Kilmurry Ibrickane  1-4   Tír Chonaill Gaels  0-3

KILMURRY-Ibrickane got the result they craved in Ruislip last Sunday but their performance indicates that they will be watching the All-Ireland club football final on March 17 and not competing in it.

There were some mitigating circumstances in what was a dire hour. The pitch in London was not unlike a mixture of bog and quicksand, making it virtually impossible to play decent football.
It has to be remembered that Kilmurry’s last game was on December 6. Therefore, their match sharpness was off the radar – the bottom end of the radar.
Martin Higgins, the referee, also contributed hugely to one of the least alluring football matches ever played. He managed to blow the whistle 39 times in the first half alone, while he issued nine yellow cards in the opening half hour. Some of his decisions impacted upon the result. 
Tír Chonaill Gaels were extremely unlucky not to have been awarded a goal 10 minutes into the game when Higgins deemed that Gary Kane had thrown and not fisted the ball to Johnny Hughes, who lobbed Dermot O’Brien. That call was 50/50 but the free won by Mark McCarthy 12 minutes from full-time was plainly an incorrect decision.
Tír Chonaill Gaels wing-back Shaun Campbell connected with the ball soccer style, before he collided with McCarthy. Ian McInerney’s subsequent free broke for Johnny Daly who buried it, leaving Kilmurry 1-3 to 0-2 up and with a foot in the semi-final.
It would be wrong, however, to suggest that Tír Chonaill Gaels were unlucky to lose. The London champions scored their only point from play 59 minutes after the opening whistle. Enough said. They are a very limited team, who defended well but offered very little threat up front.
Ian McInerney scored the point of the game in the fourth minute, when he fired the ball over the bar from near the sideline, in front of up to 600 Kilmurry supporters.
Come the interval, only Noel Downes and Johnny Daly, from a free, could add to that early
score, leaving Kilmurry 0-3 to 0-2 up.
Both Tír Chonaill Gaels points, from Kevin Downes and Kevin McMenamin, were from frees.
The home team had Niall Quinn sent off, on a second yellow, seven minutes into the second half, after a tangle with Martin McMahon, who went to ground fairly dramatically after a high tackle.
Daly’s goal was the opening score of a turgid second half. After this, Kilmurry played some reasonable football and looked more like the team that has won two successive Clare championships and a Munster club title.
Man of the match Peter O’Dwyer scored the Clare champions’ final point, when he pulled on a loose ball, five minutes from full time, before driving it over. 
Five years ago, Kilmurry were not match sharp when they lost to Ballina Stephenites in the All-Ireland club semi-final in February 2005. Even though Kilmurry performed poorly in London, they should at least be sharper than Portlaoise on February 21, when the clubs meet for a place in the All-Ireland club final. Apart from the result, that is about the only plus that accompanied them back from London.
Last Sunday, only Peter O’Dwyer, Johnny Daly with his goal and full-back Mark Killeen, after a shaky start, played near to their optimum level.

Kilmurry Ibrickane: Dermot O’Brien, Darren Hickey, Mark Killeen, Martin McMahon; Shane Hickey, Enda Coughlan (captain), Declan Callinan; Peter O’Dwyer and Paul O’Connor; Michael Hogan, Ian McInerney, Stephen Moloney, Noel Downes, Johnny Daly, Michael O’Dwyer.
Subs: Mark McCarthy for Michael Hogan (36), Evan Talty for Ian McInerney (48), Odran O’Dwyer for Noel Downes (48), Paul O’Dwyer for Michael O’Dwyer (56) and Martin O’ Connor for Stephen Moloney (59).
Scorers: Johnny Daly 1-1 (0-1f), Noel Downes 0-1 and Peter O’Dwyer 0-1 each, Ian McInerney 0-1f.
Wides: 7  Frees won: 31
Yellow cards: Noel Downes, Martin McMahon, Shane Hickey, Michael Hogan, Mark Killeen, Enda Coughlan, Evan Talty.
Tír Chonaill Gaels: Brian McBrearty, Hugh Cunningham, Patrick Callaghan, Ronan Walsh; Shaun Campbell,  Conor Beirne, Stevie Boyle; Gary McCloskey and Gary Kane; Niall Quinn, Kevin Downes, Johnny Hughes; Liam Gavaghan, Declan Alcorn, Kevin McMenamin.
Subs: David Cannon for Hugh Cunningham (35), Martin Sweeney for Liam Gavaghan (41).
Scorers: Kevin Downes and Kevin McMenamin 0-1f each, Martin Sweeney 0-1.
Wides: 3  Frees won: 36
Yellow cards: Johnny Hughes, Niall Quinn, Patrick Callaghan, Gary Kane.
Red card: Niall Quinn.
Referee: Martin Higgins (Fermanagh).

McDermott hails tough defensive performance
The night before they played Tír Chonaill Gaels, Kilmurry Ibrickane set a target of conceding nothing in Ruislip the following day. They didn’t reach their target but the Clare and Munster champions didn’t miss it by much, conceding a mere three points.
Squelching up the sideline towards the Ruislip dressing rooms, Kilmurry manager Micheál McDermott attributed Kilmurry’s win to two factors: their defensive display and Johnny Daly’s second half goal.
“We knew we had to batten down the hatches today and concede as little as possible. We said in our team meeting last night that we wanted to hold them scoreless. That was our ambition. To concede three points; that’s where the game was won and lost,” he said.
Lining out without Odran O’Dwyer, who made an appearance as a second half substitute, Kilmurry expected a resolute hour’s football.
“We watched them in their county final and they were a tough, hard, physical team. When you look at the conditions, it’s not the sort of conditions that suit our type of football or our type of team,” McDermott said.
Johnny Daly’s goal was both opportunist and badly needed. It was the score that put noticeable daylight between the Clare and London champions.
“On a day like this in the month of January, goals win matches. We haven’t been scoring them. People have said a lot about it, that we haven’t scored a goal since the quarter-final of our own championship. It was crucial today. Fair dues to Johnny, he showed great composure to put it in the back of the net,” Micheál McDermott said.
Although Kilmurry hadn’t played competitively since the Munster club final on December 6, McDermott felt that his side’s fitness levels stood to them.
“We had said beforehand, our fitness was going to tell a lot today. That pitch is extremely heavy and testing on a team. We showed great fitness to drive on in that last 20 minutes to win the game,” he said.
While their performance in London was not unimpressive, the match sharpness the team will have gained from it could be an advantage against their next opponents, Portlaoise, who won’t have played since the Leinster club final.
“This game is crucial to performing in a semi-final. But we’re under no illusions; today’s performance will be just blown out of the water by Portlaoise. We know the amount of work that we have to do over the next four weeks. But listen it’s great to be there,” the Kilmurry Ibrickane manager concluded.

Comment

Shake up is needed to reach Croker
UNLESS Kilmurry-Ibrickane radically overhaul aspects of their play and shake up their starting 15, Portlaoise will be in Croke Park on St Patrick’s Day.
While All-Ireland champions Kerry would have found it impossible to play flowing football in Ruislip last Sunday, Kilmurry were unrecognisable and disjointed, even when conditions and their lack of match competitive practice are taken into account.
Five of their starting forwards were substituted and it is in this area of the field that Kilmurry must attempt to unearth a more threatening offensive formula.
The inside forwards will have to vary and increase their movement and in doing so create space for others to run into. Most forwards in Clare make a run in anticipation of getting the ball. However, an aspect of forward play which is often ignored is that of a forward making an unselfish run, bringing his man with him, thereby allowing an attacking colleague to run into the space he has vacated.
While Noel Downes looked particularly leaden, most of the ball kicked into himself and Michael O’Dwyer came down on top of them, rather than inside or outside the forward.
Any reasonable corner-back will thrive in those circumstances. So while the movement mightn’t have been great, the ball in was equally poor. Kilmurry need to get their best kicker, Stephen Moloney, onto more ball, while it seems fairly clear that Michael O’Dwyer has played his best football, in recent season, at centre-forward. Ian McInerney is a decent free taker but will have to considerably up his contribution at centre forward if Kilmurry are to open up Portlaoise.
While defensively, Kilmurry are conceding very little, perhaps they could reshuffle a couple of players, in the hope that they would lose nothing defensively but could gain on the attacking front.
Enda Coughlan would offer a cogent threat if he was deployed as an attacking midfielder alongside Peter O’Dwyer, perhaps relocating Paul O’Connor or Darren Hickey to centre-back.
Like Stephen Moloney, Coughlan is also capable of picking a forward out with an early pass. Kilmurry definitely need to shake things up front but of course not at the risk of leaving themselves open at the back.
Another aspect of their game absent against Tír Chonaill Gaels was the breakdown in their support play. Kilmurry defenders especially were regularly left isolated with nobody coming on their shoulders in support. This is an integral component of their natural game, which will have to be reactivated in time for February 21. If they can mix their short game with delivering incisive ball to their full-forward line, Kilmurry are well capable of playing football on St Patrick’s Day.
Discipline is a factor that Micheál McDermott, Martin Cahill and Gerard McCarthy will have to look at. While some of the six yellow cards shown to Kilmurry players in the opening half were soft, the public anger displayed by Michael Hogan and Noel Downes following their substitutions, will be of more concern to management.
Downes in particular deserved to be subbed. He missed a great goal chance two minutes into the second half, was blocked down when shooting in the opening period and generally played poorly. There is no shame in that. Anybody can have a day when it just doesn’t happen. Engaging in heated exchanges with management though suggests that the player coming off thinks that the man going on in his place, doesn’t deserve his place on the field.
The primary reason Kilmurry are preparing for an All-Ireland semi-final is because their panel has such depth. Downes himself helped to beat Doonbeg in the county semi-final when he was brought on, along with Odran O’ Dwyer. Hogan was a bit unluckier to be taken off but remember he was on a yellow card and had also been ticked.
A tricky issue will raise its head for Micheál McDermott this week and next. He has placed on record his desire for some Kilmurry players to line out against Wicklow on Sunday week in round one of the NFL. Will the Kilmurry club and county players buy into this or will they pour everything into preparing for Portlaoise?
Kilmurry are well aware that they have plenty to work on before what will be their second All-Ireland club semi-final. What will sustain them, however, is the knowledge that they have it within their panel to create a winning formula on February 21, provided they make the changes, which should help them to Croke Park.