Defensive display inspires St Flannan’s

St Flannan’s 0-16   Dungarvan Colleges 2-9

Despite the very difficult weather conditions, St Flannan’s and Dungarvan Colleges produced a most entertaining Dr Harty Cup, Munster colleges Senior A Hurling Championship, contest at Dr Morris Park in Thurles on Wednesday.

At the end of the day, St Flannan’s were a point in front and remain unbeaten after two games. Dungarvan won the toss and elected to play with the aid of the near gale wind in the opening half at the end of which they were five points clear with the score at 2-6 to 0-7.

Two points inside the first minute of the second half from Brian Guilfoyle and Bobby Duggan gave the Ennis college the boost they needed.

With David Conroy and Martin O’Leary holding the upperhand at midfield, there was a good supply of ball going into the St Flannan’s forwards and Bobby Duggan, in particular, was causing a lot of problems for Dungarvan who went into this tie with two wins under their belt.

At the end of a really well contested tie, St Flannan’s just about merited their narrow win. The Ennis side went into this tie without Clarecastle’s Stephen Ward who was unavailable due to illness.

Centre-back Aidan McGuane was outstanding while Liam Corbett excelled in the first half. David Clancy was another to shine in what was essentially a great team effort. Conroy and O’Leary had the better of the midfield exchanges while, up front Bobby Duggan, with 0-10 to his credit, stood out with Brian Guilfoyle and Tadhg Lynch also doing well.

St Flannan’s: Eoin Meehan (Kilmaley); David Clancy (Doora-Barefield), Mark McGuane (Clarecastle), Joe Barry (Clarecastle); Liam Corbett (Corofin), Aidan McGuane (Kilmaley), Conor Galvin (Clarecastle); Martin O’Leary (Kilmihil, 0-2), David Conroy (Doora-Barefield 0-2); Ryan Taylor (Clooney-Quin), Bobby Duggan (Clarecastle, 0-10), Tadhg Lynch (Ballyea 0-1); Brian Guilfoyle (Doora-Barefield 0-1), Cian Moloney (Kilmaley), Aaron Greene (Clarecastle).
Subs: Fergus Killeen (Corofin) for Greene; Patrick Tuohy (Clarecastle) for M McGuane (inj).

Doon CBS 1-21   St Caimin’s 2-10

St Caimin’s, Shannon suffered their second defeat in this year’s title race when they went under to Doon CBS in a tie played on the astro turf at the University of Limerick on Wednesday

The Shannon side led by the minimum margin at half time, 1-7 to 1-6, with their goal coming from corner forward Ben O’Gorman.

The Clare side, who went into this game without the injured Stephen Mulready (Sixmilebridge) and James O’Brien (Newmarket), should have been further ahead at this stage but they conceded a soft goal while they were also unlucky to see two efforts rebound off the upright.

In the second half, the Shannon school faced a very stiff breeze and struggled to cope with their Limerick opponents who took control and opened a six-point lead.

Inside the final quarter, St Caimin’s fought back and a goal from a Shane Gleeson penalty cut the deficit to three points with five minutes remaining. However, they were unable to get any closer and Doon finished strongly to take the points.

Best for the Shannon outfit on the day were Alex Morey, James Warren, Shane Gleeson and David Burke.

St Caimin’s: James Hickey (Cratloe); Dominick Costigan (Cratloe), Evan Keogh (Newmarket), Mark Quinn (Sixmilebridge); Paudie Conway (Newmarket), Alex Morey (Sixmilebridge), Shane O’Leary (Cratloe); James Warren (Newmarket), Jamie Arthur (Cratloe); David Burke (Newmarket), Shane Gleeson (Cratloe), John Mulready (Sixmilebridge); Ben O’Gorman (Wolfe Tones); David O’Brien (Cratloe), Conor Deasy (Sixmilebridge).
Sub: Ronan McCarthy (Newmarket) for Quinn.