Kilmaley juniors reverse league result

Domestic hurling action last weekend was dominated by the opening rounds in the junior A, B and C championships.
The game of the opening round in this championship was the clash of Kilmaley and Cratloe at Clarecastle on Saturday evening. A couple of weeks earlier, extra time was needed before Cratloe emerged with a two point win in the league semi-final.
Kilmaley had the better of the first half exchanges on Saturday and built up a 10-point lead but Cratloe came back strongly and Kilmaley had to pull out all the stops to squeeze through by the minimum margin, 3-15 to 3-14.
Bodyke took the first step in what they hope will be the road to a return to the intermediate grade when they defeated Clonlara by six points at Ogonnelloe. The final score was 2-11 to 1-8.
In another tie where a recent league result was reversed, St Joseph’s were 0-14 to 1-7 winners over O’Callaghan’s Mills while Clooney-Quin were 0-21 to 2-10 winners over Tubber.
Round two is scheduled for this weekend and Éire Óg and Inagh-Kilnamona will be in action having had byes last week. Éire Óg will take on Clonlara at Tulla while Inagh-Kilnamona will face Clooney-Quin at Ruan. St. Josephs will travel to Tubber to play the home side on this Friday evening while the remaining tie will see Bodyke face Cratloe.

Junior B Championship
There were five first round games in the race for the Junior B Championship.
Ballyea commenced their campaign with a good 2-20 to 1-14 win over Scariff at Sixmilebridge on Saturday.
The winners laid the foundations of this victory in the first half when they built up a 1-12 to 1-6 interval lead with Alan Hehir in fine shooting form scoring 0-8 with 1-1 coming from the stick of Ciaran Doohan. Aaron Nugent, Tadgh Lynch and Eanna McInerney chipped in with a point each.
In the second half the East Clare side tried hard to get back into the tie but the Ballyea defence stood firm. With 10 minutes left to play a John Griffin goal, after he got the slightest of touches to an Alan Hehir free that deceived the Scariff goalie, killed the game as a contest.
Alan Hehir added on a further 0-3 in this half as Tadhg Lynch chipped in with 0-2, Rory Longe, David Sheehan and Brandon O’Connell were Ballyea’s other point scorers in the second half.
Meanwhile, Whitegate got their campaign off to a good start with a 1-13 to 0-11 victory over Wolfe Tones.
Smith O’Briens had seven points to spare over Crusheen as the Killaloe side scored a 1-14 to 2-4 win.
Tulla were comprehensive 1-17 to 0-9 winners over league semi-finalists Newmarket while Feakle, who are also in the league semi-final, proved too strong for Corofin, winning on a 1-13 to 1-7 scoreline.
There are two first round games scheduled for this Sunday. Inagh-Kilnamona will take on Broadford at Gurteen while Éire Óg and Kilmaley will clash at Ruan and both games are scheduled for 1.30pm.
Round two of this championship will take place on Saturday week when all 16 teams will be in action.

Junior C Championship
St Joseph’s booked a place in the semi-final of the Junior C Championship when they had a one point win over the Banner on Sunday evening. The final score in this tie, played at Éire Óg, was 0-10 to 1-6.
The remaining three quarter-finals will be played on Saturday week. South East Clare neighbours Clonlara and Sixmilebridge will meet at Meelick while Whitegate will host the meeting of O’Callaghan’s Mills and Ogonnelloe.
Hopes of an all West Clare clash involving St Senan’s Kilkee and Clonbony were killed off on Monday evening when Clarecastle scored a 4-19 to 0-8 win over debutants St Senan’s.
The Magpies, beaten finalists two years ago, will now play Clonbony at Inagh on Saturday week.

League semi-finals
The semi-finals of the Junior B League are set for this Sunday and two lively ties are expected.
Tulla will host the meeting of Newmarket and Feakle at 1pm while Éire Óg is the venue for the meeting of Ballyea and Ruan at 1.30pm.