Disputed late Page goal proves decisive for Clarecastle

Clarecastle 1-16   Cratloe 0-15

A hotly disputed Andrew Page goal, eight minutes from the end, proved decisive in this Division 3 Hurling League final at Clareabbey on Sunday evening.
At the time, Clarecastle, the favourites, trailed by a point and, on an evening when the sides were level on 10 occasions, extra time looked likely.

Aaron Greene was on the field just two minutes when his cross from the right corner was finished to the net by Andrew Page, who appeared to be in the square.

Cratloe defenders protested but the score stood after the referee Rory McGann had consulted with his umpires.  It was the decisive score and the Magpies held the lead for the remainder of the tie.

At the end of an evenly contested first half, the teams went to the dressing rooms at 0-6 each.

Tomas Ryan gave Cratloe the lead inside the first minute but Andrew Page quickly levelled.

David Collins and Ryan pushed Cratloe two clear and by the end of the opening quarter they led 0-4 to 0-2.

The Magpies responded with points from Pakie Healy, Andrew Page and Gareth Barry to take the lead for the first time but David Collins levelled before the break.

The second half continued in a similar vein, with the lead changing hands on a regular basis.

Points were exchanged five times in the third quarter, at the end of which they were level at 0-11 each.

Conor Galvin and David Collins then exchanged points before a Barry Gleeson effort edged Cratloe one clear with 12 minutes remaining.

Four minutes later, the vital breakthrough came when Page got the all-important goal and, in the remaining time, they added 0-4 to Cratloe’s 0-2.

Both sides were guilty of some bad misses. Clarecastle held a slight edge at midfield, where Conor Galvin’s ability to win aerial possession, allied to Garath Barry’s sharpness – he hit four points from play – gave them a slight edge.

In defence, Conor Clancy and Patrick Casey did well while up front Andrew Page and Pakie Healy were prominent.

For Cratloe, Eoghan O’Kelly, Aaron Gaule, Pádraig Chaplin, Sean Ryan, David Collins and Tomás Ryan did best.
After the game, Clare GAA public relations officer Sean O’Halloran presented the trophy to the winning captain, Briain Lynch.

Clarecastle: John Casey; Joe Barry, Conor Clancy, Kieran Lynch; Pat Tuohy, John Reidy, Patrick Casey; Conor Galvin (0-1), Garath Barry (0-4); David Greene (0-1), Andrew Page (1-2), Pakie Healy (0-7, 5f); Mark Foley, John Pyne, Aaron Considine.
Subs: Briain Lynch for Pyne (19 minutes), Brian Russell for Tuohy (46 minutes), Aaron Greene for D Greene (50 minutes), Niall Dunne for Page (57 minutes).
Cratloe: Eoghan O’Kelly; Aaron Gaule, Padraic Chaplin, Joe Conroy; Jack McCourt, Kevin Browne, Sean Ryan; Jamie Arthur, David Collins (0-9); Dean de Loughrey, Barry Gleeson (0-1), David O’Gorman (0-1); Tomás Ryan (0-3), Fergal Carroll (0-1), Patrick Carey.
Referee: Rory McGann, ­Newmarket.