Clare SHC Round 1: Cratloe 3-15 Kilmaley 2-11
Cratloe maintained their Indian sign over Kilmaley with a third consecutive championship victory over the same opponent in recent years.
As with previous encounters, it went to the wire before a Shane Neville goal at the death finally settled an entertaining contest.
A run of 2-6 without reply either side of the first half water break was the platform for Cratloe to take a 2-8 to 1-4 lead at half-time.
Conor McGrath, Diarmuid Ryan, Rian Considine and Liam Markham were doing most to orchestrate the damage but that was aided by a Kilmaley side that looked all at sea at times. There was little shape to how they set up in the middle third meaning any decent supply to the inside line was non existent while Cratloe’s ability to break at pace was going unhampered.
Cratloe hit the front when Podge Collins was adjudged to have been fouled in the square after a long delivery from Shane Gleeson, with the aforementioned Gleeson firing the penalty home despite Bryan O’Loughlin’s best efforts. It seemed to suck the life and shape from Kilmaley while boosting the Cratloe ego, as Diarmuid Ryan, Liam Markham (2), David Collins and Gleeson all firing over to leave their side 1-6 to 0-2 ahead at the water break. Another from Ryan after the restart stretched that lead even further but there was more come as Gleeson’s long range effort was deflected home by Considine.
Kilmaley did improve in the closing ten minutes of the half, and Sean O’Loughlin’s opportunist goal gave them a lifeline to cling to after good work from Mikey O’Malley. O’Malley was doing most in the opening period to stem the tide but a lack of composure and discernible gameplan meant Kilmaley were always on the backfoot. It could well have been worse for Kilmaley in the opening period, as Cratloe also registered 10 first half wides.
Another Markham free extended Cratloe’s lead early in the second half but Kilmaley’s dominant period eventually arrived and O’Malley was central to it. It began when Sean O’Loughlin fired over a brilliant score from the sideline while O’Malley sent over a free to cut the gap to six. That was halved just moments later when Daire Keane played O’Malley through and he produced a deft batted finish to find the net and leave just three between them.
The chance to level proceedings arrived on 43 minutes when O’Malley’s pressure on Gearoid Ryan led to a penalty for Kilmaley, but Ryan made the ultimate amends with an outstanding diving save to deflect the ball over the bar. The final water break was called, and Cratloe were narrowly ahead by 2-10 to 2-8.
The sides traded scores after the water break with Considine and O’Malley having their own personal freetaking duel, and with five minutes to play Cratloe were still two points ahead. Another O’Malley free cut that gap to one with two left to play, but Conor McGrath kept Cratloe at arms length.
That arm was extended beyond reach when Shane Neville crashed a brilliant finish to the roof of the Kilmaley net with the clock in injury time, and it was a score that ended any doubts about the result.
Kilmaley: Bryan O’Loughlin; Colin McGuane, Conor Cleary, Ken Kennedy; Brian Cahill, Aidan McGuane, James McGuire; Cathal Darcy, Padraig McNamara; Mikey O’Neill, Daire Keane, Tom O’Rourke; Cian Moloney, Mikey O’Malley, Sean O’Loughlin.
Subs: Aaron Moloney for Moloney (inj)
Cratloe: Gearoid Ryan; Enda Boyce, Mikey Hawes, Shane O’Leary; Damien Browne, Diarmuid Ryan, Liam Markham; Sean Collins, David Collins; Shane Gleeson, Conor McGrath, Luke Healy; Podge Collins, Sean Neville, Rian Considine.
Subs: Sean Chaplin for Boyce (inj), Pakie O’Gorman for Shane O’Leary
A native of Ennis, Colin McGann has been editor of The Clare Champion since August 2020. Former editor of The Clare People, he is a journalism and communications graduate of Dublin Institute of Technology.