This article is from page 78 of the 2009-09-22 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 78 JPG
IT all went according to form in Bodyke on Friday evening as the home side got back to winning ways ahead of their quarter-final clash this weekend whereas winless Meelick are doomed to the relegation fight.
Already qualified for the last eight despite an inconsistent start, Bodyke needed a positive showing here and did so thanks to defensive anchor Sean Doyle who mopped up any breaks as well as their attacking quartet of PJ Kelleher, Johnny Howard, Keith Qui- gley and newly crowned All-Ireland Under 21 champion Colm Madden whose latent understanding allowed them to accumulate 2-16 of Bodyke’s total between them.
In saying that, despite the com- prehenisve scoreline, the Bodyke management still won’t be wholly satisfied approaching this weekend’s knock-out stages. They were totally in control of this tie from start to fin- ish but lapses in concentration that hampered them against both Feakle and Clarecastle again resurfaced here as they never ruthlessly put con- fidence shy Meelick to the sword at any stage. Allied to that was a poor conversion rate of 16 wides over the hour that in the business end of the season against the bigger sides could
prove very costly.
Meelick, for their part, ravaged by emmigration, injuries and suspen- sions, epitomised a side who just wanted to get the game over with and put this season behind them after three opening defeats but with a win here ensuring a play-off with Wolfe Tones to avoid relegation, the carrot was still dangling for them to muster up one last battling display.
For that to happen, they needed a positive start but their gameplan was in the shredder as early as the fourth minute after two soft goals had them firmly on the backfoot. Meelick did get the opening score through Ken- neth Keane but from the puck-out, their defence were immediately diso- rientated by Bodyke’s movement and it allowed Tom McNamara to kick through to the unmarked Colm Mad- den who was clear to rattle James Duffy’s net. From the puck-out, PJ Kelleher fed Keith Quigley for a point and only two minutes later, the writing was on the wall for Meelick as a Sean Doyle free from his own 65 was added to by Patsy O’Donnell to open up a 2-1 to 0-1 lead.
From that juncture on, it was a firefighting exercise for Meelick but with Johnny Howard, Colm Mad- den and Keith Quigley causing ma- jor headaches, Meelick just had too
many fires to put out and not enough manpower to stop the flames.
Eanna Mulvihill’s frees were the only reliable source of comfort for the south east Clare side but down to the bare bones, they hadn’t the firepower to trouble Bodyke who had enough chances to put Meelick away by half-time but only took fifty per cent of them. By half-time, they led by 2-11 to 0-07 and went about finishing the job early in the second period with Quigley and Madden adding points before a 36th minute goal from Johnny Howard had them cruising at 3-13 to 0-08.
However, although the result was now beyond doubt, they never con- vincingly built on that advantage, misfiring with hopeful efforts and it allowed Meelick to stage a mini- revolt.
The introduction of Ger Markham immediately caused Bodyke prob- lems, earning a 20 metre free with his first touch that Alan Markham slammed to the net in the 42nd minute before the substitute got one himself three minutes later when an Eoin Daly ball dropped behind the full-back line for the full-forward to pull to the net.
With the lead now sliced to eight, the loss of midfielder Barry O’Dwyer to injury was now felt by Bodyke but
it was his partner PJ Kelleher who steadied the ship once more with two successive points along with a Qui- aD keer
The brief crisis averted, Bodyke regained control to ease up to vic- tory and provide the perfect launch- ing pad for a concerted drive at the knock-out stages. Some fine tuning is still necessary though if they have a realistic chance of toppling the big boys in the grade.