This article is from page 69 of the 2011-08-23 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 69 JPG
Cratloe 0-8 – Inagh/Kilnamona 0-7 at Cusack Park, Ennis
THOSE who argue that hurleys should be for burning and not for playing ball with certainly had much ammunition for their argument at Clare headquarters on Sunday evening after this truly forgettable hour.
Not that Cratloe minded – they may have looked tired, very tired at times but they still had enough to stumble over the winning line thanks to Conor McGrath’s 62nd minute point, just over two minutes after he missed a 65.
Cometh the end of the hour he was in the right place at the right time and wasn’t found wanting when Sean Collins and Martin ‘Ogie’ Murphy created the opening for the matchwinning point from 25 yards.
It was probably the highlight of the hour as it inched Cratloe into the quarter-final for the third successive year, leaving Inagh/Kilnamona to shoot it out with Tubber in the last game to see who joins the 2009 champions at the business end of the championship.
This was the game that neither side seemed to want to win – first it was Cratloe who failed utterly to use the wind to their advantage in the first half, only to be thrown a lifeline in the second by an Iangh/Kilnamona side that was just as culpabale when it came to translating possession into scores.
It was pedestrian stuff from the off, with Cratloe’s profligacy being the main feature of the first half as they racked up eight wides while playing towards the scoreboard end.
They did lead by 0-5 to 0-4 thanks to Conor McGrath, who hit four points over the half hour, while his county senior colleage Sean Collins chipped in with the other as they eked out their advantage.
Inagh/Kilnamona had four wides of their own, but they were much more economical with the scoring chances, setting the tone early when Conor Tierney showed pace and accuracy to open the scoring inside two minutes.
In a half there was little between the sides, albeit that Cratloe’s dominance in the possession stakes seemed to give them the scope to kick clear by half-time and give them the cushion they looked like needing for the second half.
They did lead by 0-4 to 0-2 after 20 minutes, with McGrath accounting for all of their scores, while Inagh/ Kilnamona kept the scoreboard ticking – however slowly – thanks to Ger Arthur and Niall Arthur frees that brought them within a point by the 25th minute.
That’s how it stayed at the break as Sean Collins and Niall Arthur traded points in the final three minutes of the half as a very mediocre 30 minutes came to an end – a lead that scarcely seemed enough for a Cratloe side that failed to show the energy and application that marked their ascent in the senior ranks over the last couple of years.
What followed in the second half was equally as bad as the scoring rate deteriorated further with the statistic of six points over the half hour telling the story. Inagh/Kilnamona looked to have the force with them when a Niall Arthur 65 and a point from play by Conor Tierney that sandwiched a Conor McGrath free levelling matters by the 38th minute, but wides from Ger Arthur and Niall Arthur (2) cost them dear. Haulie Vaughan and Cathal Lafferty also hit wides, but the sides were still deadlocked at 0-7 apiece entering injury time after Niall Arthur and Conor McGrath had swapped points.
Enter McGrath once more with his sixth point, while Niall Arthur missed a 65-yard free to level matters in the third minute of injury time.