Clarinbridge rocks after club's greatest triumph
Date Published: 24-Mar-2011
STEPHEN GLENNON
THE village of Clarinbridge was a bubble, its people retreating from the doom and gloom of earthquakes, tsunamis and no fly zones. Oblivion reigned and everything outside this place – for St. Patrick’s Day at least – was irrelevant. No bad thing. Nothing to feel guilty about. After all, the All-Ireland senior club hurling champions of 2011 were coming home.
Hundreds had lined the route for the Bridge’s victorious trip back from Croke Park, bonfires lighting the night sky once the champs entered the hurling heartland of East Galway. The blazes proved to be a signal of sorts as the team bus meandered its way from neighbouring Craughwell down by Killeeneen National School – that nursery for so many of the team’s stars – and up, down and around the parish.
By the time the cavalcade finally came to a halt alongside the village square, the anticipation had reached fever pitch. The tribal roar that was raised punched holes in the ozone layer. Elation and joy, inside the bubble, the village of Clarinbridge was rocking . . . and it would continue to do so long into the night.
No doubt, the past 12 months for the Clarinbridge hurlers has been nothing less than an adventure. Imagine. A hard earned draw against Beagh in their final group game just about saw them qualify – on points’ difference – for the knockout stages of the Galway championship and yet, almost a year later, they had been crowned kings of all Ireland.Their 2-18 to 0-12 over Kilkenny and Leinster champions O’Loughlin Gaels was not so much the jewel in the crown but, more fittingly, the pearl in the Clarinbridge oyster. To defeat the Cats by double scores, having been over-ran in the opening 27 minutes, it was . . . it was . . . it was simply awesome!
No doubt, the initial outburst of unbridled emotion at the final whistle will be something the players and management will never forget. “Sure, it is just pure elation,” exclaimed Clarinbridge manager Micheál Donoghue as he left the field. “Just an unbelievable feeling for the team, number one, the club and the parish. It is just absolutely unbelievable, particularly the way the first half went!”
Indeed, trailing 0-9 to 0-4 after the opening exchanges, Clarinbridge, somehow, managed to manufacture a return of 1-2 before the interval to enter the break on level terms with their Kilkenny opponents, 1-7 to 0-10. All of a sudden, the complexion of the contest had changed and changed utterly.
“I know I am probably saying the same things as I said against De La Salle,” continued Donoghue, the joy and pride beaming from his eyes like two great floodlights, “but we were slow starting. We looked really sharp in the warm-up, really relaxed and we were up for it.
“Obviously, though, O’Loughlin Gaels were trying to get the good start as well, but I think once we got the goal before half-time – which probably brought us a bit closer than we should have been – it really brought us back into the game.
“All we said at half-time then was just ‘look, we probably only hurled for 10 minutes of that first half’. We just knew we had to get into our own game plan and return to what worked for us all year. In fairness to the lads, they took it on board and they gave an absolute heroic display in the second half.”
Indeed, they did, outscoring the Kilkenny City side by 1-11 to two points. A far cry from the sixth minute of injury-time against Beagh, when it took a late Mark Kerins free to rescue the Bridge’s championship aspirations. “A lot of people have said this year we are lucky and stuff, but if you look back to when we got to the preliminary quarter-final, as far as I am concerned, the management team and the team itself have put together seven or eight consecutive performances at a high level and, you know, it culminated today in a savage victory.”
On a personal note, the win will have healed some old wounds for Donoghue, who had experienced All-Ireland defeat when captaining the last Clarinbridge side to a final in 2002. Donoghue maintained, though, that loss was never really a factor. March 17, 2011. Fresh beginnings.
For more, read this week's Galway City Tribune.