Clare 2
Galway 2

Clare and Galway played out an entertaining draw in Round 2 of the Oscar Traynor inter-league junior competition at the County Grounds on Saturday.

It was a tough battle throughout and the result means it’s all to play for in the last round of games on December 29.
Galway made the better start and took the lead after 10 minutes. They were awarded a free just outside the area and Ger Seevers rolled the ball to Keith Ward, whose low drive into the corner of the net beat John Mulready in the Clare goal.

The half had just passed the midway point when the home side equalised. The visitors failed to deal with a cross and Colin Smith was on hand to fire home the equaliser.

Clare enjoyed the upperhand for the remainder of the half and were unlucky not to take the lead. Their best chance came when David Reidy crossed from the right and Michael Crosby saw his header just go over the top. A minute later, the Newmarket Celtic player saw his effort go just wide of the upright.

Just on the stroke of half-time, Galway’s Barry Moran, following a corner, forced Barry Moran into an excellent save.
Galway made a good start to the second half and went back in front on 55 minutes with a good left-foot strike from inside the box from Ward again.

The game died a bit after this as the visitors put emphasis on defending their their lead. The introduction of Daithí O’Connell, Eoin Glynn and Darragh Fitzgerald, together with the switch of David Russell to the attack, helped Clare pile on the pressure and they eventually got back on terms when they scored two minutes from the end. A cross from the right wasn’t dealt with by the visitor’s defence and Eoin O’Brien blasted the ball to the roof of the net.

Shortly before the equaliser, Galway were reduced to 10 men when Eric Browne was sent off on a second yellow card. Clare lost captain Mark Donlon to a red card in injury time. Despite this, Clare will travel to Roscommon later this month confident of getting a result that will put the pressure on Galway, who take on Limerick in their final game.

Clare: John Mulready (Bridge United); Colin Ryan (Newmarket Celtic), Darren Cullinan (Newmarket Celtic), Mark Donlon (Newmarket Celtic, captain), David Russell (Avenue United), Eoin Hayes (Newmarket Celtic), Colin Smyth (Avenue United), Eoin O’Brien (Newmarket Celtic), David McCarthy (Avenue United), David Reidy (Ennis Town Rock), Michael Crosby (Newmarket Celtic)
Subs: Daithí O’Connell (Newmarket Celtic) for McCarthy, Eoin Glynn (Ennis Town Rock) for Crosby and Darragh Fitzgerald (Bridge United) for Smyth.
Galway: Paul Geraghty; John Egan, Dave McDonagh, Keith McHugh, Eric Browne, Tommy Walsh, Ger Seevers, Keith Ward, Stephen Cunningham, Barry Moran, Gary Forde.
Subs: Dave Smith for Cunningham, Ray Moran for B Moran and Conor Cannon for Seevers.
Referee: Pat Gleeson.

Final-round deciders

With two of the three group games played by all four teams, Limerick lead the way with maximum points and they have qualified for the next stage. Galway are in second place followed by Clare, with Roscommon bringing up the rear.

Clare travel to play Galway on Saturday, December 29 at 2pm and must win this tie to have a chance of progressing. A win for Clare and victory for Limerick over Galway – this game will also be on December 29 at 7pm in Limerick – could see Clare progress as runners-up to Limerick. Wins for Clare and Limerick in the final round will then see the qualifiers decided on goal difference and, at present, Galway have a four-goal advantage.

Clare’s preparations continued last evening with a friendly against the Limerick U-21s. The sides met last week prior to Clare’s game with Galway and Clare recorded a 2-1 victory.