Clare Junior A Hurling Championship Quarter-Final - Sunday, September 11th 2022

Eire Og Inis 1-12 The Banner 0-10

People talk about the white hot heat of a Manchester or Merseyside derby across the water, well, we had the Ennis equivalent today out in Gurteen, Doora, where Eire Og and the Banner clashed in the Junior A hurling quarter-finals. After teeming rain overnight, the conditions were slick underfoot and were never going to facilitate fast flowing hurling.

The Banner came into this game hot favorites on the basis of an unbeaten run in the championship to date where they topped their group led by the young rising inter-county star, Shame Meehan. The Eire Og juniors had mixed fortunes to date with a draw, loss and win under their belts in the championship campaign to date. However, as we all know, in cross-town derbies there is no quarter asked or given.

Despite the weather, both side’s supporters packed the Gurteen venue to vociferously support their team. As expected, it was a close tight affair from the throw-in with every ball ferociously contested. Subsequently it took 10 mins from the 1st score to come from young Meehan. Conor “Bugsy” Malone did a fantastic shadowing job on the inter-county star all day long. With the tension running high, the game was a stop-start affair punctuated by frees with the Banner going in leading by a single point ahead at halftime (0-5 to 0-4). The men in red went in at the break feeling that they never really got going but still were in the game.

Whatever magic elixir or words of wisdom that Keith Molloy and his management team imparted to the Eire Og team had an immediate effect in that they took the game to their cross-town rivals early in the 2nd half through the free-taking of Marc O’Donnell and the opportunistic point-taking of Niall “Joino” O’Connor. The Townies edged ahead by the single point with the game in the balance.

The key turning point in the 2nd half was a late tackle on O’Connor that reduced the Banner side to 14 men followed quickly by a long hopeful ball from Sean Mullooly that beat the Banner goalkeeper to land in the net to raise the one and only green flag. The wily veteran, Tadhg McNamara, could have had added a 2nd goal later on but he kicked the ball wide with only the goalie to beat.

The Banner threw caution to the wind at this stage and went at the Eire Og defense who stood up bravely to the continued onslaught with Darragh Stack outstanding in goals aided by the brothers Kevin and Paul Moynihan. There were heroes all over the field in the Eire Og team but Marc O’Donnell and Niall O’Connor worked tirelessly to win and distribute the ball expertly. This was not a game for the faint-hearted and the Townie’s greater experience probably won the day with difficult conditions underfoot.

There is no doubt that the Banner club is coming and that can only be a good thing for both hurling and football in Ennis and Clare but today was not their day, that belonged to the men in red. Next up is the semi-final in two week’s time with the semifinal draw due this Monday evening.

Match Photos to follow on Facebook.