Hat-trick sends Crusheen clear

Clare Champion Cup

Crusheen      3-14
Clarecastle     2-15

Crusheen cemented their position at the top of Division 1 of the Clare Champion Cup with this win over Clarecastle.
Conditions were perfect for open hurling and even though both sides were missing championship regulars, a lively encounter ensued.
Patrick O’Grady, who scored a hat-trick against Clarecastle in the intermediate, did likewise in this game with each goal coming at a crucial period for Crusheen. The home side could have snatched a draw and a missed chance near the end signalled the end of their challenge.
Pat Kelly lining out at centre-back for Clarecastle opened the scoring after seven minutes followed two minutes later by a Darragh O’Doherty point for the winners. Kevin O’Dwyer responded for Clarecastle before Patrick O’Grady blasted home from close range for the game’s first goal in the 11th  minute. The visitors led 1-5 to 0-5 at the interval.
Fergus Kennedy, who had lined out with the Clare U-21’s in a challenge against a Clare senior selection earlier in the afternoon, entered the fray but Crusheen were denied the services of Conor O’Donnell, who sustained an injury in that challenge.
Patrick O’Grady scored his second goal before older sibling Gerry added a free as thy surged six points clear. Clarecastle had their best spell with four scores from Tyrone Kierse (3) and Considine to narrow their deficit to two points after 43 minutes.
O’Grady was on target again with a brilliant first-timed effort as Crusheen regained a five-point lead. Just when it appeared Clarecastle were out of contention, substitute Sean Talty pounced for a goal to leave two between the sides entering the final quarter. Niall Fitzgibbon (2), Kevin O’Dwyer, David Greene. Gerry O’Grady and Fergus Kennedy all hit the target by the 53rd minute when Crusheen were 3-11 to 1-13 ahead.
Aaron Considine with his side’s second goal, allied to another Kierse 65, narrowed the gap to two points with three minutes of normal time to play. Adam Healy, with his fifth point, had managed to level the game in the 59th minute but two in a row by Darragh O’Doherty sealed the league points for the county champions.
Crusheen had strong performances from Cronan Dillon at full-back with Alan Brigdale excelling at corner-back. Jason Greene shone at wing-back, Gerry O’Grady did well at midfield as David Forde, Gearóid O’Donnell, Patrick O’Grady, Padraic O’Malley and Darragh O’Doherty also did well. Clarecastle had good displays from Pat Kelly at centre-back, Sean Moloney, Tyrone Kierse, Adam Healy and Fergus Ryan.

Crusheen: David McMahon; John Brigdale, Cronan Dillon, Alan Brigdale; Jason Greene, Shaun Dillon, Brendan McMahon; Tony Meaney, Gerry O’Grady (0-4); David Forde, Niall Fitzgibbon (0-2), Gearoid O’Donnell (0-1); Darragh O’Doherty (0-5), Patrick O’Grady (3-0), Alan Touhy (0-1).
Subs: Padraic O’Malley for Forde (inj), Fergus Kennedy (0-1) for Meaney (inj).
Clarecastle: Donagh Murphy; Sean Moloney, Gary Farmer, Kevin Clohessy; Eric Flynn, Pat Kelly (0-1), Fergus Ryan; Tyrone Kierse (0-4), Andrew Page; Adam Healy (0-5), Kevin O’Dwyer (0-2), Jamie O’Connor; Aaron Considine (1-2), Alan O’Loughlin, Niall Dunne.
Subs: Sean Talty (1-0) for Dunne, David Greene (0-1) for O’Loughlin.
Referee: Seanie McMahon (Newmarket).