Inagh-Kilnamona reach first Clare Champion Cup final

Inagh-Kilnamona  1-16

Clonlara  1-13

INAGH-Kilnamona qualified for their first Clare Champion Cup (Senior Hurling League) final when they overcame Clonlara in a replay at Clarecastle on Saturday afternoon.

In a game in which the lead changed hands on a number of occasions, Inagh-Kilnamona finished strongly to secure a final spot against either Kilmaley or Newmarket. However, Clonlara will be disappointed at the result given the fact that they had 15 wides while a couple of mistakes by goalkeeper Ger O’Connell proved very costly midway through the second half.
The winners got off to a great start and raced into a 0-4 to 0-0 lead after 10 minutes. Clonlara enjoyed the better of the next 10 minutes and they had jumped into a one-point lead, 0-6 to 0-5, with seven minutes still to play in the half. Points were exchanged a couple of times between here and the half-time whistle at which time the winners were in front, 0-8 to 0-7.
Clonlara could have been in front at this stage as they had eight wides in that opening period, five more than the winners. The South-East Clare side had a dream start to the second half when Tommy Lynch goaled after good work by both Colm Galvin and John Conlon. Points from the impressive Cillian Fennessy and Galvin had the Clonlara men a goal clear by the sixth minute of the half when the score stood at 1-9 to 0-9.
The introduction of Eoin Vaughan to the Inagh-Kilnamona attack brought about a big improvement. After a Niall Arthur point from a free following a misplaced puck-out, Vaughan hit a point from play to close the gap to the minimum. A long-range free from Pat Kelly caused problems for the Clonlara defence and when O’Connell parried his effort, Vaughan was on hand to fire home the rebound and put his side back in front. Niall Arthur quickly added another point from a free and, in the space of eight minutes, the winners had turned a three-point deficit into a three-point lead entering the final quarter.
Points from Nicky O’Connell and Cormac O’Donovan closed the gap to the minimum but that was as close as Clonlara got despite having a couple of excellent chances in the remaining time. Points were exchanged twice before the winners finished with scores from Niall Arthur (free) and Eamonn Glynn to secure their place in the decided.
Their full-back line of Milo Keane, Brian Glynn and Dermot Lynch did well throughout while Niall Arthur again finished as the team’s top scorer with 0-11 to his credit. Cillian Fennessy, Oisín O’Brien, John Moloney, Tommy Lynch, Cathal O’Connell and Colm Galvin got through a lot of good work for the Clonlara side.

Inagh-Kilnamona: Patrick Kelly; Milo Keane, Brian Glynn, Dermot Lynch; Ronan O’Looney, David Hegarty, Colm Pilkington; Gary Lafferty, Paul O’Looney; Damian Lafferty, Eamonn Glynn, Dermot Gannon; Ger Arthur, Niall Arthur, Conor Tierney.
Scorers: Niall Arthur (0-11, 8f); Eoin Vaughan (1-1); Gary Lafferty, Eamonn Glynn, Damian Lafferty, Dermot Gannon (0-1 each).
Subs: Eoin Vaughan for Gannon (35 minutes); Haulie Vaughan for G Lafferty (53 minutes); Shane Griffin for O’Looney (55 minutes).
Clonlara: Ger O’Connell; Senan Nihill, John Moloney, Oisín O’Brien; Nicky O’Connell, Paul Nihill, Cillian Fennessy; Cormac O’Donovan, William Slattery; Tommy Lynch, Tomas O’Donovan, Cathal O’Connell; Colm Galvin, John Conlon, Domhnaill O’Donovan.
Subs: Barry Moloney for Slattery (40 minutes); Jason Murphy for D O’Donovan (52 minutes).
Clonlara: John Conlon (0-4, 3f); Tommy Lynch (1-1); Cathal O’Connell, Colm Galvin (0-2 each); Nicky O’Connell (free), Tomás O’Donovan, Cillian Fennessy, Cormac O’Donovan.
Referee: Ambrose Heagney, Corofin.