*Éire Óg players celebrate at the final whistle. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill
ÉIRE ÓG HAVE retained their title as Clare senior football champions wrestling off the challenge of Ennistymon.
Éire Óg 0-09
Ennistymon 0-06
Venue: Cusack Park, Ennis
In one of the most defensive Clare SFC football finals of all the time, it was always going to be the side that did the most damage on the scoreboard who would prevail and it proved the case with Éire Óg securing back to back titles, it’s the first time since 74 years that Jack Daly is residing in the county town for two years in the trot following Ennis Faughs success of 1947 and 1948
Paul Madden’s charges led from start to finish as they were forced to combat a rigid Ennistymon outfit who admirably gave every last ounce they had. Remarkably, the Ennis club have now gone two successive seasons without conceding a goal.
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Scores were at a premium in a tie which reminded spectators of the 1972 decider which saw Doonbeg overcome Kilmihil 0-02 0-01.
Indeed, the final had an attendance of 4,608 as Éire Óg ensured the one difference between winning in 2021 and 2022 was that this year’s success saw them defeat every team along the way to claiming the Jack Daly.
Captain Gavin Cooney was the first to register a score, converting a mark on two minutes, this in itself was fitting as the Clare footballer really demonstrated his aerial ability across the course of this year’s campaign. They doubled their advantage through the industrious Ikem Ugwueru who most importantly was on hand to win back turnovers on several occasions in the opening half to disrupt Ennistymon’s momentum.
It took Ennistymon twenty minutes to put a score on the board and it arrived through a Brendy Rouine free, it was quickly cancelled out by Cooney to give Éire Óg a 0-03 0-01 interval lead.
On the restart it was Cooney and Sean Rouine to trade efforts. Cooney converted another free to regain the three point gap.
Goalkeeper Shane Daniels denied Cillian Rouine a green flag in the only goal chance of the game on thirty six minutes. Rouine split the posts with his next opportunity, All Star hurler David Fitzgerald wheeling off the pass to set him on his way.
Three points in a row on the start of the fourth put the winners in their strongest position of the entire tie, leading by five points.
Resilience has been to the fore for Ennistymon all year and they refused to give in, kicking three of the last four scores to leave only a single score between them at the sounding of Chris Maguire’s final whistle.
Aidan McGrath’s fifty eighth minute white flag was the insurance score for the Townies, sandwiched between fine efforts from Sean Rynne, Sean Rouine and Brendy Rouine.
Although their style of play has divided opinion, Ennistymon fully bought into it and reached a first final since 2018 as a result. The ultra defensive approach can reap rewards but any missed pass in the patient build-up can be detrimental both in coughing up an opportunity for the opposition and losing momentum. With a much younger age profile than their 2018 side, Ennistymon can be hopeful of reaching the big day again but they will know how long a road it is to get to a county final nevermind to return to it. For Mark Shanahan’s charges, David Fitzgerald, Joey Rouine and David McNamara were their most impressive players on the day.
When accepting the Jack Daly from Clare GAA Chairman, Kieran Keating, Éire Óg’s captain Gavin Cooney dedicated the win to two of their greatest clubmen Pat Fitzpatrick and Jack Heaslip, both of whom passed away this year. The defeat in last week’s hurling final was used as extra motivation for the hurlers with the club anxious to exit Cusack Park with silverware in their grasp, that determination has been evident in their campaign all year and it’s why they prevailed in this contest, one they could have arguable lost in previous years. For the winners, Aaron Fitzgerald, Ikem Ugwueru, Gavin Cooney and Aidan McGrath stood out.
Scorers Éire Óg: Gavin Cooney (0-06 4f, 2M), Ikem Ugwueru (0-01), Mark McInerney (0-01 1M), Aidan McGrath (0-01)
Scorers Ennistymon: Brendy Rouine (0-02 2f), Sean Rouine (0-02 1M), Cillian Rouine (0-01), Sean Rynne (0-01)
Éire Óg:
16: Shane Daniels
4: Ronan Lanigan
3: Aaron Fitzgerald
2: Manus Doherty
7: Ciaran Russelll
6: Aidan McGrath
5: Éinne O’Connor
8: David McNamara
9: Darren O’Neill
12: Niall McMahon
11: Ikem Ugwueru
10: Oran Cahill
15: Mark McInerney
14: Gavin Cooney
13: Philip Talty
Subs:
17: Jarlath Collins for Talty (44)
19: Conor O’Halloran for McMahon (55)
18: Danny Griffin for Cahill (63) (inj)
Ennistymon:
1: Noel Sexton
2: Ciaran McMahon
3: Adam Ralph
4: Joey Rouine
5: Liam Cotter
20: Cathal O’Reilly
10: Josh Guyler
9: David Fitzgerald
14: Brendy Rouine
6: Cillian Rouine
8: David McNamara
7: Tiernan Hogan
15: Sean Rynne
12: Eoin Rouine
13: Sean Rouine
Subs:
24: Brian McNamara for Hogan (HT)
11: Diarmuid Fahy for Cotter (41)
23: Lawrence Healy for Guyler (48)
17: Ryan Barry for E Rouine (53)
Referee: Chris Maguire (Wolfe Tones)
