Champions dominate to seal semi-final spot

Crusheen 1-24 Broadford 0-10

TITLEHOLDERS Crusheen were comfortable winners over Broadford at Clarecastle on Sunday.
The foundations for the victory were laid in the opening half, at the end of which the winners were ahead by a point after playing against the very stiff wind.
The teams were level on five occasions in the opening half and they exchanged points at the start of the second half before the titleholders hit five in-a-row in as many minutes, after which the Broadford challenge faded.
The East Clare outfit were unable to match the experience of the Clare champions and were always struggling in the second half.
The teams exchanged points twice in the opening minutes before Broadford took a two-point lead by the eighth minute. However, they failed to build on this, finding it difficult to get past the winners’ half-back trio of Ciarán O’Doherty and the Dillon brothers, Cian and Cathal.
The winners were back on level terms by the end of the opening quarter and when Gearóid O’Donnell put them in front for the first time five minutes later, the signs weren’t good for Broadford.
When the half-time whistle sounded, it was 0-8 to 0-7 for the titleholders and it was clear Broadford had a huge task on their hands. Given the strength of the wind, they needed to have a comfortable lead at this stage to be in with a chance of causing an upset.
They returned for the second half with minor Donie Whelan in their attack in place of Declan Teefy and, for the opening five minutes, they matched the winners. Then the floodgates opened and points from Jamie Fitzgibbon, Fergus Kennedy, David Forde, Pat Vaughan and Paddy Meaney pushed the winners six clear with 20 minutes to play.
A Niall Moloney effort kept Broadford’s slim hopes alive but 1-4 in the next five minutes left Crusheen 12 points clear (1-18 to 0-9) and on their way to yet another semi-final.
The goal came at the mid-point of the half and was scored by Fergus Kennedy following a cross from team captain Gerry O’Grady. In the remaining time, Crusheen were able to make some changes and they introduced Conor O’Donnell, Gearóid O’Doherty and Sean Dillon in the closing stages in place of David Forde, Pat Vaughan and Paddy Meaney.
They added a further six points before Broadford substitute Donie Whelan had the final score of the game just before the final whistle.
The winners’ defence dominated throughout, while Pat Vaughan gave them an edge at midfield. Jamie Fitzgibbon had a fine game in attack and contributed 0-5 from play.
Aidan O’Brien, Cathal Chaplin, Kieran O’Connell, Mark Moloney and Pádraig Hickey tried hard for Broadford but, on the day, they had to give best to a more experienced and sharper outfit.

Crusheen: Donal Tuohy; John Brigdale, Cronan Dillon, Alan Brigdale; Ciarán O’Doherty, Cian Dillon, Cathal Dillon; Pat Vaughan, Joe Meaney; Gearóid O’Donnell, Jamie Fitzgibbon, David Forde; Paddy Meaney, Gerry O’Grady, Fergus Kennedy.
Subs: Conor O’Donnell for Forde (50 minutes), Gearóid O’Doherty for P Meaney (57 minutes) and Sean Dillon for Vaughan (57 minutes).
Scorers: Fergus Kennedy (1-4), Pat Vaughan (0-6, 1 65, 1f), Jamie Fitzgibbon (0-5), Paddy Meaney (0-4), David Forde and Gearóid O’Donnell (0-2) each and Joe Meaney (0-1).
Frees for: 10; wides: 7; 65s: 1
“We tried to battle hard in the first half when we were against the wind to be in serious contention at half-time. We didn’t expect to be ahead but when we were, it gave us a good launch. We weren’t complacent at half-time and in fairness, the lads pushed on well. It was a workmanlike performance. It was nice to see we were able to punish mistakes and get the scores.” Michael Browne, Crusheen.

Broadford: Cian O’Brien; John Corcoran, Aidan O’Brien, Stephen Gunning; James Gunning, Cathal Chaplin, Peter O’Brien; Kieran O’Connell, Alan Kilcoyne; Pádraig Taylor, Aonghus O’Brien, Niall Moloney; Mark Moloney, Declan Teefy, Pádraig Hickey.
Subs: Donal Whelan for Teefy (half-time), Alan McMahon for N Moloney (49 minutes) and Craig Shanahan for Taylor (53 minutes).
Scorers: Pádraig Hickey (0-5, 4f), Mark Moloney and Niall Moloney (0-2) each and Donal Whelan (0-1).
Frees for: 11; wides: 8; 65s: 1
Bookings: Peter O’Brien (30 minutes).
“We are very disappointed as our performance didn’t reflect the work the lads put in during the year. We should have been up at half-time and to have any chance we needed to be up. The wind was very strong. Crusheen are an established team with a lot of experience. We have a young team and hopefully they will learn from this experience.” Pádraig Boland, Broadford.

Referee: Ambrose Heagney, Corofin.