Cratloe edge epic encounter

Cratloe  0-14

Liscannor  0-12

(after extra time)

Epic. That’s one of the few words that could come anywhere close to describing this pulsating 80 minutes of passion-fuelled championship football.

Played under Cooraclare floodlights, Cratloe eventually managed to squeeze past Liscannor, who may have lost the game but gained the lasting respect of everybody present on Wednesday evening.
Cramp caught several of their players in the second half of extra time but they had proven long before that, that their heart was beating loudly. While Cratloe are still in the championship and will play Kilmurry Ibrickane in Sunday’s quarter-final, they emerged from the battle of their lives in this one.
Liscannor simply tore into their opponents, tackled as if they didn’t mind if it was the last act they committed on this planet, kicked some superb scores and were very close to causing a huge shock. What made this a memorable evening of football, where the hits were hard but mostly fair, was the fact that Cratloe didn’t wilt. Featuring five of Clare’s All-Ireland U-21 hurlers they had every opportunity to roll over and accept that it wasn’t going to happen for them. They didn’t. For every inspirational play by the likes of Brian Considine, Niall Considine or Ronan Slattery, Cratloe found someone to respond with a bit of class in the heat of championship. Cathal McInerney landed some pressure frees while Podge Collins, Seán Collins, substitute Wes DeLoughrey and Enda Boyce, from a pressure free late in the second half of injury time, kicked massive points.
Liscannor led 0-4 to 0-1 after 14 minutes with Alan Clohessy, the superb Niall Considine, Kieran Considine and the magnificent Brian Considine scoring. McInerney put over two frees, having missed an earlier one, although Sean Collins was the first Cratloe man to score from play in the 21st minute.
Come half-time, Liscannor led 0-6 to 0-4 with Kieran and Joe Considine adding points. The second half was even better as the excitment mounted on field, up and down the sideline and even in an increasingly frantic stand.
Liscannor added four points to their total in the second half with Alan Clohessy and Brian Considine scoring the best of them, while Podge Collins put over two lovely scores off his left foot.
A minute from the end of normal time Niall Considine pointed Liscannor 0-10 to 0-9 ahead with another beautifully executed point, as Liscannor kept possession and didn’t give it away cheaply. A huge shock looked on the cards until Sean Collins equalised from a similar move at the scoreboard end.
A brief ruck, involving several players, at the end of the 60 minutes underlined the increasing tension and both teams’ huge desire to win. They were still level, 0-12 each, after the first ten minutes of extra time with McInerney and McGrath pointing for the winners, while Alan Clohessy pointed a 45’ and one from his left foot.
In the second half of extra time, both physios were on the move full time as players were hit by cramp. Wes DeLoughrey kept his cool two minutes into the second half to slot over an excellent point, while Enda Boyce put Cratloe two points up, three minutes later after Liam Markham had been fouled. Brendan Buglar and Brian Considine were shown second yellow cards in separate incidents in the frantic closing minutes, as Liscannor tried desperately for a goal and in fact had a couple of half chances, as high balls floated across the square. Kieran Considine missed a critical free in that spell.
While Cratloe are still in the championship, Liscannor contributed hugely to a thrilling spectacle. This was without a doubt the game of the championship this year and one of the most enthralling for many seasons in Clare.
Both clubs can be proud of the fact that their players gave it everything they could, with Liscannor in particulary producing a herculean effort.

Cratloe: Pierce Deloughrey; Seán Chaplin, Barry Duggan, Enda Boyce; Martin Oige Murphy, Michael Hawes, Liam Markham; Conor Ryan, Kevin Browne; Brendan Buglar, Podge Collins, Seán Collins; Padraig Chaplin, Cathal McInerney, Conor McGrath.
Subs: Wes Deloughrey for Kevin Browne (half-time), Gearóid Ryan for Padraig Chaplin (43), Shane O’Leary for Cathal McInerney (70 inj), Fergal Carroll for Conor Ryan (75).
Scorers: Cathal McInerney (0-6, 0-5f), Seán Collins, Podge Collins, Conor McGrath (0-2 each), Wes Deloughrey (0-1), Enda Boyce (0-1f).
Wides: 12   Frees: 29   45s: 0
Yellow card: Brendan Buglar.
Liscannor: Noel Kilmartin; Shane Canavan, David McDonagh, Alan Canavan; Michael Foley, Ronan Slattery, Niall Considine; Brian Considine, Alan Flaherty; Joe Considine, Alan McDonagh, Alan Clohessy; Kieran Considine, Johnny Considine, Darragh Blake.
Scorers: Alan Clohessy (0-4 0-1f, 0-1 ’45), Niall Considine (0-3), Brian Considine, Kieran Considine (0-2 each), Joe Considine (0-1).
Subs: Robert Lucas for Alan McDonagh (50), Gerry Considine for Joe Considine (53), Alan McDonagh for Ronan Slattery (73 inj), Denis Murphy for Johnny Considine (75), David Commane for Niall Considine (79 inj).
Wides: 11   Frees: 26   45s: 2
Yellow cards: Joe Considine, Ronan Slattery, Niall Considine, Alan Flaherty, Brian Consdine, Kieran Considine.
Red card: Brian Considine.
Referee: Rory Hickey (Éire Óg).