This article is from page 70 of the 2011-07-19 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 70 JPG
Meelick 2-12 – Cooraclare 1-06 at Gurteen
MEELICK’S rise through the ranks continued on Saturday evening when securing their second successive promotion at the expense of Cooraclare.
A goal either side of half-time swung the tie in the south east Clare side’s favour, having trailed by six points approaching the break.
And they never looked back from that, finishing the game in emphatic fashion by kicking ten unanswered points to confirm their place in the decider.
That freeflowing style was in total contrast to a 20 minute period midway through the opening half when allowing Cooraclare to hit them for 1-5 without reply. Meelick started the brighter though, with county senior Kevin Harnett and Brian O’Neill pushing them two clear by the fifth minute.
However, through the accuracy of Declan Keane, Cooraclare’s second string finally settled and their confidence was greatly aided by Don Garry’s 17th minute goal when finding himself unmarked after a poor Meelick free kick that was arrowed directly to Garry by wing-back Kevin Clohessy.
Further points from Colin Kelly, Kieran Tubridy and Keane had Cooraclare cruising as the interval approached but they were to be suckerpunched against the run of play when in injury-time, a fortunate rebound fell to Brian O’Neill who offloaded for Patrick Finucane to finish to the net and cut the deficit to just three.
Worse luck was to follow for Cooraclare when after only two minutes of the restart, Brian O’Neill flicked a Jamie O’Sullivan mishit free to the net and gain parity.
Cooraclare did reply immediately through Keane but those goals had given Meelick the boost they craved and once again Meelick equalised through a Harnett free before substitute Gary Moloney handed them the lead in the 40th minute.
The turning point of the game arguably came in the 41st minute when Keane played in Anthony Lillis only to see his sidefooted effort excellently kept out by goalkeeper Shane Daly.
Cooraclare alarmingly fell away after that however while Meelick only grew in confidence as the half progressed when pulling away from their opponents in the final quarter.
Impressive attacking pair Finucane and Brian O’Neill grabbed a brace of points each, Jamie O’Sullivan kicked three points (two from placed balls) while Stephen Hayes completed the rout in the 61st minute with a free to give Meelick the double scores victory.
Promotion guaranteed, next up is an intriguing clash against fellow Junior A championship favourites Coolmeen in a fortnight’s time as last year’s Division 5 champions hope to add another title to their growing roll of honour.
Meelick
Shane Daly, Peter Reidy, Mickey Kelly, Gary Kennedy, Brian Barrett, Niall Mullen,Willie O’Shaughnessy, Stephen Hayes (0-1f), Kevin Harnett (0-2 1f), Gary Callinan, Brian O’Neill (1-3), AndyWhyte, Darragh Quinn, Patrick Finucane (12), Jamie O’Sullivan (0-3 1f, 1’45)
Subs
Damien Moloney for Kennedy (27 mins), Gary Moloney (0-1) for Callinan (HT)
Cooraclare
Joe Killeen, Michael Chambers, Sean Garry, Michael Horan, Robert Ryan, Gearoid Looney, Kevin Clohessy, Michael Considine, KieranTubridy (0-1), James Burke, Colin Kelly (0-1),Thomas O’Connor, Anthony Lillis, Declan Keane (0-4 2f), Don Garry (1-0)
Subs
John Francis Killeen for Ryan (44 mins), Darragh O’Dea for Lillis (53 mins), David O’Looney for Burke (58 mins)
Man of the Match
Patrick Finucane (Meelick) Referee Damien Fox (WolfeTones)