YET again the All-Ireland club championships, sponsored by AIB, have proved unsympathetic to triers. Just as Dunloy fared no better than last year in the hurling final, Eire Og's obsessive pursuit of the football title ended in tears as the Carlow champions lost their third All-Ireland fixture in four years at Croke Park yesterday.

In retrospect Laune Rangers fitted the champions' mantle much more comfortably, having built up the momentum over six months to win their first provincial title and then keep going to record a notable victory which makes Kerry the first county to produce five different All-Ireland club champions.

Before a crowd of 21,986, the Kerry champions were frequently outplayed but retained the explosive potential to create high. speed scoring movements and apply decisive finishing. Goals win matches and Laune were clinical in taking what opportunities arose.

Kerry teams have a habit of drawing down goals when most needed and just like Dr Crokes, the last team from the county to win the All-Ireland, Laune struck early and often to keep Eire Og chasing the match and eventually they collapsed from the effort.

Having closed the gap to two points with only 10 minutes remaining, the Leinster champions left themselves open at the back to the final killer goal, from substitute Billy O'Sullivan, in the 56th minute. After that score Eire Og were finished.

Frustration crept in as the match faded beyond them after what the club itself indicated was one last season's crack at a much sought-after prize. The day had also been marked by refereeing decisions going against them a complaint they were perhaps too ready to share with match official Pat McEnaney. Finally Garvar Ware got the line for hitting out after he had already been awarded a free.

Overall the match was a reasonable afternoon's football. Both teams moved the ball smartly but whereas the losers at. ways looked vulnerable to the sharpness of the Killorglin team attacks, Laune coped well in defence and stuck to their tasks despite occasional discouragement.

The goals which did most damage came at the end of both halves. O'Sullivan's clincher was the culmination of a typically fast break which saw the excellent Billy O Se feed Conor Kearney who passed into the substitute. O'Sullivan's past goalscoring exploits were revisited as he slipped the goalkeeper and fired in a shot that ballooned into the net after a despairing block deflected the ball into the air.

In injury time at the end of the first half, Laune captain Gerard Murphy was tumbled by Eire Og goalkeeper John Kearns after Kearns had tipped away an attempt at a point. Speculation centred on whether Murphy had been in the square but a penalty was awarded and vigorously dispatched to the net by centre back Tommy Byrne. That left the Kerrymen ahead, 3-3 to 0-6, at the interval.

Eire Og started leaking goals when Murphy finished a pass from Paul Griffin to the net. But Eire Og didn't look too discomfited, and five minutes later the match was level.

Colm Hayden began to drag his marker, Paudie Sheahan, to unfamiliar parts of the field and posed enough of a threat to set up Paul McCarthy for a point and take the second himself before another Hayden, captain Joe, levelled the match at 1-0 to 0-3.

Eire Og were moving well by now but frailties in their full back line were emerging. Laune's ability to mix the long and short game in effortlessly quick succession was setting up O Se for some lightning bursts from the 40.

The opposition had accordingly been well warned when, in the 27th minute, a long sideline ball (of dubious origin) from Timmy Fleming to Liam Hassett was flicked into the path of O Se who sped in for a flawlessly finished goal to put the Kerrymen 2-2 to 0-6 ahead.

A cagey opening to the second half culminated in two quick points for Anthony Keating and the contest was revived. It was Eire Og's best spell with Joe Hayden, Ware and Colm Hayden adding to their score with only one point in reply from Murphy after an unfortunate slip by Alan Callinan.

An ominous sign arrived in the 44th minute when Jody Morrissey, constructive and hardworking around the middle, had to go off after a heavy collision with Tommy Byrne. For whatever reason, his team's efforts reached a peak shortly after and then, fell away.

It is, however, also true that the sustained effort to catch Laune - who had been content to lie on the ropes - had left them tired and too open at the back. The arrival of Billy O'Sullivan was also significant. As against Corofin in the semi-final, he did a lot of his work simply holding up the ball when it came to him and killing time.

As with the first half, warning signs appeared. Mike Hassett who had a wonderful match for the winners holding the influential Willie Quinlan and tirelessly bringing the ball forward, was brought down for what appeared a penalty but the referee awarded a free which Fleming kicked in the 54th minute.

The consequences of being penetrated were to prove more serious two minutes later and the curtain was brought down on coach Bobby Miller's great crusade with Eire Og - which will hardly at this stage have a happy ending.