The Clare Champion Clare news, sport, entertainment and local notes
Group 1
Clooney-Quin 1-17
Broadford 1-8
PHYSICALLY stronger and sharper throughout the field, Clooney-Quin proved much too strong for Broadford in their first-round championship tie at Cusack Park on Saturday evening.
Going into the tie with an unbeaten record in competition this season, Broadford had hopes of adding to their winning run but they were well beaten and this was particularly true of their midfield and attack, which struggled throughout.
At the other end of the pitch, they struggled to deal with the aerial power of Cathal Egan and, in particular, Fergal Lynch, along with the pace and scoring ability of Martin Duggan and Derek Ryan.
Clooney-Quin have delivered some very impressive performances in recent years in both league and championship but a lack of consistency has proved costly. While they have been doing fairly well in this season’s league, they have disappointed on one or two occasions, so their supporters approached the tie with some concerns.
While the sides were level on three occasions in the opening half, Broadford never managed to hit the front. Padraig Hickey, their best forward on the evening, was the only member of their starting six to score on the day.
Clooney-Quin put down a marker from the start and early points from Martin Duggan and Fergal Lynch set the tone before Craig Chaplin pointed a free for Broadford’s opening score. A brace from Derek Ryan stretched the winner’s advantage to three points before Padraig Hickey struck for an excellent goal for Broadford in the twelfth minute. Moments later, a Craig Chaplin goal attempt from a penalty was saved.
The sides exchanged points twice after this before the winners hit four-in-a-row on their way to a half-time lead of three points when the score was 0-10 to 1-4.
Broadford’s hopes of getting back into contention were rattled in the early minutes of the second half when the winners scored 1-1 in quick succession. Both scores came from the game’s top scorer Derek Ryan; the goal coming after an excellent pass from Fergal Lynch.
As the winners piled on the pressure, it took an excellent save from Kevin Ryan, who turned a Martin Duggan piledriver over the bar, to keep them from extending their advantage.
The margin was nine points as the game entered the final quarter and Clooney-Quin were clearly in control.
The introduction of Declan Teefy helped the Broadford attack but the margin was too great and Clooney-Quin remained in control to the finish adding impressive points from John Earls, Martin Duggan and Derek Ryan to seal a well-merited win.
The winners dominated in most areas and this was particularly true of their defence, which dictated matters from start to finish.
Up front, Fergal Lynch’s ability to win possession resulted in many of their scores, as he and his full-forward colleagues Martin Duggan and Derek Ryan combined to contribute 1-12 of their side’s total on the day.
Broadford struggled throughout and only Kevin Ryan, James Gunning, Craig Chaplin and Padraig Hickey caused any problems for the winners.
Clooney-Quin: Cathal Hannon; Shane McNamara, Conor Harrisson, Joe O’Loughlin; Adrian Fleming, Cillian Duggan, Enda Harrisson; Sean Conheady, Seamus Conroy; John Earls, Cathal Egan (capt), Mike McNamara; Martin Duggan, Fergal Lynch, Derek Ryan.
Subs: Paudie Ward for Earls (56 minutes) and Paul Clune for Fleming (inj, 58 minutes).
Scorers: Derek Ryan (1-9, 0-7f), Martin Duggan (0-4), Cillian Duggan (free), John Earls, Cathal Egan and Fergal Lynch (0-1) each.
Frees for: 16; wides: 8; 65s: 1
Bookings: Seamus Conroy (14 minutes) and Fergal Lynch (41 minutes).
“At half-time we were a bit worried when we were just three points up and facing into a stiff breeze. We knew we had to up our game.” Pat O’Rourke, Clooney-Quin manager.
Broadford: Kevin Ryan; Dara Corcoran, Kieran Corcoran, Stephen Gunning; James Gunning, Aidan O’Brien, Cathal Chaplin; Peter O’Brien Craig Chaplin; John Clogan, Aonghus O’Brien (capt), Niall Moloney; Padraig Hickey, Padraic Taylor, Kieran O’Connell.
Subs: Alan Kilcoyne for O’Connell (38 minutes), Declan Teefy for Moloney (49 minutes), Mark Moloney for Kilcoyne (57 minutes) and John Corcoran for Clogan (58 minutes).
Scorers: Craig Chaplin (0-6, 0-5f), Padraig Hickey (1-0) and Declan Teefy (0-2).
Frees for: 13; wides: 6; 65s: 1
Bookings: Cathal Chaplin (16 minutes), Dara Corcoran (27 minutes), Kieran Corcoran (40 minutes) and Padraig Hickey (55 minutes).
“We are very disappointed. We never turned up for the second half. They were the better team and stronger in the air.” John O’Brien, Broadford.
Referee: Ambrose Heagney, Corofin.
Kilmaley and Scariff share the spoils
Kilmaley 0-15
Scariff 1-12
There have been some tight contests between Kilmaley and Scariff in the senior championship in recent years and this trend continued at Cusack Park on Sunday when the sides ended level in the last of the first-round contests in the race for the 2010 title.
Kilmaley looked to have secured a win when they opened a three-point lead in injury time but in a last-gasp attack, Scariff struck for the game’s only goal in the 63rd minute. Ross Horan got the vital touch after Barry Murphy had created the opportunity.
In a game in which both sides enjoyed periods of dominance, a share of the spoils was a fair result.
Scariff got the first two scores in the tie inside the opening five minutes, from Ross Horan and Conor McNamara but then Kilmaley took control and hit six points without reply by the end of the first quarter.
When they lost team captain Alan Markham with what appeared to be a blood injury, it was expected he would be back in action after receiving attention but the centre-back did not resume his place because of a suspected broken finger.
This led to Conor McMahon switching from attack to defence and the introduction of minor Daire Keane for the second half in place of John Clohessy, who initially replaced Markham while he received attention.
With a side that already included a number of newcomers to senior championship hurling, Kilmaley had settled in well but they failed to maintain their early dominance and Scariff dominated the closing stages of the half to level at 0-7 each just before the half-time whistle.
After they exchanged points in the early stages of the second half, Scariff edged two points clear by the end of the third quarter and the tie looked to be going in their favour.
Four points without reply saw Kilmaley regain the initiative as the game moved towards the final whistle but a Barry Murphy effort left the minimum between the teams as time ticked away. The minimum still separated the teams with a minute remaining but points from Diarmuid McMahon and Kenneth Kennedy made the margin three and looked to have given victory to Kilmaley with two minutes of injury time played.
There was time for one more attack from Scariff and when Barry Murphy won possession, one felt that the former Clare All-Ireland medal winner could create the vital opening.
His run created panic in the Kilmaley defence and when he crossed the ball, they were unable to deal with the danger and Ross Horan’s one-handed strike ended up in the net.
Darragh Kelly and Diarmuid Nash were prominent throughout in the Scariff defence, while Michael Scanlon, Ross Horan and Barry Murphy were others to cause problems for Kilmaley.
Colin McGuane, Eoin O’Malley, Kenneth Kennedy, Diarmuid McMahon and Padraig Talty worked hard for Kilmaley throughout with McMahon’s ability to win possession causing problems for the East Clare outfit.
Kilmaley: Kieran Dillon; Martin O’Connor, Noel Casey, Sean Talty; Colin McGuane, Alan Markham (captain), Eoin O’Malley; Kenneth Kennedy, Niall McGuane; Conor Neylon, Diarmuid McMahon, Conor McMahon; Padraig Talty, Anthony Cahill, Shane Darcy.
Subs: Daire Keane for Markham (inj, half-time).
Scorers: Kenneth Kennedy (0-6, 0-5f), Diarmuid McMahon (0-3), Shane Darcy (0-2), Alan Markham (free), Conor Neylon, Anthony Cahill and Padraig Talty (0-1) each.
Frees for: 13; wides: 13
Bookings: Noel Casey (21 minutes) and Conor Neylon (60 minutes).
“We should have the game closed out but it was a good performance from a very young team. We lost Alan (Markham) after 15 minutes but we still battled on. We have five or six to add for the Clarecastle game.” John Carmody, Kilmaley.
Scariff: Brendan McNamara; Jim Minogue, Darragh Kelly (capt), Cathal Nash; Diarmuid Nash, Enda Murphy, Conor McNamara; Michael Scanlon, Shane Corry; Ross Horan, Michael Moroney, Shane Mulvihill; Alphie Rodgers, Kenny McNamara, Barry Murphy.
Subs: Austin Madden for Mulvihill (20 minutes), Barry McNamara for E Murphy (51 minutes) and Evan McNamara for Michael Moroney (51 minutes).
Scorers: Ross Horan (1-5, 0-5f), Barry Murphy (0-2), Diarmuid Nash, Conor McNamara (free), Alphie Rodgers, Michael Moroney and Michael Scanlon (0-1) each.
Frees for: 15; wides: 8
Bookings: Conor McNamara (55 minutes) and Kenny McNamara (57 minutes).
“We deserved something from the game. It took us an awful long time to settle into the game and our opening 20 minutes cost us a lot. Once we did settle, we played quite well.” Mark McKenna, Scariff.
Referee: Rory Hickey, Éire Óg.
Group 3
Experience seals victory for Newmarket
Newmarket 3-10
Whitegate 0-14
Newmarket justified favouritism by winning their first-round tie at Cusack Park on Sunday but they had to pull out all the stops to get over the challenge of Whitegate.
With the sides level as the game entered the final five minutes, the odds were pointing to a Whitegate victory as they had the assistance of the wind and they had just scored six points without reply.
A Colin Ryan pointed free put the Blues back in front with four minutes remaining before they struck for the decisive score. Substitute Jim McInerney shot for a point from an acute angle and his effort looked to have gone wide when Eoin O’Brien flicked the ball across the face of the goal and Colin Ryan tapped it into an empty net.
Whitegate goalkeeper Andrew Fahy protested that the ball was wide before O’Brien got to it but the officials didn’t agree and the green flag was raised. The score sealed a somewhat fortunate win for Newmarket.
Moments later, both sides were reduced to 14 men when Alan Barrett (Newmarket) and Shane O’Rourke (Whitegate) were red carded following an off-the-ball incident.
Goals at either side of the midpoint of the first half helped the winners to take a two-goal lead to the break after they played with the aid of the breeze. They had exchanged points three times in the opening 10 minutes before a Colin Ryan effort edged the winners back in front after 13 minutes. A minute later, David Barrett struck for the game’s first goal after an Eoin Hayes effort had been stopped, while Patrick Minogue replied with a point for the East Clare side.
From the restart, Newmarket launched another attack which ended with Bernard Gaffney blasting to the net after he had taken a pass from Eoin Hayes, whose pace troubled the Whitegate defence. They went on to be 2-7 to 0-7 ahead at the interval.
The teams exchanged points early in the second half but then Whitegate got the upperhand and points from Eric Minogue, George Waterstone (2) and Andrew Fahy had the winners’ lead down to two points entering the final quarter.
Waterstone closed the gap to the minimum before Stephen Malone tied up the game with eight minutes to go when he pointed from the left wing.
The odds now pointed to a Whitegate win but Newmarket went back in front when Colin Ryan converted a 30m free with four minutes to play.
The decisive goal followed and Newmarket’s greater experience stood to them over the closing minutes as they held on for victory. Colin Ryan had the final score in the third minute of injury time.
Stephen Kelly, Enda Barrett, Sean O’Connor, Eoin O’Brien and Eoin Hayes were prominent throughout for the winners, while Whitegate had good performances from Thomas Holland, Brendan Bugler, Ian Fahy and Shane O’Rourke.
Newmarket: Kieran Devitt; Brian Clancy, Stephen Kelly (capt), Padraig Kilmartin; Padraig Collins, Enda Barrett, Alan Barrett; Martin O’Hanlon, Sean O’Connor; Eoin O’Brien, Michael McInerney, Colin Ryan; Bernard Gaffney, David Barrett, Eoin Hayes.
Subs: Shane O’Brien for Gaffney (48 minutes) and Jim McInerney for M McInerney (55 minutes).
Scorers: Colin Ryan (1-5, 0-5f), David Barrett and Bernard Gaffney (1-1) each, Sean O’Connor, Eoin O’Brien and Michael McInerney (0-1) each.
Frees for: 10; wides: 9; 65s: 1
Bookings: David Barrett (35 minutes) and Brian Clancy (43 minutes).
Sent off: Alan Barrett (58 minutes).
“We had played Whitegate a few weeks ago and it was something similar. We were fortunate enough to get the goal at the end to win the game.” Bob Enright, Newmarket manager.
Whitegate: Andrew Fahy; Cathal Mulvihill, John Bugler, Trevor Kelly; Thomas Holland, Brendan Bugler, John Minogue; Ian Fahy, John O’Brien; Patrick Minogue, Eric Minogue (capt), Stephen Malone; Michael Dooley, Shane O’Rourke, George Waterstone.
Subs: Tommy Madden for Dooley (42 minutes) and Michael O’Brien for P Minogue (60 minutes).
Scorers: George Waterstone and Andrew Fahy (0-4f) each, Ian Fahy, John O’Brien, Patrick Minogue, Eric Minogue, Stephen Malone and Shane O’Rourke (0-1) each.
Frees for: 14; wides: 7; 65s: 2
Bookings: Thomas Holland (45 minutes).
Sent off: Shane O’Rourke (58 minutes).
“We are definitely disappointed. We came out to win the game. The best day to get Newmarket is the first day. We had all the pressure with 10 minutes to go and we lost that game.” David Considine, Whitegate.
Referee: Tom Stackpool, Ennistymon.
Group 4
Strong St Joseph’s finish levels matters
Clonlara 1-16
St Joseph’s 2-13
THIS was, arguably, the best of the weekend’s championship games, particularly as regards intensity and while both will point to missed opportunities, a draw was a fair result on the day.
Clonlara looked to be heading for victory when they led by four points with five minutes remaining but a strong finish from St Joseph’s saw them draw level.
Without meaning to take from the Doora-Barefield side’s efforts, it must be pointed out that Clonlara lost both Nicky O’Connell and Domhnaill O’Donovan in the closing minutes and this certainly had an upsetting effect on their team.
That said, they had a chance right at the end to take the points but Donal Madden’s effort, from a 55’ free near the sideline was wide of the target
St Joseph’s made their intentions clear from the outset and after falling behind to two early points from Donal Madden, they hit back with a brace from Shane O’Connor before team captain Seán Flynn struck for the game’s first goal in the ninth minute. Straight from the puckout, Clonlara struck and Darach Honan blasted a pile driver to the net to level matters for the second time.
They were level twice more in the next 15 minutes as both added four points to their early tallies. The last five minutes of the half were dominated by Clonlara, who struck for five unanswered points, to lead at half-time on a score of 1-11 to 1-6.
When Donal Madden had the opening point of the second half to put the 2008 champions six clear, it looked like they might pull away. Ten minutes into the half, the margin was still the same with the score now at 1-14 to 1-8 but then the Doora-Barefield side stepped up a gear and four points without reply in a 10-minute spell cut the margin to two with six remaining.
Midway through this period of dominance by St Joseph’s, Clonlara had a great chance to add to their tally when they were awarded a penalty but Donal Madden’s effort for a goal was saved.
Seventeen-year-old Cathal O’Connell was introduced to the South East Clare side’s line-up in place of injured brother Nicky and he made an immediate impact with an excellent point. John Conlon had another to put four between them with five minutes to go.
The Doora-Barefield men still refused to give in and a Shane O’Connor goal three minutes from time clearly rocked Clonlara. O’Connor quickly added a point to level matters and now the momentum was clearly with St Joseph’s.
The piled on the pressure but a somewhat rattled Clonlara defence managed to hold out. In the third minute of injury time, Donal Madden saw his attempt to put Clonlara back in front go wide of Paul Madden’s right hand upright.
Ken Kennedy, Mark Hallinan, Kevin Dilleen, Sean Flynn and Shane O’Connor were prominent throughout for St Joseph’s, while Clonlara had good performances from Domhnaill O’Donovan, John Conlon, Tomás O’Donovan and William Slattery.
Clonlara: Ger O’Connell; Senan Nihill, John Moloney, Paul Collins; Nicky O’Connell, Tomas O’Donovan (captain), Domhnaill O’Donovan; Cormac O’Donovan, Tommy Lynch; Pat O’Hare, John Conlon, William Slattery; Darach Honan, Donal Madden, Cillian Fennessy.
Subs: Cathal O’Connell for Nicky O’Connell (inj, 53 minutes); Brian Woods for D O’Donovan (inj, 56 minutes).
Scorers: Donal Madden (0-9), 7 frees; Darach Honan (1-1); John Conlon (0-4); Cillian Fennessy, Cathal O’Connell (0-1) each.
Frees for: 13; wides: 4; ’65:
Bookings: Domhnaill O’Donovan (28 minutes); Tomás O’Donovan (35 minutes); Darach Honan (44 minutes).
“It is hard to stitch the lads back into the team and it took them a while to settle down. We were up against a team who are a strong physical team and they have been working well together all the time,” Colm Honan, Clonlara manager.
St Joseph’s: Paul Madden; Cathal O’Sullivan, Ken Kennedy, Marty O’Regan; Gary Hassett, Mark Hallinan, Darragh O’Driscoll; Ivor White, Kevin Dilleen; Damian Kennedy, Noel Brody, Seán Flynn (captain); Shane O’Connor, Declan Malone, Mike McNamara.
Subs: Greg Lyons for Hassett (28 minutes); Paul Dullaghan for D Kennedy (50 minutes).
Scorers: Shane O’Connor (1-10), 0-9 frees; Seán Flynn (1-2), Declan Malone (0-1).
Frees for: 16; wides: 8
Bookings: Marty O’Regan (2 minutes).
“We had a great first 20 minutes. The workrate was tremendous. We lost our momentum before half-time and went in five points down where we could have been level.” Fergal Hegarty,” St Joseph’s coach.
Referee: Johnnie Healy, Smith O’Brien’s.
Corofin no match for powerful Crusheen
Crusheen 3-16
Corofin 1-4
THE scoreline says it all. Crusheen crushed Corofin’s challenge in this first-round tie at Cusack Park on Saturday evening when they had the points secured long before the final whistle.
From once Paddy Meaney scored the first of his and Crusheen’s three goals at the end of the first quarter, there was only one team in this tie.
Going into the game without the injured Gerry Quinn was a big blow to Corofin and they were further weakened just a couple of minutes into the tie when Dara Clancy picked up an injury, which clearly hampered his movement during the remainder of the game.
These sides had clashed in the race for the blue riband of Clare hurling on a couple of occasions in recent years and while Crusheen had come out on top on each occasion, the games had been a lot more competitive than their latest meeting.
Crusheen’s Conor O’Donnell and Joe Meaney each had points in the opening two minutes but in the 11 scoreless minutes which followed, Corofin held their own. Crusheen then got control of the game and they had 1-9 on the scoreboard to Corofin’s only score of the opening half, a Stephen Heagney point from a free in the final minute.
Joe Meaney, Crusheen’s top scorer on the day, closed the scoring in the first minute of injury time to leave his side 1-10 to 0-1 ahead at the break.
While Corofin would have the assistance of the wind in the second half, such was the gap between the teams that few gave them any chance of getting back into contention.
They had the first score of the second half when Declan Lee pointed in the second minute but any hopes they might have entertained of improving matters were quickly killed off when Meaney struck for his second goal after taking a pass from his cousin, Joe.
To add to the losers’ problems, they lost Martin Tierney with a leg injury before the 10th minute of the half. Crusheen also had their injury problems which saw them having to replace both Conor O’Donnell and Cathal Dillon who picked up knocks before the end of the third quarter.
It was 2-12 to 0-3 at this stage and Crusheen were well on their way to picking up the points. Ten minutes from time, Dara Clancy blasted a Corofin penalty to the net after Kevin Heagney had been fouled in the square but this score was quickly cancelled out when Meaney had his third with seven minutes still to play.
On a day when Crusheen dominated throughout the pitch, Cronan Dillon, Alan Brigdale, Cian Dillon, Pat Vaughan, Joe and Paddy Meaney stood out.
For a disappointing Corofin, Darragh Shannon, Dara Clancy, Luke O’Loughlin and Stephen Heagney did best.
