STEWARTSTOWN  HARPS 1-14

CLIFDEN 1-9

(after extra time)

By Kevin Egan at Dr. Hyde Park

IT will be of little consolation to them this week, and perhaps little consolation for a long time to come, but Clifden played their part in a truly wonderful, memorable sporting occasion last Saturday, and while there is no such thing as a good way to exit the All-Ireland Junior Club football championship, this was the closest thing imaginable.

The Venn diagram of people who attended both this fixture, and Galway’s FBD league opener against Leitrim the previous night, would have a very small intersection, if in fact there is anyone else outside of this reporter who was there for both fixtures.

It’s impossible to imagine two games with a starker contrast. The action in the Dome was sterile, emotionless, and while there was certainly quality on show, intercounty footballers will invariably look good in the absence of real pressure on the execution of their skills.

At the Hyde the following day, Stewartstown and Clifden emptied themselves, physically and emotionally, in pursuit of the ultimate dream for any club footballer – a chance to pull on their parish jersey and walk out onto Croke Park for an All-Ireland final. There were moments of brilliance, and there were mistakes, but the defensive play was full of energy and physicality, and so scores had to be mined from the earth, rather than picked up off the ground.

And for the rare handful of neutrals who were there, there was all the drama in the world. For 55 minutes, maybe more, that drama seemed to lead towards a win for Clifden – but ultimately, Stewartstown found a way to extend the game for an extra 20, and once they did, the younger, less physically mature Naomh Feichín players were always likely to be on the back foot.

A window of opportunity was opened when, at the start of the second half of extra time, Stewartstown defender James Campbell was black-carded, leaving the Tyrone side down to 14 players. They led by two points at that stage and were about to have the wind at their backs, but with so much energy having been expended up to then, an extra man was always likely to play a huge part.

Sure enough, their chance came. Darragh Kennedy, who had been full of life and a constant threat once he came onto the field, drove at a tiring Stewartstown defence, and he was dragged down by Gerard O’Neill, just inside the large square.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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