their quarter-final exit to Cratloe last season, they were hit with a wave of poor decisions when it came to shot selection resulting in an abundance of wides, this particularly evident in the seven second half wides.
Fortunately for them it’s a wake-up call that didn’t arrive in a knockout game, it’s up to the North Clare magpies to learn from it. With players like Diarmuid Fahy, Brendy Rouine, Liam Cotter, Eoin Rouine, Josh Vaughan, Seán Rouine, Darragh Conneally, Seán Rynne and Cillian Rouine they are more than capable of applying such lessons.
Notice has been served by Kildysart that they deserve to be in the conversation when it comes to championship contenders. One swallow doesn’t make a summer but this was the display where they showed what they can do, they have the firepower up front, they have the warriors in the middle third and defensively they only conceded 2-6 from play.
Niall Ginnane and his management can be rightly proud with how well their players stuck to their task and they made big calls by dropping Conor Moloney Darragh Murtagh and Conall Casey but clearly demonstrated this is a panel game. There was a vocal Kildysart support in Cooraclare and they really drove behind their team. For the winners, Keith O’Connor, Rory McMahon, Diarmuid O’Donnell, Liam Casey, Emmet McMahon, Fergal Ginnane, Luke McGrath, Jamie Evans and Oisin Coyle did best.
Scorers Kildysart: E McMahon (0-5 2TP), D O’Donnell (0-4 1TP 1f), L Casey (0-4), J Evans (0-3), C Casey (1-0), R McMahon (0-2), L McGrath (0-2 1TP), S Casey (0-1), D Murtagh (0-1).
Scorers Ennistymon: C Rouine (1-2 2f), B Rouine (1-1), K Guyler (0-3 1TP), D Fahy (0-2 1f), G Barry (0-1)
Kildysart:
1: Conor Cusack
4: Cillian Kelly
3: Fergal Ginnane
2: James Casey
11: Luke McGrath
6: Rory McMahon
19: Oisin Coyle
8: Keith O’Connor
21: Emmet McMahon
25: Seamus Casey
9: Kieran O’Brien
12: Jamie Sheehan
10: Diarmuid O’Donnell
23: Jamie Evans
15: Liam Casey
Subs:
13: Conall Casey for S Casey (46)
7: Conor Moloney for Sheehan (51)
5: Darragh Murtagh for Coyle (53)
22: Jack Cotter for O’Donnell (56)
20: Michael Donnellan for Evans (64)
Ennistymon:
1: Conor Gallagher
34: James Cullinan
3: Darragh Conneally
4: Joey Rouine
6: Liam Cotter
8: Cillian Rouine
14: Seán Rouine
11: Josh Vaughan
10: Mark Kelleher
7: Joshua Guyler
12: Brendy Rouine
9: Eoin Rouine
31: Diarmuid Fahy
24: Keelan Guyler
15: Darren McNamara
Subs:
5: Tiernan Hogan for Cotter (HT)
32: Seán Rynne for J Guyler (39)
13: Gearoid Barry for McNamara (45)
23: Joe Concannon for Kelleher (56)
Referee: John O’Connell (Cooraclare)
