This article is from page 92 of the 2009-05-05 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 92 JPG
EAST Clare went down to Rathkeale in hope but came back with sil- verware as two immense displays against Seanduin and Mid Tipperary earned them the Munster Under 16 inter-divisional championship title on Monday. Winners of the compe- tition as recent as 2006, East Clare qualified for the knock-out stages off the back of group game wins over Avondhu and North Tipperary in Cappawhite at the beginning of April and continued that good form with a O-16 to 2-04 semi-final victory over Cork side Seandtn early on Monday with Clonlara’s Cathal O’Connell leading the way on the scoreboard with seven points, with Alan Mul- ready (4), Colm Galvin (3), Sean
O’Connor and Shane McGrath also getting in on the action in an impres- sive team display. The only downside for East Clare was a leg injury sus- tained by Clooney/Quin’s Eoin Mee- han who had to miss the final which was played soon afterwards.
Their opponents in that decider were Mid Tipperary, who had already beaten fellow Clare side Mid Clare in the group stages by 2-9 to 0-8 on their way to topping their group and after seeing off fellow Premier side North Tipperary in the other semi-fi- nal, they would have been confident of going all the way.
However, East Clare were in defi- ant mood and although they found themselves 1-3 to O-4 in arrears by the interval, a superb second half performance in which they outscored
their opponents by 2-9 to 0-2 saw them reclaim the coveted title. Goals from Colm Galvin and _ substitute Oisin Hickey set them on their way with Cathal O’Connell again to the fore with six points and Sixmilebri- dge pair Alan Mulready and captain Seadna Morey (through placed balls) chipping in with a brace of points each as East Clare eventually ran out 2-13 to 1-05 winners.