Shane Golden shoots under pressure from Keith White and Conner Hegarty. Photograph: Ruth Griffin
SIXMILEBRIDGE and Feakle will meet in the TUS Clare SHC final for the first time after The Bridge overcame Inagh/Kilnamona following a penalty shootout.
Sixmilebridge 0-28
Inagh/Kilnamona 1-25
(Sixmilebridge win 4-3 on penalties)
Venue: Cusack Park, Ennis
Sixmilebridge made Inagh/Kilnamona pay the penalty when edging an unprecedented 150 minute extra-time semi-final showdown with Inagh-Kilnamona in Cusack Park.
Level at the end of the hour and half-time and full-time in the additional periods, penalties would de-cide the outcome of a senior hurling business end clash for the very first time and even that process had to go all the way to sudden death before Jamie Shanahan converted the winner.
Goalkeepers Eamonn Foudy and Derek Fahy both excelled by scoring and saving twice in an under-standably anxious crescendo but former county senior Shanahan would also score a brace before David Fitzgerald’s final attempt just cleared the crossbar.
It was cruel on the current All-Star who had previously buried his first penalty but also a tough pill to swallow for Inagh/Kilnamona who appeared to have control of the tie for the majority.
Despite leading by four points in both halves of the first hour and even two once more in extra-time, crucially Inagh/Kilnamona never put the tie to bed and ultimately they would be punished by a vastly experienced ‘Bridge side that featured nine players with five county medals.
Indeed, statistics will show that it was Inagh/Kilnamona that had to find the levellers in both normal and extra-time after a resilient Sixmilebridge side defied their unfavourable age profile.
All that after Inagh/Kilnamona received the perfect start when Fred Hegarty batted to the net after only twenty seconds with the wind at their backs.
Points from Aidan McCarthy and David Fitzgerald ensured a 1-2 to 0-1 lead after only five minutes but they would fail to maintain that prolific streak as six wides were duly punished by six Sixmilebridge scores including a hat-trick of Alex Morey frees for Tommy Liddy and Stiofan Fitzpat-rick’s side to hit the front for the first time by the midway mark of the opening half at 0-7 to 1-2.
it was chief target Aidan McCarthy that wrestled back control for Inagh/Kilnamona as four points from play were only halted when Derek Fahy prevented Sean Rynne from raiding for another goal by the 26th minute at 1-8 to 0-9.
By half-time, Aidan McCarthy’s seven point haul was pivotal to carving out a 1-11 to 0-11 interval lead, a margin that they would maintain into the final quarter.
Points from Jason Loughnane and Alex Morey lowered the arrears to just the minimum by the 52nd minute but twice Inagh/Kilnamona responded to double their lead before receiving the late sucker-punch of a second yellow card for Keith White entering the final five minutes at 1-17 to 0-18.
A wily Sixmilebridge took full advantage as Alex Morey not only reeled in their opponents by the hour mark but actually nudge his side in front for the first time in over 40 minutes with a monster 62nd mi-nute free at 0-22 to 1-18.
Seamus Foudy cooly converted the equaliser from the restart while there was also still time to level the playing numbers when Shane Golden was issued a second yellow to ensure that both sides played extra-time with only 14 players.
Inagh/Kilnamona, thanks to McCarthy’s scoring efficiency initially nudged back in front at 1-22 to 0-23 by the 68th minute only to be rocked on their heels as Jamie Shanahan fired a brace of frees to level matters by half-time before proceeding to push on with the first three points of the new half too.
Brian Corry (2) and Shanahan established the ‘Bridge’s biggest lead of the afternoon at 0-28 to 1-22 by the 76th minute but credit Inagh/Kilnamona for not panicking either as McCarthy converted a brace of frees while Conner Hegarty also fired over from halfway to complete a historic stalemate.
With only a 40% conversion rate, only two penalties each were converted of the allocated five in front of the ‘Town Goal’.
However, after respective goalkeepers Fahy and Foudy had expertly dispatched their second strikes, Jamie Shanahan nestled his second in the bottom left corner to confirm Sixmilebridge’s return to the county senior decider for the first time since 2020.
They now face Feakle in a first ever final in a fortnight’s time as they look to bolster their golden gen-eration’s bounty of a sixth Canon Hamilton crown in twelve years.
Scorers Sixmilebridge: A Morey (0-11 9f), J Shanahan (0-7 4f), B Corry (0-5), D Kennedy (0-2), L Fitzpatrick (0-1), J Loughnane (0-1), A Mulready (0-1)
Scorers Inagh/Kilnamona: A McCarthy (0-13 8f), C Hegarty (0-4), D Fitzgerald (0-3), F Hegarty (1-0), S Rynne (0-2), E McNamara (0-2), S Foudy (0-1).
Sixmilebridge:
1: Derek Fahy;
2: Colm Flynn
8: Seadna Morey
3: Barry Fitzpatrick
17: Noel Purcell
6: Páidí Fitzpatrick
5: Conor Deasy
18: Matthew O’Halloran
10: Jason Loughnane
14: Lorcan Fitzpatrick
11: Jamie Shanahan
12: Shane Golden;
13: Brian Corry
15: Alex Morey
24: David Kennedy
Subs:
20: Caimin Morey for Purcell (44)
21: Alan Mulready for Kennedy (51)
4: Fiachra Ó Briain for L Fitzpatrick (56)
Lorcan Fitzpatrick for A Morey (67)
9: Brian Carey for Deasy (73)
David Kennedy for Corry (75)
Inagh/Kilnamona:
1: Éamonn Foudy;
4: Conor Rynne
3: Shane Woods
2: Keith White;
5: James Hegarty
6: Jason McCarthy
7: David Fitzgerald;
9: Seamus Foudy
8: Conner Hegarty;
10: Darren Cullinan
11: Seán Rynne
12: Fred Hegarty;
14: Eoghan Foudy
15: Aidan McCarthy
13: Niall Mullins
Subs:
17: Evan McNamara for Mullins (38)
18: Marc Callinan for Cullinan (57)
30: Gearoid Barry for F Hegarty (53)
21: Colin Shannon for Eoghan Foudy (57)
20: Jason Griffin for Callinan (70)
19: Brian Foudy for J Hegarty (74)
21: David Mescall for Barry (76)
Referee: Aaron Hogg (Clonlara)
