In-form Shamrocks deny Clodiagh Gaels fourth title

PLAYING well the whole year and giving this grade a genuine go, Shamrocks proved way too strong for Clodiagh Gaels in the Offaly Junior “C” Football Competition final in Daingean on Saturday afternoon last – it is 13-a-side and “Competition” is the correct classification as, according to rule, a championship has to be 15-a-side.

Tullamore Court Hotel Junior “C” Football Competition Final

Shamrocks 1-16

Clodiagh Gaels 2-6

Irrespective of that, most of the clubs treated it as a championship and even though it is Offaly football's sixth tier, it is a valuable competition and a great outlet for the players as well as producing some decent games and football.

As you would expect, teams featured a mixture of players – seasoned players in their 40s, even 50s in rare cases, who played football at a high level in their prime, young players coming out of underage ranks, ones playing at the correct level and others who want to play football but don't want to give the commitment it would take to play at a higher grade.

Shamrocks had a bit of all these with Leonard Mooney orchestrating affairs from centre half forward and lasting 59 minutes until he was pulled ashore with victory assured - now closing in on 50 and a star on their senior football team in the 2000s when they went so close to capturing the Dowling Cup, losing three finals, Mooney was joined by plenty of hungry, keen players all over the field and as a unit Shamrocks were well able to play football.

Clodiagh Gaels also took great satisfaction in this competition and they were chasing a unique quartet of titles, having won Senior “B” and Junior Hurling Championships and the Junior Football Championship.

This would have been the icing on the cake for them but a victory was always in the long shot category. Shamrocks have been chasing this title for a couple of years now, wanted to win it and were very much the form team this year.

They hit the ground running and had the game won early on, storming into a 1-6 to no score lead after 17 minutes.

Ryan Lambe got them going early on with a two point free and Shamrocks went for Clodiagh Gaels. They were full of running and the points flowed. They almost got a goal when Clodiagh Gaels' goalkeeper Jason Dunne deflected a Mark Malone shot over the bar but hit the net in the 17th minute when Ciaran Crowley scored after a Ryan Lambe ball.

Clodiagh Gaels finally got off the mark with a Fergus Flood free in the 19th minute, awarded for a three man breach by Shamrocks. Ryan Lambe got another two pointer and Shamrocks were in the driving seat when they led 1-10 to 0-4 at half time.

Clodiagh Gaels tried hard to pull it back and Fergus Flood got the first point of the second half. Jack Keating (two, one free) and Ryan Lambe pushed Shamrocks 1-13 to 0-5 clear and the game was over as a contest.

Shamrocks could only add three more points but were in no danger whatsoever in the closing ten minutes. Clodiagh Gaels kept going and Fergale Dolan and Ollie Dunne got consolation goals to give them scoring respectability.

The scorers

Shamrocks: Ryan Lambe 0-6 (1 x 2pf, 1 x 2p, , 2 frees), Ciaran Crowley 1-2, Jack Keating 0-3 (2 frees), Mark Malone 0-2, Aaron Keyes 0-1, David Coughlan 0-1, Rory Shaw 0-1.

Clodiagh Gaels: Fergus Flood 0-3 (2 frees), Feral Dolan 1-0, Ollie Dunne 1-0, Tom Dunne 0-2, Peter Walsh 0-1.

The teams

Shamrocks: Curtis Dunne; Ian Keating, Adrain Minncok (Capt); Mark Malone, Liam Grennan, Aaron Keyes; David Coughan, Ciaran Crowley; Jacks Bates, Leonard Mooney, Rory Shaw; Ryan Lambe, Jack Keating. Substitutes used: Matthew Curry for Jack Bates (59 mins), Dylan Murphy-Smyth for Leonard Mooney (59 mins).

Clodiagh Gaels: Jaon Dunne; Ronan Hooper, Feral Dolan; Fintan Hinch, Conor Berry, Peter Walsh’ Mattie Hynes, Sam Burns; Jack Cleary, Enda Gorman, Josh Sheerin; Fergus Flood (Capt), Tom Dunne. Substitutes used: Ben O’Brien for Fintan Hinch (22 mins), Joey Keenaghan for Jack Cleary (22 mins), Kevin Healy for Enda Gorman (Half-Time), Ollie Dunne for Fergus Flood for Fergus Flood (39 mins).

Referee: Barry Buckley, Erin Rovers.