Conor Henry makes his way to the sideline after getting sent off. Photograph: Ruth Griffin.
O’CALLAGHANS MILLS had a year full of highs on the hurling field but have been left seething with their Munster Final defeat to Upperchurch-Drombane and the performance of referee Nicky O’Toole.
Saturday’s decider in the Munster club intermediate hurling championship saw The Mills finish with twelve men following red cards for Jacob Loughnane, Conor Henry and Gary Cooney.
Both Loughnane and Henry were dismissed within thirty seconds of each other in separate incidents but for second bookable offences.
Seán Doyle led The Mills back to the senior ranks of Clare hurling at the first time of asking. Their 3-20 0-15 loss to the Tipperary side left a sour taste for him to conclude his first season with the East Clare side. “It is a pity the way it has ended. The referee lost composure, he totally ruined the game, to me that was shambolic refereeing and it ruined the whole thing as a contest”.
It was the sequence of play leading up to the double dismissal that was of particular frustration for Doyle. “That is devastating because it was tit for tat up to that, it was a great game of hurling up to that and we knew we were in a battle. Jacob Loughnane is one of our cleanest players, I’d say he has never got sent off in his life, I think the ref lost composure out there in the match, Gary Cooney nearly got decapitated in front of him and he gives your man a yellow card and comes around and gives Gary a red card, I’ll have to look back on it but it is just devastating, especially for the lads. I’ve no complaints about the second red card, you have to hold your discipline in those type of situations but it just ruined the game, it ruined the game as a spectacle and it ruined the game for our supporters. For ten minutes we went 0-1 each with them with thirteen men, it shows the character that’s in the lads, we’ve had a great year and we look forward to playing senior hurling next year”.
He continued, “That is where he lost it, there was pulls in going left, right and centre, from them as well, Upperchurch-Drombane are a physical team too but I felt we got the raw end of the stick, to get three players sent off in a Munster final is just devastating. Your man went for Gary’s hand before he got sent off, he didn’t go for the ball and he should have got a red, the ref lost control, it is disappointing for us but we have to hold our heads up high and move on”.
Doyle commented, “There wasn’t a dirty stroke in the game (before that), it was tit for tat, it is out here between the white lines and tough hurling, he let four pulls go on that side, it rose the tempo and that is when emotions get the better of you and things can happen, it happened on both sides, there was pulls on both sides and he lets ones off on the other side that he shouldn’t have, we have to take it on the chin and move on”.
Based on their first half when the sides were level on eight different occasions, the Bodyke man was optimistic they were well capable of prevailing. “We’ve been fairly disciplined all year, I’m all about hurling, if we got to the last ten minutes and if it was only a point either way in it I think we would have got over the line because that is where we’ve come into our strength but we have to take it on the chin. The atmosphere here has gone fairly damp, hats off to Upperchurch, they won the game and that’s it”.
Losing in the manner in which they did soured the occasion of a Munster final, he said. “It does leave a bitter taste, I nearly lost composure myself at the end, it is so disappointing, it is not the way we played all year, we play hurling with pace. Cathal McNamara corner back cleared ball after ball, he has come out of nowhere, Seán Boyce was excellent, the thirteen that finished were outstanding”.
Dismissals also disrupted the plans of the Mills management. “It totally disrupted us. We had our plans made out before the game, even with fourteen you might manage it but a bit of indiscipline which was silly and we had another sent off but Conor (Henry) is a good lad, he will know tonight he made a mistake. It does throw your plans, we have players to come in for the last ten minutes, you want to get to the last ten minutes with fresh legs, I think we could have got over the line but we will never know”.
