CLARE SENIOR HURLING CHAMPIONSHIP GROUP 4
Crusheen  1-14   Clooney-Quin  1-11
A strong second-half showing by champions Crusheen saw them get the better of the clash with their neighbours Clooney-Quin at Cusack Park on Sunday evening.

Fortunate to be only two points adrift at the interval, Crusheen stepped up considerably after the break and went on to enjoy the better of the exchanges.
When reviewing this performance, their first in this year’s title race, Clooney-Quin will look at their failure to turn good possession into scores in the opening half when they enjoyed supremacy in a number of areas. However, poor finishing proved costly and this is reflected in a tally of 10 wides, many from good scoring positions.
In a low-scoring first quarter points were swapped twice and the teams again exchanged points early in the second quarter. Clooney-Quin then moved into a three-point lead with points from Pádraig Ward (2) and the skillful Peter Duggan, who cut a line ball from 50m over the bar but the title holders kept in touch with like scores from Gearóid O’Donnell and Pat Vaughan before Duggan landed another free to leave the half-time score at 0-7 to 0-5 in Clooney-Quin’s favour.
For the second half, Crusheen moved Pat Vaughan to centre forward and by the tenth minute they had drawn level with their neighbours at 0-8 each.
As the end of the third quarter approached Conor O’Donnell broke through and shot low into the corner for the game’s opening goal. It sparked off a good spell for the winners, who added three points from Pat Vaughan (2) and substitute Paddy Meaney to go six clear with 10 minutes remaining.
The losers’ only score in the opening 20 minutes of the half came from a 35m line ball by Peter Duggan.
To their credit, Clooney hit back and three Peter Duggan pointed frees cut the margin to three points with five minutes to play. Crusheen had two good goal opportunities in this quarter but Damian O’Halloran made excellent saves from Paddy Meaney.
A David Forde point eased the pressure and Pat Vaughan followed with a brace to put six between the sides as the game went into injury time. A dipping free from Peter Duggan was added to by Cathal Egan for Clooney-Quin’s goal.
They attacked again from the resumption of play but Sean Dillon made a vital interception near the goal line to kill off Clooney-Quin’s chances of getting something from the tie.
The winners’ half-back line of Ciaran O’Doherty, Cian and Cathal Dillon dictated matters in the second half while elsewhere Pat Vaughan, David Forde, Gearóid and Conor O’Donnell did well.
The Clooney-Quin full-back line of Tony McMahon, Conor Harrisson and Shane McNamara got through a lot of work but, overall, the failure of their forwards to break down the Crusheen defence proved costly.
Crusheen: Donal Tuohy; Alan Brigdale, Cronan Dillon, John Brigdale; Ciaran O’Doherty, Cian Dillon, Cathal Dillon; Pat Vaughan, Tony Meaney; Gearóid O’Donnell, Sean Dillon, David Forde; Conor O’Donnell, Gerry O’Grady (capt), Fergus Kennedy.
Sub: Paddy Meaney for Kennedy (44 minutes).
Scorers: Pat Vaughan (0-8, 6f); Conor O’Donnell (1-1); Gearóid O’Donnell, David Forde (0-2) each and Paddy Meaney (0-1).
Frees: 11; Wides: 8
Bookings: Cronan Dillon (33 minutes).
“We had a very poor first half but we did play better in the second half. They came at us right up to the end.” Michael Browne, Crusheen manager.
Clooney-Quin: Damian O’Halloran; Tony McMahon, Conor Harrisson, Shane McNamara; Mike McNamara, Cillian Duggan, Enda Harrisson; Pádraig Ward, Sean Conheady; Ronan Gallagher, Cathal Egan, Martin Duggan; Peter Duggan, Fergal Lynch, Michael Daffy.
Subs: John Earls for Daffy (45 minutes); Brian Shally for M Duggan (58 minutes) and Adrian Fleming for Conheady (59 minutes).
Scorers: Martin Duggan (0-6, 4f); Padráig Ward (0-4, 3f) and Cathal Egan (1-1).
Frees: 16; Wides: 13.
Bookings: Cathal Egan (43 minutes) and Cillian Duggan (59 minutes).
“Crusheen stepped up a lot in the second half showing the experience they have gained over the last few years. That’s the level we have to get to if we are to challenge for honours.” Mike Corry, Clooney-Quin manager.
Referee: Seanie McMahon, Newmarket.

Another draw for Kilmaley

Kilmaley  1-8   Newmarket  1-8
KILMALEY’S remarkable run of draws continued in the senior hurling championship on Saturday evening at Cusack Park when they shared the spoils in Round 2 of the 2011 competition with Newmarket.
Last year they had three draws and one win in the group stage but failed to make it to the play-offs. Two games into this year’s competition, they have two draws and they can, with some justification, argue they should have won both games.
This was certainly the case on Saturday when they looked to be on their way to victory when leading by four points with two minutes of normal time remaining. A superbly struck 20m free by Colin Ryan yielded a goal to cut the margin to the minimum and this was still the position as they played the second minute of injury time.
Eoin Hayes won possession some 60m from goal, close to the sideline and he scored a superb point, which tied up the game.
There was little between the sides throughout the first half, at the end of which Newmarket led 0-6 to 0-5. Both sides had enjoyed the lead and they had been level on three occasions.
Kilmaley had the better of the opening quarter, at the end of which they led 0-3 to 0-1 but they should have been in a stronger position. They had six wides in the first 12 minutes and should they fail to make the play-offs, they may well point to these misses.
The second half was nine minutes old before Daire Keane tied up the game for the fourth time when he pointed. Newmarket made two changes to their attack at this stage, replacing Anthony Kilmartin and Enda Kelly with Jim McInerney and James Liddy.
Kilmaley were also struggling in attack. They had brought in Declan Clancy at half-time for Brian McMahon and now sent in Seamus Hurley for Michael O’Neill. Diarmuid McMahon pointed his side into the lead in the eleventh minute of the half and the same player got the vital touch five minutes later,for the game’s opening goal, a score that put Kilmaley four points clear with 15 minutes remaining.
Defences continued to dominate and the next 10 minutes produced just a point each, with David Barrett and Kenneth Kennedy trading scores.
As the game entered the last five minutes, the odds pointed to a Kilmaley win but Colin Ryan’s powerfully hit 20m free gave his side new hope with two minutes of normal time to play.
Two minutes of injury time were signalled and the game was in the second of these when Eoin Hayes fired over a point worthy of any stage to tie up the game.
Kilmaley will point to 14 wides, seven in each half, as a major reason for why they failed to win this tie. Their defence did well throughout with Alan Markham, particularly in the  second half, playing a captain’s part at centre-back. Noel Casey was also outstanding, while Anthony Cahill did well at full-back.
James McInerney was prominent throughout at centre-back for Newmarket with Stephen Kelly doing well at full-back.
Kilmaley: Kieran Dillon; Martin O’Connor, Anthony Cahill, Colin McGuane; Noel Casey, Alan Markham (capt), Conor McMahon; Kenneth Kennedy, Colin Lynch; Daire Keane, Brian McMahon, John Cabey; Niall McGuane, Diarmuid McMahon, Michael O’Neill.
Subs: Declan Clancy for B McMahon (half-time), Seamus Hurley for O’Neill (42 minutes) and Eoin Enright for Cabey (58 minutes).
Scorers: Diarmuid McMahon (1-1), Daire Keane (0-3), Kenneth Kennedy (0-2, 1f), Brian McMahon and John Cabey (0-1) each.
Frees for: 14; wides: 14
Bookings: None.
“I am very proud of the players. They are growing in confidence with each game and I hope they can get through to the play-off stages. Newmarket will be pleased as well, as they showed great composure to come back. We have a long wait now and we have work to do.” John Carmody, Kilmaley manager.
Newmarket: Kieran Devitt; Eoin O’Brien, Stephen Kelly, Niall O’Connor; Paudie Collins, James McInerney, Darren O’Connor; Enda Barrett (capt), Sean O’Connor; Enda Kelly, Shane O’Brien, David Barrett; Anthony Kilmartin, Colin Ryan, Eoin Hayes.
Subs: Jim McInerney for Kilmartin (40 minutes), James Liddy for E Kelly (40 minutes) and Shane O’Brien junior for S O’Connor (50 minutes).
Scorers: Colin Ryan (1-4, 1-3f), Eoin Hayes (0-2), Enda and David Barrett (0-1) each.
Frees for: 13; wides: 10
Bookings: Eoin Hayes (44 minutes).
“I am disappointed with the performance but delighted to get the draw. It could be a very valuable point yet in what is a very competitive group. However, we will need to play a lot better than this in our next outing.” Bob Enright, Newmarket manager.
Referee: Ger Hoey, Killanena.