This article is from page 77 of the 2009-09-29 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 77 JPG
TIME and time again during this hard fought and scrappy quarter-fi- nal, hurdles were placed in front of Ruan. And time and time again they found the energy to vault clear and beat Bodyke to the finish line.
Ruan conceded three goals at three vital stages, each time handing Bod- yke the lead and a vital lift.
On each occasion though Ruan re- sponded. Johnny Howard profited from some cheap Ruan defending to find the net early in the first-half to edge Bodyke two points clear. By half time, Ruan, fired on by the sharpshooting of John Punch and Co- lin O’ Donoghue, led by four points.
Liam Doyle and Thomas MacCo- namara pounced for a goal apiece shortly after the break as Bodyke surged into a two point lead. But Bodyke could not press home their advantage. Instead their purple patch served only to bring out the best in NaUEOR
Staring with Eoin MHanrahan’s Strike, Ruan reeled off five unan- swered points.
Bodyke’s desperate search for a match winning fourth goal provided for a tense finale but Ruan’s defence, led by the steady Jonathan Clohessey at centre-back, yielded no more.
Ruan probably had more posses- sion than Bodyke in the first-half but
it was the east Clare side who made the better of their chances in the ear- ly stages.
Points from Keith Quigley and John Howard were cancelled out by three John Punch frees before Bod- yke found the net in the 12th minute.
Ruan goalkeeper Patrick Roughan batted a dropping shot back into a dangerous area and Howard took ad- vantage with his low strike bouncing into the goal.
Colin O’Donoghue responded with a point for Ruan before PJ Kellher fired over for Bodyke.
Bodyke’s defence was coping well with the threat posed by Michael Vaughan’s darting runs but eventual- ly Ruan’s overall supremacy, particu- larly around midfield, began to tell.
Punch knocked over four more frees, O’Donoghue landed his sec- ond point of the day and Vaughan deservedly got on the scoresheet to leave Ruan leading O-10 to 1-3 at ne Neca ueatee
Points from Punch and Padraig Guthrie saw Ruan off to flier in the second-half.
Bodyke hit back in the 35th minute with substitute Liam Doyle find- ing the net from close range after a strong run by Howard.
The game then swung back in Bod- yke’s favour. The east Clare side moved 3-6 to 0-13 ahead by the 45th minute through points from Howard
(2), Ciaran Walsh and MacConama- ra’s goal.
Ruan refused to buckle though and hit back with five points in the trot, the pick of which involving a dynam- ic piece of hurling from wing back Killian Ryan.
Roughan produced a superb save late on to keep Ruan in front. A semi-final with either Ennistymon or Feakle now awaits.