This article is from page 79 of the 2009-09-01 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 79 JPG
AFTER their shock defeat to O’Callaghan’s Mills last time out, for Clonlara, this game was all about just getting over the line and finally se- curing a quarter-final spot. The Mills had exposed a flaw in the defending champions’ armoury that had not been evident in 17 previous encoun- ters over the last 12 months and they were fully aware that a determined Scariff side were planning a similar coup in order to get themselves back into the running for qualfication to the next round.
Scariff, to their credit, were much more spirited and focused than they were against Inagh/Kilnamona in Round 3 but while they made life dif- ficult for Clonlara, they still hadn’t the firepower to push Clonlara to their limit. The holders are not back to their free-flowing selves just yet but had enough in the tank to prevail on this occasion, with a haul of 1-1 just after half-time decisive in push- ing them towards the last eight.
Siero eOM Ker teh baron affair, with Scariff having the aid of the breeze in the first period, set- tling early with a Brendan McNa- mara 20-metre free to the roof of Ger O’Connell’s net in the seventh minute to give them a 1-1 to O-2 ad- vantage. Clonlara soon got back on
level terms with points from Tommy Lynch and a second Nicky O’Connell free but inevitably it was Darach Ho- nan who set the defending champions ODN ASToIDMAWE-NAMY GLH OMe-DeLOlN atom be-Le(oveer-Du. goal. The Under 21 star had received close attention and hard hits from the
Scariff defence up to that point but in the 18th minute, a crossfield ball from Tomas O’Donovan was per- fectly placed into the path of Honan who turned and soloed towards goal before unleashing an unstoppable drive past McNamara to give his side
a 1-4 to 1-2 advantage. Two Ross Ho- ran points had Scariff on parity by the 23rd minute and by half-time, the sides were split at 1-6 to 1-6.
Within three minutes of the restart though, Clonlara were four points clear, an advantage they would pre- dominantly hold for the remainder. The game sprung to life with a goal in the 33rd minute when this time Honan turned provider, sending in a teasing ball for William Slattery and goalkeeper Brendan McNamara to challenge for and when the Clonlara man’s pull proved strongest, Donal Madden was on hand to finish to the net. From the puck-out, Honan point- ed and with Scariff now dependent on Ross Horan and Michael Scanlan for scores, it was going to take an al- mighty fightback from the east Clare side.
Three successive Horan frees in five minutes by the 54th minute cut the deficit to three but repeatedly misfiring, they never really looked like grabbing that crucial goal.
Instead, a battlehardened Clonlara finished the stronger, with Nicky O’Connell thriving in a sweeping role in defence along with his im- mense contribution from long range frees and Cormac O’Donovan doing the hard miles to earn two significant frees towards the finish. The only downside was a hamstring injury
sustained by Darach Honan that saw him substituted with less than ten minutes remaining. Neither Clonlara nor indeed the county can afford his absense in their quest for silverware over the coming weeks.