Colin Lynch (born 1973 in Lissycasey, County Clare) is an Irish sportsperson. He plays hurling and Gaelic football with his local clubs Kilmaley and Lissycasey, and was a member of the Clare senior inter-county hurling team from 1997 until 2008.
Playing career
Club
Colin played for Éire Óg ever before he played for Kilmaley. Lynch plays his club hurling with his local club Kilmaley and has enjoyed much success.
In 1998 Lynch lined out in his first county senior championship final. The famous St. Joseph's Doora-Barefield club provided the opposition, however, Kilmayley still came up short and Lynch ended up on the defeated side.
The following year Kilmaley were back in the junior hurling decider. Clonlara were the opponents on that occasion, however, for the second time Lynch's side faced defeat.
2004 saw Kilmaley finally break the barrier at senior level when they lined out against St. Joseph's in the senior championship decider. Lynch's side triumphed that day to collect their first senior county title since 1985.
Lynch also played Gaelic football with his local club Lissycasey and enjoyed much success. He won a county intermediate championship winners' medal in 1994, however, success at senior level was slow in coming. After defeat in senior county finals in 1998 and 2006, Lynch won a county senior championship winners' medal in 2007, following a five-point victory over Éire Óg.
Inter-county
Lynch first came to prominence on the inter-county scene as a member of the Clare senior team in 1994. He was included on the senior panel that year, however, it would be another few years before he secured a definite place on the starting fifteen.
Lynch made his debut in a Munster Championship quarter-final against Kerry in 1997. Clare had an easy win that day. A subsequent victory over Cork gave Lynch the chance to line out in his first Munster final. Tipperary were the opponents on that occasion and an exciting game was expected. Both sets of players did not disappoint. Clare led by five points at half-time, however, Tipp fought back in the second-half. In one of the best games of the decade Clare defeated Tipperary by 1–18 to 0–18. It was Lynch's first Munster winners' medal and Clare's first ever victory over Tipperary in the provincial decider. Clare were now hot favourites to reclaim the All-Ireland title. They showed their class against Kilkenny in the subsequent All-Ireland semi-final, thus booking their place in the All-Ireland final. The introduction of the so-called 'back-door system' saw Tipperary provide the opposition in that game. For the second time that year both sides served up a classic. Clare had the upper-hand for much of the game, however, Tipp remained close behind. Liam Cahill and Eugene O'Neill scored two goals for Tipp in the last ten minutes to set up an exciting finish. A draw looked likely, however, a classic late point from Jamesie O'Connor secured a narrow 0–20 to 2–13 victory for Clare. It was Lynch's first All-Ireland winners' medal. In winning the 1997 All-Ireland title Clare beat Cork, Kilkenny and Tipperary (twice) – the so-called big three of hurling. In doing so they became only the second team ever, along with Waterford in 1959, to achieve this.
In 1998 Clare were the hot favourites to retain their All-Ireland title. All was going to plan, however, Lynch's side drew with Waterford in the Munster final. The replay was one of the most controversial games of hurling ever played. Before the sliotar was had even been thrown in, Lynch was pulling recklessly across Peter Queally and Tony Browne. A melee ensued two minutes into the game and Lynch punched Browne. Brian Lohan and Michael White were red-carded for also fighting, however, Lynch escaped being sent to the line. The rest of the game was played in an extremely bad spirit and Clare emerged the victors by 2–16 to 0–10. It was Lynch's second Munster winners' medal, however, the game was subject to much media discussion over the following week. The Munster Council later suspended Lynch for three months. He was a huge loss for the subsequent three-game All-Ireland semi-final saga with Offaly, a marathon run of games which Clare eventually lost, thus surrendering an All-Ireland title which they had been hot favourites to retain.