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*Ennistymon captain, Eoin Rouine. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.
ENNISTYMON remain upbeat on their chances of winning a maiden Clare SFC title as they bid to all the lessons from their eleven point third loss against Kildysart into practice while preparing for the quarter-finals where they will meet St Joseph’s Miltown.
An eleventh quarter-final in twelve seasons awaits Ennistymon who impressed in the first two rounds when emerging as commanding victors against St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield and Kilmihil before they were brought back down to reality when losing to Kildysart 1-23 2-9.
It ended the group stages of the Clare SFC on a sour note for the North Clare side. “A bad defeat for us on the scoreboard, it is the end of phase one of the championship, we’re in a quarter-final so we will review it, take the lessons from it and look to put in a good block of work over the next three weeks and get ready for the quarter-final,” reflected manager Declan Downes.
A bright start saw Ennistymon power 1-2 0-0 in front by eight minutes, centre back Cillian Rouine finishing to the net. “We had a positive start to the game but it was only ten minutes in, it is the nature of the game at the moment if you lose control in the middle third then it will affect momentum hugely and in fairness to Kildysart they get on top there and they have some really good forwards which we knew going into the game and they punished us on the scoreboard because of that”.
Unable to stop Kildysart’s momentum, Ennistymon conceded twelve points in succession as the game slipped from their grasp. “Momentum is a huge thing, whoever controls the middle third will invariably dominate possession and get scores, they continued to win the lionshare of the kickouts and it is something we will have to look at and rectify but I have no doubt we will,” Downes commented.
Similar to their quarter-final exit to Cratloe last season, Ennistymon fired an abundance of wides including seven in a row at the beginning of the second half. “You’d be hoping that one of them goes over and it kills the momentum again to win back control again. The shots were on, there was a bit of a breeze so you would back the guys to take those chances on and go for it,” the former Clare selector stated.
Speaking to The Clare Echo, Declan was confident Ennistymon would bounce back from their latest setback. “We got up this morning in a quarter-final and we’ll go to bed tonight and we’re still in a quarter-final, that is what we’re looking forward, we’ll put our heads down, get the work done, put this game to bed and take the lessons from it, it is onwards and upwards for us, it is the next phase of the championship”.
“There is huge resilience in this group, we had bad results last year and came back with our two best performances in game three and into the quarter-final so I’ve no doubt that the team will bounce back, we won’t ignore the lessons that have to be taken from this game but it is onwards and upwards to the quarter-final. They are an immensely talented and ambitious bunch, they will drive it over the next three weeks,” he added.
