Category: Sport

Ballyea 1-11 – Inagh/Kilnamona 1-05 at Cusack Park, Ennis

A PHYSICALLY stronger Ballyea side had too much for opponents Inagh/Kilnamona on their way to the Under 14B crown on Tuesday evening. Dominance around the centre through Ronan Barry and Pearse Lillis were among the key ingredients of the victory that saw Ballyea build up an impressive 1-7 to 0-1 half-time advantage.

With the aid of the conditions, three points from play from Lillis along with a goal from corner-forward Cathal Breen settled Ballyea into their stride and the damage could have much greater were it not for the intervention of the Inagh/Kilnamona backs who defended admirably, led by Jason McCarthy who was also their main attacking threat through frees.

Inagh/Kilnamona, came out with all guns blazing for the second period in a bid to get themselves back in the contest, but while McCarthy was accurate through placed balls, they were continually frustrated by a stubborn Ballyea rearguard. Inagh/ Kilnamona did eventually breach Ballyea’s last line in the 50th minute when substitute Aiden McCarthy goaled but a disallowed goal for a square ball only minutes later saw their hopes of a full recovery dashed as Ballyea held on for victory.

Ballyea
Oisin Hennessy, Roy Griffin, Robert Neylon, Ryan Jennings, Dean Minogue, Cillian Brennan, Mark Crowe, Ronan Barry (0-4), Pearse Lillis (0-3), Conor Lynch, Gary Stephens (0-1),

Malachy Lynch (Capt.) (0-1), Cathal Breen (1-0), Rory McMahon, Mark Gavin (0-2)

Subs
Sean Meaney, Peter Casey

Inagh/ Kilnamona
Joseph Marrinan, Cian McInerney,Austin Kerin, David Mescell, Eoin Leyden, Jason McCarthy (Capt.) (0-5), Caimin Clancy, KeithWhite, Dylan McGeer, Eoin Fitzgerald, Stephen Foudy, Eamonn Foudy, Ian Kerin, Darren Culinan, MatthewDavenport

Subs
Michael McCreanor, Cian Shannon,Aiden McCarthy (1-0)

Referee
Damian Fox (WolfeTones)

Kilmurry Ibrickane 2-11 – O’Callaghan’s Mills 0-03 at Ballynacally

THE LAST time these sides met in the champonship in August 2009, the Mills won out by two points on their way to the semi-finals and within a point of reaching a county final. Kilmurry Ibrickane meanwhile nosedived in the opposite direction that year and only saved themselves from relegation in a play-off with Michael Cusacks.

Two years on and the football landscape for both sides has altered considerably as Kilmurry Ibrickane, backed by the senior experience of Odran O’Dwyer, Vinnie Talty, Brendan Moloney and Gary Donnellan and the guile of Seamus Lynch, are a much more formidable opposition as demonstrated by their dis- mantling of the Mills on Sunday.

The same passion or interest cannot be attributed to the east Clare side who were without up to eight first team starters, including county senior hurlers Patrick Donnellan and Conor Cooney, the latter of which only made a second half cameo.

Bizarre that the Mills should pass up arguably their best chance of silverware this year but that mattered little to Kilmurry Ibrickane who could only beat what was put in front of them and after a getting-to-knowyou first half, they really opened up on the turnover.

An unanswered 2-7 put paid to any doubts of where the first points were heading, with chief marksmen Odran O’Dwyer and Seamus Lynch deservedly cutting through the heart of the Mills defence for the goals.

It was a much more tentative start however with Kilmurry Ibickane shading the first half efforts at 0-4 to 0-2, with Odran O’Dwyer settling into the new grade with two points. Meanwhile, the Mills had goal chances for Billy Donovan, whose fisted flick was saved by the head of goalkeeper Darren Sexton, and a James Hook punch at the back post that was also twarted by the county minor netminder.

The Mills had relative success in drawing their half-forward line back to crowd out the middle but those tactics quickly went out the window as Kilmurry Ibrickane found their range on the restart.

With Seamus Lynch expertly pulling the strings and picking off four of the first five points, they opened up a 0-9 to 0-2 advantage before the Mills were decisively killed off by Odran O’Dwyer’s 46th minute goal. It was a superb back-to-front move, involving John Sexton, Vinnie Talty and Senan McCarthy whose crossfield pass picked out O’Dwyer to turn his man and head for goal.

The Mills woes worsened when Seamus Lynch weaved through the last line to score a 53rd minute goal, a fitting end to a superb individual display that puts the ‘Bricks in the driving seat in the group and the Mills sinking in the opposite direction.

Kilmurry Ibrickane
Darren Sexton (7), AndrewDarcy (7), John Sexton (7), Eamon Dunne

(7), Gary Donnellan (8), Brendan Moloney (8), Patrick Sexton (7),Thomas O’Connor (7) (0-1), VinnyTalty (7),Thomas Lernihan (7) (0-1), Seamus Lynch (9) (1-6 4f), Brian Callinan (7) (0-1), Senan McCarthy (6), Odran O’Dwyer (8) (1-2), Colm Donnellan (6)

Subs
Thomas Greene (6) for McCarthy (48 mins), Mark Moloney for Callinan (51 mins), John McNamara for O’Dwyer (51 mins), Diarmuid Donnellan for G. Donnellan (54 mins, inj)

O’Callaghan’s Mills
Enda McNamara (6), Gary Neville (7), Niall Donovan (6), Gerry Cooney (6), Jonathan Lyons (6), John Cooney (7), Sean O’Gorman (6), Conor Cooney (8), Bryan Donnellan (7) (0-2 1f), Fergus Donovan (7), Paul Lynch (7) (0-1f), Mickey Madden (7), James Hook (6), Billy Donovan (6), Paul Murphy (6)

Subs
Conor Cooney (7) for Murphy (35 mins), Flannan McMahon (6) for N. Donovan (37 mins), Declan Donovan for Hook (50 mins), Martin McMahon for B. Donovan (51 mins)

Man of the Match
Seamus Lynch (Kilmurry Ibrickane) Referee John Hannon (Michael Cusack’s)

Wolfe Tones 6-9 – Clarecastle 1-4 at Cusack Park, Ennis

WOLFE TONES maintained their clean sweep of the under 14 grade by capturing their third successive title in emphatic style on Friday. Having already achieved a Féile double in both hurling and football, the Shannon side created further history by beating Clarecastle for the second successive hurling decider of the year.

The strong favourites led from start to finish, but while the 3-5 to 1-3 half-time scoreline failed to reflect a relatively even opening half, there was little doubt about the destination of the title on the turnover as Wolfe Tones ruthlessly put their rivals to the sword to preserve their firm grip on the grade.

A strong start and finish to the first half put Wolfe Tones on the road to victory and while their opening goal was indeed contentious due to a square ball, they might have opened the scoring after only 25 seconds when Brian O’Connor caught a Brian Conway delivery but struck wide from close range. Clarecastle failed to heed that warning, however, and after eye-catching points from midfield duo Dean Devanney and Darragh McMahon and five Clarecastle wides in the same period, the Féile champions finally raised their first green flag when Jack Cunningham passed across the square for Conway to finish.

Clarecastle opened their account in the 12th minute when a good passing move involving Darren Crowe and Jack Murphy eventually ended with Conor Ryan in front of goal but his rasping shot just cleared the crossbar. That score gave the Magpies confidence but just as they were beginning to find their feet, they were hit by a second Wolfe Tones goal in the 19th minute when an Aron Shanagher pull inside saw Jack Cunningham just beat goalkeeper Jake Kearney to the ball to flick to the net.

The Magpies replied immediately with a Darren Crowe point, and the wing-forward was again involved in Clarecastle’s goal in the 22nd minute when supplying the waiting Conor Ryan to make no mistake this time around and cut the deficit to five.

However, Wolfe Tones were given the perfect boost entering the interval when a Cian Pettigrew delivery broke to Jack Cunningham to find the top corner of the net and give his side a 3-5 to 1-3 advantage.

The second half was a somewhat scrappy affair with several stoppages but the deciding score came only six minutes into the half when Jack Cunningham again found the net, this time from a rebound after a Jake Kearney save to wipe out Darren Crowe’s opening point of the half.

It gave Wolfe Tones further belief while the Magpies heads lowered, with the Tones spinal core taking control and seeing out the game. Kevin Justice at centre back and the midfield pairing of Darragh McMahon and Dean Devanney ruled the middle while for the Magpies Paul Dolan, Hayden Starr, Kevin Mulcaire and Ronan Garvey repelled further damage on the scoreboard as did goalkeeper Keanrey who made another impressive double save in the 50th minute.

However, the Magpies were powerless to halt chief marksmen Jack Cunningham and Aron Shannagher who between added a further 2-3 to cement Wolfe Tones standing as the undisputed kingpins of the Under 14 grade for 2011.

Wolfe Tones
Cian Collopy, Ross O’Connor, Daniel Clair, Michael Hayes, Robbie Meaney, Kevin Justice (Capt.), Sean Costelloe, Darragh McMahon (0-1), Dean Devanney (0-2), Evan O’Gorman, Aron Shanagher (1-1), Cian Pettigrew(0-2), Brian Conway (1-0), Jack Cunningham(3-3 2f), Brian O’Connor (1-0)

Subs
Conor Ferins for Conway, Shane Nihill for O’Connor, Eoghan Gough for O’Gorman

Clarecastle
Jake Kearney, Kevin Hartigan, Darragh Crimmins, Fiachra Cooney, Josh Kelly, Paul Dolan, Hayden Starr, Darren Crowe (0-2),Adam Cassidy, Ruairi Crimmins, Conor Ryan (1-1), Jack Murphy (0-1), Stephen Barry

Subs
Jack Hayes for Kelly (Inj), Jordan Barnes for Ryan, Mark McAuliffe for Barry, Dean O’Hara for Murphy

Player of the Game
Dean Devanney (Wolfe Tones) Referee Neil O’Brien (O’Callaghan’s Mills)

Kildysart 1-15 – Kilfenora 1-11 at Páirc Naomh Mhuire, Quilty

DESPITE LEADING from start to finish, Kildysart never had it all their own way against Junior A champions Kilfenora. A strong wind blowing in from the sea dominated the game but last year’s semi-finalists arguably played better when facing into the gale for the second period than they did in the first.

Still, while they would be happy by the 1-15 scoreline, they also kicked 13 wides over the hour and had Kilfenora taken their goal opportunities, there might have been a more dramatic finish. However, Kildysart just had the better balance on the day, despite making harder work of the result than they perhaps should have done.

All so different early on as with the aid of the conditions, everything they kicked seemed to go over the crossbar with Ger Kelly and Christy Clancy grabbing a brace each on their way to a 0-5 to 0-0 lead by the eighth minute.

All that early work was almost cancelled out in a three minute period midway through the half when Killian Malone was presented with two glorious goal opportunities. The first one he took with aplomb after receiving an inch perfect pass from James Keane while after a Brian O’Sullivan reply at the other end, Keane again supplied Malone for a second opportunity following the collision of two defenders but he lost possession at the vital time.

How there wasn’t more goals in the remainder of the half came down to the superb goalkeeping of John Murtagh and Liam Keane who both produced breathtaking saves to keep their respective opponents at bay. Kildysart’s Murtagh excellently stopped Aidan Malone’s rasping effort while down the other end, Keane produced a point blank stop to deny Keith Murphy.

Instead, Kildysart wiped their brows and got back on top, and despite eight first half wides, they did manage to score another four points, two from corner-forward Damien Murtagh to hold a 0-10 to 1-02 halftime advantage.

It didn’t seem enough when facing into the breeze for the second half especially when Kilfenora kicked three successive points in as many minutes to bring the lead down to just two. Pat Connole began the rally after only 15 seconds, followed by points from marque forwards Killian and Aidan Malone while the former also had another goal attempt blocked by John Ginnane.

However, Kilfenora never forced home the wind advantage and bizarrely brought back Kevin Theasby as a sweeper, just as they had done against the conditions in the opening half. It allowed Kildysart to hit back through Christy (2) and John Clancy, only to be pegged back by a brace of Killian Malone frees and that was to be the pattern of the game until Kildysart found the net in the 55th minute.

There was an element of fortune about the goal as substitute Eoin Cleary’s shot for a point dropped short and broke to Damien Murtagh who finished at the second attempt to give his side a 1-15 to 1-08 cushion.

Kilfenora never gave up and kicked the last three points but with time against them, they had to settle for second best against a Kildysart side that will harbour ambitions of being in the shake up later in the summer.

Kildysart
John Murtagh (8), John Ginnane (8), Shane McNelis (7), Kieran Leahy (7), Brian Eyres (7), Keith O’Connor (7), Michael Eustace (7), Brian O’Sullivan (7) (0-1), John Clancy (8) (0-1), Damien Hill (6) (0-1), Niall Ginnane (7) (0-1), Christy Clancy (8) (0-4), Ger Kelly (7) (0-5 3f), Keith Murphy (6), Damien Murtagh (7) (1-2 1f)

Sub
Eoin Cleary for Murphy (50 mins)

Kilfenora
LiamKeane (8), Shane Long (7), Dairmuid Nagle (7), Paul Reddan (6), Michael James Malone (6), Cathal Nagle (7), Paudie Ireland (7), Pat Connole (7) (0-1), LiamO’Brien (6), Jason Connole (6), Killian Malone (8) (1-6 3f), James Keane (7) (0-1),Austin Kelly (7) (0-1),Aidan Malone (7) (0-1), KevinTheasby (6)

Sub
Aidan Long (6) (0-1) for J. Connole (39 mins)

Man of the Match
Christy Clancy (Kildysart) Referee John Brew(Kilmurry Ibrickane)

Crusheen/Tubber 6-9 – Tulla 5-2 at Cusack Park, Ennis

AN ELEVEN goal thriller that was swung Crusheen/Tubber’s way by a power packed display of hurling laced with accuracy and skill in Clare headquarters. The winners who were the better side overall delivered the crucial scores early in the game and with a solid defensive display held out despite a spirited late rally from the Tulla boys.

Crusheen/Tubber who won the Under 12D in 2009, demonstrated the steady progress made by leading from start to finish to capture their latest crown. First half goal from Breffni Horner (2), John Fawl and Colin Waters saw the north Clare amalgamation lead by an impressive 4-6 to 0-0 at the break with Tulla unable to pass the dominant Crusheen half back line and midfield led ably by Ronan Monahan.

Tulla, who would have been hopeful of a resurgence aided by the wind for the second half, saw their progress halted further by three delightful moments of skill by Ross Hayes as he bagged 1-2 minutes into the new half. He rounded off the end of the third quarter with his second goal as Crusheen went 26 points clear.

The loudest cheer of the year was reserved for Tulla’s Aaron O’Halloran when he found the net for their very first score after 50 minutes. To their credit they dominated the last ten minutes adding 4-2 without reply through Sean McNamara (2-0), Aaron O Halloran (0-2), Owen Shanahan (1-0) and Matthew Culloo (1-0) but admirable as the recovery proved to be, the title’s destination was already decided. Best for the winners were Gavin O’Brien, Brian McDonagh, Ronan Monahan,Stephen O’Halloran, Colin Waters, Ross Hayes and John Fawl. Tulla had solid displays from Conor Dinan, Brian Fahy, Sean McNamara, Aaron O’Halloran, Matthew Culloo, Darragh Murphy and Thor Ligtvoet.

Crusheen/ Tubber
ColmMcNamara, Emmet Quinn, Gavin O’Brien,

Brian McDonagh, Ronan Monahan, Stephen O’Halloran, John Fawl (1-1), Cillian Mullins, Mark Kearney, ColinWaters (1-3), JamesTaaffe (0-1), Ross Hayes (2-2), Breffni Horner (2-1)

Subs
Joe Copley (0-1) for Hayes, Conor O Loughlin for OHalloran, CalumTurner for Kearney, Chris McDonagh for Horner,Aidan McNamara, Cormac Lee

Tulla
Conor Dinan,Thor Ligtvoet, Kevin Conlon, Daniel Lauders, Brian Fahy, Darragh Murphy, Shane Hunt, Owen Shanahan (1-0), Michael Vaughan, Matthew Culloo (1-0), James Harrison, Sean McNamara (2-0),AdamHehir

Subs
Aaron OHalloran (1-2) for Harrison, Patrick OMahony for Hehir,Austin McInerney for Vaughan

Referee
Gus Callaghan (Feakle)

Cratloe 2-11 – Shannon Gaels 2-09 at Cusack Park, Ennis

CRATLOE were forced to dig deep to take all two points from a tense and compelling encounter with Shannon Gaels on Saturday.

Michael Coughlan’s 60th minute free looked to have rescued a share of the spoils for the Gaels but Cratloe came again.

Last season’s quarter-finalists forced a free a minute into injury time. The ever-reliable Cathal McInerney converted his eighth placed ball of the evening before Sean Collins slotted over the insurance point a minute later.

It was hard luck on the Gaels who had done enough to earn at least a point.

Carefully guarding possession, they defended with purpose and concentration to restrict Cratloe to just three points from play. John Neylon, Michael O’Donoghue and Michael Coughlan were instrumental throughout while at full-forward John Paul O’Neill caused Barry Duggan plenty of worrying moments before the Clare full-back was withdrawn through injury in the second half.

Still there was greater movement and menace about Cratloe, particularly when Padraic Collins and McInerney had the ball in their hands. And when possession was paramount in those tense final minutes, Conor Ryan manfully stepped up with a couple of important takes in midfield.

Cratloe made the brighter start, edging 0-3 to 0-1 ahead by the tenth minute before some loose defending by both full-back lines allowed for a flurry of goals.

McInerney bisected two Gaels jerseys to find Padraic Collins who drove low to the net in the 14th minute. Seconds later, a weak Cratloe clearance was hacked back towards goal by John Paul O’Neill where Noel Kennedy was left with an easy finish. Cratloe went one better in the 17th minute when Sean Collins’ high ball evaded Tomás Madigan and fell to McInerney who made no mistake from close range. That left Cratloe 2-3 to 1-1 ahead but the Gaels slowly but surely reeled them in. The hard working Coughlan kicked two frees before Cathal O’Neill’s foray forward from corner-back was rewarded with a point. Another Coughlan free levelled the game but McInerney hit back with another placed ball to give Cratloe a slender 2-4 to 1-6 lead at half time. The second half would be an even closer affair. After another McInerney free, John Paul O’Neill applied a goal scoring finish to a well-worked Gaels attack. Coughlan and McInerney continued their private place kicking duel before Cratloe sneaked 2-9 to 2-7 ahead in the 57th minute. Coughlan tied the game again with two more frees, the second of which had its roots in a mighty catch from Kennedy. A draw looked on the cards but Cratloe had other ideas and take their first big step towards reaching the business end of the championship once more.

Sixmilebridge 0-14 – Inagh/Kilnamona 1-07 at Inagh

REIGNING CLARE Cup champions Sixmilebridge bounced back from last Wednesday’s loss to Crusheen with a four-point victory over Inagh/ Kilnamona on Monday afternoon.

In a closely contested first half, the ‘Bridge were ahead 0-7 to 0-6 at the interval. Early points from Jamie Shanahan and Niall Gilligan saw them two clear after five minutes before Tomás Kelly got Inagh/Kilnamona off the mark two minutes later with a fine effort.

Former Clare senior Gilligan fired over a good score in the tenth minute before two Ger Arthur placed balls levelled matters after the first quarter. The home side were dealt a blow by this stage with full-back Brian Glynn forced to retire due to injury.

Sixmilebridge hit a purple patch sending over the games next three scores courtesy of Tommy Morey and Niall Gilligan (2) to extend their lead to three after 25 minutes as Robert Conlon entered the action for the injured Barry O’Connor.

Entering the final five minutes of the half, Ger Arthur and David O’Connor traded scores before two more Arthur efforts in first half added time narrowed the gap to one at the break.

On the resumption, Sixmilebridge did exactly what they did in the first half, by sending over the first two scores. These scores arrived thanks to David O’Connor and a long range John Fennessy free as they stretched the lead to three.

In a second half that was marred by persistent rain, it took the home team until the end of the first quarter to register a score with Arthur again the marksman. Indeed, up to this point both sides were guilty of failing to covert a few scoreable chances.

The games next score fell to Niall Gilligan who fired over a free in the 45th minute before moments later the hard working Tommy Morey increased the ‘Bridge lead to four.

Just as it appeared that the visitors were going to kick on from here and collect the two points, the combination were given a lifeline when they goaled to put just the minimum between the sides. This goal came about after Cathal Lafferty fielded a long clearance from David Hegarty on the fourteen-yard line and had only one thing on his mind as he turned and headed straight for goal before kicking the sliotar to the net.

With only a solitary point separating the sides the next score was going to be crucial in deciding this tie and unfortunately for the home team it fell to the ‘Bridge as Danny Morey fired over in the 57th minute. Sixmilebridge motored on from here with Gilligan and Morey closing out the games scoring as Inagh-Kilnamona tried in vain for another goal in injury time.

Sixmilebridge
Derek Fahy;Tagdh Keogh,Aidan Quilligan, Paul Fitzpatrick; Barry O’Connor, John Fennessy (0-1f), Paidí Fitzpatrick; Pa Sheehan, Anthony Liddane; Brian Culbert,Tommy Morey (0-2), David O’Connor (0-2); Jamie Shanahan (0-1), Niall Gilligan (0-6 3f), Danny Morey (0-2)

Subs
Robert Conlon for B. O’Connor (22 mins, inj), Kevin Lynch for Culbert (HT), SamO’Sullivan for Sheehan (46 mins)

Inagh/ Kilnamona
Patrick Kelly; Milo Keane, Brian Glynn, Dermot Lynch; Ronan O’Looney, Gary Lafferty, David Hegarty; ColmPilkington,Tomás Kelly (0-1); Damien Lafferty, Cathal Lafferty (1-0), Dermot Gannon; Ger Arthur (0-6; 3fs, 1‘65), Conor Tierney, Cathal Griffin

Subs
Brian Foudy for Glynn (14 mins, inj), StephenToomey for Griffin (44 mins), Shane Griffin for Pilkington (52 mins)

Man of the Match
Niall Gilligan (Sixmilebridge) Referee Ambrose Heagney (Corofin)

Newmarket-on-Fergus 2-22 – Whitegate 2-08 at Newmarket-on-Fergus

NEWMARKET moved back to the summit of Division 1 after a comfortable victory over relegation strugglers Whitegate on Monday afternoon. Both were understrength and without county seniors but it was the home side who were sharper and more clinical throughout, building up a seven point lead by the break before finishing the job on the turnover.

Tommy Griffin was the first half’s standout forward with three points on their way to a 0-11 to 0-04 half-time advantage, with Padraig Kilmartin and Enda Barrett also instrumental in keeping the east Clare side out at the other end.

Whitegate did manage to grab two goals through Ian Fahy and Stephen Malone in the second period while Newmarket were reduced to 14 following the dismissal of substitute Martin Murphy at the turn of the final quarter. However it still failed to trouble the home side who had a brace of goals of their own through Martin O’Hanlon and Anthony Kilmartin to ease up to victory and maintain their impressive unbeaten record of seven unbeaten competitive games.

Newmarket- on- Fergus
Kieran Devitt, Padraig Kilmartin, Stephen Kelly, Sean O’Connor,Alan Barrett, Enda Barrett, Noel Frawley, Martin O’Hanlon, Paraic Collins, Enda Kelly, David Barrett, JimMcInerney, Eoin Hayes,Anthony Kilmartin,Tommy Griffin

Subs
Darren Duggan for Griffin, Martin Murphy

for E. Kelly, Brian Clancy for Frawley, Bernard Gaffney for A. Kilmartin

Whitegate
AndrewFahey, Cathal Mulvihill, John Bugler, John Minogue, Jason Malone, Patrick Minogue,Trevor Kelly, Ian Fahy,Tomás McNamara, Michael O’Brien, Ray Cahill, Shane O’Rourke, GeorgieWaterstone, Stephen Malone, John O’Brien

Subs
Christy Jones for J. Minogue, Eoin Quirke for Kelly, John Minogue for Cahill

Man of the Match
Padraig Kilmartin (Newmarket- on- Fergus) Referee Damian Fox (WolfeTones)

St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield 3-10 – Killanena 0-10 at O’Garney Park, Sixmilebridge

ON PAPER, a nine point victory appears impressive but as laughable as it sounds, this was as unconvincing a nine point victory as you could possibly imagine. Only the tidy crowd in the stand of O’Garney Park can verify that fact but St Joseph’s will count their lucky stars that they got out of Sixmilebridge with their first win of the championship after being pushed all the way by a spirited yet understrength Killanena.

Essentially, with both sides securing opening round draws, Killanena needed the win to aid the consolidation of their senior status while St Joseph’s were looking further afield and the carrot of the knock-out stages. In addition, Killanena’s desperation for the points were increased by an ever expanding list of emigrating players that will include Sunday’s midfield partners Mark Flaherty and Gerry McNamara in the coming week.

While Killanena were down to the bare bones however, their skeletal remains did possess guts and unquenchable spirit and added to St Joseph’s underlying complacency, manager Kevin Kennedy was given a rough ride by his native club.

After an even opening 20 minutes in which both defences were on top (Alan O’Neill and Alan McNamara the standout performers) and wind assisted St Joseph’s retaining very little possession in their forward line, ‘The Parish’ finally pulled clear through Ivor Whyte who converted two points before taking a long run up to his 20 metre free and driving to the right corner of the net right on the stroke of half-time to give them some breathing space at 1-6 to 0-4.

That margin was extended to eight after Whyte, Shane O’Connor and Damien Kennedy grabbed the first three points of the restart by the 36th minute and nothing but a St Joseph’s rout look on the cards.

It was a far from an unassailable advantage however as events conspired to emphasise, with Killanena never giving up hope and chipping away on the scoreboard through David McNamara (3 frees) and Mark Flaherty (3) to slash the deficit to just two by the turn of the final quarter.

By this stage, a rudderless St Joseph’s were seemingly unable to stop the rot but they were helped by a Paul Madden save from Padraig Brady’s goalbound shot along with two Killanena wides as the intermediate champions poured forward in search of the scalp.

Without a score in 20 minutes, St Joseph’s were finally gifted a much needed goal in the 56th minute when a defensive handpass went straight to Shane O’Connor to punish from close range. With that, the tension lifted from St Joseph’s shoulders and they saw out the result in comfort with Ivor Whyte pulling just over the bar a minute later while Jarlath Colleran put the icing on the cake with a 60th minute goal. With the game now entirely open, there were further goal chances at either end for Gerry McNamara and Enda Lyons but by then the result was beyond any doubt as St Joseph’s wiped their brows and welcomed the Summer recess with their unbeaten record somehow still intact.

Clonlara 2-13 – Broadford 0-14 at Cusack Park, Ennis

MORE OF a grudge match than a championship treat as Clonlara’s impact substitutions provided the knock-out blow in an ill-tempered affair. Following on from the last championship meeting at intermediate level in 2007 when the action in Shannon lasted beyond the final whistle, the real winner of the hour was perhaps Flan Marsh’s shatter safe hurleys in a game that had ten yellows cards and a red one for Cathal Chaplin deep into injury-time.

In the end however, Broadford will feel disappointed not to have got anything out of the game, having disrupted Clonlara for long periods and even led by two points as late as the 55th minute.

That the 2008 champions did survive came down to two key aspects; the leadership of John Conlon and the impact of substitutes Donal Madden and James Hastings who grabbed a goal each in a final flourish.

Clonlara’s progress all afternoon was hampered by an unproductive forward unit that hit 15 wides over the hour and carried far more passengers than normal. Neither did they appear in any danger once John Conlon’s superb over the shoulder point from under the stand began a four point unanswered streak that saw them push 0-6 to 0-2 clear by the end of the first quarter.

However, it was to be their final first half contribution on the scoreboard as Broadford came storming back into the contest with Padraig Hickey unerring from frees (3) and further scores from Paurig Taylor and Aonghus O’Brien to hold a 0-7 to 0-6 lead by the break.

Clonlara re-emerged in determined fashion and might have grabbed a goal in the opening minute had it not been for an excellent block by James Gunning on Cormac O’Donovan in front of goal.

Instead, Broadford held the whip hand, mainly through the scoring prowess of Hickey who was growing in confidence as the hour developed while strangely muted in his celebrations of those scores. Largely it came down to a shooting match between Hickey at one side and Conlon at the other but every time Clonlara would gain parity, Broadford had the ability to pull clear once more.

Such was the case in the final straight when points from Alan Kilcoyne and Hickey had Broadford 013 to 0-11 clear and seemingly on the road to an opening victory.

Cue the introduction of Donal Madden and James Hastings who both would make telling contributions to the final result. Conlon fed Madden for a 55th minute point and only a minute later, the two were again involved as Conlon’s effort for a point dropped short, goalkeeper Ollie Marsh stopped the ball from going over the bar and Madden was there to pounce from close range to pull the ball to the net.

Broadford weren’t finished yet however as Hickey struck a goalbound shot two minutes later that was blocked by John Moloney and after a Hickey point and Cathal Chaplin’s second yellow, Hastings punished another defensive error to pour salt into Broadford’s wounds.