Clonmore Harps string together a noteworthy success in Offaly Junior B Football Final
IF the trend of 2008 continues, Kinnitty could yet feature in the record books for their footballing exploits this year as much as for the fine performances of their hurling team.
Tullamore Court Hotel JFC B Final
Clonmore Harps 0-9
Durrow 1-4
Scorers:
Clonmore Harps: Jimmy Foy (0-4, 0-1 free), Frank Heavey (0-3, 0-2 frees), Sen Foy (0-1), Adrian Foy (0-1).
Durrow: Nicholas Minnock (1-0), Martin g Buggy (0-2, 0-1 free), Stephen Kidney (0-2, 0-1 free).
Wides:
Clonmore Harps 6 (1 1st half); Durrow 5 (0 1st half).
Cards:
Red – None. Yellow – Martin g Buggy, Michael Fox, Jimmy Foy.
Because if, as expected, St Brigid's win the Intermediate championship in the coming weeks and St Michael's win the U-21 championship in the coming months, the Rhode parish will have won every adult football championship in Offaly this year, with the exception of the Junior 'C' crown which now rests in the Slieve Bloom mountains.
The Andy McCormack Cup may not be as widely recognised as the Dowling Cup which was being raised aloft by Roy Malone later on Sunday evening, but it clearly meant the world to the footballers, mentors and supporters of Clonmore after they finally concluded a long run without success for the club.
Durrow will no doubt look back on the game with plenty of regret, particularly in light of their five second half wides, but it would take a very blinkered supporter to claim that their club was anything but second best to a very determined Clonmore Harps outfit last Sunday afternoon.
Durrow never looked as incisive or as intense as the Harps, but even so they could very easily have snatched a result on a day when scores were at a premium and Nicholas Minnock's first half goal had given them a big kick start.
They drew level as the game drew to a close, they missed a variety of chances and but for some uncharacteristically inde-cisive defending, they could have prevented both the late Clonmore scores, so the what ifs will be very difficult to quash in the coming days.
Both backlines had very much held the upper hand all day long, as the scoreline suggests, and the Durrow full back line had been nothing short of imperious up until those fateful closing minutes. Just when it looked like a draw was on the cards, they twice failed to clear scrappy possessions and those two late points gave Clonmore the breathing room to close out this win.
Nine points is a very low tally with which to be winning a football game, but for long spells in the first half even that meagre total looked well out of reach for both of these teams as a combination of poor long range passing and some excellent and committed defending kept scores down to a minimum.
Twenty minutes into the game, each side had only scored a single point each and those from frees – Durrow with a Martin g Buggy haymaker from all of 55 yards and Clonmore from a Jimmy Foy effort off the ground after he drew the foul himself.
Clonmore did have goal chances, once when Frank Heavey failed to make enough contact on a long ball that fell to him inside the full back line and again when Sen Foy's 45 hit the crossbar, but pointscoring chances were proving very difficult to contrive.
Clonmore had the only wide of the first half as backs on each side cleared countless possessions. A big part of this was how each team were pulling a forward back to play in a deeper role. Mick Murphy of Clonmore was playing very deep while Gerry Spollen of Ballinamere was also coming out from corner forward, albeit still staying in a forward position.
After Jimmy Foy and Stephen Kidney traded scores, it was Spollen who played a huge role in the Durrow goal. His immaculate pass found Nicholas Minnock driving forward and the wing back beat his man and hit a fine shot high into the roof of the net on twenty seven minutes to really open up the game.
A Frank Heavey free before half time reduced the lead to two, but with scores as scarce as diamonds, that two points looked significant.
The third quarter however was all Clonmore as they played their best football, turning the two point deficit into a two point lead with four scores. All four were extremely well taken points from play, Jimmy Foy dominating the highlight reel with one effort that involved a forty yard run and finish from a tricky angle under pressure to draw level.
Having gone in front, Clonmore dropped even deeper, whether by accident or design, and that retreat was to cost them the momentum within the game. Stephen Kidney halved the lead with a great finish from a very tight angle on 49 minutes while Martin g Buggy squared the sides with another great score as the game entered the final five minutes. Durrow chances came and went, before it was left to Frank Heavey to restore the Clonmore lead.
With the tension at a height, Heavey was happy to take the easiest score of the day – a fourteen metre free from in front of the posts – after some tremendous pressure and tackling from the Clonmore forwards forced Durrow to turn the ball over in possession.
Clonmore sub Adrian Foy had the pleasure of rounding of the scoring in injury time after a missed kick out cost Durrow dearly, allowing Clonmore to drive at their defence one last time. The loose breaking ball fell to Adrian Foy and he had the pleasure of slotting over a score with basically his first touch.
The heartbreak of defeat was no less palpable on the faces of these Durrow players than it had been last week when their first string lost the Junior A final to Rhode. They had given their all, but it simply wasn't enough against a team of this quality and with so many weapons at their disposal.
Three of the five titles have now been secured, so who would bet on any or indeed all of the Rhode clubs continuing their stunning run of success on into the winter?
CLONMORE HARPS: John Dunne; Paul McNamee, Tom McNamee, David MacNamee; Paddy Heavey, Teo Foy, David Perdisatt; Sen Foy, Stephen Foy; Ciarn Ludlow, Enda Foy, Jimmy Foy; Willie McNamee, Mick Murphy, Frank Heavey.
Subs.: Darren Cahill for Paul McNamee, Adrian Foy for Willie McNamee.
DURROW: Kieran McLoughlin; Kevin Wyer, Daniel Minnock, Paddy Fox; Nicholas Minnock, Ronan Lally, Brian Kinnarney; Cathal Treacy, Dave Conway; Stephen Kidney, Martin g Buggy, Adrian Reynolds; Gerry Spollen, Jonathan McEvoy, Gareth Kelly.
Subs.: Darragh Carroll for Gareth Kelly, Michael Fox for Dave Conway, Niall Colbert for Cathal Treacy (blood), Ken Gorman for Jonathan McEvoy, Niall Colbert for Adrian Reynolds
REFEREE: Fergal Smyth, Kilclonfert.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Weather for Tullamore
Thursday 17 May 2012
Today
Light rain
Temperature: 6 C to 10 C
Wind Speed: 7 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Light rain
Temperature: 7 C to 9 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: North east
