Munster Club FC Final/Kilmurray 0-9 Stradbally 0-9: The Munster club final has the distinction of being the last big football game of the year. If yesterday's contest was anything to go by, the novel pairing will draw the curtains on 2004 in commendable style. A velvety cloak of rain lay across the pitch in Thurles at two o'clock yesterday afternoon as if to highlight that, in the club game, nothing comes easy.
Despite the mild, soaking conditions and the Christmas shopping traffic, both teams produced a quality game in front of a small but enthusiastic crowd. It went down to the last kick, the crowd literally screaming in anticipation as Kilmurry-Ibrickane, the Clare champions, flung the football around looking for someone to attempt a winning point.
Stradbally, the dominant team all through the second half, desperately denied the queue of Kilmurry forwards space enough to get a shot away and referee Michael Collins, sensibly, pulled the plug on that last stormy minute by whistling full-time.
When the teams meet up again in their respective camps, Stradbally will probably feel slightly more comforted by the draw. They endured a fairly dismal first half which included 10 wides, two of which were good goal opportunities.
Down 0-5 to 0-3 at half-time, they quickly entered a critical situation after shipping three excellent Kilmurry points following the break, with Aongus Corry nipping on to Michael O'Dwyer's broken ball and smartly pointing when a raid on goal looked tempting.
Kilmurry looked on song at that moment. For Stradbally, it was the point of no return and their response was withering. They completely owned the game for the next 20 minutes, firing six points without reply.
Michael "Brick" Walsh was at the heart of that surge. Named at full forward, he lined out at midfield as anticipated and although he was slow to start, he fired the point that got Stradbally going on 39 minutes and cleaned up at midfield after that.
It was appropriate Ger Power struck the point that gave Stradbally the edge on 54 minutes.
In the first half, with the Waterford team labouring, Power's play had been a delight. He destroyed the Kilmurry defence with two long and perfect passes in the first half which ought to have been rewarded with a goal. But Shane Lannon blasted his attempt high and wide while John Halpin, in a slightly trickier position, toe-poked a shot across the face of the goal after 27 minutes.
For a while it seemed as if Stradbally would long rue those moments but Power's 54th-minute score had a winning look about it.
Kilmurry's disappointment should be tempered by the fortitude they could call upon in the last five minutes. They are not the first team to be lulled into a moment of relaxation after building a reasonable lead.
If Kilmurry felt they were on their way at the point, when they led by 0-8 to 0-3, they could have been forgiven. Although struggling against Stradbally's physical strength, they had played bright football, full of composure and guile.
Perhaps the hit that Odran O'Dwyer took in the 40th minute took the wind out of the team. Clearly groggy, O'Dwyer continued but could not counter Walsh's influence.
Kilmurry had game-winners in Michael O'Dwyer and Johnny Daly and they moved the ball sweetly. But during Stradbally's renaissance, they were left grasping thin air as Waterford veterans like Oliver Costelloe, John Hearne and Stephen Cunningham demanded some sort of redemption from the afternoon.
Four consecutive county championships teaches a team a thing or two and they picked off the lead through Niall Curran after capitalising on mistakes from a tiring Kilmurry team.
Faced with elimination, Kilmurry responded with the same fire as their opponents. Peter O'Dwyer won possession after a period when Kilmurry were struggling and initiated an attack.
With Stradbally falling back, the Clare team worked the ball in as far as Paul O'Dwyer, who managed to deliver a point through a crowd of defenders.
For the last two minutes, Kilmurry camped in the Stradbally half, with a late effort for glory from Johnny Daly dropping short.
There was high anxiety for Stradbally when goalkeeper Eoin Cunningham sent the ball over the endline in attempting to collect. But Kilmurry opted to go short instead of trying to hoof the 50 over and were still searching for the perfect shot when full-time elapsed.
The game contained enough for both teams to be convinced they could have won it and thus promises that Sunday's replay, set for Kilmallock at 1.30 p.m., should be an equally open affair.
KILMURRY-IBRICKANE: D O'Brien; J O'Connor, NB Moloney, E Talty; D Callinan, M Cahill, V Talty; P O'Dwyer, O O'Dwyer; A Corry (0-1), E Coughlan, S Hickey; M Hogan, J Daly (0-4, three frees), M O'Dwyer (0-3). Subs: G Donnellan for V Talty (28 mins), P O'Dwyer (0-1) for M Hogan (45 mins), M Keavey for G Donnellan (52 mins).
STRADBALLY: E Cunningham; E Cummins, K Coffey, T Walsh; O Costelloe, T Costelloe, D Doyle; M Walsh (0-1), J Hearne (0-1); J Coffey, G Power (0-2), S Cunningham (0-1); N Curran (0-4, two frees), J Halpin, S Lannon. Sub: S Lawlor for J Halpin (46 mins).
Referee: Michael Collins (Cork).
