The Nire March On

If there is a better footballer in this years County Senior Football Championship than The Nire’s Liam Lawlor, I have yet to see him.

Throughout this years championship he has been model of consistency playing on the edge of the oppositions square. He’s involved in much of what the Nire do in their opponent’s side of the field. If he is not scoring he is making scores for others.  

On Saturday evening in The Nire’s 3-13 to 0-15 victory over Clashmore in the County semi final he was at it again. He finished the game with another two points behind his name on the score sheet but his fine worked helped in no small way in building up an impressive tally on the scoreboard for his side.

Clashmore will obviously feel hard done by with their effort in this game. Normally fifteen points in a game would not just win you a game, but win it well. But it was not to be in this game.

For much of this year, The Nire has proven themselves to be a very attractive team to watch and they did so again here. They are playing a brand of football that is easy on the eye and if they go on to win the County Final they will win many admirers for their way of playing when they go on to represent the county in the provincial championship.

Both teams in this game had to make changes to the team submitted for the programme. Clashmore lost their influential inside forward Sean Fleming, while The Nire were without Shane Walsh who retired early against Kilrossanty in their quarter final replay win a week earlier.

It was The Nire that was quickest off the mark as Liam Lawlor pointed with just forty-five seconds played.

Cillian O’Keeffe responded with a point for Clashmore. Seconds later Liam Lawlor saw his effort come back off the posts but Darren Guiry was quick to react and put the ball between the uprights to give The Nire the lead once more.

It was a short lived lead however as inside a three minute spell, Brian O’Halloran who had a fine game for Clashmore trice pointed to give Clashmore the lead.

Brian Wall pulled a point back for The Nire on eleven minutes and seconds later the sides were all square again when Liam Lawlor kicked his second score of the game.

A Tadhg Bourke free on thirteen minutes gave Clashmore a 0-5 to 0-4 lead and many were begin to wonder could we be about to see a championship where the two sides that played the opening game back in April be involved in the closing game in early November.

However, we got an indication three minutes later that this might not be about to happen. Richie Fenton won his side a soft penalty after he went tumbling to the ground and from twelve metres Shane Ryan made no mistake planting the ball low and hard to Declan Hickey’s right hand side of the goal to give his side a 1-4 to 0-5 lead.

Points from Brian O’Halloran and Seamus Lawlor were traded in the following minutes before John Prendergast was put through with a Paul O’Connor pass but he saw his effort rise just over the cross bar just as it looked that a goal could be on.

Five minutes from time, The Nire hit their second score of the game and possibly their most crucial. John Moore did well to find Jamie Barron in front of the Clashmore goal and from close range he made no mistake in giving his side a 2-5 to 0-7 lead and three minutes later Martin Walsh broke forward from his centre back position and from forty-five metres he dissected the posts for a good score which gave his side a five points lead as the sides headed to the dressing rooms.

The second half was just twenty three seconds old and when The Nire hit their third goal of the game. The Comeragh men won the throw in and immediately attacked the Clashmore goal. Thomas O’Gorman attempted to fist pass the ball over the bar but the attempt never got the required height. Expecting the ball to go straight to the net The Clashmore defenders waited for the whistle rather than keep an eye on the ball and when the ball hit the upright and came back to Thomas O’Gorman the Clashmore defence was powerless to stop him hitting the net at the second time of asking.

Clashmore at this stage needed a goal to come back into contention but it never came. Credit to Clashmore however they never gave up and were still trying hard near the end of the game.

Brian O’Halloran, Richie Fenton and Declan Allen swapped points before Brian O’Halloran kicked a brace of frees to leave his side trailing 3-7 to 0-11 with ten minutes of the second half played.

Jamie Barron and Michael O’Gorman kicked points for The Nire in a sixty minute spell before Tadhg Bourke hit a free at the end of the third quarter at which point The Nire held a 3-9 to 0-12 advantage.

Cousins Shane Ryan and Brian Wall extended The Nire’s lead to eight points with ten minutes to play and three minutes later Brian Wall further extended the lead with another point.

Declan Allen and Karl O’Keeffe kicked points for Clashmore to reduce The Nire’s lead but they were mere consolation scores.

Seamus Lawlor kicked his second score of the game three minutes from the hour mark and in added time Brian O’Halloran brought the scoring to its conclusion in this game with his eight score of the game.

This is a game that will have done a lot of good to The Nire. In recent weeks they looked a team starting to tire, but their quarter final replay win seemed to have instilled new life into the team and this win should instil even more life into them.

They have two weeks to wait now before they play Stradbally in the County Final.

It’s a final that could attract some considerable interest. The Nire as pointed out are playing some good football all year and under Pat Curran, Stradbally as they year have gone on have looked better and better as the year progressed.

It’s likely to be a final where contrasting styles of football will be used.  Who will win is anybody’s guess at this stage but one things for sure, its likely to be a close game as so many of the clashes between the sides have been in recent years.

The Nire: Tom Wall; Maurice O’Gorman, Justin Walsh, James McGrath; John Moore, Martin Walsh, Seamus Lawlor; Thomas O’Gorman, Michael O’Gorman; Richie Fenton, Brian Wall, Jamie Barron; Darren Guiry, Liam Lawlor, Shane Ryan. Subs: Craig Guiry for Michael O’Gorman, Diarmuid Wall for Darren Guiry, Ian Coffey for John Moore, Connie Power for Richie Fenton, JP Fitzgerald for Jamie Barron.

Scorers: Shane Ryan 1-1 (1-0 pen, 0-1 free), Jamie Barron 1-1, Brian Wall 0-3, Thomas O’Gorman 1-0, Liam Lawlor, Seamus Lawlor 0-2 each, Darren Guiry, Michael O’Gorman, Richie Fenton, Martin Walsh 0-1 each. 

Clashmore: Declan Hickey; Sean Bourke, Jason Seaward, Sean O’Connor; Colm Faherty, Gavin Dower, Kieran Connery; Karl O’Keeffe, Darren Foley; Brian O’Halloran, Tadhg Bourke, Declan Allen; Cillian O’Keeffe, John Prendergast, Paul O’Connor. Subs: Ciaran Bourke for Sean Bourke, Donal O’Connor for Paul O’Connor.

Scorers: Brian O’Halloran 0-8 (0-5 frees), Tadhg Bourke (2 frees), Declan Allen 0-2 each, Cillian O’Keeffe, John Prendergast, Karl O’Keeffe 0-1 each.

Referee: Tommy O’Sullivan (Affane)