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Ennistymon 1-4 – St Senan’s Kilkee 0-6 at Páirc Naomh Mhuire, Quilty

DESPITE being a relatively inexperienced side, Ennistymon once again proved that they have the character to dig out a result when it matters most. The north Clare side were represented by eight of last year’s Under 21 winning side but against seasoned campaigners such as Kilkee and Liscannor, whom they met in the opening round of the champonship, they have proved that they have the belly for battle along with that undoubted potential.

Granted, Kilkee were forced into playing a good sprinkling of young players themselves but with the county senior experience of David Russell, Darragh Kelly, Gearoid Lynch, Kevin Larkin and Michael O’Shea, the Blues’ had enough guile on the field to gain promotion.

It didn’t happen though as they depended far too much on the quartet of Larkin, Russell, Barry Harte and Michael O’Shea while Ennistymon simply had the batter balance and were greatly aided by Sean McConigley’s goal at the turn of the final quarter that essentially handed them victory.

Undoubtedly, conditions weren’t conducive to football with both teams finding it near impossible to even handpass accurately not to mind kick the ball. It made for a substandard, low scoring spectacle but regardless of the weather, both sides had a game to win and in truth, it could have gone either way in what was a tense finish.

Shooting was hardly a priority early on as the sides became accustomed to the conditions with the sides locked at two points apiece for the majority of the half with Sean Mc- Conigley and a David Murphy free helping Ennistymon pull clear twice only to be pegged back on each occasion first by David Russell and then Christopher Williamson.

Wind assisted Kilkee might have also grabbed a goal when a rare flowing passing move ended up with Darragh Kelly but his rushed shot was blocked by the returning Michael Hohey. However, with the hard work seemingly done, Ennistymon eased off the pedal somewhat in injury time and it allowed Darren Clarke and a long range effort from Kevin Larkin to hand Kilkee a 0-4 to 0-2 interval advantage.

With the tables turned for the second period, it also took a while for Ennistymon to utilise their tenuous wind advantage but eventually two points in the 41st minute through Joey Rouine and Kevin Scales gained parity for the third time.

However, it was only when Sean McConligley grabbed a 47th minute breakaway goal that Ennistymon truly began to believe. In what was the best move of the game, Ennistymon moved the ball from back to front starting with a Joe Dowling interception at the corner-back position and working the ball upfield to McConigley who only had goal on his mind.

True to form however, Kilkee never gave up the ghost and after Barry Harte and Michael O’Shea had pulled back points by the 54th minute, there was only the minimum between the sides once more. They failed to get that vital score however, with their best chance coming from a quick Williamson free that picked out Gearoid Lynch, but his attempt to pick out the onrushing Senan Larkin for a potential goal instead of taking his own score failed, much to the relief of Ennistymon who literally weathered the storm to hang on for promotion.

St Breckan’s 1-7 – Kilmurry Ibrickane 0-7 at Ennistymon

FOLLOWING on their intermediate and Under 21B successes last year, St Breckan’s are back on the trail for silverware following their last four victory over Kilmurry Ibrickane’s second string on Sunday.

Ironically, it was one of their own that ultimately sunk the west Clare side with Eric Murrihy’s sixth minute goal proving the difference in the end.

It didn’t appear as if it would work out that way in the opening half however as the Lisdoonvarna side used the wind advantage to build up a 1-6 to 0-2 advantage, beginning with Murrihy’s goal, intermingled with points from Pat Nagle (3 frees), Conor Cormican, Denis O’Driscoll and Murrihy.

The third quarter was an extremely low scoring affair with Kilmurry Ibrickane failing to eat into St Breckan’s advantage despite the backing of the gale.

Odran O’Dwyer’s trading of frees with Nagle were the only scores of the opening 20 minutes of the half but the expected Kilmurry Ibrickane did finally materialise.

Seamus Lynch started the ball rolling by converting a free in the 50th minute followed soon afterwards by late points from Thomas Lernihan, Lynch himself, and Odran O’Dwyer in the 66th minute.

However, without a goal, Kilmurry Ibrickane were resigned to defeat while St Breckan’s secured their third promotion in two years and will eagerly await the clash of Cratloe and Kilmihil in the other semi-final encounter.

St Breckan’s
Craig Flanagan, Donal Howley, Conor Howley, Michael Reddan, Rafael Considine, Greg O’Leary, Cathal Blood, Shane O’Connor, Michael Keating, Denis O’Driscoll (0-1), Pat Nagle (0-4f), Darragh Curtin, John Stack, Conor Cormican (0-1), Eric Murrihy (1-1)

Subs
John McDonagh for C. Howley

Kilmurry Ibrickane
DavidTalty, Eamon Dunne, John Sexton,AndrewDarcy,Thomas Lernihan (0-1), Pat Sexton, Mark Moloney,Thomas O’Connor, Gary Donnellan, ColmDonnellan, Seamus Lynch (0-3f), John McNamara, Senan McCarthy, Odran O’Dwyer (0-3f),Aiden Moloney

Subs
Darren Sexton for C. Donnellan (inj), Thomas Greene for McCarthy (inj)

Referee
Vivian Killeen (Doonbeg)

Éire Óg 1-7 – O’Curry’s 0-3 at Páirc Naomh Mhuire, Quilty

ÉIRE ÓG bounced back to the top tier at the first attempt after eventually shaking off the challenge of intermediate side O’Curry’s on Sunday. Far from the comprehensive display that the final scoreline suggests, it was only in the final few minutes that the Ennis side finally pulled clear when outscoring their opponents by 0-4 to 0-1.

Much like the other semi-final 24 hours earlier, the blustery conditions totally dictated play but it was in the opening half that the Townies essentially sowed the seeds of victory when soaking up the pressure and scoring the decisive score just before the break. Both sides would only score twice in that first period but with the swirling breeze favouring O’Curry’s, they frustratingly kicked eight wides and only converted two placed balls through Derek Troy and Ger Quinlan while Éire Óg would add to Shane Daniels ninth minute point with a late goal that would ultimately alter the narrative of the game.

O’Curry’s had limited Éire Óg to only a handful of attacks for the previous 28 minutes but when an O’Curry’s attack broke down, their opponents were handed the opportunity to counter-attack and open up the O’Curry’s defence for the first time.

Captain Stephen Hickey began the move when attracting the fullback line before offloading to Brian McMahon who in turn put in David Monaghan to place a low shot under the body of goalkeeper PJ Green.

While it was a hammer blow to O’Curry’s chances, they held the Townies scoreless for the first 12 minutes of the restart led by the tireless Ollie Quinlan but crucially failed to make any meaningful inroads on the Éíre Óg rearguard themselves.

Eventually after four successive wides, Éire Óg found their range with Shane Daniels setting up Sean O’Meara for the opening score of the second half while O’Meara returned the favour when earning a free for Daniels to convert from 45 metres two minutes later.

Instead of kicking on from there however, that four point gap remained until the 56th minute when Daniels (2) , Monaghan and effective substitute Darren O’Neill put the finishing touches to the victory while only seeing a Damien Carmody point in return for O’Curry’s, their first point in almost 40 minutes and first from play in the entire game which tells its own tale.

The result guarantees Cusack Cup football for the Ennis side in 2012 but they will now want to finish the job this weekend in order to build up confidence ahead of the recommencement of the championship in less than five weeks time.

Meelick 2-12 – Cooraclare 1-06 at Gurteen

MEELICK’S rise through the ranks continued on Saturday evening when securing their second successive promotion at the expense of Cooraclare.

A goal either side of half-time swung the tie in the south east Clare side’s favour, having trailed by six points approaching the break.

And they never looked back from that, finishing the game in emphatic fashion by kicking ten unanswered points to confirm their place in the decider.

That freeflowing style was in total contrast to a 20 minute period midway through the opening half when allowing Cooraclare to hit them for 1-5 without reply. Meelick started the brighter though, with county senior Kevin Harnett and Brian O’Neill pushing them two clear by the fifth minute.

However, through the accuracy of Declan Keane, Cooraclare’s second string finally settled and their confidence was greatly aided by Don Garry’s 17th minute goal when finding himself unmarked after a poor Meelick free kick that was arrowed directly to Garry by wing-back Kevin Clohessy.

Further points from Colin Kelly, Kieran Tubridy and Keane had Cooraclare cruising as the interval approached but they were to be suckerpunched against the run of play when in injury-time, a fortunate rebound fell to Brian O’Neill who offloaded for Patrick Finucane to finish to the net and cut the deficit to just three.

Worse luck was to follow for Cooraclare when after only two minutes of the restart, Brian O’Neill flicked a Jamie O’Sullivan mishit free to the net and gain parity.

Cooraclare did reply immediately through Keane but those goals had given Meelick the boost they craved and once again Meelick equalised through a Harnett free before substitute Gary Moloney handed them the lead in the 40th minute.

The turning point of the game arguably came in the 41st minute when Keane played in Anthony Lillis only to see his sidefooted effort excellently kept out by goalkeeper Shane Daly.

Cooraclare alarmingly fell away after that however while Meelick only grew in confidence as the half progressed when pulling away from their opponents in the final quarter.

Impressive attacking pair Finucane and Brian O’Neill grabbed a brace of points each, Jamie O’Sullivan kicked three points (two from placed balls) while Stephen Hayes completed the rout in the 61st minute with a free to give Meelick the double scores victory.

Promotion guaranteed, next up is an intriguing clash against fellow Junior A championship favourites Coolmeen in a fortnight’s time as last year’s Division 5 champions hope to add another title to their growing roll of honour.

Meelick
Shane Daly, Peter Reidy, Mickey Kelly, Gary Kennedy, Brian Barrett, Niall Mullen,Willie O’Shaughnessy, Stephen Hayes (0-1f), Kevin Harnett (0-2 1f), Gary Callinan, Brian O’Neill (1-3), AndyWhyte, Darragh Quinn, Patrick Finucane (12), Jamie O’Sullivan (0-3 1f, 1’45)

Subs
Damien Moloney for Kennedy (27 mins), Gary Moloney (0-1) for Callinan (HT)

Cooraclare
Joe Killeen, Michael Chambers, Sean Garry, Michael Horan, Robert Ryan, Gearoid Looney, Kevin Clohessy, Michael Considine, KieranTubridy (0-1), James Burke, Colin Kelly (0-1),Thomas O’Connor, Anthony Lillis, Declan Keane (0-4 2f), Don Garry (1-0)

Subs
John Francis Killeen for Ryan (44 mins), Darragh O’Dea for Lillis (53 mins), David O’Looney for Burke (58 mins)

Man of the Match
Patrick Finucane (Meelick) Referee Damien Fox (WolfeTones)