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*Kilmaley mentors Kevin McNamara and Brian Culbert celebrate at the final whistle. Photograph: Ruthie Griffin.
If Kilmaley are to finally break their 22 year Canon Hamilton hoodoo in October, this will be the main source of inspiration after somehow producing a late seven point turnaround to pip Clonlara to the post in the last of the Clare SHC quarter-finals.
Kilmaley 1-20
Clonlara 1-17
Venue: Zimmer Biomet Páirc Chíosóg, Ennis
Despite the wind at their backs, Brian Culbert’s side looked to be heading out of the championship after an opportunist Ian Galvin goal at the two-thirds mark had powered Clonlara to a four point cushion by the 57th minute.
Crucially, last year’s semi-finalists refused to panic, with two frees completely turning the tie on its head as first a foul on Conor Cleary was converted by Tom O’Rourke before a 58th minute Mikey O’Malley placed ball 50 metres from his own goal was expertly flicked by Cleary to the right corner of the Clon net and level the tie for only the fifth time at 1-17 to 1-17.
A subsequent Sean O’Loughlin point was initially matched by substitute Jathan McMahon but with the bit between their teeth, Kilmaley used their newfound momentum to fire the last three points through Tom O’Rourke, Mikey O’Malley and replacement Colm Killeen and complete an unprecedented recovery.
Unprecedented as for long periods, it seemed to be a carbon copy of last year’s semi-final exit to Éire Óg as they failed to convert any of four glorious first half goal chances and would be royally punished when Ian Galvin opened his account in style when slaloming his way through to squeeze the ball under goalkeeper Bryan O’Loughlin to soar 1-14 to 0-12 in front by the 41st minute.
Diarmuid Stritch was the outstanding player on show in the opening period when picking off three points and setting up as many more for others as a wind-assisted Clonlara snatched the initiative from the early stages.
In the 13th minute, the influential Mikey O’Neill intercepted a puck-out and played in Tom O’Rourke, only for goalkeeper Alan Murnane to pull off a superb stop and prevent Kilmaley from levelling matters at 0-6 to 0-3.
A similar press on Clon’s short puck-outs saw O’Rourke return the favour for O’Neill four minutes later to cut inside from the right and force Murnane into another impressive save to tip the powerful effort over the bar at 0-7 to 0-5.
Tommy Barry unleashed Tom O’Rourke to race through in the 20th minute, only for an excellent last ditch tackle from Michael Clancy dispossessed him while the same defender unceremoniously ensured that Brian McNamara didn’t subsequently pull the trigger either just before the break.
O’Rourke did pot the resulting free and another in injury-time to slash the arrears to just the minimum but it was Kilmaley who were wiping their brows by the break after Bryan O’Loughlin thwarted a Michael Collins shot at 0-10 to 0-09.
With the wind to come, it appeared advantage Kilmaley and following an early wrestle for supremacy, Brian McNamara did inch Kilmaley in front for the first time in 35 minutes at 0-12 to 0-11.
That was as good as it got for Kilmaley though until injury-time at least as following points for Diarmuid Stritch and Cathal O’Connell, Ian Galvin upped the ante considerably with a moment of magic to move five clear at 1-14 to 0-12.
Kilmaley responded with the next three points through O’Rourke (2) and McNamara, only for Clon to top up their advantage thanks to substitute Colm O’Meara and an O’Connell free at 1-16 to 0-15.
With the clock inexorably ticking down towards the hour mark, it was increasingly difficult to see where Kilmaley would find any reprieve. Crucially however, they never relented and would be rewarded with that flicked Cleary goal that irrevocably altered the complexion of the contest and handed Kilmaley an invaluable lifeline that they grasped with both hands.
Avoiding any potential of a derby against either Éire Óg or Inagh/Kilnamona, Kilmaley will face Scariff at their second successive semi-final in a fortnight’s time.
All photographs by Ruthie Griffin.
Scorers for Kilmaley: Tom O’Rourke 0-11 (6f, 2’65), Mikey O’Neill 0-3, Conor Cleary 1-0, Brian McNamara 0-2, Cian Moloney 0-1, Sean O’Loughlin 0-1, Mikey O’Malley 0-1, Colm Killeen 0-1
Scorers for Clonlara: Diarmuid Stritch 0-4, Micheál O’Loughlin 0-3 (2f), Michael Collins 0-3, Ian Galvin 1-0, Cathal O’Connell 0-2 (2f), Colm Galvin 0-1, John Conlon 0-1, David Fitzgerald 0-1, Colm O’Meara 0-1, Jathan McMahon 0-1
Kilmaley
1: Bryan O’Loughlin
3: Colin McGuane
2: Joe Casey
4: Colin Carmody
5: Aidan McGuane
6: Mikey O’Malley
7: Daire Keane
8: Tommy Barry
9: Sean Kennedy
12: Brian McNamara
11: Mikey O’Neill
10: Cian Moloney
13: Tom O’Rourke
14: Conor Cleary
15: Sean O’Loughlin
Subs
23: Eoin Enright for O’Neill (HT) (inj)
18: Colum Killeen for Kennedy (47)
19: Eanna McMahon for Keane (54)
22: Oisin Looney for Moloney (54)
17: Martin O’Connor for Carmody (64)
Clonlara
1: Alan Murnane
2: Paul McNamara
3: Oisin O’Brien
4: Michael Clancy
5: Tom Power
6: Dylan McMahon
7: Aidan Moriarty
9: Colm Galvin
15: Cathal O’Connell
8: Michael Collins
11: John Conlon
19: Daniel Moloney
10: Diarmuid Stritch
14: Ian Galvin
13: Michéal O’Loughlin
Subs
18: David Fitzgerald for C. Galvin (18, inj)
24: Ger Powell for Clancy (34, inj)
17: Colm O’Meara for Moloney (37)
23: Kieran Galvin for O’Loughlin (40)
12: Jathan McMahon for O’Brien (47, inj)
Referee: Niall Malone (Éire Óg)
