Clonkill bounce back
April 30, 2010Clonkill joined Castletown-Geoghegan in joint-third place on the Westmeath senior hurling championship roll of honour after they claimed their 11th title at Lough Lene Gaels' expense on September 27 last.
The Loughegar-based club now have record winners Brownstown (15 titles) and second-placed Castlepollard (14) firmly in their sights after lifting the Examiner Cup on three occasions (2001, 2007 and 2009) during the noughties. Their latest success cemented their position as 'Team of the Decade', with Castlepollard (two), Lough Lene Gaels (two), Raharney (two) and Castletown-Geoghegan (one) having shared the other seven titles among them.
In addition, Clonkill became the first Westmeath club in either code to savour national success when they captured the All-Ireland club intermediate title on an unforgettable night at Croke Park in February 2008. They appeared to be suffering from an All-Ireland hangover in their subsequent county championship defence when they came a cropper against Raharney in the final.
But they bounced back in the best possible fashion last year by regaining the Examiner Cup before almost becoming the first Westmeath team to reach a Leinster senior club hurling final.
Clonkill's return to the winners' podium wasn't without its setbacks. Indeed, the signs looked ominous for Pat O'Toole's charges when they were consigned to the losers' group following their first round replay defeat to Raharney. But they steadied the ship after that and exacted revenge on the holders in the semi-final before overcoming an emerging Lough Lene Gaels side by 1-16 to 2-9 in the county decider.
Clonkill's exciting 2-10 to 0-16 draw with Raharney served as the perfect launch for last year's championship. Raharney seemed poised to repeat their 2008 final victory when they hit three unanswered points in the closing stages to nudge ahead, but Alan Dowdall's point with the last puck of the game salvaged a replay for the green and golds.
The champions had the better of the first half exchanges and were full value for their 0-10 to 1-4 interval lead. Raharney remained on the front-foot until the 44th minute when Ger Fagan grabbed Clonkill's second goal to give them the lead for the first time since the fourth minute. Clonkill continued to cling onto a slender lead until a run of points from Christopher Flanagan, Conor Jordan and John Shaw pushed Raharney two in front with time running out.
But after Andrew Mitchell had cut the deficit to the minimum, Luke Folan spotted Alan Dowdall in space and the midfielder made no mistake by rifling over the equalising point from 50 metres.
The sides returned to Cusack Park four days later for the replay which Raharney won decisively (1-16 to 0-11). The Deelsiders never looked back after Niall Flanagan's 23rd minute goal helped them to a 1-9 to 0-6 lead at the interval. And despite a renewed effort, Clonkill failed to get any closer than five points in the second half with a tally of 10 wides doing nothing to help their cause.
Clonkill re-launched their championship bid with a 1-16 to 0-9 defeat of Brownstown in the first of three matches in the losers' group. Brownstown matched the hot favourites stride for stride in the opening half, going into the break on level terms (0-8 apiece). But in the second half it was all Clonkill, who outscored their opponents by 1-8 to 0-1 with substitute Paul Farrell accounting for the only goal late on.
Castletown-Geoghegan were expected to provide Clonkill with their toughest test in the group, but it never materialised as the green and golds eased to a 1-16 to 1-8 win. A Paddy Dowdall goal helped Clonkill to a commanding 1-9 to 0-2 interval lead before a third-quarter rally brought Castletown to within six points. But the winners then showed their class when they knocked over six points without reply to stroll to a comfortable victory.
Pat O'Toole's men set up a semi-final rematch with Raharney when they powered to an emphatic 8-24 to 1-7 win over Ringtown at Lakepoint Park. It was one-way traffic from start to finish with Clonkill doing as they pleased throughout. They led by 4-11 to 1-6 at half-time and added a further 4-13 in the second half to leave their opponents down and out.
Viewed as the 'real county final' by many, the third championship meeting of the year between Clonkill and Raharney drew a large attendance to Cusack Park. However, the semi-final failed to live up to expectations as Clonkill produced a totally dominant display to win by 0-18 to 1-8.
The Loughegar outfit signalled their intentions with an early burst of points which eased them into a 0-5 to 0-1 lead. Ray Smyth's Raharney replied with two points, but with Brendan Murtagh, Paddy Dowdall and Larry Donoghue all finding the target, the challengers were 0-9 to 0-4 to the good at the break.
Clonkill surged into a 0-12 to 0-4 lead on the restart before a brace of John Shaw points closed the gap to six. But Clonkill moved up through to gears again to establish a 10-point lead with four minutes remaining, leaving Niall Flanagan's 59th minute goal for Raharney no more than a consolation score.
Now only a new-look Lough Lene Gaels stood between Clonkill and their 11th county title. Despite being installed as warm favourites, the green and golds had to work for their four-point win, only making sure in injury-time when substitute Anthony Price fired over the insurance point.
In a keenly contested first half, a 12th minute Larry Donoghue goal for Clonkill was cancelled out by a fine Daniel Carty strike in the 20th minute. That gave the Collinstown men a 1-5 to 1-4 lead, but Clonkill scored the next three points to lead by 1-7 to 1-5 at half-time.
With Murtagh and Andrew Mitchell on target, the favourites extended their advantage on the restart before Derek McNicholas made it a three-point game when he drove a free to the net in the 40th minute. But two superb Murtagh points helped to steady Clonkill's nerves and they could even afford to waste a number of chances before Murtagh set up Price for the clinching score.
"It's a great feeling to win the county title again," man of the match Murtagh enthused after Barry Kelly's final whistle.
"It was a tough battle out there. Every time we got on top they just clawed their way back. It seemed like there was never more than a goal between us and they (Lough Lene Gaels) could have been back in front at any stage.
"We hurled well and we could have sown it up, but we had a few bad wides near the end, but it is a great feeling. Our aim was to win both halves and to finish each half strong, and it has worked for us in our matches. You couldn't fault the lads' work-rate out there today."
In early November, Clonkill achieved what most Westmeath clubs have failed to do by winning a game in the Leinster club hurling championship. The experience of winning the 2008 All-Ireland intermediate title was clear for all to see as the Lake County champions powered to a superb 1-21 to 2-12 victory over their Laois counterparts Clough-Ballacolla in a thrilling quarter-final at Cusack Park.
Brendan Murtagh hit 1-9 in another virtuoso display, giving the home side a dream start when he netted after just two minutes. Despite playing with the wind, Clough-Ballacolla were very dependent on free-taker Damien Bergin as Clonkill took a 1-5 to 0-6 lead into the break.
The visitors were much improved after the restart and looked set for victory when Kevin Keyes and Bergin scored quick-fire goals to put them two points clear midway through the half.
But Clonkill refused to wilt and had got their noses back in front before Bergin missed a routine free that would have brought Clough-Ballacolla level. Following this let-off, Clonkill outscored their opponents by 0-6 to 0-1 to set up a semi-final date with surprise Offaly kingpins Tullamore, who were managed by new Westmeath manager Kevin Martin.
With the game once again taking place in Cusack Park, Clonkill had high hopes of becoming the first Westmeath club to reach a Leinster senior club hurling final, but a wasteful performance costly them dearly.
The Loughegar side registered 12 wides and missed at least three guilt-edged goalscoring chances in a 1-9 to 1-12 defeat. One of those missed chances came in the dying moments when Tullamore's 48-year-old goalkeeper Damien Fox - who had managed Castletown-Geoghegan against Clonkill earlier in the year - dived full-length to keep out Eoin Price's goal-bound shot.
The more composed side throughout, Tullamore took a slender 1-5 to 0-7 lead into the break. The goal came in the 19th minute when former Galway underage star Francis Kerrigan capitalised on a mistake by Clonkill full back Adam Price to fire home.
With Shane Dooley in unerring form from placed balls, Tullamore had extended their led to 1-11 to 0-8 when Brendan Murtagh - who had a quiet game by his standards - got lucky when his mis-hit free was deflected to the Tullamore net.
It was all Clonkill after that as they went in search of the equalising goal. Alan Dowdall and Eoin Price both missed chances, although Anthony Price pointed in the follow-up to Fox's save from the latter.
The Westmeath champions finished the game with 14 players after Anthony Price received his marching orders late on, and it was left to the ever-reliable Dooley to seal Tullamore's victory with a point from a long-range free.
The Clonkill team which lost the Leinster club semi-final to Tullamore was: Brian Murray; Stephen Cleary, Adam Price, Martin Scally; Owen Price, Andrew Mitchell, Sean Loughlin; Fergal Fagan, Shane Power; Alan Dowdall, Brendan Murtagh, Paddy Dowdall; Michael Heffernan, Larry Donoghue, Luke Folan. Subs used: Anthony Price, Alan McGrath and Christopher Austin. Tweet
