Clarinbridge camp on cloud nine after stunning triumph

Date Published: {J}

CIARAN TIERNEY

ONE bat of a hurl proved to be the blow to decide a classic. Midfielder Eanna Murphy turned up in the right place at just the right time to strike the net, break Waterford hearts, and send his club to Croke Park for the very first time.

Few of the estimated 4,000 strong crowd will forget this All-Ireland semi-final thriller in a hurry. It was a game which had it all, a fierce pace from the outset, no less than 53 scores shared between teams who were level on 11 occasions, and 82 minutes of action before Murphy connected with a deflected Alan Kerins shot and forced the sliotar home.

It’s unlikely any of us will witness a more enjoyable game this year. Two teams just ‘went for it’ in a ding-dong battle which will live long in the memory, with Clarinbridge overcoming a sluggish start to edge out Waterford and Munster champions De La Salle by just one point (3-22 to 1-27) at Semple Stadium.

This was sensational stuff from a spirited Clarinbridge side who came back from the dead, when they looked to have been beaten on two occasions. And central to the rescue mission were the experienced Kerins brothers, Alan and Mark, two of the six players who provide a link with their only other All-Ireland final appearance, in Thurles, nine years ago.

Full-forward Alan produced a rousing Man of the Match performance, dominating much of the outfield play after being switched to the middle of the field, while Mark made light of the virus which kept him away from the training field last week with an impressive haul of 2-5.

If Clarinbridge have been considered ‘nice’ hurlers, lacking the requisite steel, since their only other county final success in 2001, well . . . they haven’t read the script this year. They got out of jail against Beagh and Loughrea and they did it again here, twice, showing fantastic spirit and determination. They simply refused to be beaten, even when virtually everyone in the ground thought they were dead and buried.

“The game ebbed and flowed so much, it was hard to see a winner. We are ecstatic with the win and your heart would go out to De La Salle. It was an epic game and you could say a draw would have been a fair result. We went two minutes overtime, but we are not going to apologise for that. It’s unbelievable to be in the All-Ireland final,” admitted team manager Micheal Donoghue afterwards.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

See also ‘Bridge’s best yet’