SENIOR FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: Cratloe take control in second half

Cratloe 0-13   Lissycasey 0-7

Cratloe took a step closer to another clash with Kilmurry-Ibrickane in the senior championship when they defeated Lissycasey at Clarecastle on Thursday evening.

Victory over Liscannor in their next outing will clear the way for a quarter-final tilt with the champions.

After an evenly fought first half with Lissycasey last week, the South-East Clare outfit hit five unanswered points in the third quarter to take control.

“I thought Lissycasey did very well in the first half. It was a really tough game and it was there for the taking. Cratloe had the breeze in the second half and it gave us a bit of an edge and once we got the few points, they were never going to score a lot against us as we have a good tight defence,” Cratloe boss Colm Collins said.

“Fair play to Lissycasey, they gave us loads of it in the first half. The breeze helped us shade it in the second half,” Collins added.

Looking ahead, he said, “We face Liscannor now and it will be another tough game. There are no easy games and it’s knock-out now. It’s great to be in it and we are delighted to be there.”
Lissycasey manager Barry Keating agreed the damage was done in the third quarter.

“We just didn’t perform at the beginning of the second half. We didn’t get out of the traps. They were first to the breaking ball. They were more hungry and wanted it more than we did and that’s the bottom line,” he said.

He also agreed Cratloe got scores at vital times. “We had a lot of wides. They were more productive in their shooting. We are now looking at a relegation battle and they are going on to battle it out for the Jack Daly Cup,” concluded a disappointed Keating.

Both sides had chances to score, before Cratloe got the first point in the sixth minute when Cathal McInerney converted a 13m free. Lissycasey did likewise through Niall Kelly in the 10th minute to tie the game. Both defences were on top in the first quarter and the sides managed just one point each – through Podge Collins and Niall Kelly – in the next 10 minutes.

Cratloe then hit a good spell and points from Cathal McInerney (free) and Podge Collins gave them a lead they would hold to the end. They should have gone further ahead four minutes from the break when Cathal McInerney got clear but his attempt to lob the ball to the net over advancing goalie Joe Hayes went over the bar.

In the remaining five minutes, Lissycasey had the better of matters, winning a lot of good possession at midfield and they hit back with points from David Considine and Cathal Hill to trail by one, 0-4 to 0-5 at the break. Considine’s point came from a free after Pierce De Loughrey had dragged him to the ground after a break by Niall Kelly had created the goal chance.

There was little to suggest that the second half would be any different but Cratloe had other ideas and 10 minutes in, they had doubled their advantage with points from Cathal McInerney, Sean and Podge Collins.
As the game reached the midpoint of the half, Cratloe should have goaled but with only the goalie to beat, Conor McGrath saw his effort well stopped by Joe Hayes. McGrath won possession from the rebound and pointed to leave the score at 0-9 to 0-4 entering the final quarter.

Lissycasey were clearly struggling in a number of areas at this stage and Cratloe continued to dominate and added points from Pádraig Chaplin, McGrath and McInerney to go 0-12 to 0-4 clear with just eight minutes remaining.

Lissycasey’s first score of this half came with six minutes remaining from centre-back Martin Moran but by this time Cratloe were well on their way to a Round 3 meeting with Liscannor.

Ogie Murphy, Sean and Podge Collins, Cathal McInerney and Enda Boyce were always prominent for the winners. For a disappointing Lissycasey, Joe Hayes, Martin O’Connor, Gerry Moran, Michael Melican and Cathal Hill did best.

Cratloe: Pierce De Loughrey; Sean Chaplin, Barry Duggan, Enda Boyce; Martin ‘Ogie’ Murphy, Michael Hawes, Liam Markham; Conor Ryan, Kevin Browne; Sean Collins, Podge Collins, Brendan Bugler; Cathal McInerney, Pádraig Chaplin, Conor McGrath.
Subs: Sean Hynan for C McGrath (51 minutes), Barry Gleeson for S Collins (53 minutes), Patrick O’Gorman for Markham (55 minutes), Fergal Carroll for Ryan (56 minutes) and Robert Conlon for McInerney (58 minutes).
Scorers: Cathal McInerney (0-5), Podge Collins, Padraig Chaplin and Conor McGrath (0-2 each), Sean Collins and Barry Gleeson (0-1 each).
Frees: 16; wides: 6.
Bookings: Brendan Bugler (8 minutes) and Pierce DeLoughrey (28 minutes).

Lissycasey: Joe Hayes; Michael Melican, Gerry Moran, Martin O’Connor; Dermot Nagle, Martin Moran, Cathal Hill; Matt O’Shea, Danny Clohessy; Alan Nagle, Francis Hayes, Enda Finnucane; David Considine, Niall Kelly, Paul Nagle.
Subs: Matt Kilroy for Clohessy (40 minutes), Oisín Talty for A Nagle (45 minutes), Danny Lynch for Considine (48 minutes), Sean Hayes for O’Shea (49 minutes) and Derek McMahon for P Nagle (50 minutes).
Scorers: Niall Kelly (0-3, 2f), David Considine (free), Francis Hayes, Cathal Hill and Martin Moran (0-1 each).
Frees: 13; wides: 10; 45s: 5.
Bookings: Dermot Nagle (11 minutes), Martin Moran (22 minutes), Alan Nagle (40 minutes) and Paul Nagle (45 minutes).

 

Referee: Michael Rock, Ennistymon.