Kilmaley made it third time lucky when powering to the Under 15B Hurling honours in Cusack Park on Tuesday evening.
Following back-to-back final defeats to Newmarket-on-Fergus (13B) and Clarecastle (14B), their persistence was finally rewarded thanks to a determined, command display.
That said, it was a result that certainly didn’t seem likely when losing captain Evan Casey to a red card after only 14 minutes. At the time, they led by Jamie Healy’s ninth minute goal but saw their advantage swallowed up by a Jerry O’Connor-led resurgence from Clooney-Quin that twice regained parity.
However, with the wind at their backs for the second period, Kilmaley flexed their muscles by not only negating Clooney-Quin’s numerical advantage but outscoring their opponents by 3-9 to 1-2 in a dominant half that ensured that the game was over long before the final whistle.
Jamie Healy’s hat-trick of goals was a particular highlight while the threat and direct running of Joseph Clancy 0-4) and Daire Culligan (1-3) provided a constant headache for Clooney-Quin’s rearguard. The support of midfielders Diarmuid McMahon and Aidan Weaver was also influential, particularly as the duo along with Culligan, goalkeeper Josh Daniels, Ryan Courtney and Aaron Clohessy had been on the losing side for Lissycasey in the Under 15 Division 1 Football equivalent at the same venue a fortnight previously.
Jerry O’Connor was Clooney-Quin’s livewire up front, aided most by Darragh White and Matthew Corbett but overall, they found it difficult to contain Kilmaley’s chief threats and never made their extra player count at either end of the field.
The final sparked into action once the unmarked Jamie Healy found the net after only nine minutes when picked out by Patrick Clancy to send Kilmaley 1-3 to 0-2 clear. The dismissal of Casey following an off-the-ball incident came amidst a three point burst from Jerry O’Connor at 1-3 to 0-5 by the water break.
The tide appeared to be turning as Sean Cassidy came to his side’s rescue to keep out a Joseph Casey shot on goal while up the other end, Darragh White opened his account to level up the tie at 0-6 to 1-3 by the 18th minute.
Crucially, Kilmaley never allowed their opponents to inch ahead as points from Daire Culligan and Healy were bolstered by a superb full length save by goalkeeper Josh Daniels to tip away a stinging effort from Darragh McNamara in the 22nd minute.
Clooney-Quin did have more luck over Daniels’ crossbar though as points from Corbett and O’Connor secured a third stalemate albeit that Kilmaley managed to nudge themselves back in front in injury-time when substitute James Murphy secured a minimum 1-6 to 0-8 half-time lead.
That was as good as it got for Clooney-Quin however as Kilmaley took flight on the turnover, grabbing four of the first five points, two from Healy, before the same player flicked a rebound to the net to boost his side to a 2-11 to 0-09 cushion by the two-thirds mark.
To their credit, Clooney-Quin did hit back with a Jerry O’Connor single followed by a scrambled goal for substitute Lochlann Carey with his very first touch just before the final water break at 2-11 to 1-10.
However, instead of being a Clooney-Quin rallying call, it only seemed to anger Kilmaley who responded in devastating fashion with clinching goals through Healy and Culligan in as many minutes in an unanswered 2-4 final quarter.
Kilmaley’s miserly defence also prevented any consolation goal from being scored as goalkeeper Daniels excellently repelled a Matthew Corbett shot while Jerry O’Connor’s injury-time 20 metre free was stopped by full-back Aaron Clohessy.
Despite defeat, Clooney-Quin still have the chance to make amends when locking horns with Cooraclare once more in the Under 15 Division 2 Football Final Replay. However, on this day, there was no question about the merits of victory as Kilmaley finally broke their final hoodoo in style.

Kilmaley: Josh Daniels; Ryan Courtney, Aaron Clohessy, Evan Casey (Captain); Darragh Townsend, Evan Cahill, Gareth Harvey; Diarmuid McMahon, Aidan Weaver; Luke Reid, Joe Casey, Ben McMahon; Patrick Clancy, Daire Culligan, Jamie Healy. Subs: James Murphy for Reid (21), Sean Carmody for B. McMahon (55), Leo Switzer for Healy (61, inj)
Scorers: Jamie Healy (3-5, 3f); Daire Culligan (1-3); Joseph Casey (0-4); James Murphy (0-3, 1f)

Clooney-Quin: Aidan Beirne; Sean Cassidy, Fionn O’Gara (Captain), Matthew Jordan Allen; Patrick Finneran, Matthew Corbett, Conor McCarthy; Jerry O’Connor, David Cahill; Sean McNamara, Darragh White, Dylan Brown; Darragh McNamara, Andrew O’Neill, PJ McCarthy. Subs: Cathal Leamy for Cahill (39), Lochlann Carey for O’Neill (43), David Larkin for Finneran (53), Ruan Begg for McNamara (55)
Scorers: Jerry O’Connor (0-6, 3f); Lochlann Carey (1-0); Darragh White (0-2); Andrew O’Neill, Matthew Corbett (0-1 each)

Referee: Kevin Corry
(Sixmilebridge)

by Eoin Brennan