Holders through to u-21 football final

By Seamus Hayes

Title holders Eire Og are one step away from retaining the under 21 A football title after their comprehensive 1-13 to 0-5 win over Clondegad at Lissycasey.

In the final they will face a North Clare amalgamation known as Clan Lir after they proved too strong for Naomh Eoin/O’Currys at Cooraclare.

Hennessy Park in Miltown will host the final on Saturday next (November 8).

A seven point tally from Paddy O’Malley helped Eire Og to this latest win and their followers will be hoping that they can go on a retain the title and help make up for the disappointment suffered when losing the senior and minor championship finals.

They dominated the first half and, helped by a Shane O’Donnell goal, were well on their way to the final by half time when they led 1-11 to 0-3.

The other semi-final proved to be a much tighter affair but the physically stronger North Clare combination deservingly came out on top. They led 1-7 to 1-3 at half time with their goal coming from Darren Nagle. The West Clare side’s goal came from a Jack Scanlan penalty on the stroke of half time and he repeated the feat in injury time at the end of the second half. However, it was too late to prevent the North Clare outfit from going away with the spoils and a final date against the holders.

Elsewhere, Cratloe won promotion to division 2 in the senior football league when they accounted for Coolmeen, 0-11 to 0-4. The win sees the county champions through to another final and they will play Kilmihil for the division 3 crown on a date to be decided.

Cratloe’s next football outing will be on Sunday week when they travel to Waterford to play the Nire in the Munster semi-final. The Waterford champions defeated their Limerick counterparts, Ballylanders in a quarter final tie earlier today