League crown for Clonlara

Clonlara 0-12  Crusheen 1-8

CLONLARA bounced back from the disappointment of losing the county senior championship final to retain the Clare Champion Cup (senior league) crown when they beat Crusheen at Clarecastle on Saturday.

While Crusheen will point to the fact that they had 12 wides in the second half when they had the assistance of the strong wind, Clonlara just about deserved their victory as they made better use of the chances that came their way.
A five-point lead at half-time hardly seemed enough for the title holders after they had enjoyed the assistance of what was a very strong wind.
Indeed, their supporters in the small crowd that braved the bad weather conditions were concerned that they would rue the fact that they didn’t run up a bigger tally in the opening half.
In view of the atrocious weather conditions, it surprised many that the game went ahead and, for this, full credit must go to Clarecastle GAA, whose pitch was in excellent condition.
Clonlara took the lead inside the opening minute when Cormac O’Donovan pointed and this was quickly followed by a brace from John Barry and one from Donal Madden to leave the title holders 0-4 to 0-0 clear after seven minutes.
Cathal Dillon burst forward from defence to open his side’s account in the 11th minute but like scores from William Slattery and Tomás O’Donovan had the winners five clear, 0-6 to 0-1, a minute later.
Crusheen did better in the second quarter and confined the winners to just two more points, both of which came from frees, in this half. When the half-time whistle sounded, it was 0-8 to 0-3 in Clonlara’s favour but Crusheen had every reason to be happy with this scoreline as they would have the assistance of the strong wind for the second period.
The second half was seven minutes old before Crusheen reduced the lead with a Pat Vaughan point but this was quickly cancelled out by a John Conlon effort.
The margin was down to three points by the end of the third quarter, 0-9 to 0-6 and both sides had decided that it was time for change. Clonlara sent in Diarmuid Conway, Pat O’Hare and Cillian Fennessy and all made an impact, while Crusheen brought in Conor O’Donnell and shortly after the teenager’s arrival, his first-timed effort almost yielded a goal.
Just when Crusheen followers were looking at closing the gap further, the winners struck a powerful patch which yielded three points, two from John Conlon frees and an excellent score from near the touchline by Darach Honan which put them five ahead with six minutes to play.
A Crusheen goal two minutes from the end of normal time threw the senior B champions a lifeline. Full-forward Patrick O’Grady got a touch to a Gearóid O’Donnell delivery and the ball ended up in the Clonlara net via Ger O’Connell’s hand.
When Joe Meaney converted a 60m free in the 60th minute, just as the signal was given for two minutes of injury time, everything pointed to a replay. However, Crusheen failed to get the point they needed to earn a second chance despite Joe Meaney’s best effort as his great effort from a sideline cut went narrowly wide just before the final whistle.
John Moloney, Nicky O’Connell, the O’Donovan brothers, John Conlon, in the second half and substitute Diarmuid Conway all did well for the winners on a day when Cathal Dillon, Pat Vaughan, Joe Meaney, Donal Tuohy and Alan Brigdale did best for a Crusheen side that struggled to make an impression in attack.
After the game, county board treasurer Bernard Keane presented the cup to the captain of the winning team, Tomás O’Donovan.

Clonlara: Ger O’Connell; Senan Nihill, John Moloney, Paul Collins; Nicky O’Connell, Tomás O’Donovan, Domhnall O’Donovan; Diarmuid O’Meara, Cormac O’Donovan; John Conlon, William Slattery, Tommy Lynch; Darach Honan, John Barry, Donal Madden.
Subs: Diarmuid Conway for Madden (36 minutes), Pat O’Hara for O’Meara (41 minutes), Cillian Fennessy for Barry (43 minutes).
Scorers: John Conlon (0-3, 2 frees); Donal Madden (1 free), John Barry (0-2 each); Nicky O’Connell (free), Tomás O’Donovan, William Slattery, Cormac O’Donovan, Darach Honan (0-1 each).
Frees for: 8; wides: 9.
Bookings: Diarmuid O’Meara (6 minutes) and Tommy Lynch (30 minutes).

Crusheen: Donal Tuohy; John Brigdale, Cian Dillon, Alan Brigdale; Pat Vaughan, Ciarán O’Doherty, Cathal Dillon; Tony Meaney, Dara O’Doherty; Fergus Kennedy, Joe Meaney, Seán Dillon; Paddy Meaney, Patrick O’Grady, Gearóid O’Donnell.
Subs: Jason Greene for D O’Doherty (25 minutes), Conor O’Donnell for S Dillon (43 minutes) and Niall Fitzgibbons for Greene (55 minutes).
Scorers: Joe Meaney (0-3, all frees); Patrick O’Grady (1-0),Paddy Meaney (0-2),  Cathal Dillon, Pat Vaughan, Gearóid O’Donnell  (0-1 each).
Frees for: 12; wides: 14.
Bookings: Tony Meaney (6 minutes); Ciarán O’Doherty (21 minutes), Patrick O’Grady (30 minutes) and Alan Brigdale (53 minutes).

Referee: Kevin Walsh, Wolfe Tones.