Scariff in control in the second half against Wolfe Tones

Scariff  2-10   Wolfe Tones 0-11

A storming second-half performance led to Scariff scoring a five-point win over Wolfe Tones in this Senior B Championship game at Dr Daly Park in Tulla on Saturday.

 

It was a result that didn’t appear likely at half-time when the Shannon side were three points clear, 0-10 to 1-4. However, there was a huge turnaround in the second half and the Wolfe Tones men were confined to just one point, from wing-back Gary O’Connell, as Scariff dictated the play.
Dual player David Reidy has been dogged by injury over the past couple of seasons, during which time he has undergone cruciate knee ligament damage twice. He was forced to retire during Saturday’s game and there are fears that he has again suffered a cruciate knee injury.
Gareth McPhillips and Cathal Nash exchanged points in the early minutes before Scariff got a great boost when an Alphie Rodgers shot was deflected to the Shannon net by Austin Madden.
Points from Bobby McPhillips (2) and Gary Leahy brought Wolfe Tones back on terms before Shane Corry and Ross Horan edged the winners ahead again. Points from the McPhillips brothers brought the Tones level again before an Aaron Cunningham effort  put them ahead. They went on to extend their lead to three at half-time when the score was 0-10 to 1-4.
A Conor McNamara goal early in the second half brought Scariff level and from here on they were in control. Points from Michael Scanlan and Cathal Nash saw them open a three-point lead, 2-7 to 0-10. Cathal Nash and Gary O’Connell exchanged points, O’Connell’s score being the Shannon side’s only score in this half.

Scariff: Shane Mulvihill; Pádraig Brody, Darragh Kelly, Jim Minogue; Cathal Nash (0-4), Diarmuid Nash, Matthew Horan; Conor McNamara (1-0), Michael Scanlan (0-2); Ross Horan (0-3), Shane Corry (0-1), Kenny McNamara; Austin Madden (1-0), Michael O’Brien, Alphie Rodgers.
Subs: Michael Moroney for C McNamara and Barry Nash for O’Brien.
Wolfe Tones: Paul Hogan; Jamie Roughan, Brendan Hughes, Barry Loughnane; Gary O’Connell (0-1), Bobby McPhillips (0-6), Shane Chambers; Kevin McCafferty, Brian O’Connell; Daithí O’Connell, Alan Hehir, Aaron Cunningham (0-1); David Reidy, Gary Leahy (0-1), Gareth McPhillips (0-2).
Subs: Mark Regan for Reidy (inj); Ciaran Argue for Hehir; Jamie Walker for G McPhillips and Ronan Hehir for McCafferty.

Éire Óg  2-12   Whitegate  1-14

A goal from a penalty by Danny Russell proved crucial as Éire Óg had to pull out all the stops to earn a one-point win over Whitegate in a well-contested tie played at Tulla on Saturday.
The Ennis men, already through to the Clare Champion Cup semi-final, went into this tie as hot favourites but they had to battle hard before emerging with a one-point victory.
A goal from substitute Paul O’Rourke helped Whitegate to a half-time lead of 1-8 to 0-7, the goal coming just before the break.
A foul on Thomas Downes resulted in a penalty for Éire Óg and Danny Russell duly converted. The sides were level at 1-9 but Whitegate showed they were not going to be easily beaten as they fought back to lead 1-11 to 1-9. Éire Óg levelled at 1-11 each and then went a point in front.
Their second goal came from Aaron Fitzgerald, who scored after a great run by substitute Shane O’Donnell.

Éire Óg: Philly Walsh; Ciaran Hanna, Cormac O’Regan, Ronan Cooney; Marc O’Donnell, Fergus Flynn, Kevin Moynihan (0-1); Mark Fitzgerald, Tadhg McNamara (0-1); Ronan Keane, Danny Russell (1-6), Aaron Fitzgerald (1-1); David O’Halloran (0-2), Adrian Walsh, Thomas Downes.
Subs: John Mulcahy for Cooney (inj); Shane O’Donnell (0-1) for Downes (inj); David Reidy for A Walsh and Damian McMahon for M Fitzgerald.
Whitegate: Andrew Fahy (0-3); John Minogue, John Bugler, Trevor Kelly; Jason Malone, Brendan Bugler, Tomas McNamara; Michael Dooley (0-1) Eoin Quirke (0-1); Gerard Muggivan, Patrick Minogue, Patrick Burke; Colin Burke, Niall Hayes (0-5), Ian Fahy (0-4).
Sub: Paul O’Rourke (1-0) for Muggivan.

Tubber 0-21   Smith O’Brien’s 1-13

A haul of 12 points from Blain Earley helped Tubber get their championship campaign off to a winning start.
They were rocked in the first minute when Kevin Walsh struck for a goal for Smith O’Brien’s but, by half time, Tubber had opened a three-point gap, 0-11 to 1-5. The Killaloe outfit failed to build on their dream start as they struggled to match the experience of Tubber who, incidentally, were without the experienced Mark Earley due to injury.
By the three-quarter stage, Smith O’Brien’s had fought back and gone a point ahead, 1-11 to 0-13, thanks to some good scores from Shane O’Brien, Keith Stritch, John Cusack and Walsh.
However, Tubber finished strongly and points from Eamonn Taaffe and Earley sealed a merited win for the Pat O’Connor-managed outfit.

Tubber: Ronan Taaffe (0-1); John O’Connor, Eoin Ruane, Paul Fogarty; Francis McCormack, Conor Earley, Fergal O’Grady; Gerard O’Connor, Patrick O’Connor; Justin McMahon, Shane O’Connor (0-1), Clive Earley (0-1); Blain Earley (0-12), Eamonn Taaffe (0-4), Darragh O’Connor (0-2).
Sub: Tommy Lee for G O’Connor.
Smith O’Brien’s: Mark McInerney; Cian Nolan, Seamus Gleeson, Brian McInerney; Mark Stritch, Pat Vaughan, Micheal Ryan; Trevor Howard, Liam Walsh; Shane O’Brien (0-7), Dean Sinnott, Mark O’Halloran; John Cusack (0-2), Keith Stritch (0-2), Kevin Walsh (1-2).
Subs: David Gough for Nolan and Jonathon Hayes for Sinnott.

O’Callaghan’s Mills  3-9   Ballyea  1-15

When O’Callaghan’s Mills led by five points inside the last 10 minutes of this senior B tie played at Sixmilebridge on Saturday, they looked to be on their way to victory.
Ballyea, however, had other ideas and they finished strongly with a goal from substitute Eanna McInerney proving crucial in helping them to a share of the spoils.
A point separated the teams at half-time when the score was 2-4 to 0-9 in favour of the Mills.
They extended their advantage to five points with time ticking away but McInerney’s goal brought them back into contention and they followed with points from top scorer Tony Kelly to be on level terms when the final whistle sounded.

O’Callaghan’s Mills: John Cooney; Michael McGrath, Adrian Donovan, Gerry Cooney; Pat Donnellan, Bryan Donnellan, Kevin O’Callaghan; Niall Donovan, Jonathon Lyons; Gary Neville (0-5), Conor Cooney (0-1); Sean O’Gorman; Cathal McKeogh (1-0), Adrian Flaherty (2-2), Eoin Pewter (0-1).
Sub: Aidan Fawl for Lyons.
Ballyea: Shane Harkin; Frankie Griffin, Paul Flanagan (0-1), Cormac Ryan; Barry Coffey, Paddy O’Connell, Jack Browne (0-1); Gearóid O’Connell (0-1), Brian Murphy; Kevin Sheehan, Niall Deasy, Tony Kelly (0-11, 6f, 1’65); Francie O’Reilly (0-1) Niall Keane, Francis Nealon.
Subs: Mark Coughlan for Griffin; Brian Carigg for Keane; Eanna McInerney (1-0) for Nealon and Cathal Doohan for Ryan.