Second-half goals seal victory for champions

Kilmurry-Ibrickane 2-6   Éire Óg  0-6

Second-half goals from Johnnie Daly (penalty) and Keith King helped steer county senior football champions Kilmurry-Ibrickane into the quarter-finals, overcoming Éire Óg in a disappointing contest at Kilmihil on Sunday evening.

 

Despite the fact the champions failed to re-produce the standard of play evident in their first-round replay win over Cratloe, there is no denying the merit of their latest victory.

The first half was particularly disappointing and the winners went to the break a point in front. It was a low-scoring affair, with just five scores in the half. The champions led 0-3 to 0-2 at the break thanks to points from the O’Dwyer brothers, Peter (2) and Michael.

“A real tough battle in which scores were hard to come by,” was how Kilmurry-Ibrickane’s coach John Kennedy described Sunday evening’s game.

“We had a lot of possession but didn’t put it away. There was some poor shooting by us and good defence from Éire Óg. It was only when we scored the penalty that we got a bit of a cushion but the chance always remained that Éire Óg might get a goal. It was a strange sort of game in which defences were on top,” the Kerry man said.

“We had worked on how to cope with their tactic of sending a high ball into the two lads in the full-forward line and we mopped up the breaking ball but it was one of those games in which you couldn’t relax. Space was at a premium and scores were hard to come by on both sides. There was always a threat from them and we weren’t pulling away,” according to Kennedy.

Éire Óg selector Alan Malone felt the Ennis side weren’t going forward enough and were not as effective as
Kilmurry-Ibrickane.  “The penalty came from a block down. We were quite good defensively but as we were pushing forward in search of scores, they got the breaks for the goals.”

He acknowledged the Ennis side is still not out and the important thing is to focus on the Wolfe Tones game.

“Once we lost, we had to re-focus. We have to pick up straight away and it’s knockout from here on.  It won’t be easy. Wolfe Tones have been there or thereabouts. There are very few teams winning comprehensively in the Clare championship. It will be difficult. We haven’t played them in the last few years but we know they are very capable of playing good football,” he said.

“It’s disappointing to lose. We didn’t play particularly well. We didn’t create enough chances. We must get more ball inside to the forwards,” said Malone.

Kilmurry’s first goal came from the  penalty spot, with Johnnie Daly converting early in the second half.

Defenders Declan Callinan and team captain Martin McMahon created the opening that led to their second goal, which came from midfielder Keith King.

In fairness, the champions came close to scoring a goal in the opening half but Éire Óg’s Eoin Slattery produced a fine save.

Kilmurry pushed 2-4 to 0-6 clear early in the final quarter when Éire Óg missed a couple of great chances to close the gap. Shane Daniels (free) and Sean Crotty failed to find the target when well placed and from here on the titleholders always looked the likely winners.

Kilmurry-Ibrickane: Peter O’Dwyer Junior; Declan Callinan, Darren Hickey, Paul O’Connor; Martin McMahon, Shane Hickey, Thomas O’Connor; Peter O’Dwyer, Keith King; Seamus Murrihy, Michael O’Dwyer, Niall Hickey; Enda Coughlan, Noel Downes, Johnnie Daly.
Subs: Ian McInerney for Daly, Evan Talty for Murrihy and Thomas Lernihan for T O’Connor.
Scorers: Johnnie Daly (penalty), Keith King (1-0) each, Peter O’Dwyer, Michael O’Dwyer (0-2) each, Darren Hickey, Niall Hickey (0-1) each.
Frees for: 18; wides: 9

Éire Óg: Eoin Slattery; Saran Butler, Donie Lyne, Francie Keane; Brian Dolan, Shane Daniels, David Smith; Brian Frawley, David Russell; Sean O’Meara, Stephen Hickey, Liam Corry; Eoin Glynn, Darren O’Neill, Sean Crotty.
Subs: Dean Ryan for Dolan, Sean Corry for D Smith, Danny Russell for Hickey, Darren O’Meara for L Corry and Graham Glynn for Frawley.
Scorers: Shane Daniels, Sean O’Meara (0-2) each, Sean Crotty, Eoin Glynn (0-1) each.
Frees for: 21; wides: 6

Referee: Michael McGann, Michael Cusack’s