Mattie Murphy added to his impressive managerial CV when he guided Gort to a surprise victory over All-Ireland club champions Clarenbridge in yesterday's Galway SHC final at Pearse Stadium.

Gort 0-17
Clarenbridge 1-12

Just two months after he delivered a sixth All-Ireland minor title to Galway in what was his third stint in charge of the county under 18s, the veteran manager has now finally got a senior championship triumph under his belt. His well-drilled Gort team were full value for their first county success since 1983 against a disappointing Clarenbridge outfit who relied heavily on the free-taking of Mark Kerins for scores.

But for the accuracy of Kerins, who hit 0-7 over the hour, they would have been out of it before substitute Billy Lane's goal brought them level on 1-11 to 0-14 with 14 minutes remaining.

After 10 scoreless minutes, Stephen Forde edged the champions in front, but Gort finished the stronger with converted frees from Aidan Harte (two) and the insurance score from Andy Coen, which sparked wild celebrations among the south Galway faithful.

Centre forward Harte finished with six points, including four from play, while Paul Killilea and former county star Ollie Fahy were also highly impressive for the winners.

The challengers got off to a flying start and led by six points, 0-8 to 0-2, after 20 minutes before Clarenbridge rallied to trail by just three, 0-6 to 0-9, at the break.

With David Forde and Alan Kerins coming more into the game, Clarenbridge improved after the break and Lane's goal looked like being the catalyst for back-to-back successes. But the dismissal of Eoin Forde on a second yellow card for a challenge on Sylvie Og Linnane with 10 minutes remaining proved decisive as the underdogs made the most of their numerical advantage in the closing stages to claim a famous win.

Scorers - Gort: G Quinn (6f), A Harte (2f) 0-6 each, G O'Donoghue 0-2, O Fahy, S Forde, A Coen (f) all 0-1 each. Clarinbridge: M Kerins 0-7 (6f, 1 '65'), B Lane 1-0, A Kerins, S Burke 0-2 each, S Forde 0-1.

Gort - P Cummins; A Coen, M McMahon, M Cummins; J Grealish, B Regan, G Lally; S Forde, S Og Linnane; G Quinn, P Killilea, A Harte; R Cummins, O Fahy, G O'Donoghue. Subs: K Killilea for Quinn (44), A Mullins for Forde (54), K Finnegan for P Cummins (55).

Clarenbridge - L Donoghue; C Forde, B Burke, P Callanan; J Cannon, D Forde, M Donoghue; B Daly, E Murphy; S Burke, M Kerins, S Forde; E Forde, A Kerins, P Coen. Sub: B Lane for Murphy (h-t).

Ref - A Kelly. Tweet

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