Four sent off as Clodiagh Gaels'win comes at very high price and Birr rue missed chances

WHILE they achieved their primary ambition of making the final, Clodiagh Gaels will retain very bitter sweet memories of their Senior “B” Hurling Championship semi-final win over Birr in Tullamore on Sunday afternoon.

Molloy Environmental Systems Senior “B” Hurling Championship semi-final

Clodiagh Gaels 0-17

Birr 0-13

The dismissal of their county man and most important player, Joey Keenaghan in the 18th minute and then a very inform player, Offaly senior footballer Dylan Hyland in the 35th minute will be the big talking points as Clodiagh Gaels reflect somewhat ruefully on their win and impending final against a flying Kilcormac-Killoughey team.

Keenaghan walked along with Birr full back Conor Callaghan after an off the ball altercation and that is an absolute disaster, a nightmare for Clodiagh Gaels as it greatly affects their prospects in the final against Kilcormac-Killoughey. No doubt they will be perusing all video footage with a fine tooth comb to see if they can get the red rescinded but the chances of it having been captured are slight as the incident happened well off the ball – and without video footage to conclusively prove that referee Matthew Farrell made an error, Keenaghan will be suspended for a game and miss the final. More that likely, they won't pursue it and the likelihood is that there may have been two instances of striking in the dust up

The duo walked when Farrell consulted with his umpires after Callaghan went down off the ball and the implications instantly became apparent to Clodiagh Gaels, even though they still had a game to win.

It got much worse for Clodiagh Gaels when Hyland and Shortt went after a brief melee beside the dugouts five minutes into the second half and Farrell showed reds after talking with linesman Joey Deehan. Again, Clodiagh Gaels will be looking for any way out but Deehan is one of the best hurling referees in Offaly and it would be a surprise if he guided the referee wrong, though you never know.

Clodiagh Gaels also started without another county player, injured Liam Langton and unsurprisingly he was called into action after Hyland went – Geashill man Hyland had started very well, scoring their first two points and he is a very good hurler, a very important cog in the Clodiagh Gaels machine, even though he is a better footballer.

There was a niggle to the game most of the afternoon, an undercurrent bubbling beneath the surface and Clodiagh Gaels will be disappointed at their discipline or lack of, as will Birr who battled very hard and were not far away at all. There have been more violent games played this year but there were quite a few slaps on wrists, late challenges and it meant that tempers did become frayed on both sides.

Clodiagh Gaels were 0-6 to 0-5 ahead at the first sending offs as both sides enjoyed early purple patches. Four points in a row from the 2nd to 8th minutes had put Clodiagh Gaels 0-4 to 0-1 ahead and Birr then got four of the next five to level it up before the winners edged ahead. Cian Nolan levelled from a 22nd minute free and Clodiagh Gaels played some of their best hurling after this.

Dominating all over the field, they attacked very well and took control with five points in a row. A fantastic diving block from Peter Walsh prevented Cian Nolan sxcoring an injury time goal and he pointed the '65' to leave Birr trailing by 0-11 to 0-7 at the break but with a mountain to climb as they were now facing into the wind.

The second half was messy, scrappy and disjointed and Clodiagh Gaels became unnerved after Hyland went. In the wind up, they did really well to recover their composure late on and advance to the final but a very brave Birr will harbour huge regrets as they had ample opportunities in the closing ten minutes to draw, if not win it.

Clodiagh Gaels were 0-12 to 0-9 ahead when Hyland and Shortt were sent off. After this, Birr got on top, playing with great spirit and they put Clodiagh Gaels on the ropes. With four minutes left they were just a point behind, 0-14 to 0-13 and Clodiagh Gaels were in bother. Birr let them off the hook, missing four simple chances in the closing minutes. Cian Nolan was wide from two frees and Paul Cleary took over from him, converting one but also sending a very scoreable one wide. Darragh Tierney also had a bad miss from in front of the posts and had Birr converted all those, they might have won.

Instead, Clodiagh Gaels managed to steady the ship late on with Cathal Brady getting the closing three points from frees but it all ended up quite unsatisfactory for them, an unconvincing win and a lot of damage done to their final prospects – though they will still have a chance of returning to senior ranks.

MATCH ANALYSIS

MAN OF THE MATCH

Aaron Flanagan (Clodiagh Gaels): Aaron Flanagan had a storming game at full back for Clodiagh Gaels.As team mates became rattled and made mistakes, he displayed leadership qualities, standing up to be counted and winning inspirational ball in front of the posts. He defended very solidly all day, doing the simple thing well, blocking and harrying and he was instrumental in their win. Conor Langton started very well for them while Peter Walsh and Sean Brady also impressed. The veteran Paul Cleary drove Birr on relentlessly while Tom Bolger and Cian Nolan played well for them.

THE SCORERS

Clodiagh Gaels: Dwayne Dunne 0-7 (7f), Cathal Brady 0-3 (3f), Conor Langton and Dylan Hyland 0-2 each, Sean Brady, Tom Dunne and Clint Horan 0-1 each.

Birr: Cian Nolan 0-6 (5f and 1 '65'), Tom Bolger 0-3, Paul Cleary 0-2 (1f), Darragh Tierney and Eoin Pilkington 0-1 each.

THE TEAMS

CLODIAGH GAELS: Kevin Kinahan; Ben O'Brien, Aaron Flanagan, Peter Walsh; Ruari Dunne, Sean Beatty, Sean Brady; Tom Dunne, Clint Horan; Conor Langton, Dylan Hyland, Cathal Brady; Dwayne Dunne, Joey Keenaghan, Cathal Curran. Subs – Liam Langton for Curran (37m), David Buckley for Dwayne Dunne (50m), Sean Rattigan for Ruari Dunne (52m),

BIRR: Mick Mulrooney; Michael Verney, Conor Callaghan, Joe Boyd; Max Boyd, Craig Pardy, Ben Miller; Darragh McNamara, Darragh Tierney; Eoin Pilkington, Paul Cleary, Craig Shortt; Tom Bolger, Dylan Murphy,. Cian Nolan.

Referee – Matthew Farrell, Tullamore

REFEREE WATCH

A Roscommon man living and working in Tullamore, Matthew Farrell is a newcomer to the Offaly refereeing scene. He made two major calls when giving Joey Keenaghan and Conor Callaghan straight red cards in the 18th minute and then ones to Dylan Hyland and Craig Shortt in the 35th minute. Almost no spectators saw what happened the first one as it was off the ball and Callaghan was spreadeagled on the ground after an altercation. His two umpires immediately stood to one side, clearly saw what had happened and Farrell spoke to them, going back to double check before showing red. He also showed red to Dylan Hyland and Craig Shortt after consulting with his linesman following a brief melee that all players should have walked away from – there was a lot going on but the card count ended up very high with a few yellow cards flashed as well.

Outside of that, he refereed the game well, was fit and aware of what was going on.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

The two sending offs were huge moments for Clodiagh Gaels while Cathal Brady's 57th minute free was crucial in terms of winning the game – Clodiagh Gaels were rocking precariously and a two point lead was a big one at that stage.

VENUE WATCH

The usual array of competent stewards were on duty in O'Connor Park and the pitch held up well.

WHAT'S NEXT

Clodiagh Gaels play Kilcormac-Killoughey in the final.

STATISTICS

Wides: Clodiagh Gaels – 7 (3 in first half); Birr - 6 (1 in first half).

Yellow cards: Clodiagh Gaels – 2 (Cathal Brady, Dwayne Dunne); Birr – 5 (Michael Verney, Craig Pardy, Cian Nolan, Ben Miller, Max Boyd).

Red cards: Clodiagh Gaels – 2 (Joey Keenaghan and Dylan Hyland); Birr – 2 (Conor Callaghan and Craig Shortt).