This article is from page 89 of the 2009-06-30 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 89 JPG
WHEN Crusheen and Clarecastle last met in September at the quar- ter-finals stage of the championship, there was little between the sides be- fore Crusheen eventually prevailed by the bare minimum. This Clare Cup game may not have had as much significance but with the winners holding the best chance of disrupt- ing Clooney/Quin and Newmarket’s passage to the knock-out stages, it should have ensured a titanic battle. What transpired however, was a
relatively one-sided affair. So much so in fact, that the ease at which Crusheen strolled to victory must have even surpassed their own ex- pectations. Both sides were without key performers but what would have disappointed Clarecastle most is how easily they lay down once Crusheen settled into their stride.
The home side started brightly easing into a 0-4 to O-1 lead by the 11th minute with points from Tyrone Kearse (2), Sean Talty and Derek Quinn. However, in a dramatic turn- around, Crusheen assumed control
and halting the supply to the Clare- castle forward line, Crusheen secured nine unanswered points in as many minutes to power into a 0-10 to 0-4 advantage including a brace for both Cian Dillon and Conor O’Donnell. Such was their dominance that they also had the luxury of hitting five wides in the same period including a goal opportunity for Paddy Meaney who weaved his way through the defence before striking his shot just wide of the right post.
From the resulting puck-out, Tyrone Kearse, Clarecastle’s most effective
player, almost punished Crusheen with a goal of his own as he soloed through the heart of the Crusheen rearguard but his shot was tipped away by goalkeeper Donal Tuohy for a ’65 that Kearse converted. And the former Clare senior panellist added two more frees before the break to reduce the deficit to three.
In an effort to revive their fortunes, Clarecastle made a host of switches at the interval, including the intro- duction of substitutes Eric Flynn, Fearghus Ryan and Aaron Consid- ine and it was the latter who opened
the second half scoring after only two minutes. Patrick Kelly’s lineball managed to break through to the Clare minor at the far post and for a split second, it appeared that a goal was on the cards but in the end, he had to be content with a point. That brief recovery was as close as the home side would get to Crusheen though and they were only to score twice more, both from Kearse frees while Crusheen eased to victory.
Indiscipline handed Crusheen the majority of their scores through Alan Tuohy (4) and Ciaran O’Doherty but the biggest contrast was in leadership as Crusheen’s young side had them in abundance while Clarecastle simply sank without a whimper. Much like their fading Clare Cup hopes.