Final heartbreak for brave Brackens

And so the final fence of our Senior Footballers season proved to high a jump. A night of tossing and turning , a morning of butterflies, day dreaming and wondering, an afternoon of disappointment and tears. Following the high of the previous Sunday expectations were high that we could pull off an upset. Heavily outnumbering Clonmel in the stands the crowd were in great voice and bursting with pride as Paddy led the team around in the parade. And what a roar when Dean McEnroe landed a beauty from play to open our account. But one Provincial and three County titles in four years doesn’t happen by chance and it wasn’t long before Commercials were stretching their legs. And perhaps our ninth game in ten weeks combined with the six day turnaround eventually began to take its toll around the vast spaces of Semple Stadium. You still have to put the ball between the posts however and Clonmel gave an exhibition of point taking with 12 of their 14 first half shots raising white flags to give them a nine point advantage at the short whistle. No let up after the tea either as they dominated possession right up to the final whistle. While having no complaints with the defeat the twenty-one point margin was a bitter pill to swallow as it in no way reflected our excellent season. Yes it will hurt in the weeks ahead but perhaps we will learn more from Saturday than any other. A welcome meal in Murphy’s was followed by a night of reflection, pride and celebration of a fantastic year for our Senior panel. They have taken us on a roller-coaster ride throughout 2019 and with only 20 weeks to the ‘20 championship supporters are already looking forward to the new challenge that the Dan Breen and O’Dwyer cups will bring. We may have been knocked down on Saturday but this great club of ours will never be knocked out. Take the hit. Rise from the canvas. Move on to the next challenge. Isn’t that what life is all about. Brackens Abu.

Team and Scorers: Niall Bourke Eoin Fitzpatrick Lorcan Egan (0-1) Martin Delaney Eanna McBride (0-1) Tom Murphy Neil Quinlan Paddy Cadell David O'Shea Lyndon Fairbrother Cathal Scully Lorcan Roche Shane Doyle (0-1 ,45 ) Shane Scully Dean McEnroe ( 0-4, 0-2f). Subs Used: Shane Bourke Keith Kennedy Andrew Ormond Adrian Bourke Michael Egan Michael O'Meara.

Seamus Bourke catches Paddy Cadell and Michael Quinlivan playing piggy back

Old friends - Ray Meagher and Jim Shelley at the County Final