Corofin victory ends Feakle’s title hopes

Corofin 2-14   Feakle 1-15

AT the end of a well-contested Intermediate Hurling Championship tie at Newmarket on Saturday, Corofin had booked a place in the championship semi-final, thanks to a two-point victory over Feakle, who needed to win the game to stay in the hunt for the title. Corofin 2-14   Feakle 1-15

AT the end of a well-contested Intermediate Hurling Championship tie at Newmarket on Saturday, Corofin had booked a place in the championship semi-final, thanks to a two-point victory over Feakle, who needed to win the game to stay in the hunt for the title.
This was a close affair throughout, with Feakle leading by the minimum margin at half-time, when the score was 0-8 to 0-7.
They had a dream start to the second half when Ger Hanrahan goaled and this was followed by a Gary Guilfoyle point to give the East Clare outfit a five-point advantage.
However, Corofin hit back straight away and an Eamonn Malone goal gave them a great lift in the fourth minute of the half. Four minutes later, they struck for their second goal when Paudie Barry applied the finish and this score saw the North Clare outfit take back the lead.
From here to the finish it was point for point, with Corofin holding on for a narrow win.
Luke O’Loughlin, Gerry Quinn, Dara Shannon, John Keane, Damian Ryan and the Heagney brothers were always prominent for the winners, while Colm Naughton, Henry Hayes, Ger Hanrahan, when he moved to attack, Colin Nelson, Gary Guilfoyle and Shane McGrath did best for Feakle.

Corofin: Patrick Burke; Darren Malone, Luke O’Loughlin, Martin Tierney; Dara Shannon, Gerry Quinn, Damian Ryan; Eamonn Dunne, John Keane; Kevin Heagney, Paudie Barry, Neil Killeen; Stephen Heagney, Eamonn Malone, Killian Neylon.
Feakle: Eibhear Quilligan; Patrick Daly, Colm Naughton, Peter Collins; Padraic Hogan, Henry Hayes, Sean O’Grady; Ger Hanrahan, Alan Hogan; Raymond Bane, Kenneth Collins, Colin Nelson; Francis O’Grady, Gary Guilfoyle, Shane McGrath.

Meelick 3-15   Ogonnelloe 2-17

WHEN Meelick found themselves 11 points in arrears in the opening quarter at Sixmilebridge on Saturday, their prospects of victory looked very slim.
A goal from Andy White inspired a fight-back and when the half-time whistle sounded, Ogonnelloe’s lead was down to six points, 2-8 to 1-5, their goals having come from Rory Skelly and Michael Noel Bugler.
Meelick continued to battle back in the second half but with time ticking away, they still trailed the East Clare outfit. A Shane Daly goal saw them take the lead with just a few minutes remaining and now it was Ogonnelloe’s turn to go in search of vital scores. They managed to cut the margin to the minimum but time wasn’t on their side and Meelick held out for a narrow win.

Meelick: James Duffy; Stephen Hayes, Sean Cooney, Kenneth Keane; Bobby Sherlock, Alan Markham, Damian Moloney; Sean O’Connor, Andy White; Dara Quinn, Gary Moloney, Eanna Mulvihill; Shane Daly, Gary Callinan, Oisín Hickey.
Ogonnelloe: Robert Dreelin; John O’Brien, Michael Costello, Eoin Sheedy; Thomas Condon, Patrick Barton, Pascal Sheedy; Barry Kiely, Ozer McMahon; Kieran Forde, Henry Mooney, Peter English; Rory Skelly, Peter O’Brien, Michael Noel Bugler.
Subs: John McKenna for English and Paul Healy for Mooney.

Éire Óg 0-21   Ennistymon 1-15

HOT favourites Éire Óg were made to battle all the way for victory over Ennistymon at Corofin on Saturday.
The winners were 0-12 to 0-7 ahead at half-time but despite their best efforts, they just could not get away from a determined North Clare outfit in the second half.
In the closing minutes the town side were under a lot of pressure from Ennistymon but the losers just could not find a way through for a second goal. Indeed, Éire Óg goalie, Kevin Brennan was called on to make an important save in injury time to keep his side in front. Defenders, Michael Devitt and Danny Harvey excelled for Ennistymon.

Éire Óg: Kevin Brennan; Cathal Whelan, Noel Whelan, Ciaran Hanna; Tadhg McNamara, Fergus Flynn, Kevin Moynihan; Mark Fitzgerald, Marc O’Donnell; Ronan Keane, Adrian Walsh, Danny Russell; Tom Downes, Barry Nugent, Davy O’Halloran.
Sub: Dean Ryan for Walsh.
Ennistymon: Cathal McDonagh; Michael Devitt, Kevin Scales, Danny Harvey; Liam Driscoll, Paudie Kelleher, Aidan Slattery; Sean Driscoll, Brian McDonagh; Paudie Brennan, Cathal Malone, Caoimhín Fahy; Tommy Hogan, Tadhg Malone, Michael McDonagh.

Parteen 0-17   Bodyke 1-11

BODYKE will wonder for some time to come what the outcome might have been if they had taken the chances that came their way in the opening half of their match against Parteen.
They had much the better of the early exchanges but they failed to turn this dominance into scores. Parteen, unbeaten to date in the competition, led by a point at half-time and went on to hold a slight edge in the second period, scoring the first five points of the half.

Parteen: Alan Murnane;  Mark Cunningham, Colm O’Connell, David O’Sullivan; Martin Moroney, Colm Quinn, Cillian Conlon; Joe O’Connor, Brian McSweeney; Ronan Conlon, David Small, Mark Boland; Noel Bridgeman, Ivan Conway, Darragh Yelverton.
Bodyke: Seamus Ryan; Keith O’Donnell, Caimin Treacy, Shane Walsh; Colin Molloy, Colm Madden, Gavin Moroney; PJ Kelleher, Keith Quigley; Brian O’Grady, Sean Doyle, John Fitzgerald; Danny Maguire, Ciaran Walsh, Ian Molloy.
Sub: Manus Maguire for I Molloy.

Sixmilebridge 1-17   Crusheen 1-7

SIXMILEBRIDGE collected their first victory in their campaign when they proved too strong for Crusheen on Saturday.
A goal from Mark Culbert helped the winners to lead by six points at half-time, when the score was 1-6 to 0-3 but Crusheen will rue many missed chances in that half.
Crusheen tried hard to get back on terms in the second half when they had their goal from Gearóid O’Doherty but the Bridge continued to pick off some impressive points and ran out comfortable winners.

Sixmilebridge: Sean Chaplin; David O’Meara, Kevin Lynch, Eoin Quinn; Jonathan Downes, Sam O’Sullivan, Cathal Walsh; Christy Griffin, Alan Mulready; Stiofan Fitzpatrick, Ronan Hayes, Seanie Stack; Thomas Liddy, Mark Culbert, Paul Corbett.
Sub: Errol Tuohy for Griffin.
Crusheen: David McMahon; Donal Dillon, Conor O’Loughlin, Tony McMahon; Jason Greene, Conor Hayes, Briain Dillon; Thomas Vaughan, Darragh O’Doherty; Gearóid O’Doherty, Patrick O’Grady, Niall Fitzgibbon; Alan Tuohy, Diarmuid O’Doherty, Rory Halpin.

Ruan 0-16   Clarecastle 0-13

RUAN maintained their winning run at Gurteen on Sunday evening but they were made to fight all the way for their victory over Clarecastle.
The sides met in the semi-final last year but 12 months on, Clarecastle are battling to get away from the relegation zone, while Ruan are edging towards a return to the final.
The sides were level on a number of occasions in the contest, which saw the Magpies lead by a point at half-time, when the score was 0-8 to 0-7. It was 0-12 each entering the final quarter and from here to the finish, Ruan edged ahead to record a narrow but merited win.

Ruan: Pakie Roughan; Alan Bell, Niall O’Connor, Leon Quirke; Damian Brohan, Jonathon Clohessy, Dara Roughan; Owen Hanrahan, Tadhg Hanrahan; Caimin Howard, Aidan Lynch, Michael Vaughan; Patrick Keegan, John Punch, Brendan Lyons.
Subs: Colin O’Donoghie for Keegan and Gary Bell for Howard.
Clarecastle: Jamie Coughlan; Eamonn O’Connor, Cathal Lynch, Blaise Talty; Paddy Donnellan, Andrew Page, Barry Lyons; Adam Healy, Garret Barry; Niall Dunne, Alan O’Loughlin, Jamie Fahy; Briain Lynch, Niall Quinn, John Reidy.
Sub: Mark Foley.