Strong finish from Magpies secures win against Clondegad

Doonbeg  0-15   Clondegad  1-7
A strong Doonbeg finish, which secured five unanswered points, sealed a second successive win for the Magpies in the Cusack Cup (Division 1) when they overcame Clondegad at Ballynacally on Saturday.

The home side’s failure to convert two goal opportunities at the three-quarter stage proved costly as the visitors quickly pounced and points from David Tubridy and Shane Ryan sealed victory.
Clondegad full-forward Pat Coffey collected a delivery from midfield but an alert Nigel Dillon denied him with a good save. Minutes later, Gary Brennan raced through and drove past the advancing Dillon but shot wide of the target.
A point separated the sides with 10 minutes remaining, with Doonbeg leading on a score of 0-11 to 1-7 after Paudge McMahon and Shane Brennan had pointed for the home side.
From here to the finish, Shane Ryan and David Tubridy blossomed in the winners’ attack and they picked off the match-winning scores.
Brian Dillon and Brian Egan pointed for the winners in the opening minutes before Paudge McMahon responded for the  home side to level maters. Kenneth Kelly gave them the lead with a fisted effort. Soon after this Shane Brennan took a pass from Pat Coffey and blasted to the net to put his side four clear, 1-3 to 0-2. They went on to lead by two at half-time, when the score was 1-4 to 0-5.
Doonbeg returned in determined fashion and struck for four points from Tubridy (2), Shane O’Brien and Brian Egan to go in front, 0-9 to 1-4.
Gary Brennan pulled one back for the home side but line scores from Jamie Whelan and Tubridy put the Magpies three clear and they finished strongly to secure the victory.
Doonbeg: Nigel Dillon; Joe Blake, Pádraig Gallagher, Enda Doyle; Richie Vaughan, Padraic Ahern, James Friggin; Shane O’Brien, Frank O’Dea;  Brian Dillon, David Tubridy, Brian Egan; Jamie Whelan, Kevin Nugent, Shane Ryan.
Subs: Eamonn Tubridy for B Dillon; Paul Dillon for Nugent.
Clondegad: Declan O’Loughlin; Brian Murphy, Paddy O’Connell, Cormac Ryan; Kieran Browne, John Griffin, Eoin Griffin; Gary Brennan, Cormac Murphy; Francie O’Reilly, Paudge McMahon, Shane Brennan; Kenneth Kelly, Pat Coffey, Rory Clohessy.

Shannon Gaels  3-6   St Joseph’s, Miltown  0-8
St Joseph’s, Miltown totally dominated the opening quarter of this Cusack Cup second-round fixture in Hennessy Memorial Park and led 0-5 to 0-0, having kicked a number of excellent points.
Cathal Lafferty, Seán O’Connell, Micheál Malone and Joe Curtin all found the target as Miltown, who lost their opening game by a point to Éire Óg, made an excellent start.
The Gaels, who lost their opening game to Clondegad, were soon a point ahead however, following a couple of quick-fire goals.
Barry Toner netted after a nifty move, started by Brian Bermingham and involving Declan Power and David Neylon. Shortly afterwards, the Gaels went 2-0 to 0-5 up when David Neylon fisted a long delivery to the Miltown net.
Miltown equalised but Barry Toner then hit 1-3, 0-3 from frees, to leave the winners leading 3-3 to 0-6 at half-time.
The second period was much tighter defensively as the Gaels played deeper and tried to hit the home team on the break.
Shannon Gaels: Keith Ryan; Eugene O’Neill, Brian Bermingham, Eugene Flanagan; John Bermingham, John Neylon, Tomás Cleary; Noel Kennedy, Francis Cleary; Brian Cunningham, John Paul O’Neill, Barry Toner; Michael Coughlan, Declan Power, David Neylon.
Sub: Michael O’Donoghue for Brian Cunningham.
St Joseph’s, Miltown: Conor O’Loughlin; David Cleary, Enda Malone, Ian Sexton; Conor McKenna, Gordon Kelly, Enda O’Gorman; Cathal Lafferty, Seán Meade; Seán O’Connell, Gary Egan, Micheál Malone; Dessie Molohan, Kevin Keavey, Joe Curtin.
Subs: Gearóid Curtin for Conor McKenna; Niall Quinn for Gearóid Curtin; Seánie Malone for Dessie Molohan.
Referee: Michael McGann (Michael Cusack’s).

Éire Óg  1-8   Cooraclare  0-8
Éire Óg’s early season Cusack Cup form, under new manager Joe Joe Whelan, helped them to pick up a second successive win last Saturday.
In defeating Cooraclare, Éire Óg also managed to complete a second successive league game without conceding a goal. They beat Miltown in their first game, while Cooraclare, the holders, defeated Kilkee. Niall Daly’s second-half goal, after excellent work by Darren O’Neill who also impressed against Miltown, was the game’s crucial score. Cooraclare led 0-5 to 0-4 at half-time but despite Rory Donnelly’s introduction, after four years playing club football in Meath, Éire Óg held on.
They now sit joint top of the Cusack Cup table with Doonbeg.
Éire Óg: Shane O’Connell; Conor Healy, Donie Lyne, Saran Butler; Michael O’Regan, Dean Ryan, Alan Malone; Darren O’Neil, Brian Frawley; Brian Shannon, Marty Whelan, Shane Daniels; Brian Fitzpatrick, Seán Crotty, Niall Daly.
Subs: Paul Madden, Graham Glynn and Aidan Keane.
Cooraclare: Joe Killeen; Bob Chambers, Conor Marrinan, Gearóid Meade; Thomas Downes, Mark Tubridy, Thomas Donnellan; Joe Considine, Hughie Donnelly; John Francis Killeen, Cathal Lillis, John O’Looney; Michael McMahon, Michael Kelly, Don Garry.
Subs: Declan McMahon, Rory Donnelly and Seán Maguire.
Referee: Damien Fox (Wolfe Tones).

Liscannor  0-12   Kilkee  1-4
Liscannor picked up their first Cusack Cup points in Moher last Saturday when they scored a comprehensive win over Kilkee.
Both teams were without a few regular players. Liscannor were minus Shane Canavan, Johnny Considine, John Kerin, Alan McDonagh and Dara Blake, while Kilkee were without Michael O’ Shea, Christy Kirwan, Darragh Kelly, Noel O’ Shea and Gearóid Lynch.
Kilkee were denied a couple of goal chances by Noel ­Kilmartin, while the winners led by two points at half-time.
However, second-half points from Alan Clohessy, Kieran Considine and Niall Considine helped Liscannor to establish control.
Liscannor: Noel Kilmartin, Gerard Considine, David McDonagh, Michael Foley, Robert Lucas, Ronan Slattery, Denis Murphy; Brian Considine, Alan Flaherty; Joe Considine, Thomas McDonagh, Niall Considine; Paul Guerin, Alan Clohessy, Kieran Considine.
Sub: Declan Fawl.
Kilkee: Kevin Harte, Colm Roche, David Russell, Alan Russell; Ronan Browne, Micheál Keane, Luke Fitzgerald; Denis Russell and Kevin Larkin; Darren Owens, Chris Williamson, Brian Keane, Barry Harte, Kieran deLoughrey, Jonathon Hayes.
Sub: John Enright.  
Referee: Michael Talty (Kilmurry Ibrickane).