Sixmilebridge 2-13
Ballyea 0-13

THE attractiveness of this season’s Clare Minor A Hurling Championship final pairing was reflected in the big attendance at Clarecastle on Saturday afternoon for a game played in excellent conditions, despite the recent bad weather.

Patrons weren’t disappointed as the teams served up a fine contest but, in the end, a better-balanced Sixmilebridge, led by the outstanding Seadna Morey, emerged as deserving winners.
That said, Ballyea followers must be wondering if the outcome would have been any different if their star performer, Tony Kelly, had not been switched out of midfield at the start of the second half. Indeed, this was one of the big topics of discussion among their followers after the game.
This year’s inter-county captain was one of the chief reasons why the first-time finalists had opened a five-point lead in the first half and while the ’Bridge finished the half strongly to be on level terms, Kelly’s absence from the middle of the park in the third quarter was costly.
During this time the winners opened an eight-point lead and when Kelly was switched back to this sector, Ballyea hit five points in-a-row to be just three adrift with a few minutes to go. Time wasn’t on their side and two late efforts from Kelly’s inter-county team mates Jamie Shanahan and Morey sealed victory for the ’Bridge, who had tasted defeat in the past two finals.
There was plenty of tension as the game got underway and the match was just three minutes old when referee Kevin Walsh called the respective managers, Donal Kelly (Ballyea) and Brian Culbert (Sixmilebridge), and issued a warning following a sideline incident involving mentors from both sides during which blows were exchanged.
There was plenty of niggling on the field too in the early minutes and this led to yellow cards for Conleth Agnew, Seadna Morey (Sixmilebridge), Stan Lineen and Niall Deasy (Ballyea) in the same incident after seven minutes of play. Jack Browne (Ballyea) and Brian Corry (Sixmilebridge) were yellow carded in separate incidents later in the half.
The new champions, whose last success in this grade was in 2001, opened the scoring with a Jamie Shanahan free in the first minute. Tony Kelly hit the first of his nine scores in the fifth minute to level the game and he put his side in front six minutes later. Further points from Stan Lineen and Kelly (free) had Ballyea 0-4 to 0-1 ahead after 17 minutes.
Jamie Shanahan kept Sixmilebridge hopes alive with an excellent score four minutes later, a minute before a fine Ballyea move ended with Tony Kelly shooting narrowly wide. Further Ballyea points from Aonghus Keane, Kelly (free) and Gearóid O’Connell had them 0-7 to 0-2 clear with a minute of normal time remaining in the half.
The manner in which Sixmilebridge finished the half was a key factor in their victory. With the game in injury time, Seadna Morey pointed and then helped set up a like score for Darragh Fitzgerald, before Alex Morey goaled after Conor Deasy’s effort had been saved to tie up the game at 1-4 to 0-7.
In fairness, the ’Bridge were flattered to be on level terms at this stage and clearly boosted by the manner in which they had finished the first half, they started the second in similar fashion with an excellent point from their captain, Morey, after just 15 seconds. Tony Kelly levelled the tie for the third and final time in the sixth minute before the ’Bridge took control and with points from Conleth Agnew, Conor Deasy (2), Brian Carey and Alan Mulready, they were 1-10 to 0-8 ahead at the three-quarter stage.
Five minutes later, Alan Mulready struck for his side’s second goal and Ballyea now had a mountain to climb. Kelly was switched back to midfield, which sparked a revival and yielded three points from himself and one from Ryan Griffin to cut the winners’ lead to four points with five minutes to play.
There was a bit of anxiety creeping into the winners’ play and this increased when Kelly hit another point to leave three between them with two minutes to go. A further two was signalled by the match official and Ballyea were not without hope.
However, Jamie Shanahan and Seadna Morey had other ideas and they each added a point to seal victory for Sixmilebridge.
While Seadna Morey was an inspiring captain and Jamie Shanahan got through some great work, the play of Dylan Fleming, Conleth Agnew, Conor Deasy and Alan Mulready also played a big part in the win.
Inter-county players Jack Browne, Gearóid O’Connell and Tony Kelly, who was shown a yellow card just before the finish, stood out for Ballyea, while Eoin Donnellan, Aonghus Keane and Joseph Neylon also impressed. However, their attack struggled to make an impression and this proved costly. The absence of the injured Martin O’Leary was another blow to the Mid-Clare side’s hopes of winning this title for the first time.
After the game, Bord na nÓg chairman, Martin Reynolds, congratulated both teams on their displays and also praised referee Kevin Walsh before calling on Ann Chaplin to present the cup, which commemorates her late husband Willie, to Seadna Morey.

Sixmilebridge: Pa Freeman; Eoin Hogan, Conleth Agnew, Evan McInerney; Darragh McNamara, Seadna Morey (captain), Dylan Fleming; Brian Carey, John Mulready; Brian Corry, Jamie Shanahan, Darragh Fitzgerald; Alex Morey, Alan Mulready, Conor Deasy.
Subs: Sean Lynch for J Mulready (50 minutes) and David Murphy for Fitzgerald (59 minutes).
Scorers: Alan Mulready (1-1), Jamie Shanahan (2f) and Seadna Morey (0-3 each), Alex Morey (1-0), Conor Deasy (0-2, 1f), Brian Carey, Conleth Agney and Darragh Fitzgerald (0-1 each).
Ballyea: Conor Harkins; Darragh Crowe, Eoin Donnellan, Lee Brady; Aonghus Keane, Jack Browne (captain), Joseph Neylon; Gearóid O’Connell, Tony Kelly; Tadhg Lynch, Stan Lineen, Ryan Griffin; Diarmuid Lorrigan, Niall Deasy, Paul Meaney.
Subs: Allyn Dalton for Meaney (41 minutes) and Lee Sherlock for Lorrigan (57 minutes).
Scorers: Tony Kelly (0-9, 4f), Aonghus Keane, Gearóid O’Connell, Stan Lineen and Ryan Griffin (0-1 each).
Referee: Kevin Walsh, Wolfe Tones.

Manager had no doubts

SIXMILEBRIDGE manager Brian Culbert said he had no doubt but that his charges would win Saturday’s minor final.
“They (Ballyea) were the favourites for today but deep down we knew that this was going to be our year. We had no doubt in our minds coming today that this was our year,” he told The Clare Champion.
Was he worried when Ballyea raced into a five-point lead in the first half?
“We knew that they would start well and that we would be in a battle in the first five or 10 minutes and we had asked the lads to step up to that battle and they did. The game didn’t really get going until the 20th minute,” replied the Limerick-based garda.
“We have always said to the lads to keep working and working even if things aren’t going well and eventually it will come right. We were happy at half-time and the lads were looking forward to going out for the second half.
“The boys wanted this too much and they weren’t going to let an eight-point lead slip. There was no way they were going to lose and we knew that at half-time,” he added.
“These lads were disappointed when they lost last year’s final and they used that disappointment as motivation this year. It’s an important win for them because of that and it’s an important win for the club,” Culbert concluded before going off to join the celebrations.