This article is from page 110 of the 2009-03-31 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 110 JPG
A HEAVY WEIGHT clash and it cer- tainly didn’t disappoint, going virtu- ally to the wire before Inagh-Kilna- mona edged home with four points to spare to assume favouritism for the 2009 Under 21A title.
The only real surprise was _ that Inagh-Kilnamona didn’t have a big- ger cushion at the end. When Sean McGonigley rattled the Newmar- ket-on-Fergus net in the 45th minute to put Inagh-Kilnamona ten clear it looked as if they’d freewheel into the semi-final.
McGonigley’s strike came 30 min- utes after Martin Barry’s goal had put Inagh-Kilnamona ahead for the first time. It was that half hour either side of half-time that won it for In- agh-Kilnamona — they put 3-9 up on the board, a tally that left Newmarket with too big a mountain to climb.
However, they still stoked up a barnstorming finish as Colin Ryan led the comeback charge with Eoin Hayes at his shoulder. In the end Rory Hickey’s final whistle couldn’t come quick enough for Inagh-Kil- namona who were grateful that Ni- all Arthur stemmed the tide towards their goal with two breakaway points near the end.
It never looked like coming to this for Inagh-Kilnamona once they set- tled into the game. They played with the aid of the strong breeze in the first half, but were slow to make the
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The Blues were first on the board with a Darren Duggan point and led O-3 to O-2 after ten minutes. Ger Arthur equalised in the 13th minute and then Inagh-Kilnamona hit the front two minutes later when Eamon Glynn’s long free was batted down into the path of Martin Barry whose low ground shot beat Ronan McCor-
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It was the cue for some champagne hurling from Inagh-Kilnamona — they hit 1-4 in the next 11 minutes, the goal coming in the 19th from Damian Lafferty, while Conor Tier- ney stamped his class on proceedings with the four points.
The Blues did score a breakaway goal from Colin Ryan in the 27th
minute but still found themselves in arrears by double scores at the break — 2-8 to 1-4 for the Combo.
Points inside two minutes of the resumption from Conor Tierney and Damian Lafferty sign helped Inagh- Kilnamona serve notice, while a fur- ther 1-3 by the three quarter-stage had them coasting to success.
But credit the Blues, they never did
die and Colin Ryan’s goal in the 48th minute teed up a grandstand finish. The Blues thundered forward, look- ing for Ryan to pull victory from impending defeat and points by Eoin Hayes and Darren Duggan brought it back to a goal as the game entered PON LUUMYAnB bee ee
A goal would have saved the day, but it was Niall Arthur who had the final say to finally kill off the Blues’ challenge with a point in the Olst minute.