Absorbing final falls for Laune

THE AIB Munster club football final came to a fitting climax yesterday at Fitzgerald Stadium, Killarney. Bright sunshine might have put people in mind of provincial finals in July, but the Reeks, looking down on this lovely venue, were shrouded in wintry mist.

Everything else, however, was in order. A noisy, enthusiastic crowd of 10,107 witnessed a great game of football, full of skill and the type of, absorbing calculation that can characterise the best matches between teams of contrasting styles.

In the end, the superior skills and experience of the All-Ireland champions prevailed and extended their unbeaten championship record which stretches back over two years.

Clonakilty have evolved beyond their status as improbable Cork champions into an intelligent side who had to overcome a number of hardships yesterday, starting with the failure of Diarmuid Cahill to pass an injury test. This left them short two of their first-choice full back line, as Willie Griffin had already been incapacitated by appendicitis. In the circumstances Padraig White, replacement Derek Dillon and Brian Murphy played resourcefully well.

Laune had their own difficulties missing Mike Hassett and Shane O'Sullivan, after an exhausting year, and at times the metal fatigue showed. On a few occasions, having lined up Clonakilty in their sights, they looked set to take over the match.

To the west Cork club's credit, they resisted mightily each time and rose to the challenge of staying in the game. Only at the very end did the verdict run sharply away from them and whereas Laune were three points a better team, the margin didn't reflect the tightness of the match. With the final two scores in injury-time, the Killorglin side moved more than a point clear for the first time all afternoon.

In fact the champions only led for seven minutes of ordinary time and trailed for most of the match.

A strong wind played a large part in proceedings. Clonakilty won the toss and decided to play with the advantage of the elements for the first half. Within 30 seconds it (almost) paid off. A super ball from Owen O'Mahoney put full forward Terry Dillon in on goal, and he was brought down for a penalty but O'Mahoney drilled it well wide.

Clonakilty were unabashed by the setback and harnessed the wind effectively for the whole of the first calf. Using long ball intelligently, they created good opening for their stack and scored some fine long-range points.

Laune were evidently missing Mike Hassett at centre back. Young John Sheehan was getting a hard time off Padraig Griffin who consistently beat him to the ball and created trouble for the Killorglin defence. Behind Sheehan, Paudie Sheahan was also experiencing problems on Dillon.

Coping with conditions reasonably well for the first 20 minutes Laune ran the ball short with Billy O'Shea putting in an excellent performance, feeding off breaking ball and getting forward at pace. His most noticeable team-mate was the prodigious Michael Francis Russell, whose consummate skill on the ball was a constant threat to Clon's defence.

When O'Shea and Russell tied up the match at 0-4 each with two quick points, things looked ominous for the Cork team as a big lead was imperative with the prospect of facing the wind after the interval. Not for the last time, however, Laune failed to push home the advantage.

Clonakilty steadied themselves in the 10 minutes before half-time with a succession of four, unanswered) points to lead 0-8 to 0-4. As a margin to cushion a team against the wind, it looked a bit threadbare, but the holders' closer-knit gameplan was unlikely to benefit quite as much from the wind.

In the event, Clonakilty made a tactical switch at half-time that didn't work. The rationale behind switching Dillon and Padraig Griffin was presumably, to bring the full forward nearer the action in a mid-field that at times resembled Grafton Street at Christmas.

Laune ate up the half-time deficit handily enough but couldn't pull clear from their resilient opponents. A host of chances were created with the wind behind them, but they conjured nine of their 12 wides in the second half compared with Clonakilty's three in the first half" and five overall.

It took the winners 10 minutes to close to within a point of the Cork champions and a further 10 minutes to equalise.

Ironically, Clonakilty wing back, Paddy Barrett, the veteran Limerick player, had a fine match on the ball tidying up tirelessly and initiating several of his side's breaks but ran into trouble, to put it mildly, in terms of marking.

His direct opponent, Gerard Murphy, was probably the man of the match. His five points from play taken from all sorts of opportunities and all during the second half, were crucial to his team's cause and highlighted again the extent of the potential that has been lost to Kerry, because of chronic injury.

Murphy put Laune into the lead with eight minutes left, but substitute Barry O'Donovan, on for his namesake and team coach Michael "Casey" O'Donovan, equalised. The match swung on an incident in the 58th minute when Clonakilty had a couple of good chances as, Barry O'Donovan was blocked and O'Mahoney drew a cracking save from Peter Lyons. The resulting 45 was cleared.

Laune, suitably shaken up, pounced for the kill. First Liam Hassett, who had a quiet afternoon, scored what was in effect the winner before Murphy and substitute Pa O'Sullivan wrapped up an excellent afternoon's football.