Miltown-Castlemaine 2-5
Clondegad 0-10

Clondegad left Mid-Kerry justifiably proud of their display but equally disappointed at the result. The Clare intermediate champions outplayed their Kerry counterparts in most sectors of this Munster intermediate quarter-final but sadly that wasn’t reflected on the end-of-match scoreboard.

The concession of a soft first half goal, a missed penalty just before half time, a disallowed goal and a couple of balls into the Kerry goalkeeper’s hands all hindered Clondegad’s chances of winning.
Showing three changes from the starting 15 that won the county intermediate title, Clondegad, helped by the wind, seized immediate control in Milltown (Kerry) on Sunday afternoon.
Just 29 seconds had elapsed when a Gary Brennan run culminated with Tony Kelly bursting through and pointing. Kelly was unlucky not to goal in fact as his shot went barely over the crossbar.
Gary Brennan added two points soon after, the first following a bout of excellent possession play from Clondegad, while the second was a free, after Kieran Browne had ran at the heart of the Mid-Kerry team’s defence. Browne was Clondegad’s stand-out play at centre-back all afternoon, with his distribution especially impressive. His immediate opponent was substituted five minutes into the second half.
While the Clondegad half-back line imposed themselves on Milltown – Castlemaine, their full-back line regularly defended from behind and conceded frees which Gavin Wrenn pointed. The Kerry wing-forward posted the first of his four points in the second minute.
Seven minutes later Cathal Moriarty netted the pivotal score of the first half when his high, spinning shot for a point eluded Clondegad goalkeeper Declan O’Loughlin and dropped into the top right hand corner of the net. The goal came immediately after a Clondegad wide at the far end and a quickly taken Joe Daly kick out.
Wrenn added a point from play leaving the winners blessed to be leading 1-2 to 0-3 after 11 minutes.
A 40-yard Gary Brennan free, won by Gearóid O’Connell was responded to with another Wrenn free before Podge McMahon pointed another free after Gary Brennan had been impeded. Podge McMahon was close to goaling minutes earlier when a perceptive Kieran Browne pass allowed the number 15 to take on and beat John Blennerhassett before Marcus Mangan dispossessed the Clondegad forward at the expense of a poorly struck McMahon 45’.
Eight minutes from half-time Francis Neylon kicked an inspirational point after excellent work from Tony Kelly. Just two minutes prior to this score, Neylon had kicked wide from a similar distance.
Another Wrenn free left the winners 1-4 to 0-6 up heading into the last five minutes of the opening half.
Two minutes before the interval Milltown-Castlemaine were caught on the break when Neylon found Shane Brennan with a superb pass over the top. Brennan drew the home defence before off-loading to Podge McMahon who was pulled down for a penalty. Shane Brennan took the penalty but 40-year-old Joe Daly comfortably deflected the shot around the post. Although the penalty didn’t lack power, it was hit a bit too close and at too comfortable a height for the goalkeeper.
There was some consolation for Clondegad though when Podge McMahon pointed the resultant 45’, tying the game at half time, 1-4 to 0-7.
The second half featured just five scores in total, with Milltown-Castlemaine’s second goal the decisive score, coming five minutes from full time.
Well before that Shane Brennan was penalised for a square ball after his brother Gary had floated in a free from the sideline. The younger Brennan deflected the ball to the net but the referee ruled that it was a square ball.
The half was scoreless until the 13th minute when Podge McMahon pointed after Conor Gavin had been fouled. Before that McMahon and Gary Brennan had kicked wides for Clondegad, who introduced Kenneth Kelly for Eoghan Donnellan five minutes into the second half.
John O’Connor and Gary Brennan (free) exchanged points leaving Clondegad 0-9 to 1-5 ahead as the game entered the final ten minutes. In this period both Tony Kelly and Gary Brennan kicked balls into the goalkeeper while Brennan also kicked a free wide seven minutes from time.
Two minutes later 19-year-old Cathal Moriarty struck his side’s second and decisive goal when he picked up a break after Ian Twiss had driven in a long ball.
Clondegad responded manfully but shots from Kieran Browne and Tony Kelly again landed in the goalkeeper’s lap. Two minutes from time, Gearóid O’Connell won another free, which Gary Brennan pointed. Clondegad gave it all they had in the remaining minutes but Milltown-Castlemaine held out for a win greeted by relief rather than joyous emotion. Their goals were the game defining moments and while the second was a clever finish, the first was very soft.
The Clondegad half-back line were superb throughout, with Kieran Browne immense at centre-back, flanked by the energy and fearlessness of Francie Neylon and Conor Gavin. Gary Brennan played solidly at midfield while Shane Brennan stormed into the game in the second half after a quiet first period.
Gearóid O’Connell worked very hard in the half-forward line often dropping back to win breaking ball, while Tony Kelly looked dangerous when running at Milltown-Castlemaine and often left his man well behind, although some of his shooting was not as impressive as his approach work.
Podge McMahon looked dangerous in the full-forward line but that wasn’t reflected in his scoring return from play.
The effort and attitude of the Clondegad players cannot be questioned. They did everything bar post their superiority on the scoreboard.
Milltown-Castlemaine will now play Newmarket from Cork in Sunday’s Munster semi-final in Cork.

Clondegad: Declan O’Loughlin; Brian Murphy, Paddy O’Connell, Cormac Ryan; Francis Neylon, Kieran Browne, Conor Gavin; Shane Brennan, Gary Brennan (captain); Gearóid O’Connell, Tony Kelly, Francie O’Reilly, Eoghan Donellan, Pat Coffey, Podge McMahon.
Sub: Kenneth Kelly for Eoghan Donnellan (35).
Scorers: Gary Brennan (0-5, 0-4f), Podge McMahon (0-3, 0-2f, 0-1 45’), Tony Kelly, Francis Neylon 0-1 each.
Wides: 6; frees won: 15; 45s: 2
Yellow cards: Kieran Browne, Cormac Ryan, Gearóid O’Connell.
Milltown-Castlemaine: Joe Daly; Kevin McKenna, Damien Murphy (captain), John Blennerhassett; Paul Carroll, Marcus Mangan, John O’Connor; Mike Burke, Brendan Delaney; Shane Murphy, Donal Kelliher, Gavin Wrenn; Jerome Flynn, Colm Kearns, Cathal Moriarty.
Subs: Ian Twiss for Donal Kelliher (36), Derek Twiss for Brendan Delaney (48), Pa Wrenn for Gavin Wrenn (52), Kieran McKenna for Jerome Flynn (60).
Scorers: Cathal Moriarty (2-0), Gavin Wrenn (0-4, 0-3f), John O’Connor (0-1).
Wides: 8; frees won: 18
Yellow cards: Kevin McKenna, Mike Burke, Gavin Wrenn, Ian Twiss.  
Referee: Brian Tyrell (Tipperary).

Coughlan steps down as manager

In what was his last game as manager of Clondegad, Dermot Coughlan could not have been prouder of how his adopted team played and fought until the last kick.
When the Kilmurry Ibrickane clubman became involved with the Ballynacally club, they were playing Division 4 league football and were an intermediate club. Four years later they have achieved senior status and while they will play Garry Cup league football in 2012 (Division 2), they have two years of Cusack Cup (Division 1) football behind them.
“We have stepped down as a management team because things are done in cycles. After four years you’re giving the same talks and probably doing the same drills. Things get stale. I feel we have them left in a good position. They’re up senior. A fresh voice maybe is no harm either,” the outgoing Clondegad manager suggested to The Clare Champion after the game in Milltown.
With regard to how Clondegad played, Coughlan was exceptionally happy with their innings.
“There are as good footballers in Clare as anywhere else in the country and I think they showed it out there today. We missed chances, Milltown–Castlemaine missed chances as well but that’s football. The teams that take their chances is always going to win the game,” he said.
“But the most important thing is character. You can’t buy character. That’s what was out there today in the Clondegad team. They showed tremendous character even when Milltown-Castlemaine got the goal, we came right back into it again. There’s always going to be missed chances but, as a management team, we couldn’t be prouder of the boys that came down here today,” Coughlan reiterated.
He wasn’t keen to make excuses and didn’t feel that Milltown-Castlemaine goalscorer Cathal Moriarty might have over carried for the second goal.
“Never make excuses for those sort of things. They go for you and they go against you. Maybe the next day they’ll go for the Clare team. If you dwell on those things, you’ll end up getting bitter. It went into the net, the green flag went up,” he said.
Neither did Dermot Coughlan think that Clondegad’s penalty miss was a decisive moment.
“I always believe that penalties are hit and miss. They either go in or they don’t. We scored the 45’ straight after it. You can’t nail it down to the penalty. Games are played over 60 minutes. We didn’t give in, they played on right until the finish and maybe we had a couple of chances to tie it up in the finish,” the now former Clondegad manager reflected.