*Manus Doherty signs an autograph for a young Éire Óg supporter. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.
EVER-PRESENT in the Éire Óg side to win five Clare SFC titles in six seasons, Manus Doherty continues to be one of their vital assets and stepped up yet again to keep Jack Daly in the county town.
Éire Óg got off to a glorious start to go 1-2 0-0 ahead of opponents Kilmurry Ibrickane in Sunday’s final, chances of the Bricks making a quick comeback were evaporated by the suplime speed and defending of corner back Manus.
When Keelan Sexton was bearing down on goal with nine minutes on the clock, a certain goal was on the cards, had it not been for an exceptionally timed block by Doherty.
Recounting the moment he flicked the ball away from Sexton, Manus was able to admit his interception was an important one when speaking to The Clare Echo. “In fairness it was a nice block, I was proper sprinting to get back in, I could see him bearing down on goal and I was really just trying to get there and get the hand in. I knew he was going to shoot so he’d have to slow down a bit and I might be able to get a hand in and hit it away which I did”.
Timing was essential as any mis-step would have resulted in sanctions, “then it was a penalty (if he was a second earlier or later), I knew I had to wait for him to be about to shoot to get a clean hand and pull it away, it was good”.
Two minutes later, Manus had a less memorable but important block nonetheless on Conor Burke as Éire Óg maintained their early momentum.
Describing their three in a row success as “lovely”, Manus outlined, “obviously we knew we would have a tough test with KIB today, they are a really good team, now I haven’t seen too much of them but we watched the first half when they blew away Kildysart in the semi-final, they are an exceptional team when they get their ball carriers on the ball and bring it to their top forwards, we knew we would have a lot to handle inside, they are a lot to contend with so we are happy to get over the line because you’d be a bit nervous coming up against them”.
Feeling peckish and fairly confident that the Bricks had enough done when they led Kildysart by six points at half time, Doherty and co saw plenty to know what to expect. “We were getting a bit hungry and we knew they’d be there to face us”.
Corner back on the Éire Óg side which ended a fifteen year wait for the Clare SFC success in 2021, Doherty praised the strides made by the Townies to win five titles in six years. “I’ve been lucky since I came in that we won in the first year, we played The Bricks as well, we’ve come such a long way, I know personnel wise our team back then was probably as good if not better than now but as a team and a unit we’ve really progressed from then which is really great to see”.
Serving as no coincidence for their dominance has been the arrival and growth of key players during this time. “A few of us came in around the same time like myself, Mark, Lanno, Ikem, we’ve made a different in fairness if I’m being honest”.
He added, “A lot of my good friends are on the team, me and Mark were in the same class growing up in primary school, I’d be good friends with Gavin (D’Auria), Jack Joyce, Niall Donoghue, we do have a great bond really which winning does help with”.
Munster awaits Éire Óg and the primary school teacher is keen that the Ennis side will make inroads in the provincial campaign. “It would be class to do something in Munster but it is tricky because you’re playing the top teams, we’ve won and lost a game every time we’ve been In Munster so it would be nice to go one or two steps further, it is tough when you’re playing the top teams because they are quality, Finbarrs last year were really class and I thought they could go on to win the All-Ireland club after we faced them. It isn’t easy but we’ve a good group so I would be hopeful”.
