KILMURRY IBRICKANE had an unexpectedly facile eleven point win over neighbours and rivals St Joseph’s Miltown to become the first of four semi-finalists in the Clare SFC.
Kilmurry Ibrickane 2-15
St Joseph’s Miltown 0-10
Venue: Shanahan McNamara Memorial Park, Doonbeg
An opening twenty minutes where it was tense and cagey was what had been forecast for the entire game but Kilmurry Ibrickane produced their best performance of the championship and Miltown their worst as the sides who had been level twice inside the first seventeen minutes were pulled apart once Keelan Sexton struck for goal on eighteen minutes.
Qualifying for the semi-finals came at a cost for The Bricks who finished the game without both Dermot Coughlan and Martin McMahon, the duo are now serious doubts to be in contention in a fortnight for the penultimate stage.
Miltown were unrecognisable from the side which bossed Ennistymon for large spells of the third round. The gap of a month between that game and the quarter-final seemed to greatly disrupt their momentum, in the interval they lost Conor Cleary who underwent a shoulder operation but they welcomed back Oisin Looney who was flown home for the knockout tie but it will be a long journey back to the United Arab Emirates. They too lost Cormac Murray to injury in this game but their losses were matched by Kilmurry Ibrickane.
Following a tetchy opening quarter the sides were level when Cian Mahoney produced a fine score from distance in what was only the second score from play, Eoin Cleary getting the first. Indeed it was Kilmurry Ibrickane defender, Darren Hickey who was the first to score from play for his side, he responded quickly to Mahoney’s effort to make it 0-4 0-3.
Prior to this it had mainly been a free-taking competition. The Bricks were almost in for an early goal, Dermot Coughlan making a fine through central attack before Brian Curtin made a tremendous tackle to dispossess him and clear the danger.
It was a short-lived reprieve as Kilmurry Ibrickane appeared to have won a penalty only for John O’Connell to consult with his umpires to overturn his initial call in awarding the spot kick, the move arising after Darren Hickey played a smart ball to Diarmuid King who gave a lovely delivery to Keelan Sexton and he was brought down.
Sexton was the man to get the match-swinging goal on eighteen minutes. Gordon Kelly appeared to be harshly pulled for steps but to his credit referee O’Connell was consistent in penalising for overcarrying all day. Daniel Walsh took a quick free, Evan Cahill showed what he can offer when powering forward in possession, he popped to Keelan who fired a bullet to the net.
Cleary converted two placed balls subsequent to the major while Kilmurry Ibrickane tacked on points through Walsh and Sexton to hold a 1-7 0-5 lead, both sides heading into the dressing room without county men as Coughlan and Murray had made way at this point.
Signs of a Miltown fightback were not visible on the restart, Joshua Moloney, Daryn Callinan and Keelan Sexton all split the posts to extend the gap to eight points by the thirty fifth minute.
Matters disintegrated further for them when Keelan Sexton dispatched a penalty to the net on forty minutes to effectively decide the outcome.
Make no mistake, this game was one in which Kilmurry Ibrickane served notice, it was already known that they are a force to be reckoned with but this was a glimpse of them at their best and with the trio of Caoilfhinn O’Dea, Aidan McCarthy and Ciaran Morrissey all making their first championship appearances from the bench, they are getting stronger, albeit the Coughlan and McMahon will be huge losses if absent in two weeks.
David Egan’s side certainly didn’t anticipate running out winners by a margin of eleven points but it is a reminder to everyone left standing that they won’t be easily stopped. Daniel Walsh gave his best display of the year at club level while Evan Cahill, Diarmuid King, Darren Hickey and Joshua Moloney did well with Keelan Sexton setting the tone with a return of 2-5.
Fire was lacking in Miltown as they came up short in the quarter-finals for the second time in four years. They reached the semi-finals last season, did not make the last eight in 2022 while in 2021 they came out the wrong side of a 3-11 0-12 loss to St Breckan’s. This was similar to their 2021 exit but worse in a sense that they failed to raise a gallop against their biggest rivals, this may be the sorest aspect of all for Martin Guerin’s charges. Eoin Cleary hit all but one of their scores, they completely dominated Ennistymon at midfield in round three but were absolutely nullified here by The Bricks.
Scorers Kilmurry Ibrickane: K Sexton (2-5 1’Pen 3f), D Walsh (0-3), D Callinan (0-2 1’45), C Talty (0-2 1M 1f), D Hickey (0-1), J Moloney (0-1), J Campbell (0-1).
Scorers St Joseph’s Miltown: E Cleary (0-9 7f), C Mahoney (0-1).
Kilmurry Ibrickane:
1: David Sexton
2: Conor Kearney
3: Mark Killeen
7: Martin McMahon
5: Darragh Sexton
4: Andrew Shannon
6: Darren Hickey
9: Diarmuid King
8: Evan Cahill
15: Daniel Walsh
11: Dermot Coughlan
10: Shane Hickey
12: Joshua Moloney
14: Daryn Callinan
13: Keelan Sexton
Subs:
18: Caoilfhinn O’Dea for Coughlan (21) (inj)
26: Joe Campbell for S Hickey (40)
19: Cathal Talty for Callinan (40)
17: Aidan McCarthy for D Sexton (45)
21: Ciaran Morrissey for McMahon (50) (inj)
St Joseph’s Miltown:
1: Sean O’Brien
4: Eoin O’Brien
3: Seanie Malone
2: Enda O’Gorman
5: Cian Mahoney
6: Gordon Kelly
7: Oisin Looney
13: Brian Curtin
8: Darragh McDonagh
9: Sean Neylon
10: Jamesie O’Connor
11: Eoin Cleary
12: Kieran Malone
14: Euan Lineen
15: Cormac Murray
Subs:
18: Paul Frawley for Murray (29) (inj)
17: Micheál Murray for Neylon (40)
20: Paul Keane for Lineen (45)
21: Ralph Whelehan for O’Connor (55)
19: Cormac Devitt for O’Brien (57)
Referee: John O’Connell (Cooraclare)
