St Joseph’s  0-7

Doonbeg  0-6

A powerful last quarter at Lissycasey on Saturday saw St Joseph’s Doora-Barefield cause the shock of the 2011 Clare Senior Football Championship by ousting the defending champions, Doonbeg.
The Magpies may have been most people’s favourites to win this one but few will deny St Joseph’s were deserving winners on a day when a strong wind and driving rain made conditions very difficult for the players.
Shrewd changes in the second half played a big part in this win, with substitutes Christy O’Brien and Colm Mullen kicking the final two scores of the match.
From his juvenile days, Mullen was noted as an accurate and skillful forward. With Saturday’s game in the first minute of injury time, the ball was delivered to the St Joseph’s man and from 40 yards out on the right wing he made no mistake for what proved to be the winning score.
Doora-Barfield looked to be in a strong position when they trailed by just two points, 0-2 to 0-4, at half-time, having played against the strong wind. Ten minutes into the second half the picture looked different as the Magpies had doubled their half-time advantage and looked to be about to take control.
However, from here to the finish the winners dictated matters and showed the greater hunger as they emerged with victory and a place in the semi-final.
When the Magpies review this game they will point to their failure to score in the opening 13 minutes as one of the reasons for their defeat. Experienced former All-Ireland winning goalkeeper with Kerry, Declan O’Keeffe, made an important save from Shane Ryan in the 10th minute. A minute later, Greg Lyons dispossessed Shane Killeen as the Doonbeg half-forward moved into a goal-scoring position. It was a tight call, as many felt that referee Tom Stackpool could have awarded a penalty to the Magpies.
The game’s opening goal came from Shane Ryan after 13 minutes and like scores followed from Colm Dillon and Kevin Nugent in the next six minutes.
The Doora-Barefield men finally opened their account eight minutes from the break when Declan O’Keeffe came up field to convert a 45 conceded by Nigel Dillon when he made an excellent save to deny Enda Lyons.
Ahead by only 0-4 to 0-2 at half-time, things didn’t look good for Doonbeg.
They resumed in very determined fashion and points from David Tubridy (free) and Conor Downes saw them extend their lead to four nine minutes into this half.
This was still the position at the mid-point, when Declan O’Keeffe again came upfield to convert a 45 for his side. The score sparked off a good spell for his side and a brace of points followed from team captain Cathal O’Sullivan to leave one between the teams with 13 minutes to play.
With just a minute remaining and after Doonbeg had missed two great chances as the normally very accurate David Tubridy failed to find the target from two well-placed frees, the first of which was awarded after a great run forward by full-back Pádraig Gallagher just the minimum separated the teams.
Christy O’Brien replaced his brother David with a minute of normal time remaining and with his first touch he landed the equaliser.
Two minutes of additional time were signalled and, in the first of these, Mullen kicked the winning score and dumped the Magpies out of the title race.
Declan O’Keeffe, Damian Kennedy, Ger Fannin, Stephen Collins, Kevin Dilleen, particularly in the final quarter, Greg Lyons and Cathal O’Sullivan did well for the winners.
For the Magpies, Pádraig Gallagher, Shane O’Brien, Conor Whelan, Colm Dillon and Conor Downes had their moments

St Joseph’s: Declan O’Keeffe; Ger Fannin, Damian Kennedy, Stephen Collins; Greg Lyons, Kevin Dilleen, Gavin O’Sullivan; Alan O’Neill, Mark Raftery; David O’Brien, Sean Flynn, Paul Dullaghan; Enda Lyons, Cathal O’Sullivan, Aidan O’Connor;
Subs: Colm Mullen for Flynn (inj) 40 minutes, Mark Hallinan for O’Connor (50 minutes), Christy O’Brien for David O’Brien (58 minutes).
Scorers: Declan O’Keeffe (0-2 45s), Cathal O’Sullivan (0-2) each, Aidan O’Connor (1f) Christy O’Brien, Colm Mullen (0-1) each.
Frees for: 21; Wides: 3; 45s: 2
Bookings: Greg Lyons (25 minutes); Mark Raftery (35 minutes)
“Doonbeg are county champions for a reason. We played well today and got the scores at vital times. There is great will in this team.” John Halpin, St Joseph’s manager.

Doonbeg: Nigel Dillon; Ritchie Vaughan, Pádraig Gallagher, Conor Whelan; Joe Blake, Shane O’Brien, Jim Bob Griffin; Colm Dillon, Enda Doyle; Frank O’Dea, Shane Killeen, Conor Downes; David Tubridy, Kevin Nugent, Shane Ryan.
Sub: Brian Egan for Nugent (57 minutes).
Scorers: Conor Downes (0-2), Colm Dillon, Kevin Nugent, David Tubridy (1f), Shane Ryan (0-1) each.
Frees for: 28; Wides: 9; 45s: 1
Bookings: Kevin Nugent
(25 minutes)
“We were going well in the second half when they got a score against the run of play. The team that gets the momentum with 10 minutes to go normally wins the game and they were the team with momentum and I wish them the best of luck.” Kieran O’Mahoney, Doonbeg manager.

Referee: Tom Stackpool, Ennistmon

 

Cratloe’s experience too much for Lissycasey

Cratloe 2-7
Lissycasey 0-6

A strong start, racing into a five-point lead inside the opening quarter, laid the foundations for Cratloe’s win over Lissycasey in the first of the Clare Senior Football quarter-finals at Cusack Park on Saturday.

Having elected to play into the stiff wind, Cratloe dominated the early exchanges and the Lissycasey defence was breached in the seventh minute, when Sean Collins raced through for the game’s first goal.
Lissycasey came back strongly in the second quarter but poor distribution and failure to seriously trouble the winner’s defence proved costly. In the early stages of the second half, Lissycasey enjoyed plenty of possession but they failed to turn this into scores and Cratloe found the range in the final quarter and pulled away for a deserved win and a place in the senior football championship for the first time in the club’s history.
The clubs had clashed a few weeks earlier in the U-21A semi-final, when Lissycasey had wasted a lot of chances and ended up being beaten by the minimum margin. This time, Cratloe were the better side and their greater experience gave them the upper hand in most positions.
Cathal McInerney opened the scoring when he converted a 30m free in the fourth minute. When wing back Ogie Murphy broke down the right wing three minutes later it led to the opening goal.
His pass to Sean Collins put the inter-county dual player in the clear and he raced through and gave the advancing Joe Hayes no chance from close range.
The winners should have had a second goal at the end of the first quarter but Liam Markham, with only Joe Hayes to beat, somehow put the ball wide of the target after a great Cratloe move.
Lissycasey came more into the game after this and following a great break by full-back Gerry Moran, they opened their account when Paul Nagle pointed. Francis Hayes quickly followed with another point and Niall Kelly had one from a free before the break, when the score stood at 1-2 to 0-3 in Cratloe’s favour.
Shortly before the break, Cratloe’s manager Colm Collins was banished from the enclosure by referee Rory Hickey after he got involved in an onfield incident as tempers flared. The match official’s report will determine whether Collins will be on the line when his charges take on competition favourites Kilmurry-Ibrickane in the semi-final.
It was clear Lissycasey still had a huge task on their hands as they prepared for a second half against a wind which was getting stronger all of the time.
The third quarter produced just one score, a Cratloe point from Conor McGrath, but while Lissycasey did well in this period, they failed to convert a couple of good opportunities.
At the turn of the final quarter, Cratloe stepped up the pace and points from Cathal McInerney (free) and a brace from substitute Pádraig Chaplin left Lissycasey with a mountain to climb. They battled to the end and kept up their slim hopes with pointed frees by Niall Kelly and Oisín Talty but any doubts about the outcome were washed away six minutes from time when Cathal McInerney took a pass from Conor McGrath and scored his side’s second goal.
The winner’s defence was on top throughout, with Sean Chaplin, Barry Duggan and Liam Markham always prominent. Conor Ryan and Brendan Bugler won the midfield battle while their forwards punished any slip-up by the Lissycasey defence.
The Lissycasey full-back trio of Martin O’Connor, in particular, Gerry Moran and Cyril Sheehan played their hearts out but, elsewhere, they struggled.

Cratloe: Jamie Joyce; Sean Chaplin, Barry Duggan, David Ryan; Martin ‘Ogie’ Murphy, Michael Hawes, Liam Markham; Conor Ryan, Brendan Bugler; Sean Hynan, Cathal McInerney, Wes De Loughrey; Sean Collins, Conor McGrath, Paudge Collins.
Subs: Enda Boyce for DeLoughrey (37 minutes), Pádraig Chaplin for Hynan (45 minutes), Joseph O’Connor for Bugler (56 minutes), Kevin Browne for Bugler (58 minutes), Dean De Loughrey for Murphy (60 minutes).
Scorers: Cathal McInerney (1-4, 0-4f), Sean Collins (1-0), Pádraig Chaplin (0-2), Conor McGrath (0-1).
Frees for: 21; Wides: 6.
Bookings: Cathal McInerney (26 minutes), Enda Boyce (47 minutes), Brendan Bugler (53 minutes), David Ryan (57 minutes).
“Going in with a two point lead at half time with the breeze to come we were well set up. I didn’t feel easy about the result until about ten minutes to go. Lissycasey fought for everything but we built on the good start. Our lads have a lot of football played and this stood to them.” Colm Collins, Cratloe

Lissycasey: Joe Hayes; Cyril Sheehan, Gerry Moran, Martin O’Connor; Martin Moran, Cathal Hill, Michael Melican; Danny Clohessy, Enda Finnucane; Fergal Talty, Matt O’Shea, Cathal Doohan; Francis Hayes, Niall Kelly, Paul Nagle.
Subs: Derek McMahon for Talty (17 minutes), Danny Lynch for Clohessy (half-time), Paudie Carmody for Nagle (43 minutes), Oisín Talty for Finnucane (51 minutes).
Scorers: Niall Kelly (0-2f), Francis Hayes (0-2) each, Paul Nagle, Oisín Talty (f) (0-1) each
Frees for: 28; Wides: 8
Bookings: Francis Hayes (16 minutes), Cathal Doohan (21 minutes), Enda Finnucane (25 minutes), Joe Hayes (27 minutes), Michael Melican (31 minutes), Matt O’Shea (37 minutes), Paudie Carmody (51 minutes).
“They got the start that we hoped for. At the start of the second half we had possession and didn’t take our chances. It’s a disappointing end to the year but we are a work in progress and hopefully we will learn from the experience and move on next year.” Barry Keating, Lissycasey manager.

Referee: Rory Hickey, Éire Óg