Five teams remain unbeaten in the cup

After two rounds of the Clare Champion Cup, there are five unbeaten teams, four of who have maximum points.

Cratloe, Crusheen and title holders Newmarket recorded their second successive wins in Division 1A on Saturday evening while in Division 1B, O’Callaghan’s Mills are the only ones with full points, just one ahead of Tubber, who followed their opening round win with a draw against Ruan.

Newmarket 2-19   Éire Óg 2-11

Champions Newmarket were deserved eight-point winners over Éire Óg at Fr Murphy Park on Saturday. Ahead by three points, 0-10 to 1-4, at the break, they had the better of the second-half exchanges and would have had a greater winning margin had they availed of all of the goal-scoring opportunities they created in the early part of the second half.

Colin Ryan was the game’s top scorer with 0-12, 0-7 of which came in the opening half when Graham Glynn was the Éire Óg goalscorer.

In the opening minutes of the second half, the winners caused huge problems for the Éire Óg defence but they failed to convert three clear goal-scoring opportunities.

Five minutes into the half, Shane Liddy found the net and by the mid-point of the half the home side were four clear, 1-13 to 1-9. Substitute Liam Clancy had their second goal with eight minutes remaining in the game and he followed with a point to put his team 2-17 to 1-9 clear.

To their credit, Éire Óg piled on the pressure and after Darren Duggan had pulled off a couple of great saves, David Reidy found the net for the Ennis men after Shane O’Donnell had created the opening.

Seconds later, Duggan produced another excellent stop, this time turning O’Donnell’s effort behind for a 65.
Seanie and Niall O’Connor, Shane Kelleher, Darren Duggan and substitutes Liam Clancy and James Liddy did well for the winners. The Éire Óg full-backs struggled throughout and were fortunate that the winner’s margin wasn’t greater. Aaron Fitzgerald, Shane O’Donnell, David Reidy and Kevin Moynihan did best for Éire Óg.

Newmarket: Darren Duggan; Eoin O’Brien, Sean O’Connor, Shane Kelleher; James McInerney, Enda Barrett, Alan Barrett; Eoin Hayes, Niall O’Connor; David Barrett, Colin Ryan, Ronan Goode; Shane Liddy, Niall Enright, Mike McInerney.
Subs: James Liddy for McInerney and Liam Clancy for Enright;
Scorers: Colin Ryan (0-12, 11f), Liam Clancy (1-1), Shane Liddy (1-0), Eoin O’Brien, James McInerney, Enda Barrett, Alan Barrett, Eoin Hayes Niall Enright (0-1) each.
Éire Óg: Kevin Brennan; Ronan Cooney, Mark Fitzgerald, Ciarán Hanna; Ciarán Russell, Aaron Fitzgerald, Kevin Moynihan; Marc O’Donnell, Niall McMahon; Ronan Keane, Tadhg McNamara, Graham Glynn; David Reidy, Shane O’Donnell, Davy O’Halloran.
Subs: Barry Nugent for McNamara, Damian McMahon for N McMahon and John Mulcahy for M Fitzgerald.
Scorers: David Reidy (1-0, 8f), Graham Glynn (1-0), Aaron Fitzgerald (0-2), Shane O’Donnell (0-1).

Clonlara 4-16   Sixmilebridge 1-10

Inter-county men John Conlon, Colm Galvin and Darach Honan were amongst the scorers as Clonlara ran up a big win over Sixmilebridge at Clonlara on Saturday.

Helped by a goal from Micheal O’Loughlin, the winners were 1-9 to 0-6 in front at the break while their points came from John Conlon, Galvin and Honan on a day when they welcomed Domhnaill O’Donovan back after he missed their opening round against Inagh-Kilnamona.

Second-half goals from ­inter-county players Conlon and ­Honan, together with another from O’Loughlin, kept the home side in front. Sixmilebridge’s goal came from a Niall Gilligan free but, on the day, they had to give best to Clonlara, who were worthy winners.

Clonlara: Ger O’Connell; Oisín O’Brien, Domhnaill O’Donovan, Shane O’Brien; Eoin Meehan, Colm Galvin (0-1), Ger Powell; James Hastings, William Slattery; Darach Honan (1-1), John Conlon (1-12), Michael Collins; Micheal O’Loughlin (2-0), Jason Murphy, Ronan Carey (0-1).
Subs: Paul Moloney for Collins, Cathal O’Connell (0-1) for Murphy and Tommy Gillen for Carey.
Sixmilebridge: Sean Chaplin; Eanna Burns, Brian Carey, Trevor Purcell; Noel Purcell, Caimin Morey, Seadna Moray (0-1); Shane Golden (0-1), Cathal O’Connor (0-1); Niall Gilligan (1-4), Kevin Lynch (0-1), Ronan Mullane; Alan Mulready, Declan Morey (0-2), Danny Morey.
Subs: Darragh Fitzgerald for C O’Connor and Evan McInerney for N Purcell.

Cratloe 0-19   Clooney-Quin 2-12

Peter Duggan contributed 1-9 at Clooney on Saturday but it wasn’t enough to prevent his side from suffering a second successive defeat in the campaign.

Cratloe looked to be on their way to a comfortable win when they led by seven points five minutes before the half-time whistle.

When referee Rory Hickey sounded the short whistle, the margin was down to three, 0-14 to 2-5. Fergal Lynch had his side’s second goal just before the whistle when Peter Duggan had created the opening and provided the final pass.

The game’s opening goal came in the first minute when quick thinking by Duggan left the Cratloe defence with no answer to the Clooney-Quin man’s powerful strike from a 50m free. The game was five minutes old before Enda Boyce opened Cratloe’s account and two points from placed balls from Damian Browne had the scores level at 1-0 to 0-3 by the eighth minute. Conor Ryan put the winners in front and they hit a purple patch between the 19th and 26th minutes when they scored six unanswered points to go 0-12 to 1-2 ahead.

Five minutes into the second half the lead was down to the minimum after Duggan had converted two frees. Damian Browne replied with a 65 for the winners before another brace from Duggan levelled the tie at the mid-point of the second half. Try as they did, however, they were unable to hit the front. Shortly before the full-time whistle, they were awarded a 20m free but Peter Duggan’s piledriver was deflected for a 65, which Duggan converted for what was the final score of the game.

Philip Gleeson, Barry Duggan, David Ryan, Enda Boyce, Sean Chaplin and Conor Eyan were prominent for the winners while, in the Clooney-Quin team, Duggan got most help from Conor Harrison.

Injury ruled out Sean Collins and Cathal McInerney from Cratloe, while Podge Collins only came in for the final quarter after being laid low with flu in the days preceding the tie, while Cillian Duggan was a huge loss to the home side.

Cratloe: Sean Hayes; Philip Gleeson, Barry Duggan, Ogie Murphy; Michael Hawes, Liam Markham, David Ryan; Damian Browne, Enda Boyce; David O’Gorman, Conor Ryan, Sean Chaplin; Gearoid Ryan, Conor McGrath, Aidan Browne.
Subs: David Collins for A Browne and Podge Collins for G Ryan.
Scorers: Damian Browne (0-8, 5f, 2 65), Enda Boyce, Sean Chaplin (0-3 each); Conor McGrath, Conor Ryan (0-2 each), David Ryan (0-1).
Clooney-Quin: Gary Hogan; Bryan McInerney, Shane McNamara, Paudie Ward; Enda Harrison, Conor Harrison, Donnacda Murphy; John Earls, Ruairi McNamara; Keith Hogan, Peter Duggan, Ritchie Hennessy; Mike Daffy, Fergal Lynch, Derek Ryan.
Subs: Cathal Egan for K Hogan, James Corry for Ryan and James Casey for R McNamara.
Scorers: Peter Duggan (1-9, 1-6f, 1 65’), Fergal Lynch (1-1), John Ealrs (0-1) and Mike Daffy (0-1).
Referee: Rory Hickey, Eire Og.

Crusheen 2-15   Inagh-Kilnamona  2-10

When Inagh-Kilnamona review this clash, they won’t be happy with the manner in which they conceded both goals. In fact, these scores were crucial to the home side’s win on a day in which they led by three points at half-time, 1-8 to 1-5.

An injury to Tomás Kelly on the morning of the game, sustained while he was doing some work at home, ruled him out of action while the visitors were also without Kevin Hehir from the side that won in Clonlara a week earlier.

That said, Crusheen went into the tie determined to follow up on their opening-round win with another victory. They led by three points at the break, 1-8 to 1-5, thanks to some good points from Darragh O’Doherty from frees and Conor O’Donnell, while Fergus Kennedy hit their first-half goal. Niall Arthur was Inagh-Kilnamona’s first-half goal scorer.

The visitors tried hard to get back into contention in the second half but a Jamie Fitzgibbon goal ensured Crusheen remained ahead. Substitute Cathal McConigley scored Inagh-Kilnamona’s second goal near the end.

Crusheen: Donal Tuohy; John Brigdale, Cronan Dillon, Briain Dillon; Conor O’Loughlin, Ciaran O’Doherty, Cathal Dillon; Alan Tuohy, Alan Brigdale; Gerry O’Grady, Jamie Fitzgibbon, Gearoid O’Donnell, Conor O’Donnell, Fergus Kennedy, Dara O’Doherty.
Subs: Rory Halpin for B Dillon, Youen Horner for J Brigdale, Patrick O’Grady for G O’Grady and Niall Fitzgibbon for Gearóid O’Donnell.
Scorers: Darragh O’Doherty, Conor O’Donnell (0-5 each), Jamie Fitzgibbon (1-1), Fergus Kennedy (1-0), Ciarán O’Doherty, Alan Tuohy, Alan Brigdale and Gearóid O’Donnell (0-1 each).
Inagh-Kilnamona: Patrick Kelly; Sean Devitt, Milo Keane, Dermot Lynch; Damian Lafferty, Eamonn Glynn, Colm Pilkington; Paul O’Looney, Joe Griffin; Brian Hehir, Ger Arthur, Eoin Vaughan; Conor Tierney, Niall Arthur, Shane Griffin.
Subs: Cathal McConigley for J Griffin, Stephen Twomey for Hehir and Gary Lafferty for Keane.
Scorers: Ger Arthur (0-6), Niall Arthur (1-1), Cathal McConigley (1-0), Brian Hehir, Conor Tierney and Shane Griffin (0-1 each).
Referee: Johnnie Healy, Smith O’Brien’s.

Clarecastle 1-17   Broadford 0-13

Clarecastle put their first league points on the board when they proved too strong for Broadford on Saturday.

It wasn’t a particularly memorable game and both sides will have to improve considerably if they are to make an impression in the upcoming championship.

Helped by a goal from Conor O’Gorman, the Magpies were five points clear at half-time when the score was 1-9 to 0-7. Adam Healy was on free-taking duty in the absence of Bobby Duggan, who was rested ahead of Clare’s Munster Minor Hurling Championship clash with Cork on Thursday.

Broadford were reduced to 14 men early in the second half when Kieran O’Connell picked up a second yellow card. Clarecastle failed to capitalise on the extra-man advantage but Broadford were unable to make up the first half deficit and the Magpies gathered their first points of the campaign.

Jonathon Clancy and Gareth Barry dominated at midfield while Danny Scanlan was always prominent at centre-back for the winners.

Clarecastle: Donogh Murphy; Conor Clancy, Stephen O’Halloran, Kevin Clohessy; Jamie O’Connor, Danny Scanlan, Dylan Broderick; Gareth Barry, Jonathon Clancy; Adam Healy, Conor Plunkett, Mark McGuane; Conor O’Gorman, David Greene, Derek Quinn.
Subs: Fergus Ryan for Clancy (inj) and John Reidy for Broderick (inj).
Broadford: Eoin O’Brien; James Gunning, Kieran O’Connell, Brian Taylor; Cian O’Brien, Ciarán Corcoran, James Gunning; Cathal Chaplin, Diarmuid Moloney; Danny Reddan, Pádraic Taylor, Damian Keniry; John Corcoran, Declan Teefy, Stiofán McMahon.
Subs: Donie Whelan for McMahon and Mark Moloney for Reddan.