Kilmurry on track for three-in-a-row

Kilmurry-Ibrickane 0-10 Cratloe 1-6

Clare senior football champions Kilmurry-Ibrickane remain on course for an historic three-in-a-row Clare titles but they were given a rare fright by outsiders Cratloe at Cusack Park on Friday evening.
It could be argued that Kilmurry did not win this tie, given claims that Enda Coughlan’s equalising point, six minutes from the end, was in fact wide.
As the umpire reached for the white flag a number of Cratloe players raced in to protest that the ball was outside the upright but they were waved away.
That incident apart, Cratloe will rue a number of missed chances as Kilmurry-Ibrickane struggled in a number of positions. The loss of experienced midfielder Paul O’Connor at the end of the first quarter was certainly a blow to the titleholders. He picked up a leg injury in the second minute and, while he tried to play on, he was clearly in difficulty and must now be a major doubt for this weekend’s semi-final date with Doonbeg.
Brendan Bugler gave Cratloe the lead in the fourth minute but this was cancelled out by a mark McCarthy free two minutes later. The next score came in the 20th minute when Noel Downes had a Kilmurry-Ibrickane point but the champions should have been a few points ahead at this stage as they had missed a couple of great chances from frees.
Conor Ryan tied up the sides for the second time with seven minutes to go to the break.
Mark McCarthy and Liam Markham exchanged points from frees before a sweeping Cratloe move ended with a Liam Markham point in the first minute of injury time. Kilmurry were relieved as Markham’s effort went over the bar when it looked to be heading for the net.
There was a lot more urgency in Kilmurry-Ibrickane’s approach when the second half got underway and within a minute, Enda Coughlan and Stephen Moloney had pointed them into the lead.
Cratloe, however, refused to panic and they were back on level terms for the fifth time in the game when Liam Markham converted a 30m free five minutes into the half.
A brace of Mark McCarthy points, one from a free, put two points between the sides for the first time and as the game entered the final quarter, the title holders looked to be taking a grip on the game. Odran O’Dwyer then stretched the margin to three when he landed a 25m free but Cratloe came storming back.
A Paudge Collins point reduced the margin to two and then, with nine minutes remaining, Conor McGrath found Liam Markham with a pin-point pass and Markham found the net to put Cratloe a point up.
Coughlan’s controversial point levelled the game for the sixth time before Noel Downes landed what proved to be the winner with four minutes still to play.
In the end, the greater experience of the West Clare side proved decisive as Mark Killeen, Shane Hickey, Enda Coughlan, Darren Hickey and team captain Declan Callinan won possession at vital times.
Barry Duggan, David Ryan, Conor Ryan, the Collins brothers and Liam Markham got through a lot of work for Cratloe and showed that they have the talent to be a major force in Clare football in the coming years.

Kilmurry-Ibrickane: Peter O’Dwyer Junior; Darren Hickey, Mark Killeen, Martin McMahon; Evan Talty, Shane Hickey, Declan Callinan; Paul O’Connor, Enda Coughlan; Ian McInerney, Michael O’Dwyer, Peter O’Dwyer; Mark McCarthy, Odran O’Dwyer, Noel Downes.
Subs: Stephen Moloney for O’Connor (inj. 17 minutes); Brendan Moloney for Talty (38 minutes); Niall Hickey for S Moloney (50 minutes).
Scorers: Mark McCarthy (0-4, 3f); Enda Coughlan, Noel Downes (0-2 each); Stephen Moloney (0-1), Odran O’Dwyer (0-1f).
Frees: 25; wides: 14
Bookings: Evan Talty (37 minutes)
“We know that there is pedigree in Cratloe and we were expecting a big challenge. We were lucky to come out of it. We have a lot of work to do and we have only a week to do it. It’s a big ask of us,” Martin Keavey, Kilmurry-Ibrickane manager.

Cratloe: Jamie Joyce; Sean Chaplin, Barry Duggan, David Ryan; Wesley De Loughrey, Michael Hawes, Martin ‘Ogie’ Murphy; Conor Ryan, Brendan Bugler; Robert Conlon, Sean Collins, Sean Hynan; Paudge Collins, Conor McGrath, Liam Markham.
Sub: Damian Browne for Conlon (half-time).
Scorers: Liam Markham (1-3, 0-2f); Brendan Bugler, Conor Ryan, Paudge Collins (0-1) each.
Frees: 24; wides: 7
Bookings: Paudge Collins (37 minutes); Sean Collins (59 minutes).
“We had a great opportunity and I thought after we got the goal that we would go on and win it. We took a couple of wrong options and missed a couple of easy chances at that crucial stage. They are the standard and if you can do well against them you can be optimistic,” Colm Collins, Cratloe manager.

Referee: Michael McGann, Michael Cusack’s.