Oscar Traynor hopes dented

Clare   2
Limerick   3
Clare’s chances of progressing to the next stage of the Oscar Traynor inter-league junior competition suffered a blow at Doora on Sunday when they went under to Limerick in the opening round of this season’s campaign.

As a result of the loss, Clare must now go to Galway and win (December 4-5) and then hope that Galway can upset Limerick when they clash early in the New Year.
Having contested the national final last year, Clare went into this season’s competition with high hopes of progressing to the latter stages. However, while they will be disappointed with the manner in which they conceded goals on Sunday, they can have few complaints with the result. Limerick dominated the exchanges on the day and were it not for a string of excellent saves from goalkeeper John Healy, the visitors would have had a greater winning margin.
The first half was a relatively even contest. Limerick had a goal disallowed midway through the first half when Alan Barry’s effort was ruled out for offside.
They didn’t have long to wait however and they were ahead in the 26th minute when Jonathon Grant headed to the net following a Gary Higgins cross.
The goal sparked a strong response from Clare and 10 minutes later they levelled. A Simon Cuddy cross found Stephen Hickey and the Rock Rovers man, who has been in great goalscoring form in recent weeks, made no mistake.
When the second half got underway, Limerick got the upper hand and within five minutes Healy was called upon to make the first of a number of top-class saves, this time from Alan Barry. He produced another excellent save in the 55th minute but a minute later Limerick were back in front.
A Pat Boyle corner from Healy’s left caused a lot of problems in the Clare goalmouth and full-back Brian Carey’s header was judged to have crossed the line by the linesman, a decision that didn’t find agreement with some Clare players.
In an effort to improve matters, Clare introduced Adrian McDonagh in place of Gary McNaboe but Limerick continued to dominate and they stretched their lead in the 62nd minute.
Poor defence from Clare meant that a cross from Brian Carey wasn’t dealt with and Alan Barry struck for goal number three.
As the mid-point of the half arrived, Clare goalie Healy pulled off a double save from Alan Barry and Jonathon Grant before Keith Harnett forced yet another save from Healy, this time at the expense of a corner.
In an effort to improve matters, Clare made some changes, introducing Ritchie Lillis and Kyle McCarthy. As the game moved towards the final whistle, David Russell moved forward and this helped cause a few problems for the visitors’ defence.
An excellent volley from the impressive Damian O’Rourke produced Clare’s second goal in the second minute of injury time but it came too late to prevent the visitors from taking all three points.
Clare: John Healy (Avenue United); Mattie Nugent (Avenue United), Simon Cuddy (Avenue United), Con Collins (Avenue United), David Russell (Avenue United), Damian O’Rourke, (Rineanna Rovers), Trevor Maxwell (Bridge United), David McCarthy (Avenue United), Stephen Hickey (Rock Rovers), Gary McNaboe (Lifford), Eoin Glynn (Rock Rovers).
Subs: Adrian McDonagh (Avenue United) for McNaboe (60 minutes); Ritchie Lillis (Bridge United) for Glynn (73 minutes); Kyle McCarthy (Coole FC) for D McCarthy (78 minutes).
Limerick: John Ryan (Star Rovers), Wayne Colbert (Pike Rovers), Brian Carey (Pike Rovers), Dan Goggin (Aisling Annacotty), Gary Higgins (Janesboro), Pat McGarry (Fairview Rangers), Keith Harnett (Pike Rovers), Conor Kavanagh (Pike Rovers), Jonathon Grant (Fairview Rangers),  Alan Barry (Pike Rovers), Pat Boyle (Carew Park).
Referee: Pat Gleeson; ­linesmen: John Murray, Dave McCarthy; fourth ­official: Michael Monaghan.