WHAT an action packed weekend is in prospect. No fewer than five mouth-watering county finals, three of them at Walsh Park, with Fraher Field hosting the other two, including the replay of last Saturday’s magnificent drawn senior football decider between Stradbally and the Nire.
Add in Sunday’s divisional intermediate football final replay between Clashmore and Ring at Fraher Field and the fans are well and truly spoiled for choice.
With the junior hurling A final involving Geraldines and Fenor, the hugely attractive curtainraiser (1.15) to the senior football final replay, the Old Boro venue should house a very big attendance for what promises to be an afternoon of non stop thrills, spills, and excitement.
That same afternoon Ballinacourty’s minor footballers journey to Walsh Park to face the challenge of Gaultier, this time losing the benefit of Fraher Field advantage following the postponement of all three scheduled finals at the Old Boro venue last Sunday week.
Walsh Park’s doubleheader on Sunday should also bring out the fans in significant numbers with Ardmore and Rathgormack doing battle in the Under 21 A football final (1.45), followed by the meeting of Kilgobinet and St. Molleran’s (3 o’clock) to decide the destination of the 2002 junior football pennant. There’s a fairytale ring about this one, and I can only try to visualise the celebrations that will follow a Kilgobinet victory. Here’s hoping!
FRAHER FIELD
A draw was the most fitting result to last Saturday’s epic county senior football final with the Nire forcing the replay with a pointed free by ace marksman Connie Power a minute from time.
The actual decision to award the free was one hotly contested by the Stradbally defence, but their verbal protestations only led to referee John Michael Kelly giving it from an even more scoreable position, and, despite the pressure on him, Power unerringly kicked the point that necessitates this Saturday’s eagerly awaited replay.
It would have been a travesty had either side lost this out and out thriller. The best football county final for years, and one which had the fans on their toes from first minute to last. Four of the five goals had quality written all over them, several of the points were also out of the top drawer, and there were several individual performances on both sides that further embellished this magnificent game.
Replays of course don’t always live up to expectations but if Saturday’s is only half as good then there will be no one complaining. It was tense, thrilling, stuff all the way through, and while Stradbally may bemoan having victory snatched from them in the final minute a second bite at the cherry was no less than the brave challengers deserved.
HISTORIC
There’s a very special appeal about Sunday’s junior football final at Walsh Park because not only have Kilgobinet and the Mollerans not met previously in a championship decider of any kind but to the very best of my knowledge this will be a first ever meeting of the clubs at any stage of a championship. Little wonder then that this showdown is so very eagerly awaited.
Kilgobinet have come through a testing and very searching divisional campaign, and they had to battle much harder than many expected to master the vibrant Old Parish challenge in an exciting Western final. They didn’t play to their true potential in that game and trailed for much of the hour before a late flurry of points ultimately swung the pendulum in their favour.
In St. Molleran’s they are facing an opposition all buoyed up by an unexpected but richly deserved Eastern final victory, and it will take a performance of substantially greater quality than they produced against Old Parish to garner the spoils.
They are likely to stay true to the ‘tried and trusted’ warriors on Sunday, with Peter Lynch captaining the side from centre back. All round him he has very capable footballers in Brian Dunford, Michael Flynn, and Pat Morgan.
My expectation is that Mark Radley and Kevin (K) Walsh will man midfield, and if this formidable partnership can dominate the key sector then the foundations for a famous victory will most probably have been laid.
Their key man in attack is Paul Radley at centre forward. A class act on his day, Radley is capable of opening up the most tight knit of defences, and what more celebrated a stage on which to do so than Walsh Park on Sunday. Full forward Kevin (C) Walsh is another man crucial to their cause, and if he can continue in the prolific scoring vein that has marked all of his games en route to this decider then Kilgobinet will surely be on their way.
It’s a big, big, day for this small but tradition steeped Western club. County finals don’t come along all that often for Kilgobinet, so when they do they all but take over life throughout the parish. That’s how it has been in the build up to Sunday, and Peter Lynch and his men will enjoy huge support on the day.
The attainment of victory won’t be easy, that’s for sure. But while the Mollerans are certain to pose a very stern challenge, my belief is that playing to their potential this will be Kilgobinet’s day. From everyone in the division the best of luck in their quest for glory.
ARDMORE CAN RETAIN UNDER 21 TITLE
The opener at Walsh Park on Sunday is no less appealing, and both defending champions Ardmore and deadly dangerous challengers Rathgormack have what it takes to provide a thrilling Under 21 ‘A’ football final.
It’s been a spectacular few years for the Western champions at this level, and this could well be the club’s ‘last hurrah’ in the grade for a while. On Sunday they will welcome the return from the United States of Wayne Hennessy, and it is impossible to overstate his value to the side.
The bulk of last year’s winning side remains, the most notable absentee being Seamas Prendergast. However his brother Declan, Jamsie O’Donnell, the brilliant Billy Harty, and the Hennessy quartet backbone what is still by any yardstick an outfit rich in both quality and experience.
They were taken to a replay in the divisional final by neighbours Ardmore, but still managed to take the spoils in the replay despite having to field without as many as five established regulars. That’s the kind of steely determination which has become a feature of the side and which will again stand them in good stead on Sunday.
Rathgormack however are never an easy opposition whatever the grade, and they can be expected to throw down a very firm gauntlet. Their qualification for this final has been achieved through consistent performances all along the way and Ardmore will underestimate them at their peril.
It’s unlikely in the extreme however that the seasiders will fall into that foolhardy trap, and I just cannot see them being stripped of their title. But that said it should be close and exciting all the way.
GOOD LUCK TO THE GERS AND ‘COURTY
Having already previewed the junior hurling and minor football finals, which fell foul of the atrocious October 20th weather conditions, there’s little point in doing so a second time. That said however, the fans can expect two games of fervour and intensity, each well worth a visit in their own right.
The Geraldines/Fenor hurling decider will bring a huge crowd to Fraher Field where the Easterners will be hoping to make up for the heartbreak of defeat in the 2000 and 2001 finals. Geraldines too know all about the disappointment of defeat at the final hurdle, so whichever of them prevails on Saturday will truly be worthy champions.
News from the Westerners camp is that the experienced Ger O’Donovan will still not have recovered from the injury that ruled him out of the original fixture. He’s a massive loss to the Gers and it remains to be seen if they can overcome it. This time round I have that gut feeling that they will.
Ballinacourty meanwhile will be cursing their luck that the minor football final has now been lost to their favoured Fraher Field patch. Still the prospect of travelling to the city venue to take on Gaultier on Saturday shouldn’t be any more daunting.
It truly has been a memorable year at under age level for the sister Abbeyside and Ballinacourty clubs, and the minor footballers can now provide the icing on the cake with a second successive title win.
EXCITING DRAW IN INTER FINAL
Just as the county senior final ended in stalemate twenty-four hours earlier, the intermediate footballers of Clashmore and Ring couldn’t break the deadlock when they met in the divisional championship final at the same venue twenty four hours later. In the end it was 0-8 each, the perfect result to a very good and sportingly waged game.
Clashmore eased into a four point lead playing with the assistance of a strong wind, but Ring hung in determinedly, and when they went in at the half time break just two points off the pace (0-6 to 0-4) they looked to be in the better position.
Even more so when they drew level from a Eugene Curran pointed free going into the final quarter, but in a game in which they were never in arrears Clashmore regained the lead only for Curran to again restore equality from another placed ball three minutes from time.
Both sides scoffed matchwinning chances in the exciting finale, but in the end justice was done and its back to the same venue on Sunday (2 o’clock) for what should be an equally exciting replay.
ABBEYSIDE FOR UNDER-21 SEMI FINAL
An eight-point victory margin, 3-11 to 3-3, fairly mirrors Abbeyside’s superiority over Ballyduff in the Under 21 ‘A’ Western hurling semi-final at Cappoquin last Saturday.
It was a game that produced some excellent passages of hurling, and Abbeyside played well enough to suggest they will take a deal of beating in this title race. Next up for them are Fourmilewater, a game that cannot be played earlier than the weekend of November 9/10, with Tallow awaiting the winners in the final.
ARDMORE’S BIG DAY
Sunday last was another of those red-letter days for the Ardmore club when the magnificent extension to their clubhouse was officially opened. Regrettably circumstances entirely outside my control forced me to miss the celebrated occasion, but I’m told everything went off without a hitch of any kind.
The venue is now without question one of the best in the county. There isn’t a pitch anywhere in the country that can stand up to the elements as good as Ardmore’s, and the imposing clubhouse sets off the whole set up.
On and off the field Ardmore are thriving, and the united community involvement is one most other clubs are looking enviously at. Congratulations to all concerned on last Sunday’s milestone, and continued success to a great club in the years and decades to come.
