ItÕs the ÕBridgeÕs best yet

Date Published: {J}

Clarinbridge 3-22

De La Salle 1-27

(after extra time)

CIARAN TIERNEY AT SEMPLE STADIUM

TALK about cutting it close there were 82 minutes on the clock when Clarinbridge attacker Alan Kerins collected a ball from Paul Coen and bore down on the De La Salle goals at Semple Stadium, Thurles, on Saturday evening. Two points down, the former Galway star had only one thing on his mind, even if the Waterford contingent were already celebrating at the end of this enthralling All-Ireland Club hurling semi-final.

Knowing that a point was no use so late in the game, Kerins surged past a number of defenders and unleashed a venomous shot towards the Waterford side’s goals, only for full-back Ian Flynn to get his stick to it. But midfielder Eanna Murphy was perfectly positioned to bat the deflected ball first time to the net and edge out one of the most exciting games in the history of the club championships.

Suddenly, unbelievably, the team who looked to have lost this thriller were on their way to Croke Park. The Galway crowd went wild, the Waterford men fell to their knees in dejection, and the Clarinbridge hurlers who have been known for a decade as ‘nice’ stickmen showed that they have steel in abundance to extend this memorable 2010-11 campaign.

Croke Park beckons for a team and community who missed out on a trip to GAA HQ on their only previous sojourn to the All-Ireland final nine years ago – and O’Loughlin Gaels of Kilkenny can underestimate the ‘Bridge at their peril after this spirited fight-back.

It was Clarinbridge’s second late escape from a spellbinding tie, as centre forward Mark Kerins brought them back from the brink when he planted a 20 metre free to the net at the end of normal time. They also showed great determination after trailing by 0-4 to no score, when it looked as though they were going to be swamped by waves of DLS attacks in the opening minutes. These boys don’t seem to know when they are beaten.

Defeat was rough justice for De La Salle, and the ‘Bridge felt for them afterwards, but the men who waited nine years for a second county title should make no apologies for breaking Waterford hearts. Their spirit was unbelievable throughout a pulsating tie in which the sides were level ten times and traded 53 scores.

It may have taken Clarinbridge too long to settle, with Alan Kerins popping over their first score a full 11 minutes in but, once they did, the Kerins brothers, David and Eoin Forde, wing back Micheal Donoghue, Brian Burke and Barry Daly put in resolute displays during a performance which will rank among the best produced by a Galway side outside the county.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

See also: Clarinbridge on Cloud Nine