This article is from page 66 of the 2011-02-22 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 66 JPG
Doonbeg 1-11 Shannon Gaels 0-03 at Shanahan Memorial Park, Doonbeg
THERE may only have been a point in it when these two last met, when clashing in the county championship quarter-final last September in a game that saw the Magpies fly from three down at the break to win by the minimum.
That was then – the now is that the gap has widened considerably as Doonbeg hit 2011 running when scoring a comprehensive 11 point victory over a very poor Gaels outfit on Sunday afternoon.
Doonbeg won as they pleased, restricting the Gaels to one solitary point in the first half, while they were nearly as miserly on the turnover when only coughing up just two points over the course of the 30 minutes.
Doonbeg, who were semi-finalists in 2010, dominated this game in all sectors, with David Tubridy’s first half haul of 1-4 effectively killing the game as a contest. His goal came in the 20th minute, while the impressive Shane O’Brien hit two points from play, with Conor Downes and Shane Ryan also chipping in with first half points. The Gaels’ solitary first half point came from left-half-back Tomás Cleary after 21 minutes, while a point early in the second half from midfielder John Paul O’Neill failed to ignite their challenge. Doonbeg hit back with points from Tubridy (2) and Colm Dillon to score a comprehensive win. The only consolation from the Gaels point of view at the end of this depressing hour was that they started last year’s campaign in similar fashion, going down to newcomers Clondegad before pick- ing up the pieces and going all the way to the final.
They’re a long way from the final after this display though.
Doonbeg
Brian Egan, Joe Blake, Padraig Gallagher, Conor Whelan, Paraic Aherne, Brian Dillon, David Downes, Frank O’Dea, Enda Doyle, DavidTubridy (1-6, 3f) ColmDillon (0-1), Shane O’Brien (0-2), Shane Ryan (0-1), Kevin Nugent (Capt), Conor Downes (0-1).
Subs
Philip Smith for Nugent, Paul Dillon for Ryan, JimBob Griffin for Aherne, Eamon tubiryd for ColmDillon, Eoin Conway for Blake
Shannon Gaels
Keith Ryan, Cathal O’Neill, John Neylon, Michael Lorigan, John Bermingham, Noel Kennedy,Tomás Cleary (0-1), John Paul O’Neill (0-2), Francis Cleary, Michael Coughlan, Michael O’Donoghue, Stephen O’Shea, Brian O’Shea, Nigel Hehir, Bryan Cunningham.
Subs
Johnny Keogh for Lorigan, Fergal Kenny for Coughlan, Fergal O’Neill for Stephen O’Shea,Tomás Madigan for Cunningham.
Man of the Match
David Tubridy (Doonbeg) Referee Pat Cosgrove (Corofin)