Eire Óg 0-11  -  Corofin 1-4   at Ennistymon

A REVIEW copy of Hitler’s Irishmen landed on the desk a few days back and it made for interesting reading from the point of view of county Clare.
It gives great detail on the exploits of John Francis O’Reilly - the Kilkee man who made a parachute landing in west Clare back in 1943.
Imagine someone made a parachute landing in Ennistymon on Friday night to be told that Éire Óg and Corofin were senior football teams.
Such a statement would have seemed like propaganda pap, the like of which even Joe Goebbels never dreamt up. Yes folks, Corofin and Éire Óg were that bad.

This game masquerading as senior football was lamentable - those who paid the €10 entrance should have got a refund on leaving the ground.
Not that Éire Óg were too bothered - victory, however unimpressive, was their bottom line and they ground out a result thanks to an inspired second half display by Sean O’Meara who showed the sort of form that led former Clare manager John Kennedy to throw him into senior championship action against Kerry four years ago.
And, thanks to his second half salvo of four points and an impressive cameo appearance from Brian Shannon, the Townies can now look forward to a landmark tenth county quarter-final appearance in 11 years.
Mission accomplished then - the Townies’ recovery in Group 2 complete after their shock defeat against Ballyvaughan in which they served up the worst 30 minutes of football since joining the senior ranks in 1996.
This wasn’t much better - maybe the Ennistymon venue haunted them because there were times when the indifference they showed against Ballyvaughan at the same venue was there for all to see.
A tally of 13 wides over the game told this story - some of shots that went astray being the product of wreckless individualism and selfishness that must be eradicated if they’re to keep the ball kicked out to opposition in the knockout stages.
Éire Óg’s kicking malaise manifested itself in the first half - despite dominating for long periods when playing against the wind they ended up 1-3 to 0-5 in arrears at half-time.
All this from a position after 20 when they led by 0-4 to 0-2 and looked very comfortable. David Monaghan and Brian Lenihan were winning plenty of ball in the half-forward line, while the backs had the upper hand on Corofin’s forwards.
Good points from Sean O’Meara, Lenihan and Stephen Hickey (2) showed the way, while Corofin only kept in touch thanks to two points from Damien Ryan.
However, the whole complexion of the game changed in the 25th minute - a quick free from Dara Shannon was picked up by Kevin Heagney who was allowed a clear run in along the endline before coolly sidefooting the ball to the net from six yards.
Corofin now believed and had another goal chance a minute later, only for Jason Tierney to be pulled up for over-carrying when he had the goal at his mercy.
Full-forwards Stephen Hickey and Colm Clancy traded points before half-time to leave the game delicately poised. It should have swung decisively in Corofin’s favour four minutes into the second half when Colm Clancy teed up Donncha Kelleher ten yards out. His shot had goal stamped all over it, but the combination of Shane O’Connell and the post saved the Townies, while Damian Ryan blazed the rebound wide. Éire Óg were rattled, but this near-disaster finally shook them out of their lethargy as they dominated the rest of the game.
Sean O’Meara levelled things up by the 38th minute - then he followed up with three more points to put the Townies 0-9 to 1-3 clear by the 50th minute.
They were home to a quarter-final when Brian Shannon tacked on a couple of poionts, while Corofin’s only score of the second half came in the first minute of injury time from Damian Ryan.
That statistic sums up the quality of this game.

Won and Lost
COROFIN had their chances here - real opportunity knocked when Colm Clancy put Donncha Kelleher through on goal four minutes into the second half. A goal would have put them four clear and Townie heads would surely have dropped. When he missed Corofin’s chance was lost and the 2006 champions regained their composure and out-scored their opponents by 0-6 to 0-1 to win the day.

Match Details

Éire Óg Shane O’Connell (8),  Alan Malone (6), Donie Lyne (7), Dean Ryan (6), Saran Butler (7), Brendan Manning (6), David Russell (7), Shane Daniels (6), Brian Frawley (6), Brian Lehihan (7) (0-1), David Monaghan (7), Brian Fitzpatrick (6), Eion Glynn (6), Stephen Hickey (7) (0-3), Sean O’Meara (8) (0-5, 1f). Sub Peter Cosgrove (6) for Frawley, Brian Shannon (7) (0-2) for Fitzpatrick.

Corofin Kieran Carkhill (7), Michael O’Dell (6), Darragh Clancy (6), Eoin Malone (6), Neil Killeen (7), Eamon Malone (7), Michael Shannon (7), John Keane (7), Luke O’Loughlin (6), Kevin Heagney (7) (1-0), Damien Ryan (6) (0-3, 2f), Dara Shannon (6) Capt., Jason Tierney (6), Colm Clancy (7) (0-1), Donncha Kelleher (6). Subs Brendan Keane (6) for Kelleher.

Match Official Ml McGann (Michael Cusack’s)

Man of the Match
Sean O’Meara (Éire Óg)
IN an appalling football spectacle the former county senior stood apart from everyone else when the game was there to be won and lost. He took the game by the scruff in the second half, bagging four points, three of which came from play. All of his points were badly needed.

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