Never-say-die Clarinbridge do Galway hurling proud

Date Published: {J}

THIS was some game for one game – an epic spectacle the like of which has probably never been seen before at club level. Saturday’s All-Ireland Club hurling semi-final had everything as a thrilling, wildly fluctuating encounter peppered with drama, brilliant scoring-taking and several magnificent individual displays produced the kind of heart-stopping finish which almost had to be seen to be believed.

The official attendance in Thurles may have been less than 2,500, but the small crowd who had the privilege to be there will surely carry memories of a titanic battle to the grave. It was that good; that spellbinding. So much was happening, and so much was changing, that it was even hard to keep pace with the game as two valiant teams emptied everything in their respective lockers in pursuit of a place in next month’s showdown.

The bare facts confirm that Clarinbridge and De La Salle served up an extraordinary contest in Semple Stadium. 53 scores in 80 plus minutes of frantic action; 41 of them from play and many of an exceptional quality; 19 different players hit the target; the teams were level a dozen times; and the Galway champions saw a couple of their longer serving players roll back the years in a manner few thought possible.

Clarinbridge have always been renowned for their stickwork and silky patterns of play, and while they had underlined their character on several occasions in capturing a second Galway title last year, notably against Beagh when they were a staring a shock exit from the championship in the group stages and in the county final replay against Loughrea, Saturday was something else altogether – the ‘Bridge have never played better than this or shown such admirable levels of resilience before.

Frankly, I didn’t think they had this level of performance in them. The team clearly surpassed anything they had produced in the Galway championship and hit a new peak in Thurles. Recovering magnificently from a dreadful start – their full forward line didn’t even touch the ball in the opening ten minutes – and with the Micheal Donoghue led team management making the right switches at the right time, the ‘Bridge pulled themselves together in doing Galway hurling proud on Saturday.

Initially, however, the Galway title holders were listing badly. De La Salle sprang out of the traps and were four points up after eight minutes. Clarinbridge were off the pace, struggling physically and guilty of some unforced errors. A typically well crafted point from Man of the Match Alan Kerins stopped the rot and just after the midway juncture of the opening-half, they were back on level terms with wing forwards Shane Burke and Stephen Forde both landing wonder points from the right wing.

By half-time, the ’Bridge were deservedly in front by 0-11 to 0-8 after the outstanding David Forde, Michael Donoghue, who made several inspiring catches, and midfielder Barry Daly all thundered into the match. Corner forward Eoin Forde was also emerging as another key player for them and would finish a marathon battle with five points from play to his credit. Another feature of the opening-half was a tremendous free converted by Mark Kerins

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.