This article is from page 69 of the 2011-05-17 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 69 JPG
Parteen 2-12 – Sixmilebridge 1-12 at Shannon
HAVING FAILED to live up to their potential in recent years, Parteen needed to take down one of the big guns in order to get the ball rolling.
Not since the double defeat of eventual champions Broadford three years ago have Parteen glistened when it mattered most and with the restructuring of the championship to only allow two teams out of six to advance, the margin of error has become even slimmer.
That’s why this victory over last year’s semi-finalists was a welcome tonic to their previous underachieving ills as Parteen assimilated their historic Under 21C winning side with their more established core.
What will be most pleasing to their management however is that they were gritty enough to be able to dig out the result against a very experi- enced Sixmilebridge side that wasn’t short of senior championship winners.
And just like their Clare Cup meeting, it was Parteen’s second half display that won the day as they outscored their opponents by 1-9 to 0-4 and indeed, held the Bridge’ scoreless from play in that period as well.
Parteen also had a confidence boosting start when Darragh Yelverton weaved his way down the right wing before cutting inside and rattling the net via the body of goalkeeper Stephen Fleming in the fourth minute in reply to Earol Tuohy’s opening point.
It didn’t derail Sixmilebridge however who had a strong breeze at their backs as the towering Ronan Hayes proved a worthy target so much so that his withdrawl just before the break was arguably a turning point in the game. Meanwhile however, placed balls from Tommy Liddy (2) and Sam O’Sullivan along with an Adrian Chaplin point had the Bridge level at 1-2 to 0-5 by the turn of the opening quarter and they regained the lead soon afterwards when adding a goal. It came from a Sam O’Sullivan free from halfway that was deflected by Mark Culbert beyond the reach of goalkeeper Alan Murnane.
Parteen hit back immediately through Joe O’Connor and might have usurped the lead once more had James Long’s kick been on target. Instead, the now inspired ‘Bridge finished the half strongly with a Mark Culbert point sandwiching two Tommy Liddy frees on their way to a 1-8 to 1-3 interval lead.
It was a short lived cushion however as within five minute of the restart, Parteen had wiped that advantage, with Ivan Conway grabbing 1-2. Two rapid frees were boosted by that 35th minute goal that saw Parteen use their football skills better this time when Paraic O’Connor toepoked the ball through to the unmarked Conway to make no mistake.
Sam O’Sullivan hit back immediately with a free but by this stage the momentum had shifted and with Joe O’Connor and Colm Quinn leading the line, Parteen hit five unanswered points to take a 2-10 to 1-09 advantage by the 48th minute.
There was still a few twists and turns however before Parteen could secure a vital first win as the reintroduction of Hayes saw Sixmilebridge rally once more. Tommy Liddy picked off two frees, one of which had to be tipped over the bar after a 20 metre effort on goal and with three points separating the sides in injury-time, Liddy had another 20 metre free stopped and cleared before Parteen could cement the points.
Parteen
Alan Murnane, Mark Cunningham, Paul O’Dwyer, AndrewBeatty, ColmO’Connell, ColmQuinn (0-1f), Cillian Conlon, Joe O’Connor (0-2), Martin Moroney (0-3), Mark Boland, James Long, Paraic O’Connor (0-2), DarraghYelverton (1-1), Ivan Conway (1-3 3f), Ronan Conlon
Subs
Noel Bridgeman for Boland (25 mins), Brian McSweeney for Long (38 mins)
Sixmilebridge
Stephen Fleming,Wayne Kennedy, Eoin Quinn, David O’Meara, Jonathan Downes, Stiofan Fitzpatrick, Cathal Walsh, SamO’Sullivan (0-3 2f, 1’65), Christy Griffin,Adrian Chaplin (0-1), Ronan Hayes, Michael O’Halloran, Earol Tuohy (0-1), Mark Culbert (1-1),Tommy Liddy (0-6f)
Subs
Paul Corbett for Hayes (28 mins, inj),Alan Mulready for O’Meara (35 mins), Ronan Mullane for Mulready (43 mins, inj), Ronan Hayes for O’Halloran (49 mins)
Man of the Match
Joe O’Connor (Parteen) Referee Damian Fox (WolfeTones)