Clare Resurgence Continues in Ennis

Irish Voice Sport

Clare Resurgence Continues in Ennis

June 26, 2008

Sports Digest by Cathal Dervan

THE Clare revival continued with a deserved win over a fancied Limerick side on the Ennis Road on Sunday, but boss Mike McNamara is refusing to get carried away ahead of a Munster final date with Tipperary next Sunday fortnight.

“It’s marvelous to get to a Munster final for the first time in 10 years, but the reality is that we’ll have to play better than that in the Munster final. We know that and the media know that,” said McNamara.

“I was never as worried in all my life. Limerick were coming at us with all guns blazing and they were picking off their points as all good teams do. They went the old route last year, they contested a Munster and an All-Ireland final but they haven’t a medal to show for it; realistically we have two matches won.

“We felt we played well against Waterford, really well, and we always thought it would be hard to match those heights again, despite suggestions that Waterford didn’t try, or weren’t tuned in.

“We knew we played well that day and we didn’t play as well today — neither did Limerick, of course — but we know that there’s a mixture there. If we can grasp that and remedy that little bit of inconsistency then I don’t think we need fear anybody.”

Limerick manager Richie Bennis could be in trouble after criticizing the performance of match referee Eamonn Morris, who sent a Clare defender to the line in the final minutes but didn’t award a penalty.

Bennis said, “I know that perhaps I shouldn’t be talking like this, but I’m not one bit happy with his refereeing out there today. He ran off the field at the end of the game and one can only conclude that he felt guilty about something to have done that.

“Because of that indiscretion, the referee awarded us an ordinary 20 meter free when, in my view, it should have been a penalty.

“Okay, that one incident didn’t cost us the game, but overall his handling of the game wasn’t at all satisfactory from a Limerick point of view.”

Fermanagh Wins

LITTLE Fermanagh were one of the big winners of an action packed GAA weekend as Malachy O’Rourke’s side booked their first Ulster final date since 1982 with a sensational win over National League champions Derry on Saturday night.

The Erne County will now play Down or Armagh in the provincial final and will take a keen interest in Sunday’s second semi as they await their big date.

“We’d like to think that we’ll not get over-excited or over-hyped because at the end of the day, if you go to an Ulster final and you don’t perform, people soon forget about you, and it puts a dampener on the whole season,” said manager O’Rourke.

“It’s very important for us to put our feet back down on the ground and realize that this has just been a stepping stone into an Ulster final.

“It is an historic day, and it’s great for us and great for the whole county, but it’s very important for us that we get our feet down on the ground straight away and start preparing for our next challenge.”

Fermanagh defender Tommy McElroy added, “It was very tight, but we got there in the end. Our backs were to the wall for the last five minutes, but thankfully we held on. We pulled it back after a shaky start and it was a good win.”

Derry manager Paddy Crozier had no excuses and didn’t go looking for any after his team’s shock defeat when they badly missed the suspended Fergal Doherty at midfield.

Crozier admitted, “Fermanagh were the hungrier team. We weren’t second best team out there, we were third or fourth. But they fully deserved their victory.

Sligo’s Loss

SLIGO’S reign as Connacht champions came to an abrupt end in Castlebar on Sunday as Mayo easily worked their way into a provincial decider against Galway with winning boss John O’Mahoney already looking forward to that game.

“In fairness, I’ve been there with Leitrim, where Sligo are today, as defending Connacht champions, with all of the highs of last year and so on. They’re way better footballers than that,” said O’Mahoney.

“For the last 20 minutes, it was more like a training run. You just cannot read anything into that. The intensity of that, compared to a Connacht final, is like comparing going from nought to 60 in so many seconds, to going from nought to five or 10 in so many seconds.

“It was eight weeks since we played a competitive match. That was a bit of a worry for us. In the last four weeks, the players spent two weeks with their clubs, and they played an awful lot of football, so it was encouraging to see those games substituting for a few challenge games with Mayo.

“The other thing that heartened me was the beginning of the blend of the experienced players with the younger players. Even though the result was one-sided, I was very pleased the way the blend came together mentally, physically and tactically.”

Losing Sligo boss Tommy Jordan was almost lost for words afterwards. “We’re going to have to address the Tommy Murphy Cup in the course of the week and see where we go. At the moment, we haven’t any master plan for dealing with it, or for dealing with the way things went here today,” said Jordan.

“Nothing we seemed to do today worked for us, Yes, they were strong in midfield but they were strong in the half forward and half backs too and we struggled there.

Wexford Wins

THE celebrations are still going strong in Wexford after the county footballers qualified for their first Leinster final since 1956 with a thoroughly deserved win over Laois in Sunday’s Croke Park semi-final.

Rookie manager Jason Ryan was the toast of the sunny South East after the historic win which came just weeks after a remarkable comeback from 10 points down against Meath in the quarter-finals.

“Over the last few weeks there has been great confidence,” said Ryan. “The players were very confident going into this. The changing room at halftime was calm, really calm.

“I’m delighted for them and their families. I’m a bit speechless to be honest. You could say it was destiny but from one year to the next, it doesn’t really work like that. Meath would have said that coming in to play Wexford who had beaten them in the four previous meetings.

“You would have said it was their turn but that’s the great thing about sport, you can’t predict what is going to happen.”

Selector Pat Barden added, “It means an awful lot to Wexford football, people like Seamus Keevans who started football in the New Ross district, loads of other people like Ger Halligan, Micheal Furlong, Dec Carty who were with the team for six or seven years and got no reward for it.

“But Jason has been unbelievable, his enthusiasm for the game has rubbed off on every one of the players. He has been absolutely brilliant.”

Liam Kearns was quick to praise Wexford after Laois fell by six points. “Five substitutes in, the fifth with 15 minutes to go, you know you are in trouble when that is the situation. Wexford deservedly won the game by the margin they had at the end,” said Kearns.

Kerry Fights

KERRY County Board officials are ready to take the GAA to the High Court after captain Paul Galvin’s six month ban was upheld by the Central Hearings Committee on Tuesday afternoon.

The controversial star will now miss the remainder of Kerry’s defense of their All-Ireland crown unless he can mount a successful appeal to the Central Appeals Committee.

The word from within Croke Park is that Galvin’s ban will stick no matter what he does after he struck the notebook from referee Paddy Russell’s hand after his red card against Clare a fortnight ago.

And Kerry sources have confirmed that they will mount a legal challenge if they have to in their bid to clear their captain after Galvin Gate gripped the country.

Galvin’s failed appeal on Tuesday followed a familiar trend after the suspensions handed down to Meath and Dublin for their part in the infamous Parnell Park brawl in February were also upheld by the CHC.

GAA officials, including President Nickey Brennan, have denied that Galvin is the victim of any witch-hunt but they did confirm the current crackdown in ill-discipline will continue.

“I think it is fairly clear what the attitude of our Association is this year towards misbehavior on the field,” said Brennan in an interview with The Irish Examiner.

“I think that has been well signposted and I hope I don’t need to reiterate it again. We will not tolerate any incidents and I don’t care who that is or what county they are from. I don’t want to comment on the Paul Galvin situation because it is obviously in due process at the moment.”

Wexford Wins

WEXFORD boss John Meyler got the response he looked for as his team finally produced a consistent performance for 70 minutes in Sunday’s Leinster SHC semi-final replay win over Dublin at Croke Park to book another final date with Kilkenny.

“We maintained the performance for the best part of 70 minutes. Dublin started well and we expected that. We lost a bit of composure in the second half but the senior guys stood up and were counted and you need that,” said Meyler.

“Dublin are trying to make a breakthrough, we’re trying to make a breakthrough against Kilkenny. Kilkenny are at level one and we’re at level five.

“It’s a fantastic day for the south-east with three teams coming up here to Croke Park, the minor hurlers drawing, the senior footballers getting to a Leinster final for the first time in I don’t know how long and the senior hurlers getting to a final as well.”

Dublin manager Tommy Naughton pointed to his side’s lack of experience as a major factor in their defeat.

“It just didn’t go to plan,” admitted Naughton. “Wexford showed that bit of experience and moved the ball around well. We didn’t play as well as we could have. We’re very disappointed but we just have to take it on the chin.”

Quinn Doubt

DUBLIN sharpshooter Tomas ‘Mossie’ Quinn is a major injury doubt for Sunday’s eagerly anticipated Leinster SFC clash with Westmeath at Croke Park.

The St. Vincent’s star injured a leg in training last weekend and is rated as doubtful for the big game after scoring six points last day out against Louth.

Bernard Brogan, Diarmuid Connolly and Mark Vaughan will all come into contention with manager Paul Caffrey forced to choose between veteran Ciaran Whelan, back after suspension, and youngster Eamonn Fennell at midfield.

“It certainly is a strong panel. A lot of lads got game time during the year,” Whelan told the Irish Sun. “We used a lot of players in the league and we’ve one or two fellas who have come through and performed really well.

“It will be an interesting summer because there is great competition for places and there has been a good intensity in training. I’m just looking to get back to Croke Park and to the good weather and everything that goes with it.”

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