Clarinbridge 1 - 15, Ballygunner 2 - 8: Even if they win next month's AIB All-Ireland club final, Clarinbridge will hardly be able to cram any more supporters into their dressing-room than the delirious horde that swarmed around the team's quarters in Thurles yesterday.
Outsiders for this semi-final against Munster champions Ballygunner, the Galway club played the sharper hurling and showed great determination when reduced to 14 men seven minutes into the second half and facing into a strong, albeit fading, wind. Alan Kerins starred for the winners both in attack and defence and Darragh Coen knocked over seven frees to keep the scoreboard ticking over.
Overall Clarinbridge were very impressive on a day when rain fell and the fabled sod of Thurles didn't have one of its better days. Heavy rain during the week left the surface spongier than usual and militated against the Connacht champions' lighter, faster team.
Ballygunner were dejected afterwards that the fine form they showed before Christmas deserted them so completely.
Apart from Paul Flynn - who was successfully isolated in the second half - the attack carried little menace and failed to raise the tempo in the second half when the match was there for the taking.
It was maybe a little hard on Clarinbridge's left corner back Gerry Spellman that he got sent off in the 37th minute. He had been harshly booked only two minutes into the match and was therefore vulnerable to the second yellow card, which duly arrived.
As is often the case, the sending-off impacted to the advantage of the notionally weakened team. Leading 1-9 to 1-7, Clarinbridge thrived in the anarchy of the suddenly looser exchanges and steadily added four points without reply over the next 17 minutes. The match was effectively decided in this phase.
According to John McIntyre, the victorious coach, the sending-off was pivotal.
"It looked grim, playing against the wind. But the lads showed why they're Galway champions. In a curious way losing a man suited us, opened up things and changed the flow of the game. Up to then it had been an orthodox kind of a hurling match, players holding positions but then positions counted for nothing and it kind of suited us. There was a load of breaking ball around the middle of the field."
The big tactical switch which McIntyre was especially pleased with was the posting of Alan Kerins to wing back. After his difficult summer juggling the demands of dual commitments, Kerins was in great form yesterday. Before his defensive heroics during the second half, the man who started at wing forward had bagged 1-2 before the break, despite his marker, Stephen Frampton, picking up a lot of possession.
When the match started five minutes late to allow the crowd time to get in, it was immediately apparent that Clarinbridge would need a good six points in the bank at half-time, considering the strength of the wind.
Opening exchanges were tight and the crowd of 10,400 waited until the second quarter for the first wide of the afternoon. Alan Kerins's goal, clinically taken after a pass from the lively David Donoghue, in the 20th minute appeared to put the necessary daylight between the teams, a relief for Clarinbridge who had watched full forward David Forde mis-hit a good goal chance a couple of minutes earlier.
Despite playing second fiddle in the opening stages Ballygunner were to go in at half-time reasonably happy. There were signs that the Waterford side were beginning to find a rhythm and full forward Paul Foley crashed in a goal having been well placed by Mick Mahony in the 26th minute, to reduce the interval deficit to four, 1-3 to 1-7.
The second half hung in the balance for a while, even immediately after the sending-off. Clarinbridge hit some bad wides but their opponents weren't making any headway. Stephen Frampton struggled to make a difference as the extra man and the winners' defence tightened up considerably. Goalkeeper Liam Donoghue was solidity personified playing into a bright sun, and captain Michael Donoghue's grip at centre back grew stronger as the match progressed.
"We weren't let play," was the verdict of Ballygunner coach Gordon Ryan. "They counteracted us in most areas and the sending-off probably worked to their advantage. Open space suited them." Into every life a little rain, however, and McIntyre identified the cloud around his silver lining. "The only downside is that I won't be going to Cheltenham."
CLARINBRIDGE: L Donoghue; M Spellman, A Quinn, G Spellman; J Cannon, M Donoghue (capt.), L Madden; D Coen (0-7, all frees), B Carr (0-1); P Coen (0-1), M Kerins (0-1), A Kerins (1-2); C Coen, D Forde (0-1), D Donoghue (0-2). Subs: S Burke for C Coen (58 mins).
BALLYGUNNER: R Whitty; N O'Donnell, A Kirwan, R O'Sullivan; S Frampton, F Hartley, C Kehoe; T Fives, P Power (0-1); M Mahony, P Flynn (0-4, two frees, one 65), A Moloney; B O'Sullivan (1-1), P Foley (1-1), T Carroll (0-1). Subs: D O'Sullivan for Mahony (51 mins); A Hearne for Foley (51 mins).
Referee: B Kelly (Westmeath).
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