*Ennistymon manager, Brendan ‘Beano’ Rouine. Photograph: Ruth Griffin.
ÉANNA ROUINE was with Ennistymon all the way as they won the U21A championship for him.
A commanding performance from Ennistymon saw them defeat Clondegad 3-7 0-8 to win the U21A championship for the fourth time in their history.
There was emotional scenes in Páirc Naomh Mhuire, Quilty as Ennistymon honoured their beloved Éanna in the best way possible by playing the game he loved and tasting championship glory. His loss has been keenly felt since May.
Had he been on the field, Éanna would have been the focal point of their attack. Both he and captain Josh Vaughan were the only members of this Ennistymon side to line out with the Clare U20s in 2024, indicating that they were rightly regarded as among the best in the county for their age. Josh lifted the John Marrinan trophy as Éanna watched down on his best friends bringing another championship back to North Clare. His family as ever were among the most vocal and encouraging Ennistymon supporters.
It was their third time in four years winning the title, Éanna was among those to step up and dispatch a penalty to the back of the net in their 3-2 shootout victory over rivals St Breckans in the 2023 decider, he was their top scorer on that occasion with 0-4 in a tie that finished all square 0-13 2-7 following extra time. He was introduced as a sub during their 1-10 0-6 victory over Corofin in the 2022 final.
“This one was for Éanna, there is no doubt about that, his best mates are all out there on this pitch, he would have been a big part of it, it is just terrible but absolutely he was with us, there is no question of that,” Ennisytmon manager and Éanna’s uncle Brendan ‘Beano’ Rouine told The Clare Echo.
Though there have been some critics of Beano, he remains the main driving force of Ennistymon football club and while it is easy to point the fingers of blame when things go wrong and find excuses not to get involved, he has consistently put his shoulder to the wheel for the club. He now holds the distinction of having been involved in all four U21 championship successes. He was a selector in 2010 while has been manager for their wins at the grade in 2022, 2023 and now 2025. “I don’t get bogged down at looking at the past, I try keep looking forward,” he modestly said of his involvement with their success.
Reflecting on their latest win, Beano felt their finish to the first half of 2-1 without reply, the goals coming from Gearóid and John Barry, was the big turning point. “The goals were fortuitous enough, both of them were pulled on the ground for a finish but it was that kind of a day, there was never going to be fancy stuff, the pitch was in excellent condition here but it was just so wild and look it’s November so we’re just delighted to be playing any day”.
Difficult conditions in Quilty were symptomatic of the U21 campaign with both Ennistymon and Clondegad playing in the final a week earlier than had been anticipated. “You can’t keep putting off games and in fairness the Board are trying to run off a heavy fixture list with so many dual clubs in the county, we’ve an awful lot of dual players ourselves and you have to be mindful of that, you have to look after the kids and they will give it back to you in spades, that’s what we find and less is more often at this time of year because they are all playing schools, colleges, dual players, they are a brilliant bunch there,” the former Clare footballer said. He added, “They are great lads, when they say they are with you they are with you”.
Part of the Ennistymon senior management for the past seven seasons, he noted minor and U21 success does not always translate to senior. “We’ll take any wins we get, everyone will keep asking ‘ye have a heap of U21s and minors won’ but it takes time, look at the age profile of Éire Óg and the strong teams around the country, it takes a while to bring lads through to a good senior team because you can be struggling physically, football wise the development can take time and you hope to keep moving along, get lads a year older, wiser and a year more developed and keep knocking at the door, when you’re good enough you will win”.
Rouine added, “It doesn’t guarantee anything, everybody will be starting from scratch again from Christmas and getting motoring again. There is so little in Clare football, Éire Óg are ahead of anyone we all know that but after that you could throw a blanket over the rest of the teams because there isn’t a kick of a ball between them”.
Joining him on the management were his brothers John and Joe Joe, James Brody, two-time U21 winners Diarmuid Fahy and Conor Gallagher along with senior selector John Conneally. Fahy played his part fifteen years on from his father Mark Shanahan forming part of the 2010 management.
