McGrath’s point puts Cratloe into play-offs

Cratloe 0-8
Inagh-Kilnamona 0-7

In a game dominated by defences, Cratloe snatched victory and progressed to the quarter-finals when they beat Inagh-Kilnamona by a point at Cusack Park on Sunday evening.
The win was crucial for Cratloe as a defeat would have put them out of the title race. Inagh-Kilnamona now face Tubber in a winner-take-all contest in the final round.
In a game in which the teams were level on five occasions, a draw looked the likely outcome for much of the game. Both sides were guilty of some very bad misses during the match with each running up 12 wides over the hour. Inagh-Kilnamona had a chance at the death to tie up the scores for the sixth time but Ger Arthur’s 50m free from near the touchline on the Northern stand side of the pitch went inches wide and after the puckout, the final whistle sounded. Despite the fact that this was a low-scoring affair, there was some very good hurling.
Cratloe played with the aid of the wind in the first half but from an early stage, it was clear that scores would be hard to come by. Inagh-Kilnamona took the lead twice in the opening minutes through Conor Tierney and Ger Arthur (free) but each time, Conor McGrath replied for the winners before putting his side in front for the first time in the twelfth minute.
In the eighth minute Inagh-Kilnamona lost midfielder Tomas Kelly to injury and he was replaced by Haulie Vaughan.
McGrath struck again in the twentieth minute to double his side’s advantage. In the remaining time Inagh-Kilnamona had the better of matters and Niall Arthur pointed two frees at either side of a Sean Collins effort for the winners to leave Cratloe ahead 0-5 to 0-4 when the half-time whistle sounded.
The advantage appeared to be with Inagh-Kilnamona at this stage as they would have the aid of the breeze in the second half. They levelled three minutes after the resumption of play when Niall Arthur converted a 65’. From here to the finish, there was nothing between the sides but, significantly, Inagh-Kilnamona never managed to get their noses in front. Patrick Kelly made a good save from Paudge Collins five minutes into the half before Conor McGrath put the winners back in front only for Conor Tierney to level almost immediately.
At the mid-point of the half, Niall Arthur had a chance to put his side ahead but he failed to find the target from a placed ball and soon after this, Conor McGrath had Cratloe back in front but again the lead was short-lived as Ger Arthur levelled from a free. There was relief for Inagh-Kilnamona a minute from the end of normal time when, after conceding a 65’ due to a defensive blunder, Conor McGrath was wide of the target.
Three minutes of added time were signalled and, in the first of these, Conor McGrath hit what proved to be the winner after taking a pass from Martin ‘Ógie’ Murphy who played his first competitive game of hurling in almost a year having recovered from a groin injury.
Barry Duggan, Michael Hawes, Liam Markham, Ógie Murphy and Conor McGrath were prominent throughout for the winners, while Brian Glynn, Ronan O’Looney, David Hegarty and Milo Keane were prominent for Inagh-Kilnamona.

Cratloe: Sean Hayes; John O’Gorman, Barry Duggan, David Ryan; Enda Boyce, Michael Hawes, Liam Markham; Sean Chaplin, Martin ‘Ogie’ Murphy; Conor Ryan, Sean Collins, Damian Browne; Cathal McInerney, Conor McGrath, Paudge Collins.
Subs: Gearóid Ryan for McInerney (51 minutes); Philip Gleeson for P Collins (61 minutes).
Scorers: Conor McGrath (0-7, 3f); Sean Collins (0-1).
Frees for: 11; wides: 12; 65s: 1
Bookings: David Ryan (22 minutes); Liam Markham (44 minutes).
“It was do or die for us today and it was always going to be an intense battle. They are two good teams. We probably expected a more open game. On the day, it was all about finishing. There were a lot of wides but the fact we were having the shots meant we had the possession. Inagh-Kilnamona looked to be very happy at half-time, which isn’t a great way to be and we knew if we worked very hard we had the way of winning it,” Mike Deegan, Cratloe.
Inagh-Kilnamona: Patrick Kelly; Milo Keane, Brian Glynn, Dermot Lynch; Ronan O’Looney, David Hegarty, Colm Pilkington; Tomás Kelly, Brian Foudy; Damian Lafferty, Cathal Lafferty, Eoin Vaughan; Ger Arthur, Niall Arthur, Conor Tierney.
Subs: Haulie Vaughan for T Kelly (inj, 7 minutes); Shane Griffin for E Vaughan (55 minutes).
Scorers: Niall Arthur (0-3, 2f, 1 65’); Ger Arthur (frees). Conor Tierney (0-2 each).
Frees for: 13; wides: 12; 65s: 1.
Bookings: Ronan O’Looney (15 minutes); Damian Lafferty (34 minutes) Dermot Lynch (36 minutes); Cathal Lafferty (40 minutes).
“We are very disappointed; we had an opportunity to make the quarter-finals today and it didn’t work out for us but it’s not gone. We have one more shot at it and we look forward to the Tubber game. You could see it meant everything to Cratloe. They needed to get the result. There were a lot of wides on both sides,” Paul Gannon, Inagh-Kilnamona.
Referee: Johnnie Healy, Smith O’Brien’s.