Category: Sport

Newmarket-on-Fergus 2-17 – Clooney/Quin 1-09 at O’Garney Park, Sixmilebridge

DESPITE keeping up their end of the bargain, Newmarket missed out on the knock-out stages for the first time in seven years on Sunday. However, what they need to learn, ahead of their last hope of silverware in the Clare Cup semi-finals, could all be taken from this latest championship offering.

At their ruthless best, as witnessed in the final quarter when outscoring Clooney/Quin by 1-7 to 0-1, there are few teams with the pace and power of the Blues. However, there were also large traces of their wasteful deficiencies this season in O’Garney Park on Sunday as they hit 15 wides over the hour and should have put the game beyond any doubt much earlier in the contest when squandering at least seven clearcut goal chances.

Clooney/Quin for their part, ap- peared a beaten side following their disappointing championship exit to Kilmaley last time out and while they were competitive for the opening 45 minutes, they lacked any conviction apart from Peter Duggan and Fergal Lynch.

The opening half was a relatively even affair with the sides level on six occasions by the 24th minute before Newmarket pushed 1-10 to 1-06 clear by the interval. However, inbetween Fergal Lynch’s seventh minute goal after cutting in from the right and Colin Ryan’s immediate reply from a 20 metre free, the Blues also had four glorious goal opportunities to stamp their mark on proceedings. Goalkeeper Damien O’Halloran was the Clooney/Quin hero for the first two when denying Anthony Kilmartin with first, his hurley and minutes later, with his feet. However there were also chances for Eoin Hayes who shot wide while a Shane O’Brien run that opened up the defence was wasted by a poor handpass behind the waiting Kilmartin.

Fortunately, they had county senior Colin Ryan to take up the slack as he converted all of Newmarket’s 1-4 total by the 18th minute. Inevitably Ryan was also instrumental in pushing his side four points clear by half-time when picking off the last two points of the half while setting up another for Eoin Hayes.

Clooney/Quin had their chances to wipe out the deficit on the restart as the Blues found it difficult to refocus their shooting radar. Peter Duggan and Fergal Lynch chipped away with points but they were also denied a much needed goal when Adrian Fleming was hauled down for a 35th minute penalty that was saved by goalkeeper Kieran Devitt from a rasping Duggan effort.

Meanwhile, Newmarket’s woes in front of goal continued. Shane O’Brien fell when racing through on goal, Eoin Hayes found Kilmartin once more but he dropped the ball under pressure at the vital moment while late on, substitute Jim McInerney pulled wide from close range.

However, as the game progressed, Newmarket totally regained control and after three Colin Ryan frees, the county senior also set up his side’s long awaited second goal in the 51st minute when his lineball broke to Shane O’Brien to pull to the net.

That was the start of a 1-6 unanswered haul that cemented the points long before the final whistle but as news filtered through of Kilmaley’s comeback against Ballyea, in the end it was all in vain.

Newmarket- on- Fergus

Kieran Devitt (7), Shane O’Brien Jnr (7), Stephen Kelly (6), Padraig Kilmartin (8), Darren O’Connor (7), James McInerney (7), Enda Barrett (7), Martin O’Hanlon (7) (0-1), Eoin O’Brien (7), Enda Kelly (6) (0-1), Shane O’Brien (7) (1-0), David Barrett (7), Eoin Hayes (8) (0-2),Anthony Kilmartin (7) (0-2), Colin Ryan (8) (1-9 1-7f, 1’65)

Subs
Sean O’Connor (0-1) for E. Kelly (50 mins), James Liddy for Hayes (56 mins), JimMcInerney for A. Kilmartin (56 mins),Alan Barrett for D. O’Connor (58 mins)

Clooney/ Quin
Damien O’Halloran (8), Joe O’Loughlin (6), Shane McNamara (7),Tony McMahon (6), Donncha Murphy (6), Cillian Duggan (6), Enda Harrison (7), John Earls (6) (0-1), Mike McNamara (7), Martin Duggan (6) (0-1), Cathal Egan (6) (0-2 1f), Seamus Conroy (6) (0-1), Peter Duggan (8) (0-3 2f), Fergal Lynch (8) (1-1), Mike Daffy (6)

Subs
Adrian Fleming (7) for Daffy (HT), Brian McInerney (6) for O’Loughlin (HT), Ruaidhrí McNamara for Conroy (50 mins), Padraig Ward for Earls (53 mins), Derek Ryan for M. Duggan (58 mins)

Man of the Match
Colin Ryan (Newmarket- on- Fergus) Referee KevinWalsh (WolfeTones)

Ennis Town Rock 1 – Hermitage A 0 at Lees Road, Ennis

ENNIS Town Rock finished their league cup campaign undefeated with a victory in this all Ennis affair but it was another town team, Avenue United, who were the real winners on the day.

Town’s victory ensured they finished level on points with Avenue at the top of Section A however the Clare Cup champions superior goal difference ensures they will progress to the tournament decider against the winners of group B.

Avenue put themselves in pole position with a seven goal victory over Burren United and 3-2 midweek win over Hermitage.

To have any chance of qualifying for the tournament decider, Town had to beat Tage by eight goals, an always impossible looking target.

After much huffing and puffing, Town finally found the back of the net in the closing stages through Francis Daniels’ goal.

Hermitage, minus eight or nine first team regulars, had their moments too, notably when Paul Dinan’s fiercely struck effort forced a good save from Stephen Loftus.

Town, who also entered Sunday’s game with a depleted squad, looked bright in the early stages.

Centre forward Matthew Kearney led the line superbly, drawing a string of excellent stops from Tage goalkeeper Joe Burke.

The movement of the impressive Dinan caused problems for Town but it was the home side who almost snatched the lead through Marty McLoughlin in the closing moments if the half.

McLoughlin was denied after the break by another superb save from Burke while substitute Stephen Hickey went close with a couple of efforts.

Hickey was then involved as Town took the lead. The striker laid of to Daniels whose curled shot flew into the top corner past Burke. A win for Town but its Avenue who progress.

Ennis Town Rock
Stephen Loftus, Brian McNulty, Ronan Judge, Shane Daniels, JasonWhite, Francis Daniels,Alex Bore, Ethan Coote, Rowan Eade, MatthewKearney, Marty McLoughlin

Subs
Stephen Hickey for Kearney, Sean Kennedy for Eade

Hermitage
Joe Burke,Chris Ryan, Caomhán O’Briaon, John Maher, David Moloney, Colin Ryan, Sean McGee, Francis Franks, Eoin O’Meara Daly, Paul Dinan, Robert Dunne

Subs
Darren Lynch

Referee
Tommy Guilfoyle

Sporting Ennistymon 3 – Ruan United 2 at the Community Field, Lahinch

SPORTING Ennistymon were made to work all the way for a hard fought victory over Ruan United on Sunday.

The north Clare side raced into a three goal lead but Ruan responded in strong fashion with two goals and almost snatched a point late on

Neither side look likely to qualify for the final but that factor didn’t deter from an entertaining game played in gale force conditions in Lahinch.

It was a measure of the strength of the wind that when the ball was kicked onto the roof of the stand, a gust blew it back halfway across the pitch.

The home side adapted to the conditions quicker and took the lead when Cathal McConigley blasted a half volley to the net from just inside the Ruan half.

Ennistymon doubled their advantage through John Mullane’s effort and looked set for victory when the same player scored another before half time.

However Ruan kept plugging away and were rewarded with a goal from Karl Mahony to leave them trailing 3-1 at half time.

Ruan were back in contention after the break when Shane O’Donnell coolly finished in a one on one situ- ation. The visitors piled on the pressure in the closing stages but despite loosing their goalkeeper to injury, Ennistymon held out for victory.

Sporting Ennistymon
Richard Lee, Michael O’Dwyer,Thomas McConigley, John Mullane, Mark Burke, Daniel Flannagan, Cathal McConigley, Declan O’Looney, Sean McConigley, Mícheal Crehan, Ciaran Monaghan

Subs
Michael Keating, Padraig Flynn, Eddie Crowe, Sean Crowe

Ruan United
Damien Maxwell, Conor Reeves,WillieTreacy, Hugh O’Donnell, Barry Cusack,Adrian Ballinger, Karl Mahony, Fergus Casey, Shane O’Donnell, Gavin Dinan Subs Patrick Keegan PREPARATIONS for this year’s Oscar Traynor Trophy campaign have kicked off, with the Clare team that will be managed by former Rineanna Rovers boss Colm Ryan playing a friendly recently against a Hermitage selection at the County Grounds that finished 1-1. Eoin O’Meara Daly opened the scoring for Hermitage in the first half with an excellent free kick. Clare piled on the pressure in the second half and got a deserved equalizer from Gary Collins. It was a good workout for Clare and preparations will continue over the next few weeks before a panel will be finalized for the Limerick match towards the end of September. Clare are in the same group as last season and will have a home match with

Galway towards the end of October. Ryan, who led Rineanna Rovers to Clare Cup glory in 2009 will be assisted by John O’Malley, who part of the Clare backroom team when they reached the final in 2010 only to go down to Wexford in the final played at the County Grounds. Clare John Healy Simon Cuddy David Russell Darren Murphy Ian Hogan Paul Butler Jason Regan Patrick Darcy Ryan Boyle Mikey Mahoney Colin Ryan Mattie Nugent Gary Collins Dean Gardiner Lunga Balman Adrian “Tom” White Ray Quigley Her m it age Joe Burke Neil Mills John Maher David Moloney Rhys Phillips Eoghan Ryan Eoin O’Meara Daly Richie Fitzgerald Adrian McDonagh Paul Dinan Liam Meaney Robert Dunn Colin Ryan Paul Dullaghan

A LATE October dateline has been put in place for the appointment of a new senior hurling manager, despite moves from the floor of last Thursday’s meeting of the Clare County Board to appoint David Fitzgerald to the position with immediate affect.

Moves to fast-track Fitzgerald’s appointment, only two days after he officially stepped down as Waterford manager, were knocked on the head by county board chairman, Michael O’Neill, who outlined a lengthy process by which Ger O’Loughlin’s successor will be appointed.

“I certainly haven’t spoken to David Fitzgerald about it,” said O’Neill in revealing the county board blueprint for putting a new manager in place. The blueprint will include a nomination process that’s open to the clubs, interviews by a special county board appointed committee and a final selection that will be put before a full meeting of Clare GAA for ratification.

“Between now and the 23rd of September we want all nominations for the county senior hurling management,” said O’Neill. “We will finalise it then and I will put a committee in place to interview the candidates and then come back to the county board.

“I can tell you that the chairman of the county board will be the chairman of the committee. I will be selecting the committee. It will be a combination of ex-players and officials,” the chairman added.

“I concur with what you’re doing,” said Newmarket-on-Fergus delegate Michael Clancy. “I sat down this evening and set out what I would like to see happening. In Clare senior hurling from 1932 to 1998 we won four Munster senior championships and two All-Irelands. From 1998 to 2010, a duck.

“The quality has to be in our underage structures with under age and minor producing a nucleus for a team capable of delivering. What do we do? We do up a development plan; we nurture, coach and develop these young fellas and they will deliver the silverware.

“Who does that? A manager of course. A mature, tactical, people person. The support team is critical to this guy. The county board ultimately makes the decision. Appoint a committee, ask the clubs to supply nominations, with clubs consulting the hurling people in their parish and coming back in two weeks.

“The committee screening the nominations and making a recommendation in four weeks and then the manager will be in place by 20 October 20, 2011,” he added.

“That is exactly what’s going to happen,” said Michael O’Neill.

CLARE’S hopes of being allowed designate two venues as secondary county grounds has emerged as the primary reason for the protracted delay by the county board into naming the club facility favoured by Croke Park officials as being ranked second in importance to Cusack Park.

Board secretary Pat Fitzgerald made the admission to delegates at the first monthly county board meeting since June after the controversy over the delay in making the announcement official was raised by way of a letter from the St Joseph’s Miltown Malbay club.

“The decision to deal with this mat- ter was made a county board meeting in Carron in July 2009. Unofficially we have been told that the venue selected was Hennessy Memorial Park and we are at a loss to know why the official decision has not been announced by the county board,” the letter stated.

“The club’s county board delegate has raised the matter at four monthly meetings with no satisfactory report has been forthcoming. We must insist that the decision be made known at the next meeting of the county board – should this not be forthcoming we would be left with no alternative but to raise the matter with a higher authority within the association,” it added.

“We were hoping that diplomatic relations might work and that we might get away with – because of the situation in Clare where you have a very definite football area and a very definite hurling area – two county grounds,” admitted Fitzgerald.

In this scenario, the county board would have been able to give secondary county ground status to both an east and west Clare venue, which would ensure that both a hurling and football club would have the coveted recognition.

“The decision with regard to secondary county grounds belongs to this county. It belongs to this committee. Croke Park are not too exercised about where the secondary county ground is,” suggested Cooraclare delegate PJ McGuane.

However, the county secretary added that “it is worth pointing out that one of the problems is that we have an instruction from the Munster Council that it’s a secondary county grounds, not two secondary county grounds. They would not in anyway approve of two secondary county grounds. They have the approval of it”.

“All we asking that the decision that has been made be announced,” said St Joseph’s Miltown delegate Noel Walsh.

“The announcement will be made at the October meeting of the county board,” confirmed chairman Michael

COORACLARE has stepped forward to state its case for being nominated as the second most important GAA ground in Clare behind Cusack Park, with longtime delegate PJ McGuane telling Clare GAA that the west Clare venue “ticked all the boxes”.

The former Munster Council delegate told the meeting his was not aware “officially or unofficially” that a decision had been made by Croke Park officials as to which Clare ground should be given secondary county grounds status.

It’s widely perceived that Hennessy Memorial Park in Miltown is favoured by Croke Park and that this was communicated to the Clare County Board over a year ago, but according to McGuane, Cooraclare has a stronger case to retain the secondary county ground status it has enjoyed for nearly a quarter of a century.

“I have heard nothing, whether officially or unofficially on issue,” said McGuane. “The day I showed John Ryan and Tom Carroll around Cooraclare, that’s the last and first I heard from that committee. It went from there to the county board and I am prepared to wait for you to deliberate.

“If propaganda was going to get secondary county grounds Noel (Walsh) would have no problem get- ting it, because he has kept the whole issue in front of us in the public domain for the last couple of years.

“However, the facts of the matter are that my club sent a letter to the county board in July ‘09 – on foot of a communiqué from Cusack Park – wishing to have our status re-affirmed as a secondary county ground.

“We’ve had secondary county ground status since 1988 – it was proposed and seconded here at a board meeting. Subsequent to that, for the next five years we availed of a ten per cent grant which was in vogue at the time for secondary county grounds.

“In fairness to all the clubs that were inspected, everyone was entitled to be considered (for secondary county ground status) but it’s only the one club (St Joseph’s Miltown) that said anything about it in the last 12 months.

“Doonbeg were inspected, Kilmihil were inspected, Cooraclare were inspected, Kilmurry Ibrickane and a number of other clubs were inspected. All the clubs have magnificent facilities.

“The only thing I do know, Mr Chairman, is that there are set criteria set down for secondary county grounds and my club ticks all the boxes. If we are to be deprived of it, I’d like to know who ticks more boxes. I’m sure all the other clubs would like to know the same thing. If you are making an announcement I suggest you bear that in mind,” added McGuane.

O’Callaghan’s Mills 1-09 – Kildysart 1-08 at Shannon

WHITHER the big ball in the Mills and Kilkishen was the cry after they were pummelled by 14 points by Kilmurry Ibrickane in the opening round of the championship.

That was June; that was then; this is now as they’re now 60 minutes away from an historic first ever county intermediate final place after they edged past a determined and neversay-die Kildysart side on Saturday afternoon.

O’Callaghan’s Mills took control of the tie once Conor Cooney bagged a goal in the 12th minute – lead by four at half-time and by the same margin entering the last 15 minutes but in the end had to thank a last minute free from Bryan Donnellan to sneak through to a semi-final date against Clondegad.

Kildysart made a positive start with points by Damien Hill and Ger ‘Bobby’ Kelly inside the first ten minutes, but Conor Cooney’s goal settled the east Claremen and in the final 20 minutes of the half they outscored their opponents by 1-4 to 0-2 to take control of affairs.

Cooney’s goal was followed by points from Eoin Pewter, Bryan Donnellan (2) and Jonathon Lyons, while points from Damien Hill and Ger ‘Bobby’ Kelly left matters resting at 1-5 to 0-4 in the Mills favour at half-time.

That four differential remained after both traded four points between them with Ger ‘Bobby’ Kelly and Niall Ginnane on the mark for Kildysart, with John Cooney and Bryan Donnellan finding the range for the Mills.

However, the game was thrown back into the melting pot in the 49th minute when a Ger ‘Bobby’ Kelly point was followed immediately by a Damien Hill goal that left the sides deadlocked at 1-7 apiece entering the last ten minutes.

In the end it was Bryan Donnellan who came up trumps – he edged his side back in front with a point from play in the 54th minute, only for Kildysart to bounce back inside 30 seconds with the equaliser from Christy Clancy, but it was Donnellan who landed the decisive score with a 59th minute free to bring his tally for the hour to 0-6.

O’Curry’s 1-14 Corofin 1-06 at Pairc Naomh Mhuire, Quilty

THE O’CURRY’S machine cranked up a gear in its pursuit of a quick return to senior level by seeing off Corofin in this winner-takes-all semi-final decider. O’Curry’s displayed a healthy blend of youth and experience to recover from an early setback when Corofin grabbed a 12th minute goal against the conditions.

Perhaps it was the kickstart they needed after a slow start that saw a young Corofin side take the game to their opponents. The game wasn’t even a minute old when a Darragh Shannon lineball was worked from Jamie Malone to Stephen Heagney whose shot for a point dropped short and allowed Fergal Neylon to ghost in at the back post to punch the ball agonisingly wide. Corofin did opening the scoring through the impressive Jamie Malone in the right corner and despite Ger Quinlan’s equalising free and a glorious goal opportunity for Eoin Troy, the north Clare side finally made amends for their earlier miss when Jamie Malone played a pass across the square for the waiting Damien Ryan to volley first time to the net in the 12th minute.

Corofin failed to build on that ad vantage and if anything, the goal only angered O’Curry’s who despite six first half wides would manage to kick eight points without reply in the remainder of the half while keeping their opponents scoreless. Three Ger Quinlan frees bookended good ap- proach work from Michael Carmody and attacking centre-back Ollie Quinlan, and scores for impressive minor Jack Scanlon (2), Eoin Troy (2) and Damien Carmody to hold a 0-9 to 1-1 half-time advantage.

Corofin improved in the second period mainly through Damien Ryan’s free but with Ger Quinlan unerring from placed balls as well, they predominantly cancelled each other out.

Still, for all O’Curry’s control, they were still only four points up with just over ten minutes remaining, having survived a scare when Jamie Malone and Ryan again combined but this time goalkeeper Eoin Clohessy made the decisive save from Ryan with his feet.

That miss was magnified when substitute Mark Roche finished off a slick handpassing move from back to front with his first kick of the game finding the net.That goal put the result beyond doubt and with Corofin becoming increasingly desperate, O’Curry’s finished strongly with further points from Scanlon, Ger Quinlan and Roche again to cement their position in the last four against Kilmurry Ibrickane. However, Corofin’s young side still have a Under 21B final to look forward to in the coming weeks.

O’Curry’s
Eoin Clohessy (7), Gearoid Lynch (7), Michael O’Shea (7), Paul Roche (7), BrianTroy (7), Ollie

Quinlan (8),TomDownes (8), Ger Quinlan (8) (0-7f), DerekTroy (7), Damien Carmody (7) (0-1), EoinTroy (7) (0-2), Michael Foran (7), Michael Carmody (8), Sean Haugh (7), Jack Scanlon (8) (0-3)

Subs
JimDownes (6) for Ml. Carmody (47 mins), Mark Roche (8) (1-1) for Foran (48 mins), Ryan McMahon for O’Shea (57 mins), Eoin Murray for E.Troy (57 mins), DeclanWalsh for D. Carmody (60 mins)

Corofin
Kieran Carkill (7), Brian McGauran (5), Brendan Keane (6), Ollie O’Loughlin (6), Diarmuid Daly (6), Eamon Malone (7), Manus Malone (7), John Keane (7) (0-1), Luke O’Loughlin (7), Fergal Neylon (6), Damien Ryan (7) (1-3 3f), Darragh Shannon (7), JasonTierney (6), Jamie Malone (8) (0-2), Stephen Heagney (6)

Subs
Donnacha Kelleher (6) for McGauran (21 mins), HaulieVaughan (6) for Neylon (48 mins), Killian Neylon (6) for Tierney (48 mins)

Man of the Match
Ollie Quinlan (O’Curry’s) Referee Michael Talty (Kilmurry Ibrickane)

St Joseph’s D/B 3-09 – Shannon Gaels 0-11 at Pairc Naomh Mhuire, Quilty

THE PRECARIOUS nature of the senior championship was exemplified by this dramatic group changer. The Gaels, after a rousing victory over Miltown last time out, were within touching distance of the last eight while point-less Doora/Barefield were in the relegation zone with a big victory needed to emerge. And even then they needed a favour from east Clare side Cratloe in the other group game.

Things weren’t going their way either in the early stages as the Gaels eased to a 0-5 to 0-1 lead by the end of the opening quarter with Michael Coughlan and John Paul O’Neill converting eyecatching points while David Neylon was causing concern for St Joseph’s last line. Indeed, that four point advantage was maintained up to the 27th minute before a dramatic u-turn took effect.

How did it happen? Well, it was a combination of Shannon Gaels hitting the self-destruct button while Doora/Barefield developed a keen eye for goal that saw Enda Lyons set up late goals for midfielders Kevin Dilleen and Alan O’Neill. By the break, Doora/Barefield had exacted an eight point shift at 2-5 to 0-7 to leave shellshocked Shannon Gaels praying for the half-time whistle.

To their credit, the Gaels didn’t fold and came right back at their opponents with three unanswered points in the opening five minutes of the restart through Michael Coughlan (2) and Brian O’Shea to cut the deificit to the minimum.

However, with Sean Flynn using his roving role to perfection and goalkeeper Declan O’Keefee both effective from kick-outs and placed balls at the other end, St Joseph’s stopped the rot with points from David O’Brien and an O’Keeffe ’45. They also had a goalbound shot excel lently saved by Keith Ryan from the impressive Enda Lyons before making amends with the killer blow in the 50th minute when Alan O’Neill fed Cathal O’Sullivan for their third goal.

That major sucked the remaining life out of the Gaels’ challenge and while David Neylon remonstrated with referee Michael Rock for an effort that he felt crossed the line soon afterwards, they would only score one more point through Sean Reynolds. Meanwhile, the now inspired St Joseph’s finished strongly through Declan O’Keeffe and John O’Brien to seal a memorable victory and book their place in the quarter-final against Doonbeg.

St Joseph’s Doora/ Barefield
Declan O’Keeffe (8) (0-2 1f, 1’45), Stephen Collins (8), Declan O’Halloran (7), Ger Fannin (8), Gavin O’Sullivan (8), Damien Kennedy (7), Mark Rafferty (7), Kevin Dilleen (8) (1-0),Alan O’Neill (8) (1-0), David O’Brien (8) (0-4), Sean Flynn (9) (0-1), Greg

Lyons (7), Enda Lyons (8), Cathal O’Sullivan (7) (1-0),Aidan O’Connor (7) (0-2f)

Sub
John O’Brien (7) (0-1).

Shannon Gaels
Keith Ryan (6), Frank Cleary (6), John Neylon (7), Fergal Kenny (6),Tomás Madigan (6), Brian Bermingham(6),Tomás Cleary (6), Micheál O’Donoghue (6), Sean Reynolds (6) (0-1), Bryan Cunningham(7) (0-1), John Paul O’Neill (8) (0-1), John Bermingham(6), Brian O’Shea (6) (0-2), David Neylon (6) (0-1 1’45), Michael Coughlan (6) (0-5 4f)

Subs
ShaneTubridy (6) for O’Shea, Nigel Hehir (6) for Coughlan.

Man of the Match
Sean Flynn (St Joseph’s Doora/ Barefield) Referee Michael Rock (Ennistymon)

Cratloe 1-10 – St Joseph’s Miltown 0-06 at Cusack Park, Ennis

A PERFORMANCE of two halves for Cratloe on Saturday who after initially struggling to break free of St Joseph’s Miltown Malbay finally found their groove to confirm a place in the knock-out stages.

For that opening 30 minutes, last season’s quarter-finalists got mired in gridlock and appeared to have trouble finding a route to navigate through.

Miltown contested well around the middle, denied Conor McGrath and Cathal McInerney the kind of space they normally thrive in and picked of a few decent points. Cratloe weren’t without their faults, particularly in their ponderous build up play.

At half time with the scores 0-3 03 apiece, the game was anybody’s. That all changed after the break once Cratloe quickened their distribution, a policy that brought the best out of Conor McGrath. After twice skinning Miltown’s full back line for two points, the full forward rocketed a shot to the net in the 42nd minute to send Cratloe six points clear. That was more or less that.

Miltown toiled away but their industry was rarely accompanied by inspiration. Even the return from America of Gordon Kelly failed to provide the spark that was sorely lacking from Miltown’s performance.

Dessie Molohan was having one of those days when it looked like he might shoot the lights out yet Miltown could not establish a regular and accurate supply chain to their talismanic full forward. Unlike Cratloe whose high standard of kick passing, as exemplified by Martin Ogie Murphy and the Collins brothers, Sean and Padraic, was one of the key differences between the sides.

Molohan did provide the opening point, shooting over from distance after neat approach work in the 1st minute.

A Cathal McInerney free leveled matters before Sean Collins powered through for a point in the 14th minute.

Overall the quality of shooting was fairly poor in the first half though there were some genuine moments of quality.

Gary Egan grabbed Miltown’s second point before Molohan caught, swiveled and curled over a sweet point in the 18th minute. A point from Sean Collins in the 28th minute ensured the sides entered the break all square.

It didn’t take long for Cratloe’s greater urgency to manifest itself on the scoreboard when action resumed.

McGrath was involved as Padraic Collins blasted over from close range as Cratloe went for the kill.

The full forward then pointed before a McInerney free and a point from substitute Padraig Chaplin pushed Cratloe 0-7 0-4 ahead.

The goal arrived seconds later and embodied the best of Cratloe’s play in the second half. Murphy’s precise pass afforded McGrath time to turn and speed past Sean Meade. Despite the Miltown man’s close attentions, McGrath kept his balance and roofed his shot from a tight angle.

Points from Michael Malone and Molohan steadied Miltown but it still looked grim for the west Clare side who were now relying on results from elsewhere and on the vagaries of score difference.

Jamie Joyce produced a firm save to deny Darragh McDonagh in the 52nd minute as points from Liam Markham and McInereney copperfastened Cratloe’s seven point victory.