Magpies’ four goal blitz

Clarecastle 4-17   Wolfe Tones 0-15

Outscoring their Shannon opponents 3-7 to 0-4 in the second half, Clarecastle easily defeated Wolfe Tones in Sixmilebridge last Saturday.
Clarecastle are now safe from the spectre of a relegation play off, while even if Wolfe Tones beat Tulla in their final group game, they cannot avoid a relegation semi-final. Clarecastle owe their win largely to a superb innings from Eamon Callinan who hit 1-10, 1-3 of which was from play. Conor O’Gorman also looked very sharp at corner forward for The Magpies, while two Shannon youngsters, Aaron Cunningham and John Guilfoyle, played some exceptional hurling, shooting eight points from play between them.
Already minus a battalion of emigrated and recently retired players, Wolfe Tones also had to line out without Declan O’Rourke, although Clarecastle were themselves weakened by the absence of the Plunketts and Derek Quinn.
The winners led 1-10 to 0-11 after a fairly evenly contested half hours hurling. Conor O’Gorman netted Clarecastle’s first half goal having been placed by Kieran O’Dwyer while Eamon Callinan hit seven points from play and frees.
Aaron Cunningham hit four first half points from play, one as impressive as the next. Clarecastle struggled to cope with the wing forward whose pace and striking caught the admiring eye of everyone in O’Garney Park. Kevin McCafferty was another Shannon youngster who gave it everything.
The opening few minutes of the second half were marked by two classy Jonathon Clancy points, with Gareth McPhilips replying from a free, leaving Clarecastle 1-12 to 0-12 up.
The game turned completely in Clarecastle’s favour when David Greene buried the ball in the Wolfe Tones net, having capitalised on a long delivery from Darragh Moloney. Now pulling away, Eamon Callinan and Tyrone Kearse added two more goals.
Well adrift, Wolfe Tones didn’t completely hang the head but they were short sufficient quality to trouble Clarecastle.
On a broader note it’s worth querying why many of Clare’s larger urban centres are struggling at adult GAA level? Emigration has hit every club in Clare but surely clubs in urban areas should be better placed to withstand this, given their sizeable populations?
If the clubs in Clarecastle, Ennis, Shannon (hurling) and Kilrush (football) are struggling to compete at the top end, it doesn’t bode well for Clare GAA.  

Clarecastle: Donagh Murphy; Seánie Moloney, Stephen O’Halloran, Kevin Clohessy; Fergus Ryan, Patrick Kelly, Danny Scanlan; Jonathon Clancy, Eric Flynn; Darragh Moloney, Kieran O’Dwyer, Eamon Callinan; Conor O’Gorman, David Greene, Tyrone Kierse.
Scorers: Eamon Callinan 1-10 (0-7f), Conor O’Gorman, Tyrone Kierse 1-2 each, Jonathon Clancy 0-3, David Greene 1-0.
Frees won: 9; wides: 9; 65s: 1
Yellow cards: Danny Scanlon, Eric Flynn, Fergus Ryan.
“Wolfe Tones were down a good few players although we were missing a few ourselves. We were very happy with our second half performance. It’s what we can do if we come right and bring consistency to our game,” Clarecastle manager Ken Morrissey.
Wolfe Tones: Ronan Hehir; Eamon O’Neill; Patsy Keyes, Brendan Hughes; Shane Chambers, Bobby McPhillips, Barry Loughnane; John Guilfoyle, Joe McCauley; Kevin McCafferty, Daithí O’Connell, Aaron Cunningham; Stephen McInerney, Gary Leahy, Gareth McPhillips.
Subs: Paul Hogan for Ronan Hehir (injured), Richie Lillis for Shane Chambers, Paul Walsh for Gareth McPhillips, Mark Regan for Joe McCauley, Niall Murphy for Eamon O’Neill.
Scorers: Aaron Cunningham 0-5, John Guilfoyle 0-3, Gary Leahy 0-2, Gareth McPhillips 0-2, (0-1f), Bobby McPhillips 0-2, (0-1f, 0-1 ’65), Stephen McInerney 0-1.
Frees won: 13; wides: 7; 65s: 1
Yellow cards: Joe McCauley, Bobby McPhillips.
“The problem for us all year is that we’re making mistakes and we’re being punished. We’re working hard but we’re not getting the same return as other teams but we can’t fault the efforts that the players are making,” Tommy Guilfoyle, Wolfe Tones manager.
Referee: Ger Lyons, Ruan.