Birr answer destiny's calling

At the time, it looked as if Johnny Pilkington's 51st minute goal had put the tin hat on Birr's third AIB All-Ireland club title. But, in retrospect, the Offaly champions were always in control.

Captain Simon Whelahan said that he knew as soon as he woke up yesterday morning that his club was going to win. His father and team manager Pad-Joe said afterwards that he never felt the result in any doubt.

From early yesterday, persistent rain would have lengthened the odds on Clarinbridge's lighter team, but the Galway side's coach John McIntyre refused to make an issue of the weather.

And he was right.

Birr established mastery all around the field and took their chances with an assassin's calm. Nothing went right for the losers but that wasn't for want of trying; they were simply outclassed.

Take your pick from some of the dismal statistics: Two scores from play in an hour or one point in the entire second half.

The afternoon was crowned by the, now obligatory, Man of the Match performance from Brian Whelahan in an All-Ireland final.

As gratifying for Birr and Offaly hurling in general was the contribution of young John Paul O'Meara at left corner back. He defended tenaciously when challenged and otherwise was a whirlwind of activity.

Joe Errity dealt with a succession of full forwards as Clarinbridge tried to find the right combination and the whole defence played really well as a unit.

Rory Hanniffy and Barry Whelahan maintained the upper hand at centrefield for virtually the whole afternoon, tightening their grip in the second half as the match was won.

Up front, they were more accomplished and varied than their opponents with all but one of the starting forwards scoring.

The effort came from all the generations: the Pilkingtons with the goals, Gary Hanniffy shooting some lovely points and 19-year old Stephen Brown delivering another driving, classy performance, which underlined the likelihood that we will be seeing more of him at county level.

Whatever about Birr's private convictions before the match, it took all of 30 seconds for the rest of us to get the feeling that it wasn't going to be Clarinbridge's day. Having won the toss and opted to face the wind, Birr's very first attack culminated in Declan Pilkington, clear behind the defence, planting the loose ball firmly into Liam Donoghue's net.

Clarinbridge needed to hit their stride quickly, but a couple of unfolding developments cast a worrying shadow on proceedings from their point of view. Birr's defence hasn't convinced at times this season.

Yesterday, however, was different. Brian Whelahan quickly let it be known that Mark Kerins would struggle to fulfil his role as fulcrum of the attack. All around, the rest of the defence was sharp and this could be seen in the amount of blocking and hooking.

Twice in the first 10 minutes Paul Coen was blocked trying to attempt a shot.

The other problem becoming rapidly evident was that Alan Kerins, the linchpin of the semi-final victory, was struggling to get into the game. There are politicians who didn't travel as far yesterday, as Clarinbridge's top player was shuttled into a succession of positions in an effort to kick-start his game - but it wasn't his day. But this is retrospect. At the time, the Galway champions appeared to be clawing their way out of adversity. The centrepiece of this rally was a 10th-minute goal, featuring some smart stickwork from David Forde who first-timed David Donoghue into position and he finished to the net.

From then on, Clarinbridge were able to hold and extend their lead, but never by what would have been a healthy margin considering the gusting wind.

You also got the impression that they were aware of the need to get something decent into the bank by half-time and that this anxiety wasn't helping the quality of their attacking play, which featured snatched shots and poor judgement leading to a heap of wides.

Still, two points up - 1-4 to1-2 - at the break the Connacht champions wouldn't have felt that the game was beyond them, but hopes for a competitive second half depended on how much better Birr would exploit the conditions.

The answer wasn't long coming. Within four minutes of the restart, Birr had fired over three points from the two Hanniffys and Brown to hit the front.

Clarinbridge rallied at the end of the third-quarter trailing by three points, 1-4 to 1-7. But the first-half impression that they needed an awful lot of the ball to make it count was confirmed. And Birr's defence was magnificent. The story of the match could be seen in microcosm in the space of a few minutes around this time.

In the 44th minute, Clarinbridge threw everything forward. Their speedy forwards ran at angles and slung the ball around looking to create just a chink of space. But they were harried and blocked and pressured at every turn. The move ended in a free, which Darragh Coen converted. It seemed as if a comeback was stirring.

But a promising line-ball opportunity was given away, and Brian Whelahan's effortless drive created an opening for Declan Pilkington who drew the foul. Simon Whelahan (rated as only 50 per cent fit) clipped it over.

As Clarinbridge's game disintegrated into aimless soloing and handpassing, Birr turned the screw. Johnny Pilkington was switched into full forward. His first attack took him through the defence and when his mishit shot caught Donoghue off-balance, he was on hand to kick the rebound into the net.

BIRR: B Mullins; G Cahill, J Errity, JP O'Meara; N Claffey, B Whelahan (0-1, a free), D Franks; R Hanniffy (0-1), Barry Whelahan; J Pilkington (1-0), G Hanniffy (0-2), L Power; D Pilkington (1-0), S Whelahan (0-4, all frees), S Brown (0-2). Subs: P Molloy for Power (52 mins).

CLARINBRIDGE: L Donoghue; M Spelman, A Quinn, G Spelman; J Cannon, M Donoghue, L Madden; D Coen (0-4, all frees), B Carr; P Coen, M Kerins, A Kerins; C Coen, D Forde, D Donoghue (1-1).

Referee: G Harrington (Cork).