Missed chances prove costly for Clarecastle

Cappamore 1-6   Clarecastle 0-4

CLARECASTLE’S dream of a place in the Munster Club Junior Football Championship final ended at a bitterly cold Gaelic Grounds in Limerick on Saturday afternoon.

Failure to capitalise on some good scoring chances in the opening half, together with a poor start to the second period, proved costly for the Clare champions against their Limerick counterparts, Cappamore.

The Limerick outfit benefited from a first-round provincial win over Borrisokane from Tipperary a week earlier, while it was the Magpies’ first outing since their one-point victory over Michael Cusack’s in the Clare final a month earlier.

Cappamore made the better start and took an early lead when Andy Murphy pointed. Clarecastle opted to employ wing-forward Danny Scanlan as an extra defender and this resulted in Cappamore’s centre-back, Diarmuid Sheehy, winning a lot of possession and setting up a lot of attacks.

The unavailability of Jonathon Clancy was a blow to the Clare side as he was one of their key players in their county success. Ten minutes into Saturday’s semi-final, the winners doubled their advantage when Conor Sheehan pointed.

From here to the half-time whistle, the Clare side held the upperhand and were level by the midpoint of the half, thanks to scores from Jason Considine (free) and Adam Healy.

It took some good play from Cappamore goalkeeper Brian Leahy to keep the Magpies from finding the net.

Nine minutes from the short whistle, Leahy made an impressive save from Eamonn Callinan before Adam Healy scored his second point to put the Clare champions into the lead, a position they held at the break when the score was 0-3 to 0-2.

Leahy came to his side’s aid again shortly before the half-time whistle when he denied Alan Considine. In addition, Clarecastle were guilty of a number of wides, which they certainly had cause to rue at the final whistle.

Cappamore made a blistering start to the second half, punishing some errors in their opponents’ defence for substitute Nicky Leahy to tap home the game’s only goal.

Andy Murphy followed with a point and before the new half was five minutes old, Cappamore had gone from being a point in arrears to being a goal ahead.

The Magpies, to their credit, fought back but Diarmuid Sheehy was dominant for the winners, while the Clare side kicked a few more bad wides.

Points from Conor Sheehan and John Ryan saw the Limerick champions extend their advantage to five points.
Clarecastle certainly had their share of possession but failed to break through the Cappamore defence to create a goal chance. The nearest they came in the second half was when Kevin Clohessy saw his effort rebound off the post.

Eamonn Callinan, who had forced a fine save from Brian Leahy in the opening half, had his side’s last score before the final whistle signalled an end to Clarecastle’s playing season.

Cappamore: Brian Leahy; Denis Keating, Paul Leahy, Seamus Humphreys; Brian Sheehy, Diarmuid Sheehy, Bobby O’Connell; Colin Doherty, Conor Sheehan (0-2); Declan Deere, Tommie O’Donoghue (0-1), Bill Creamer; Andy Murphy (0-2), John Ryan (0-1), Eoin O’Donoghue.
Subs: Niall Leahy (1-0) for Creamer, Eamonn Gleeson for O’Connor, Jack Campbell for E O’Donoghue, Sean Sheehy for Doherty and Bill Creamer for Deere.
Clarecastle: Andrew Page; Donagh Murphy, Jamie O’Connor, Barry Lynch; Seanie Moloney, Kieran O’Dwyer, John Reidy; Pat Kelly, Adam Healy (0-2); Danny Scanlon, Jason Considine (0-1), Kevin Clohessy; Eamonn Callinan (0-1), Alan Considine, Pakie Healy.
Subs: Kieran Lynch for Barry Lynch, Eoin Brennan for Healy, Aaron Considine for Murphy, Conor Galvin for Alan Considine and Briain Lynch for Jason Considine.
Referee: Jer Lynch (Kerry).