Wolfe Tones win but still make the drop

Wolfe Tones  4-14   St Joseph’s  3-18

Results from other games in Division 1B on Saturday evening meant Wolfe Tones could not avoid relegation, irrespective of the outcome with St Joseph’s on Sunday.

 

That didn’t prevent them from continuing their recent good form as they followed up their win over Kilmaley with a one-point success at Gurteen.

The defeat was a big blow for St Joseph’s, who needed to win to keep their hopes of a place in the semi-final alive.

St Joseph’s had a dream start, with a Niall De Loughrey goal in their first attack. Aaron Cunningham replied with a point­ ­before the home side hit for a second goal, this time Brian Guilfoyle finding the net.

Exchanges were lively and both sides were reduced to 14 when Alan Duggan (St Joseph’s) and Shane Chambers (Wolfe Tones) were dismissed. Gareth McPhillips and Cunningham had Wolfe Tones points before John Guilfoyle took a pass from Cunningham and blasted to the net to tie up the game.

Points were exchanged three times in the ensuing minutes, leaving the teams level at 2-3 to 1-6.

They then exchanged goals, with Ben O’Gorman scoring for the Shannon men while Alan O’Neill found the net from a free for the home side. Points were exchanged three more times and the teams went to the break on level terms, 2-9 to 3-6.

Shortly after half-time, Bobby McPhillips goaled from a penalty for Wolfe Tones and Ben O’Gorman added a point, pushing the winners four clear.

Brian O’Connell had a point for the winners, who were then dealt a big blow as Aaron Cunningham was shown a red card, reducing the Shannon side to 13.

After Alan O’Neill and Bobby McPhilips exchanged points, the home side hit three in a row through O’Neill, Brian Guilfoyle and David Conroy.

Alan O’Neill tried for a goal from a free but John Guilfoyle made a fine stop. Points were again exchanged twice before a Kevin Dilleen goal put the home side a point clear. However, Wolfe Tones finished with points from the McPhillips brothers, Gareth and Boddy, to seal a one-point victory.

Wolfe Tones: Paul Hogan; Shane Chambers, Brendan Hughes, Stephen McInerney; Barry Loughnane, Bobby McPhillips, Joe McGauley; Brian O’Connell, John Guilfoyle; Aaron Cunningham, Kevin McCaffery, Niall Murphy; Ben O’Gorman, Gareth McPhillips, Andy Shanagher.
Subs: Sean Condren for McCafferty, Sean Reidy for Shanagher.
St Joseph’s: Paul Madden; Cathal O’Sullivan, Kenneth Kennedy, Kevin Meaney; Mark Hallinan, Kevin Dilleen, Conor Lyons; Mark Hanrahan, Niall De Loughrey; David Conroy, Alan O’Neill, Brian Guilfoyle; Aaron Landy, Leo Duggan, Alan Duggan.

Ballyea 1-14   Tulla 1-14

Ballyea and Tulla played out a hard-fought tie in Tulla on Saturday evening. 

Tulla had the better of exchanges in the first half and built up a 1-10 to 0-4 interval lead while Ballyea hit a total of 10 wides before the break. The visitors fought back well in the second half, with a great goal by Frankie Griffin in the 40th minute, which reduced the deficit to three points at 1-10 to 1-7.

In the last 10 minutes, both sides fought hard to get the upperhand, with the teams level at 1-13 with two minutes remaining.

An incident in the 60th minute held up play for a while and in the 64th minute ,Gearóid O’Connell gave his side the lead but a last-minute a 20m free from Andrew Quinn gave his side a share of the spoils.

Ballyea: Shane O’Neill; Brian Carrig, Jack Browne, Declan Keane; David Sheehan, Paul Flanagan, Niall Keane; Gearóid O’Connell (0-7, 5f), Stan Lineen (0-1); Niall Deasy (0-4), Frankie Griffin (1-0), Aonghus Keane; Martin O’Leary (0-1), Kevin Sheehan (0-1), Francie O’Reilly.
Sub: Barry Coffey for Aonghus Keane.
Tulla: Philip Brennan; John Fahy, Sean Torpey, Shane McNamara; Paul Lynch, John Brennan, Cian McInerney; Aidan Lynch, Niall Bolton; Kieran Brennan, Conor O’Halloran, Colin Corbett; Cathal Dinan, Andrew Quinn, Mark Lynch.
Subs: Alan Leamy for Dinan.

Whitegate 1-15   O’Callaghan’s Mills 0-17

Whitegate will again play in Division 1B of the Clare Champion Cup next season after they managed a one-point win over group leaders O’Callaghan’s Mills at Whitegate on Friday evening.

The East Clare side went into this tie in the knowledge that they had to win to have any chance of survival in the group.

The teams were evenly matched throughout and they went to the break on level terms at 0-8 each.

The Mills had made the better start and had taken a five point lead before the home side found the target.
Whitegate goalkeeper Andrew Fahy made two good saves in the first half when the group leaders were on top.

The vital score was the winner’s goal which came from Patrick Burke early in the second half. Michael O’Brien hit three important points for the winners in the first half.

A share of the spoils looked the likely outcome as the teams were level going into injury time but Colin Burke stepped up and hit what proved to be the winning score.

Whitegate: Andrew Fahy; Trevor Kelly, John Bugler, Tomas McNamara; Jamie Malone, John Minogue, Christy Jones; Colin Burke, Colin Bleach; Ian Fahy, George Waterstone, Patrick Burke; Michael O’Brien, Patrick Minogue, Ger Muggivan.
Sub: Gary McClearn for Bleach.
O’Callaghan’s Mills: John Cooney; Sean O’Gorman, Gerry Cooney, Ger Frost; Michael McGrath, Adrian Donovan, Kevin O’Callaghan; Bryan Donnellan, Jonathon Lyons; Adrian Flaherty, Aidan O’Gorman, Conor Cooney (Ermhil); Colin Crehan, Cathal McKeogh, Gary Neville.
Subs: Jamie Lynch, Aidan Fawl, Eoin McGrath, Eoin McInerney, Conor Cooney.

Ruan 1-22   Kilmaley 1-18

Kilmaley will play in Division 2 next season after they suffered a four-point loss to Ruan in a high-scoring tie at home on Saturday.

The winners laid the foundations in the opening half, at the end of which they were five points clear, 0-14 to 0-9.

Kilmaley battled back in the second half but Ruan managed to maintain their first-half lead with the help of a goal from Eoin Hanrahan and some great play from Michael Vaughan.

Ruan: Pakie Roughan; Gary Bell, Niall O’Connor, Damian Brohan; Killian Ryan, Jonathon Clohessy, Dara Roughan; Conal O hAinifein, Tadhg Hanrahan; John Punch, Michael Vaughan, Brendan Lyons; Patrick Keegan, Aidan Lynch, Eoin Hanrahan.
Sub: Alan Bell for Punch.
Kilmaley: Kieran Dillon, Martin O’Connor, Noel Casey, Shane Lynch; Eoin Enright, Conor Cleary, Eoin O’Malley; Kenneth Kennedy, Brian McMahon; Daire Keane, Michael O’Neill, Conor Neylon; Padraig Talty, Diarmuid McMahon, Eamonn Bracken.
Subs: Michael O’Malley for Bracken, Declan Clancy for Cleary, David Cleary for Talty and Conor Cleary for Neylon.