IT HAD to take four second half goals for Clarecastle to finally shake off an obstinate Kilmaley and relievedly garner their first Under 21B title in eleven years.
Clarecastle 4-16 Kilmaley 1-20 Venue: Gurteen
Only two points clear by the break having hit ten wides with the aid of a strong and icy wind, it didn’t seem enough for the Magpies to be able to hold out. However, while they would end the afternoon with a whopping 17 wides, their 20 scores included four timely majors to ensure that Kilmaley were never able to get their noses in front at any stage.
Led by Cian Neylon, Colm Killeen, Joe Casey and captain Brian McNamara, Kilmaley never relented and did have key opportunities to irrevocably alter the narrative. However, in spite of their scattergun shooting approach for the majority, Clarecastle were more clinical where it mattered most in front of goal and ultimately that’s why they finish the season with only a second ever Under 21B crown.
It would prove a special occasion for the three O’Connell brothers Rory, Evan and Paul that all got in on the scoring action as well as producing big performances. Indeed while Rory and Paul pulled the strings up front, hardworking wingback Evan had an influential game at wing-back as did Conor Griffin to curb Kilmaley’s big guns in the second period.
Equally the Whelan brothers Conor and Oisin at midfield and the goalscoring Doherty siblings James and Harry kept up this family affair with the latter firing the clinching goal right at the death with the last puck of an absorbing contest.
The sides were level five times by the 18th minute before the wind-assisted Magpies finally put some daylight between the teams with a five point unanswered burst, all from play, through Oisin Whelan, Evan O’Connell, Conor Ralph, Evan Price and Rory O’Connell at 0-12 to 0-07 by the 25th minute.
Crucially, Kilmaley finished with a flourish as a trio of Cian Neylon frees lessened the interval deficit to two at 0-12 to 0-10 with the conditions to come. With Neylon maintaining his scoring form on the resumption, Kilmaley twice regained full parity by the 36th minute.
However, Clarecastle always seemed to respond and in their most fruitful riposte, raided for two goals in just three minutes to snatch back the whip hand by the two thirds mark.
The first stemmed from an Oisin Whelan free from halfway that broke perfectly for Paul O’Connell to pull to the net at the back post while James Doherty took on Kilmaley’s last line for the second to power the Magpies 2-14 to 0-15 clear.
Kilmaley refused to panic and incrementally got themselves back on track to twice come within two of the leaders entering the final ten minutes.
Indeed, the Blues carved out a glorious goal sighting in the 58th minute that if taken would have actually nudged them in front for the first time in 40 minutes. However, substitute Patrick Clancy’s instinctive flick just trickled agonisingly wide of the right post with what would have been an impactful introduction.
From the puck-out, Clarecastle fired their third goal which only magnified the chance even more as St Flannan’s’ Harty Cup triumvirate Harry Doherty, Paul O’Connell and Conor Ralph combined to billow the Kilmaley net at 3-16 to 0-20.
Game over? Not even close as there was still time for four more goal chances, with Clarecastle goalkeeper Fionn Morgan superbly stopping the first from Colm Killeen in the 62nd minute before Daire Culligan scrambled home the rebound at the back post to slash the arrears to just two.
With captain Brian McNamara now catapulted into the full-forward line, he would snatch a delivery out of the skies in the next passage of play but this time his offload to Culligan was smothered and the ball trickled wide.
Again Clarecastle duly punished as a counter-attack saw county minor Harry Doherty pick up possession just inside the opposition half and bear down on goal before finishing to the net to finally seal a much-needed Christmas present for Clarecastle.
Scorers for Clarecastle: Paul O’Connell 1-3 (1f); Oisin Whelan 0-5 (1f, 1’65); Conor Ralph 1-1; James Doherty, Harry Doherty 1-0 each; Rory O’Connell, Evan Price, Conor Whelan 0-2 each; Evan O’Connell 0-1
Scorers for Kilmaley: Cian Neylon 0-11 (7f); Colm Killeen 0-4; Daire Culligan 1-1; Brian McNamara 0-2; Dylan Keane Hayes, Thomas McGuire 0-1 each
Clarecastle
1: Fionn Morgan
2: Sam Browne 3: Filip Wiechcinski (Captain) 4: Niall Brigdale
5: Conor Griffin 6: Aaron Hayes 7: Evan O’Connell
8: Conor Whelan 9: Oisin Whelan
10: Harry Doherty 11: Rory O’Connell 12: Evan Price
13: Paul O’Connell 14: Conor Ralph 17: James Doherty
Sub 18: Johnny Casey for J. Doherty (56)
Kilmaley 1: Josh Daniels
7: Joe Casey 3: Diarmuid Cahill 4: Evan Casey
5: Luke Reid 6: Brian McNamara (Captain) 2: Jack Warren
