Inagh-Kilnamona move closer to semi-final spot

Inagh-Kilnamona 0-18   Newmarket 2-10

A STRONG finish, which yielded four points in the last five minutes of play, helped Inagh-Kilnamona to victory over title holders Newmarket in Round 7 of the Clare Champion Cup at Newmarket on Saturday afternoon.
On a day when both teams were very much under-strength, due to a combination of senior inter-county panellists not being available and injuries, patrons were treated to a well-contested game played in bright sunshine and very warm conditions.

Newmarket will be disappointed with the result but the return of Stephen Kelly will have given them a big lift. A leading light in the team before he emigrated to Canada last summer, he returned home last week and was introduced during the second half at full-forward. He is sure to challenge strongly for a place in the starting line-up for the remainder of the year.

The sides were level five times in the opening 25 minutes, at which stage the score was 1-5 to 0-8. James Liddy was the goalscorer when he got the vital strike, following a Noel Frawley delivery. Inagh-Kilnamona followed with three points, two from Niall Arthur and one from Gary Lafferty, to lead at half-time, 0-11 to 1-5.

The home side had slightly the better of the early exchanges in the second half and scored the opening two points. It was 0-13 to 1-8 10 minutes into this period. The next 10 minutes were scoreless but Inagh-Kilnamona goalie Stephen Twomey and full-back Milo Keane produced a couple of outstanding saves to prevent Newmarket from increasing their goal tally.

Inside the final 10 minutes, substitutes Shane Liddy and Stephen Kelly pointed for Newmarket to level the game. Ger Arthur put the mid-Clare side in front, before James Liddy got the all-important touch for Newmarket’s second goal, after Twomey had made an excellent save from Shane Liddy.

Seconds later, Newmarket’s goalie Darren Duggan saved from Niall Arthur and it looked good for the home side.

However, two points each from the Arthur brothers sealed the points, a result that edges them closer to a semi-final spot.

Inagh-Kilnamona: Stephen Twomey; Sean Devitt, Milo Keane, Dermot Lynch; Colm Pilkington, Christopher O’Looney, Brian Hehir; Tomás Kelly (0-1), Paul O’Looney; Ger Arthur (0-5), Sean Mahoney, Gary Lafferty (0-1); Gerry Coote, Cathal McConigley, Niall Arthur (0-11, 6f, 1 65’).
Sub: Alan Mullins for Pilkington (inj, 46 minutes).
Newmarket: Darren Duggan; Eoin McInerney, Eoin O’Brien, Pádraig Kilmartin; Shane Kelleher (0-1), Niall O’Connor, Alan Barrett; Frank Melody, Noel Frawley (0-1); David Barrett (0-1), Ronan Goode, Liam Clancy (0-3); Seanie Arthur, Mike McInerney (0-1), James Liddy (2-1).
Subs: Shane Liddy (0-1) for Arthur (half-time), Alan McInerney for Eoin McInerney (42 minutes) and Stephen Kelly (0-1) for Clancy (47 minutes).
Referee: Jim Hickey, Cratloe.

 

Éire Óg 2-21   Clonlara 0-11

ÉIRE Óg got back to winning ways when they had a comfortable win against an under-strength Clonlara side at Éire Óg on Saturday.

Both teams were short regulars but Clonlara were a lot more severely hit with the absence of their inter-county contingent of John Conlon, Darach Honan, Domhnaill O’Donovan, Colm Galvin and the O’Connells, on top of injuries leaving them short a lot of first-team regulars.

A brace of Thomas Downes goals early in the second half proved decisive and helped the Ennis men to take a grip on the tie. At half-time, they were nine points clear, 0-14 to 0-5, but any hopes of a Clonlara rally were killed off by Downes’ brace of goals.

For the second week in-a-row the South-East Clare side used regular goalkeeper Ger O’Connell in attack and again called on team manager Donal Madden, also to play in attack.

Éire Óg: Philip Walsh; Ciarán Hanna, Mark Fitzgerald, David Neylon; Liam Corry (0-1), Kevin Moynihan (0-2), Ciarán Russell (0-1); Aaron Fitzgerald (0-1), Niall McMahon; Damian McMahon (0-2), Barry Nugent (0-4), Brian Dolan (0-2); Thomas Downes (2-1), Graham Glynn (0-6), Niall O’Connor.
Subs: Cormac O’Regan (0-1) for Liam Corry, Ronan Cooney for Ciarán Russell, Marc O’Donnell for Aaron Fitzgerald and Tadhg MacNamara for Niall O’Connor.
Clonlara: Patrick Stritch; Patrick Conlon, Oisín O’Brien, Shane O’Brien; Pat O’Hare (0-1), Paul Nihill (0-2), Eoin Meehan; Michael O’Loughlin (0-5), Ger Powell; Mark Morris (0-1), Michael Collins, Neil Ryan; Ger O’Connell, Thomas Begley (0-1), James Hastings.
Subs: Barry Moloney (0-1) for Mark Morris, Donal Madden for Ger O’Connell and Mark Morris for Paul Nihill.

Sixmilebridge 0-15   Clooney-Quin 1-9

IN a dress rehearsal for their upcoming senior championship meeting, Sixmilebridge came out on top against Clooney-Quin when the sides clashed at O’Garney Park, Sixmilebridge

On a day when both sides were short their senior inter-county players, the ’Bridge had a double reason for celebration. The win was just their second of the campaign but marked the return to action of Jamie Shanahan for his first competitive game of the season.

A serious leg injury suffered by Clooney-Quin’s Ruairí McNamara in the early minutes of the tie led to a long delay. The young Clooney man was taken to hospital by ambulance, after which the game resumed, with the home side having the better of the early exchanges. They had a five-point lead before Ritchie Hennessy opened the visitors’ account.

Shanahan quickly showed that his long lay-off hadn’t affected his form and he finished the game with a tally of seven points, which played a huge part in helping his team to a much-needed victory in their quest to avoid relegation from the top division.

The winners led by double scores, 0-8 to 0-4, at the interval. They had extended this advantage to six points by the three-quarter stage, before points from Cathal Egan, Donnacda Murphy and Mike Daffy cut the margin to three with 10 minutes to play. The ’Bridge extended this to six again before Clooney-Quin’s Daffy scored an injury-time goal.

Sixmilebridge: Patrick Freeman; Paul Fitzpatrick (0-1), Aidan Quilligan, Tadhg Keogh; Sam O’Sullivan, Caimin Morey, Paidí Fitzpatrick; Pa Sheehan (0-2), Brian Carey; Jamie Shanahan (0-7), Alan Mulready (0-1), Kevin Lynch (0-1); Cathal O’Connor, Rory Shanahan (0-1), Danny Morey (0-1).
Subs: Trevor Purcell for C Morey (inj), Christy Griffin (0-1) for O’Connor, Noel Purcell for Quilligan and Sean Lynch for Mulready (inj).
Clooney-Quin: Keith Hogan; Bryan McInerney, Shane McNamara, Joe O’Loughlin; Conor Harrison, Cillian Duggan, Ruairí McNamara; Donncha Murphy (0-1), Jimmy Corry; Ryan Taylor, Cathal Egan (0-1), John Earls; Seamus Conroy, Mike Daffy (1-2), Richie Hennessy (0-5).
Subs: Paudie Ward for McNamara (inj), Derek Ryan for Earls and James Casey for Conroy.

Cratloe 1-15   Clarecastle 0-14

CRATLOE scored their second Clare Champion Cup win in three days when they accounted for Clarecastle on Saturday evening. The previous Wednesday evening, they recorded a one-point win over Crusheen (1-15 to 0-17) and both of these victories keep them in contention for a place in the semi-final.

In common with other games in this competition at the weekend, both teams were short quite a number of regulars, forcing them to give game time to members of their intermediate and junior teams.

The Magpies had the better of the opening quarter when they led by two points, 0-5 to 0-3, thanks to scores from Pakie Healy (2), David Green, Conor O’Gorman and Aaron Considine, with Cratloe’s replies coming from Sean Chaplin, David Collins and Damien Browne.

At the turn of the second quarter, Cratloe scored what proved to be the game’s only goal when Sean Chaplin found the net and this helped to tie the game at the break, 1-5 to 0-8.

Over the hour both sides were guilty of many bad misses. Early in the second half, Cratloe managed to open a lead, which they held to the finish. They were five clear at the three quarter stage, 1-11 to 0-9. Clarecastle battled hard throughout but despite their best efforts, they failed to get back on terms and Cratloe held on for a merited win.

Cratloe: Gearóid Ryan; John O’Gorman, Barry Duggan, David Ryan; Enda Boyce (0-2), Michael Hawes (0-1), Philip Gleeson; David Collins (0-3), Martin ‘Ogie’ Murphy; Sean Chaplin (1-1), David O’Gorman, Pádraig Chaplin; Barry Gleeson (0-1), Damien Browne (0-3), Aidan Browne (0-4).
Sub: Tomás Ryan for B Gleeson.
Clarecastle: Jamie Coughlan; Andrew Page, Jamie O’Connor, Kevin Clohessy; Seanie Moloney, Eric Flynn, Fearghus Ryan; Pakie Healy (0-3), Garrett Barry; Conor O’Gorman (0-6), Conor Plunkett (0-1), David Green (0-2); Aaron Considine (0-1), Briain Lynch (0-1), Niall Dunne.
Sub: Brian Russell for Moloney (inj).

Postponed
THE remaining game in thw group was postponed due to a bereavement in Broadford. They will play Crusheen this week.