McGrath leads the way for Feakle-Killanena

Feakle-Killanena   0-14    O’Callaghan’s Mills   0-10

FEAKLE-Killanena sealed their place in the final with a hard-fought win in a tight contest against O’Callaghan’s Mills. The pitch was in perfect condition but the strong gale blowing straight down the field made playing conditions very hard for both teams.

 

It was the victors who got off the mark first from a Todd Kelsey point, before Aidan O’Gorman put the Mills into the lead from two frees. It was point for point for the remainder of the first half with Shane McGrath from placed balls leading the way for Feakle-Killanena.

The Mills were largely dependent on Aidan O’Gorman for scores but Colin Crehan notched one before the break. The Mills were ahead by one at half-time, 0-7 to 0-6, after they had played with the strong wind.

Feakle-Killanena began the second half strongly with four unanswered points from Con Smyth, Cillian Bane and two from McGrath. Eibhear Quillgan made a fine save midway through the half from Henry Skehan on a day when the winners’ forwards made better use of the chances that came their way.

Shane McGrath, Todd Kelsey, Eoin Tuohy, James Noonan and Eibhear Slattery made valuable contributions for the winners with Slattery making a couple of great saves, while Aidan O’Gorman, Ciarán Cooney and Aidan Fawl did best for the Mills, whose goalkeeper Mark Pewter pulled off some fine saves also.

Feakle-Killanena: Eibhear Quilligan; Evan McMahon, James Noonan, Paul McArthur; Michael Noonan, Eoin Tuogh, Pádraig Brady; Shane McGrath, Oisín Donnellan; Todd Kelsey, Cillain Bane, Con Smith; Eoin McGuinness, Diarmuid Bane Colin McNamara.
Subs: Justin Nelson for McNamara (inj), Paddy McNamara for McGuinness, Eric Conway for Nelson, Adrian Flaherty for McGrath and McGrath for D Bane.
Scorers: Shane McGrath (0-8), Con Smith (0-2), Todd Kelsey, Cillian Bane, Diarmuid Bane and Eric Conway (0-1 each).
O’Callaghan’s Mills: Mark Pewter; Shane Crehan, Sean O’Gorman, Darren Cooney; Ian Donnellan, Kevin O’Callaghan, Aidan Fawl; Ciarán Cooney, Aidan O’Gorman; Jacob Loughnane, Eoin McInerney, Christy Phillpott; Jamie Lynch, Colin Crehan, John O’Brien.
Subs: Ronan Broderick for Philpott, Henry Skehan for O’Brien and James McNamara for Loughnane.
Scorers: Aidan O’Gorman (0-8), Aidan Fawl and Colin Crehan (0-1) each).

Clarecastle   0-14   St Joseph’s   1-11
WHEN Clarecastle raced into a six-point lead in the opening quarter of their semi-final in Ruan, it looked like a surprise was on the cards. This was still the case when they went to the break with a seven-point advantage over the favourites and last year’s beaten finalists.

However, St Joseph’s came storming back in the second half and, when the final whistle sounded, a draw was a fair result.

The Magpies could have had a greater lead at the break but their shooting let them down. They were 0-6 to 0-0 in front before Clare senior panellist, Alan O’Neill opened the Doora-Barefield outfit’s account.

In fact, O’Neill was their only scorer in the opening period, when three of his four points came from frees.

St Joseph’s piled on the pressure on the resumption and O’Neill added three more to his first-half tally, while David Conroy also got on the scoresheet. Clarecastle’s only reply came from Duggan.

Midway through the half, Donal O’Halloran hit the game’s only goal and St Joseph’s were right back in the tie just a point adrift. If the Magpies had missed chances in the opening half, it was now the turn of St Joseph’s to be wayward in their shooting. Two pointed frees by Duggan had the Magpies two in front as the full-time whistle approached. Like scores from David Conroy, the second just before the final whistle, tied up the tie and while both can point to missed chances, few will complain with the end result.

Clarecastle: Jamie Coughlan; Dylan Broderick, Conor Clancy, Pa Tuohy; Gearóid Ryan, Stephen O’Halloran, Conor Galvin; Joe Barry, Stephen Ward; Mark McGuane, Bobby Duggan, Mikey Casey; Mark Foley, Conor O’Gorman, Aaron Greene.
Subs: Kevin Scanlan for Greene and Jonathon Griffey for Barry.
Scorers: Bobby Duggan (0-7), Conor O’Gorman (0-2), Jamie Coughlan, Joe Barry, Mark McGuane, Mikey Casey and Aaron Greene (0-1 each).
St Joseph’s: Mikey Rosengrave; Darragh Murphy, Brian Clancy, Kevin Meaney; Conor Lyons, Jarlath Colleran, Eamonn Clohessy; David Clancy, David Conroy; Niall De Loughrey, Leo Duggan, Alan O’Neill; Donal O’Halloran, Aaron Landy, Brian Guilfoyle.
Subs; Eoin Hanrahan for Duggan and Seamus Nugent for Landy.
Scorers: Alan O’Neill (0-7), David Conroy (0-4) and Donal O’Halloran (1-0).