Trophy triumph for Clare at Kennedy tournament

Clare bridged a 13-year gap at the Kennedy Cup and claimed the Kennedy Trophy competition, following a comprehensive 4-0 defeat of Midlands League. This win meant that they had a final finishing position of 25th.

Overall, the Clare squad proved to be very competitive and despite being narrowly defeated in all three group games against Wexford, Donegal and Wicklow, they eventually got their rewards, when they defeated West Waterford/East Cork, and Drogheda to reach the Kennedy Trophy final.

Wexford 3   Clare 1
Clare opened their Kennedy Cup campaign against first seeds Wexford on Monday evening. Wexford confirmed their seeding, as they dominated for the opening minutes but spurned several chances to take the lead.

Former CSSL player Vincent Quinlan was at the heart of several good moves put together by Wexford in the opening half. Clare eventually found their feet and began to exert some pressure on their opponents. However, just before half-time, Clare failed to clear their lines and Wexford grabbed the opening goal, which their first-half performance deserved.

It took just five minutes in the second half for Clare to grab the equaliser, when a clever corner kick routine ended with Ross O’Doherty finishing from six yards. The game was now finely balanced, as both teams went in search of the lead goal. Unfortunately for Clare, it was Wexford who managed to grab the goal after a poor decision by the referee led to them being awarded a free kick within striking range.

Clare pushed hard for the equaliser but they could not breach a well-organised Wexford defence and Wexford sealed the points with a third goal in injury time. Impressive for Clare were Stephen Ryan, Mikey Whelan and Adam Gilbert.

Donegal 1   Clare 0
Tuesday morning saw Clare introduce Gavin Cooney, Jack Sheedy, Jamie Roche and Colm O’Brien into the starting line-up as they faced a fancied Donegal side.

Despite the loss of central midfielder Conor Doyle prior to kick-off, Clare started brightly and their high-pressure game began to cause Donegal some problems.

However, the loss of Ross O’Doherty through injury midway through the first half, was to allow Donegal to begin to dominate the midfield area and they grabbed the only goal of the game in the first half. Try as they might in the second half, Clare could not come up with the equalising goal. Impressive for Clare were Pádraig Kelly, Jack Sheedy and Colm O’Loughlin.

Wicklow 3   Clare 2
Clare and Wicklow entered the final group game in search of their first win. Wicklow dominated the opening half an hour, as Clare tried to get to grips with their diamond midfield formation. Wicklow took full advantage of this early pressure, and led 2-0 just before half-time. Clare’s Colm O’Loughlin pulled a goal back just before the break, with a close-range finish.

The second half saw both teams spurn chances until 10 minutes from time when Wicklow capitalised on an error in the Clare defence to stretch the lead. Clare, to their credit, went in search of a goal and Ciarán O’Donoghue got on the end of an Adam Gilbert cross to head home a second goal.

Clare, backed by a large support, tried to get the third goal that would ensure a draw. However, another fine effort from Ciarán O’Donoghue in the final minute was saved by the Wicklow goalkeeper. Impressive for Clare in this game were Conor Doyle and Ciarán O’Donoghue.

This result meant that Clare would enter the Kennedy Trophy competition for the fourth place finishers in each group.

Clare 1   WWEC 0
Clare once again introduced new faces to the starting line-up, with Corey McManus, Jack Crowley and Oisín Leyden filling the goalkeeper, right-back and centre-forward positions respectively for this tie on Wednesday. WWEC dominated the early stages and Corey McManus had to be at his best on two occasions to prevent them from taking the lead.

Eventually, a physically stronger Clare outfit began to dominate their opponents and a free kick delivery from Ciarán O’Donoghue fell to Leyden, who finished from close range, to give Clare the lead. The second half saw a well-organised Clare defence keep a clean sheet and the Banner Squad advanced to the semi-final with Drogheda.

Clare 2   Drogheda 2
(Clare won 4-3 on penalties)
This tie saw an improving Clare side play some excellent football in the opening half, with Colm O’Loughlin, Ben Egan and Oisín Leyden all spurning chances to grab the opening goal. Clare hit the front midway through the first half when central defender Mikey Whelan powered home a header from a corner kick. Clare emerged for the second half, only to be dominated by a physically strong Drogheda side, who equalised just two minutes into the second half with a long range strike.

Clare restored their lead when a superb pass from Ciaran O’Donoghue, found Colm O’Loughlin, who cooly finished. Clare had to withstand large amounts of pressure from Drogheda but looked like they would hold out, until once again an error in the Clare defence gave Drogheda their second goal.

The penalty shoot-out saw Ciarán O’Donoghue, Colm O’Loughlin, Conor Doyle and Adam Gilbert all convert their efforts for Clare, while goalkeeper Corey McManus saved one spot kick to send Clare into the final.

Clare 4   Midlands 0
Clare entered the final in positive mood, as they had faced the Midlands League in some preparation games prior to the tournament.

Midway through the opening half, Clare took the lead when Conor Doyle volleyed in from a corner-kick delivery. Clare were dominating and the skilful Colm O’Loughlin was causing Midlands all kinds of problems. A run and shot by the Clare player saw the ball fall to striker Oisín Leyden, who finished from close range to give the Banner side a two-goal advantage at half-time.

The Midlands League now had to chase the game and this played into Clare’s hands, as further strikes from Oisín Leyden and Sam Ogundare clinched the title for Clare. Afterwards, the Clare squad were presented with the trophy by FAI CEO John Delaney.

Clare squad: Stephen Ryan (Moneypoint), Corey McManus (Tulla Utd), Ross O’Doherty (Sporting Ennistymon), Adam Gilbert (Newmarket Celtic), Conor Doyle (Lifford), Iken Ugerwue (Ennis Town), Pádraig Kelly, Colm O’Brien, Jack Sheedy (Burren Utd), Jamie Roche, Daniel Griffin, Colm O’Loughlin, Sam Ogundare, Jack Crowley, Mikey Whelan, Cathal Darcy , Gavin Cooney (Avenue Utd), Ben Egan, Ciarán O’Donoghue (St Pat’s), Oisín Leyden (Moher Celtic).