*Captain Colin Brigdale leads the celebrations for Clarecastle. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.
CLARECASTLE’s young guns treated their third season at intermediate hurling as the chance to create history as the Magpies side to fly back to the county’s top tier and they duly did.
Ger ‘Sparrow’ O’Loughlin’s side produced a ruthless display to kill off Corofin early as they recorded a twenty one point victory in Sunday’s Clare PIHC final to ensure they will play senior hurling in 2027.
Victorious captain, Colin Brigdale when accepting the Paddy Browne Cup from Clare GAA Vice Chairman Michael O’Connor touched on the history of the Magpies, “it is a club stepped in history, we want to create our own history and now we’re the bunch of men to bring us back to senior”.
He paid tribute to their “star-studded” management who gave them an immediate vote of confidence and praised the Club Executive for creating “top class” facilities and remarked, “now we’re trying to match it with hurlers”.
Speaking to The Clare Echo, the man better known as Stig outlined, “A lot of us were part of the team that came down three years ago that lost to the Mills below in the Bridge. There was no pressure on us, we didn’t put pressure on ourselves but we knew it was a chance to create our own history, the club is steeped in so much of it, Dalo, Sparrow and the Sheedys have been involved in so much of the history, they didn’t want it for themselves, they wanted it for the good of Clarecastle, we’re delighted we could do it for them and start fresh for next year”.
Sunday’s starting fifteen had an average age of 24 with the captain one of only four players aged 27 and older.
Leaving Cusack Park with the Paddy Browne Cup tucked underneath his arm was a welcome change from the dark days they experienced when tasting heavy defeats in the county grounds, he admitted. “It’s unbelievable, we’re a long time coming up here to the Park trying to even win a game let alone coming out of here with silverware so we’re absolutely delighted”.
Hurst Botanicals owned by Ellen Quinn on Barrack St in Clarecastle has been the regular meeting point for panellists and it was their port of call when they were forced to unwind when the final was called off at the eleventh hour on Saturday and rescheduled for Sunday afternoon. “We met in the field at 11:30, the game was down for 13:00 so we had a chat before we left but it was like being in a mortuary or something when you heard it wasn’t on, everyone was thinking how we could regather ourselves because we were so set. We just decided to go for a coffee, all of us together and we made light of the whole situation so we relaxed for the day, it was a hard day to put down, we did and we refocused, when we woke up this morning and saw the weather we knew it was worth it, the game wouldn’t have been a spectacle yesterday, it would have been awful, the right decision was made”.
Clarecastle settled straight away when Jarlath Donnellan threw the sliotar in, points from Bobby Duggan, 1-1 from Harry Doherty and another from Oisin Whelan saw them score with their first four attempts on goal to take control. “It was one of those days where a lot went right for us, we knew if our forwards could click at all, we have so much firepower that they would have to put out between Harry Doherty, Conor Halpin, Paul O’Connell, Bobby Duggan, even the boys that came on, they were doing such a good job up there that the quality of ball coming down on top of us in the half-back line wasn’t amazing and it was easy for us to manage, we kept it going like that and it was one of those days were everything clicked for us”.
Leading 3-15 0-3 at half time, the Magpies were determined not to give Corofin an ounce of momentum on the restart, given that the North Clare side had forged big comebacks in the quarter-final and semi-final. “The main aim at half time was to get the first score or two after half time, let’s really nail it and we demanded more out of ourselves during the game, the last couple of minutes when they got a couple of scores on the board, lads were barking at each other to get tighter, to push up and not let anything happen. We were determined not to let it slip, we came out of this place a good few times over the last couple of years on the back of heavy defeats so that was our motivation, it was pure tunnel vision for the whole game”.
One of the local heroes given his role on the staff of Clarecastle NS, Stig is glad to have the Mid-Term break to fully absorb the celebrations. “Thank God we are off school is all I’ll say, it is a great week for the teachers”.
When school returns, he’ll be glad to return with the Paddy Browne Cup which will add more salt in the wounds of principal Donnchadh Kelleher who formed part of the Corofin management. “I won’t rub things in too much, I met him after, he was as ever graceful in defeat, he said we were the better team and it isn’t easy for them to come into a winning dressing room but all the Corofin lads waited for us and shook hands, fair play to them and we’ll meet them on Monday and have a bit of craic”.
