Sharper Shamrocks secure senior status with strong finish

SHAMROCKS 2-17

CLARA 0-16

SHAMROCKS secured their place in the Senior Football Championship for 2024 when a good finish saw off a strong challenge from Clara in the relegation final played at Cappincur on Saturday evening.

In a very closely fought contest, in which the sides were level on nine occasions, Shamrocks put in a strong final quarter, outscoring their opponents by 1-7 to 0-1 in that time, to secure the win and ensure that they would stay in the top tier for next season.

Clara fought bravely and it was their best performance in the championship but they just seemed to run out of steam in the latter stages. They hung in grimly until Shamrocks scored their second goal after 59 minutes, which put them five points up, and that ultimately sealed Clara's fate. So just two years after returning to the top flight after winning the Senior B title in 2021, they will drop back down to the B championship next season.

This was a very good contest throughout with both sides contributed handsomely to an entertaining game that hung in the balance until Shamrocks netted for the second time a minute from the end of normal time. It was a high stakes game and both sides went at it positively and tried to attack as much as possible.

Clara had first use of the wind and used it to their advantage as they built up a 0-5 to 0-2 lead by the 11th minute. However they were knocked back when Shamrocks goaled after 16 minutes and from there to half time it was point for point as Clara led by 0-11 to 1-7 at the break.

The wind seemed to drop a little in strength after the break and Clara continued to attack well, going two points ahead on two occasions up to the 14th minute of the half but they only managed a single point from a free for the remainder of the game as Shamrocks edged in front by the 22nd minute and finished strongly to seal the win.

The attacking talents of Jack Bryant and Nigel Dunne were crucial to Shamrocks success and the pair accounted for 0-14 of Shamrocks' total, Bryant scoring 0-5 from play with Dunne hitting 0-3 from play and six frees. Amazingly as well, Shamrocks didn't register a single wide during the game, while Clara hit a total of nine and those margins matter in a tight game.

Shamrocks played well against the wind in the first half and must have been happy to go in only a point behind at the break. If they expected that they would pull away with the wind behind them after the break, then they had another thing coming. Clara put in a good effort in the period after half time and they were winning a lot of possession off the Shamrocks kick outs and putting pressure back on their opponents. Shamrocks gradually managed to get back on top and secured possession better and they didn't panic. They picked off their scores to edge in front before the late goal sealed the win and there were some very happy scenes in the Shamrocks camp at the final whistle.

Overall Shamrocks showed a bit more sharpness with a greater portion of their scores coming from play. They kept the ball well and created openings and when they got their opportunities they took them and as mentioned didn't have a single wide.

This has been a difficult campaign for Clara but they certainly didn't go down without a fight. They threw everything at this game and particularly in the first half played very well and picked off some lovely scores. They kept up the pressure in the third quarter but ran out of steam towards the end and never really created a clear goal scoring chance.

Jack Watkins, Shane O'Toole Greene and Padraig Cantwell were prominent in defence, Andrew Delaney and Dylan Hutchinson put in a huge shift in the middle of the field and Jack Bryant, Nigel Dunne and Dan Heffernan impressed in attack.

Conor Egan, John Ledwith and Adam Kelly battled hard in the Clara rearguard, Ross Brady did well around the middle of the field while Marcas Dalton, Graham Guilfoyle and Alex Egan were best in attack.

Clara hit the front after just 16 seconds when Marcas Dalton pointed but Shamrocks were level just over a minute later after a long passing movement which ended with Nigel Dunne pointing. Ross Brady (free), Graham Guilfoyle (mark) and Cormac Delaney all pointed for Clara while Conor Egan was in the right place to take a ball off the line after Shane O'Toole Greene had lobbed his effort over Joey Deehan.

Jack Bryant and Alex Egan exchanged points before Nigel Dunne added another for Shamrocks midway through the half. Shamrocks then hit the front for the first time when Jack Bryant and Nigel Dunne combined to set up Dara Daly and he steered his low shot just inside the post. Josh Fleming quickly levelled for Clara and the sides swopped points with Nigel Dunne (free), Jack Bryant and Shane O'Toole Greene on target for Shamrocks with Alex Egan and two from Graham Guilfoyle finding the mark for Clara to still leave it level five minutes before half time. Nigel Dunne's free put Shamrocks back in front but two Ross Brady frees then gave Clara a 0-11 to 1-7 half time lead.

Nigel Dunne levelled from a free inside the first minute of the second half but Ross Brady(free) and Alex Egan had Clara two up again. Padraig Cantwell and Nigel Dunne (free) brought the sides level once more but Ross Brady's free restored Clara's lead after 13 minutes and straight from the kick out Cormac Delaney won the ball and offloaded to Marcas Dalton for a point but they would only add one more in the remainder of the game.

Dan Heffernan reduced the lead to one at the midway point of the half and Nigel Dunne levelled from a free and he then put his side ahead again with a fine point from play. Jack Bryant kicked another fine score from out on the left before Ross Brady reduced the lead to the minimum once again from a free with three minutes left.

From the kick out Jack Bryant was on target again and then with a minute left on the clock Shane O'Toole Greene bore down on goals, his shot was half blocked but the loose ball fell into the path of Padraig Cantwell and he stroked the ball into the net. The relief was palpable for Shamrocks and Jack Bryant and Nigel Dunne (free) added further points to seal the win.

MATCH ANALYSIS

THE TEAMS

SHAMROCKS: Mark O'Rourke; Jack Watkins, Gary Hutchinson, Adam Keyes; Shane O'Toole Greene, David O'Rourke, Padraig Cantwell; Andrew Delaney, Dylan Hutchinson; Eoghan Neville, Jack Bryant, Dan Heffernan; Darragh Bryant, Nigel Dunne, Dara Daly. Sub. Gary Marriman (for Dara Daly, 62 mins).

CLARA: Joey Deehan; Barry Egan, Lorcan Hiney, Conor Egan; Adam Kelly, John Ledwith, Darragh McKeon; David Falsey, Ross Brady; Luke Dignam, Marcas Dalton, Alex Egan; Josh Fleming, Graham Guilfoyle, Cormac Delaney. Subs. Conor Doyle (for Darragh McKeon, 41 mins), Bobby Mitchell (for Luke Dignam, 47 mins), Pa Smith (for David Falsey, 55 mins).

REFEREE: Eamon O'Connor.

MAN OF THE MATCH

The attacking duo of Jack Bryant and Nigel Dunne were pivotal to Shamrocks' victory and both played starring roles. I give the edge to Jack Bryant with five points from play and also he came out and did a lot of good work out the field as well and linked well with his team mates, but there wasn't much between them.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

The game was still in the balance with a minute left with just two points between the sides when Shamrocks struck for their second goal and that was the moment that they could relax knowing that they had secured their place in the senior championship again next year.

REFEREE WATCH

Eamon O'Connor did a good job throughout. He was firm in his decisions, consulted well with his umpires and punished dissent by moving frees forward on a number of occasions. There were no arguments from either side with his officiating.

WHAT’S NEXT

Shamrocks will play in the senior championship next season while Clara will drop down to the Senior B championship. This marks the end of the season for both sides.

VENUE WATCH

The Cappincur club hosted the game well. They had plenty of stewards on duty to look after parking and directing traffic and that all ran smoothly. The pitch was a little soft after a lot of rain but overall held up well.

STATISTICS

Wides; Shamrocks 0 Clara 9 (4 in first half)

Yellow Cards: Shamrocks 3 (Gary Hutchinson, Dylan Hutchinson, Jack Watkins) Clara 2 (Conor Egan, Ross Brady)

Black Cards: None

Red Cards: None

THE SCORERS

Shamrocks; Nigel Dunne (0-9, 0-6 frees), Jack Bryant (0-5), Padraig Cantwell (1-1), Dara Daly (1-0), Shane O'Toole Greene, Dan Heffernan (0-1 each).

Clara; Ross Brady (0-6, all frees), Alex Egan (0-3), Graham Guilfoyle (0-3, 0-1 mark), Marcas Dalton (0-2), Cormac Delaney, Josh Fleming (0-1 each).