18/06/2026
Kilmaley’s Clare Cup campaign came to an end in Clarecastle on Wednesday evening as O’Callaghans Mills edged a evenly contested semi-final by the narrowest of margins.
Playing against a strong cross-field wind in the opening half, Kilmaley settled well after a couple of O’Callaghans Mills scores. Points from Mickey O’Neill, Evan Cahill and two from Colm Killeen had Kilmaley 4-3 up after 8 minutes.
The game’s decisive moment came 10 minutes into the first half when O’Callaghans Mills Liam Murphy found the net. Despite that setback, Kilmaley responded well with Tom O’Rourke converting a number of frees to leave just two points between the sides at half time, with Kilmaley trailing 0-8 to 1-7.
With the aid of the breeze after the break Kilmaley started well. Tom O’Rourke got the opening score and when Mickey O’Neill landed his third point it was back to the minimum after 45 minutes. Kilmaley reduced the margin to a single point on a number of occasions, however each time Kilmaley threatened to draw level, O’Callaghans Mills responded with scores of their own to keep their noses in front.
Kilmaley continued to push right to the end, with late scores from Mikey O’Malley, substitute Cian Neylon, and two late frees from Tom O’Rourke ensuring the game went right down to the wire.
Despite a huge effort during the second-half, O’Callaghans Mills held on for a 1-15 to 0-17 victory.
Attention now turns to championship, with Kilmaley set to face Newmarket-on-Fergus in the opening round on the weekend of July 24/25.
Kilmaley scorers:
Tom O’Rourke 0-8 (7f)
Mikey O’Neill 0-3
Colm Killeen 0-2
Evan Cahill 0-2
Mikey O’Malley 0-1
Cian Neylon 0-1
Substitutions:
Peter Ronan for James Fitzpatrick (37)
Conor Cahill for Joe Carmody (48)
Cian Neylon for Evan Cahill (53)
