Doonbeg reacquaint themselves with Munster

It’s November and they are still playing football in Doonbeg. A decade ago that was the accepted norm in the land of the Magpie. Maybe not every year but often enough for Doonbeg people to become accustomed to it. Nine years after they last played Munster club football, Doonbeg will re-enter the Munster club arena in Dungarvan on Sunday at 2pm.
Beaten 2004 Munster club finalists Stradbally will be waiting for them. Who beat Stradbally in that replayed final six years ago?
Kilmurry-Ibrickane of course. The clubs also met in the opening round of last year’s Munster club championship in Waterford, with Kilmurry winning again.
Their run took them to Croke Park on March 17. It won’t sit easily with Doonbeg if they come home from Waterford beaten and out of Munster on Sunday evening. Doonbeg’s 1998 Munster club championship-winning team set the standard for Clare club football in that era. They were the first Clare club to pull off that feat and also reached the 1999 Munster final, where they fell to UCC.
Since then though, they have been overtaken by Kilmurry-Ibrickane with respect to Munster club football. They have won two provincial titles and were the first Clare club to reach the All-Ireland club football final.
This development wasn’t accorded a civic reception in Doonbeg but it will motivate them this weekend. With Nemo Rangers and Dr Crokes having emerged from Cork and Kerry this autumn, the Munster club championship will be much harder to win this winter than it has been for several seasons.
While a second Munster club title may be out of reach for what is still a developing Doonbeg team, they will feel that they are well capable of winning this weekend. The fact that Kilmurry won in Waterford 12 months ago will drive Doonbeg but the recent tragic death of Declan Hayes will resonate much more deeply.
Although a few years older than the younger members of the current Doonbeg team, Hayes would have played football with the likes of Nigel Dillon, Pádraig Gallagher, Conor Whelan and Kevin Nugent and was a very familiar figure throughout Doonbeg and West Clare. Doonbeg definitely won’t forget Declan Hayes when the battle is raging in Dungarvan.
In his county final acceptance speech, Colm Dillon spoke of this Doonbeg team creating their own history. They have achieved that in Clare but now face a step up in quality. Remember, Stradbally have the experience of Michael ‘Brick’ Walsh, Stephen Cunningham, Ger Power and the Costolloes in their ranks.
Their manager, Seán Ahearne, was also in charge as far back as the 2004 Munster club final, when Stradbally were in the middle of five successive championship wins, from 2001 to 2005.
Michael ‘Brick’ Walsh confirmed recently that he will continue to concentrate solely on hurling at inter-county level next year, despite captaining Stradbally to the Waterford title last month.
The victory over Ballinacourty capped a memorable weekend for Walsh, who collected his third All-Star hurling award the Friday before the Waterford county final. 
“The All-Star award is much more an individual one but to lead your club to victory in a senior county final is even more satisfying because it involves so many other of your colleagues and close friends,” he said at the time.
With regard to the Doonbeg game, Walsh feels that Stradbally’s dominance in Waterford should result in them embarking upon a decent run in Munster.
“We have done really well in the provincial campaign in past years and feel we should have won the title at least once. We’ll be giving it a right go again this time and who knows what will happen,” he said.
The break of a full month may have derailed some of Doonbeg’s momentum but perhaps it may help them to separate their championship win from the task facing them in Munster. The question facing Doonbeg is are they happy enough to have won their first championship since 2001 and leave it at that?
They will definitely say that they are not prepared to leave it at that but the definitive answer will be visible in Dungarvan on Sunday. As long as Colm Dillon, Frank O’Dea, Shane Ryan, Conor Whelan and David Tubridy bring their Clare club form to the south-east, Doonbeg have every chance of progressing.
The winners will play Nemo Rangers in the Munster club semi-final on November 21.
Doonbeg will be hoping to extend their winter of football until at least then.