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Kilmurry Ibrickane 0-11 – Doonbeg 0-8 at Páirc Naomh Mhuire, Quilty

WITH a very strong wind blowing in from Mutton Island direction, this meeting of the two best football teams in Clare always threatened to be the proverbial game of two halves.

And, so it proved as 2008/09 county champions Kilmurry Ibrickane held 2010 champions Doonbeg scoreless in the second half to claim the two Cusack Cup points on offer.

It was Kilmurry’s ability to use the wind to their advantage in the second half and Martin McMahon’s manmarking job on the Magpies’ dangerman David Tubridy that helped them turn a 0-8 to 0-3 interval deficit into a three-point win over the team that ended their three-in-a-row championship hopes last Autumn.

Kilmurry’s blistering start to the second half when they hit three points inside the first five minutes was key to their recovery as they went on to reel off eight points without reply to earn the early bragging rights over their near rivals.

Doonbeg had held sway in the first half thanks to the mercurial talents of David Tubridy, as fresh from exploits for Clare the previous afternoon when he hit 2-7, the corner forward rattled off six points in the half hour.

His first came from play after two minutes in response to Noel Downes’ opener for Kilmurry as both sides settled down to produce a competitive first half.

Doonbeg gradually gain the initiative, with Frank O’Dea’s point from play after five minutes giving them the lead for the first time, an advantage that was extending by a Tubridy free on ten minutes before Ian McInerney landed the first of his five points from placed balls.

The Magpies had moved 0-6 to 02 clear by the 20th minute thanks to points from play by Colm Dillon and Tubridy before the latter booted over a 45.

Another McInerney free reduced the margin to double scores by the 25th minute, but it was Tubridy who put his side in firm control by the break when he landed another from play and then hit the point of the hour via a free from the hands to extend their advantage to five points.

Tubridy was on fire, but such was Kilmurry’s dominance after quickfire points from Niall Hickey and Stephen Moloney (2) in an impressive start to the second half that Doonbeg’s fire gradually petered out.

Suddenly Kilmurry were only two adrift and by the 45th minute they had the Magpies reeled in after Michael O’Dwyer opened his account.

With Martin McMahon marshalling Tubridy and Declan Callinan and Enda Coughlan also to the fore in defence and Paul O’Connor and Peter O’Dwyer holding sway in midfield, Kilmurry gradually turned the screw on their deadly rivals.

And in this about turn, Ian McInerney emerged as the game’s most important figure. With 11 minutes left he landed a 45 to put his side ahead for the first time, while they then eased their way to victory with sub Mark McCarthy and another McIerney free giving them their three point win.

Kilmurry Ibrickane
Peter O’Dwyer, Martin McMahon, Darren Hickey, Declan Callinan,Thomas Lernihan, Enda Coughlan, EvanTalty, Paul O’Connor, Peter O’Dwyer, Michael O’Dwyer, Ian McInerney (0-6, 4f, one 45), Stephen Moloney (0-2), Niall Hickey (0-1), Noel Downes (0-1) Johnnie Daly.

Subs
Mark McCarthy (0-1) for Downes, Shane Hickey for Daly,Adrian Murrihy for Niall Hickey.

Doonbeg
Nigel Dillon, Conor Whelan, Padriag Gallagher, RichieVaughan, David Downes, Brian Dillon, Paraic Aherne, Frank O’Dea (0-1), Enda Doyle, Brian Egan, ColmDillon (0-1), Shane O’Brien, Shane Ryan, DavidTubridy (0-6, 3f one 45), Kevin Nugent.

Subs
Joe Blake for Downes, Conor Downes for Egan

Limerick 2-11 – Clare 0-15 (AET) at The Gaelic Grounds, Limerick

AS HISTORY repeated itself from last year’s tie, Clare once again failed to hold onto a significant lead against a poor Limerick side as they went crashing out of the Munster U21 championship in extra time.

Clare started the game on Wednesday evening playing with a strong breeze in the first half but they were unable to capitalise on it and it was Limerick who dominated early on. They found themselves 1-2 to 0-3 down after 14 minutes and it was only here they began to play and managed to take control until half time. Five points from the lively full-forward line of McMahon, McInerney and Malone saw Clare go in a point up at the break, 0-7 to 1-3.

Given the strength of the wind many began to question if such a small lead would suffice. They were soon answered as the Banner men hit five points without reply in the first 11 minutes of the second half, three by Malone from placed balls. The pressure was now on Limerick to perform and with two minutes of normal time remaining and Clare having a five point advantage the game looked all but won.

Three minutes of injury time were signaled and here is where it all went wrong for Clare. They were reduced to 14 men as Podge Collins received a second yellow card and Limerick free taker Eoghan O’Connor had cut the deficit to just a goal, however, Clare were still in pole position. Then a lapse in concentration at a vital stage saw James Kelly latch onto a quick free and blast the ball into the back of the net to force the game into extra time.

Clare played with the gale again for the first period and points again from McInerney and Malone along with substitute Daniel Gallery who blasted it over when put straight through on goal, once again gave Clare a one point advantage at the half, 0-15 to 2-8. Unfortunately the second period was to be all Limerick as Clare failed to register a score and three points from Eoghan O’Connor (2) and goal scorer Kelly (1) meant the comeback was complete and Clare were out.

So for the second successive year Clare are unable to get past their opening game against Limerick and still remain the only county in Mun- ster yet to win the U21 Provincial title. Limerick now go on to face Kerry in the semi-final in two weeks time.

Clare 3-13 – Wexford 1-10 at Enniscorthy, Wexford

CLARE continued their winning ways in the National League when they maintained their unbeaten run and finished with nine points to spare against Wexford on Sunday afternoon.

Clare led from the start through Niamh O’Dea and 1-1 coming from Eimear Considine inside the opening minutes. Captain Niamh Keane then added another point as they went 13 to no score up after eight minutes and were in total control.

Sensing that the Clare full forward line of the Considine sisters and O’Dea were causing problems Wex ford deployed a sweeper in front of the full back line. Ailish Considine then added a fine point and Wexford’s first attack ended up dropping short.

It took Wexford fourteen minutes to open their account but Clare broke forward once more and Niamh Keane rattled the Wexford net. Wexford then hit three points without reply from Katie Redmond and Fiona Rochford. At half time the scoreboard read Clare 2-4 Wexford 1-4.

Credit to Wexford they did not give up and produced their best spell early in the second half. Full forward Lisa Goff pointed from play and Katie Redmond converted a free. Then came Wexford’s goal and now there was just two points between the sides, Clare 2-6 to Wexford’s 1-7 with over a quarter of an hour to play.

This was now a test for Clare but they responded well and managed to open a six point gap. With six minutes remaining Louise Henchy put the icing on the cake with Clare’s third goal. Points from Wexford were cancelled out by scores from Marie Considine and Niamh Keane as Clare finished strong.

The result now guarantees Clare a semi final spot with two home games left to play against Longford and Fermanagh.

However, it will be the semi final game that will be the crucial one and it will be the two teams that contest the final that will be promoted to Division 2.

Clare
Grace Lynch (Coomeen), Clare Hester

(Fergus Rovers), Eimear O’Connor (Coolmeen), Laurie Ryan (Banner Ladies), Niamh Greene (Coolmeen), Roisin McMahon (Newmarket on Fergus), LouiseWoods (Banner Ladies), Marie Considine (Liscannor) (0-2), Louise Henchy (Banner Ladies) (1-0), Colette Corry (Shannon Gaels), Niamh Keane (Banner Ladies) (1-3), Naoimi Carroll (Banner Ladies),Ailish Considine (Kilmihil) (0-2), Niamh O’Dea (Banner Ladies) (04), Eimear Considine (Kilmihil) (1-2).

Subs
Sarah Bohannon for Corry, Lorraine Kelly for Greene, Katie Geoghegan for Carroll, Niamh Lardner for Considine.

Wexford
Mary Rose Kelly, Maeve Quill, Nikki Scallon, LeonaTector, Rosie Lawlor, Michelle Doyle, Nicola Cullen, Deirdre Fox, Fiona Rochford (0-1), Kellie Kearney,Tara Moloney (0-1), Niamh Crosbie (0-1), Liz Evered (1-0), Lisa Goff (0-2), Katie Redmond (0-5).

Subs
Sharon Kehoe for Kearney, Maebh Kehoe for Fox, Clara Donnelly for Moloney, Mairead Sheehan for Evered, Linda Casey for Lawlor,Aoife Waters for Doyle.

Clare 5-10 – London 0-4 at Cusack Park, Ennis

THE fact that there were only 16 paying customers to Clare GAA headquarters on this bitterly cold Saturday afternoon told its own story.

Told of the apathy around the fixture, something that certainly seeped through to the Clare players in a forgettable first half before they opened their shoulders on the turnover and pummelled a truly lamentable London side into submission long before Richard Moloney’s final whistle that couldn’t come quick enough.

There were 21 points in it in the end as Micheál McDermott’s charges hit 3-7 to London’s 0-1 in the second half – a romp, but above all an embarrassing day for the Exiles that would have been an awful lot worse had Clare not hit 17 wides over the 70 minutes.

Ten of those wides came in the first half, with David Tubridy being the worst culprit, but such was his influence on proceedings that he still hit 2-7 as Clare cruised to their second with from four games of the current campaign.

The game was always going to go Clare’s way, it was just a matter of what the margin was going to be and for much of the first half it looked as if London could limit the damage to respectable proportions thanks to the tactic of playing seven in defence. Although London leaked a goal as early as the seventh minute when Alan Clohessy beat London net- minder Brian McBrearty in the air and palmed David Tubridy’s long deliver to the net, they were still competitive for much of the half.

A couple of points from Eoin O’Neill frees left them only 1-2 to 0-2 behind after 25 minutes, but real daylight between the sides started to emerge two minutes later when a sweeping Clare move involving Rory Donnelly, Michael Foran and Alan Clohessy was fisted to the net by Gary Brennan.

This strike, which was followed by pointed frees from David Tubridy and another Eoin O’Neill effort for London left Clare 2-3 to 0-3 ahead at half-time, an advantage they swelled by a point a man when turning to play with the wind and into the scoreboard goal for the second half.

The wide count was mounted to by seven, but the scores mounted too as London’s challenge fell asunder when a re-jigged Clare that saw Gary Brennan re-located from full-forward to midfield started peppering the posts for fun.

The tone was set only 12 seconds in when the hard-working Niall Browne set up Alan Clohessy for a point, while the floodgates really started to open after David Tubridy latched on to a perceptive pass from Cathal O’Connor on the endline to drill a low shot to the net from a very tight angle.

From there it was target practice – for Clare and above all for David Tubridy as the Doonbegman marked his return from a two-match suspension hit a further 1-3 inside ten minutes as London’s defence was swamped. The points came from frees while Gary Brennan teed him up for his second goal in the 52nd minute.

Four minutes later it was Alan Clohessy’s turn to rattle the net as London went into complete meltdown – their only consolation for a nightmare half coming with virtually the last kick of the game when Eoin O’Neill hit his fourth point from a free.

The stats of a 21-point win for Clare; those 16 paying customers and the fact that London’s scoring contribution amount to just four frees made this game something of a waste of time.

A fixture to fulfill – nothing more.

IT was hard to find a pulse in Cusack Park on Saturday afternoon such was futility of this exercise from London’s point of view, but Clare couldn’t let lack of enthusiasm for this fixture come between them and the bread and butter of two league points.

So it was that Clare moved through the gears, very slowly and sluggishly during the first 35 minutes before really pressing on the accelerator in the second half that made this largely forgettable encounter a tale of two halves for Micheál McDermott’s charges.

“Our first half performance was very poor and we had a good chat with the lads at half-time about what had gone wrong,” admitted McDermott afterwards.

“London dropped an extra man back in defence and we just weren’t clever enough to cope with that. When we pumped long ball in they were mopping it up.

“In the second half if they stayed with that formation we were going to run at them from deep, but they went 15 on 15,” he added.

But that’s where it all went wrong for London – the damage limitation they’d employed in the first half as corner-forward Austin Concannon dropped back between the full-back and half-back lines had at least made them competitive, but 15 on 15 fast turned things into something of an embarrassment as a six-point halftime deficit mushroomed to 21 points by the end.

“Our second half performance was a lot better,” said McDermott, “and I was very pleased with the goals that we worked because they came from moves that we had been working on in training.

“Gary Brennan coming out to midfield in the second half really helped us. He got a good goal in the first half from full-forward but for the first 15 minutes of the second half with him at midfield we dominated the area and we drove on and got some great scores from it.

“It was important to get a win under our belts before moving on the last four games of the campaign. Starting with Roscommon next weekend we know what we have to do.

“Every game is a big game from now on. Every game is a must win game if we want promotion to Division Three for next year.