Category: Sport

IN THE END, It was only a 63rd minute point from Conor McGrath that got Cratloe out of Dodge after being pushed all the way by a stubborn Newmarket side. Cratloe were hot favourites entering the game but never got into their stride and indeed could have been severely punished had Newmarket converted even a small fraction of their 14 wides.

A draw would have been the fairest result for Newmarket’s stirring late fightback but in the end, it was the experience of Conor McGrath who got his side out of jail and into the final against Sixmilebridge.

It was too close for comfort for Cratloe who could have never imagined such an eventuality once Joe O’Connor goaled after only 19 seconds. With Liam Markham starting strongly at centre-back, Cratloe were 1-2 to 0-1 clear by the seventh minute and seemingly cruising.

However, a slice of fortune got Newmarket back into the game when a Sean O’Connor free from 65 metres was allowed to travel to the net and it rallied the side to three more frees to hold a 1-4 to 1-3 advantage by the 20th minute.

Cratloe goalkeeper David Collins did make amends in the 28th minute when somehow keeping out a rasping shot from Shane Cusack and in the next passage of play, Podge Collins handpassed inside for Conor McGrath to rattle the net down the other end on their way to a 2-5 to 1-6 halftime advantage.

Early points from dominant midfielder Conor Ryan and Conor McGrath on the restart put Cratloe four points clear and in total control once more while Newmarket were becoming increasingly frustrated with their mounting wide tally as well as a Shane Cusack goalbound shot that full-back Sean Hynan threw himself in front of to keep out.

Cratloe didn’t push home their advantage however so when Darren Duggan pulled to the net in the 50th minute to cut the deficit to the minimum, the momentum was suddenly all with Newmarket.

Conor Ryan expertly pointed from the right wing to give his side a two point cushion but two equally impressive strikes from Tommy Griffin and a Liam Clancy lineball from 30 metres tied up the game for the fourth time two minutes into injury-time.

It seemed enough to earn a replay but there was still time for Conor McGrath to gather possession 60 metres from goal and fire his relieved side into their first Under 21A final in seven years.

O’Callaghan’s Mills 3-10 – Corofin 0-10 at Dr Daly Park, Tulla

O’CALLAGHAN’S Mills eased their way into the Under 21 B decider thanks to a three-goal victory over a disappointing Corofin side on Saturday afternoon, as goals either side of half-time turned the tie decisively in their favour and helped them book a final berth against Ballyea.

Corofin’s failure to use the first half wind advantage was their undoing – despite the strength of the gale and ample possession they could only eke out a 0-9 to 1-5 interval lead that was never going to be enough once the Mills settled into their stride.

Stephen Heagney’s accuracy from placed balls in the first half helped Corofin build up a 0-8 to 0-4 lead by the 20tth minute. Centre-back Luke O’Loughlin was very much to the fore in this period while Gearóid Kelly, Kevin Heagney and Declan Stack contributed points from play as Corofin hit four unanswered points to open up a double-scores lead.

However, just when it looked as if Corofin were firmly into their stride and had the momentum to kick on to build up sizeable advantage, O’Calllaghan’s Mills struck for the all-important first goal.

It came from Jamie Lynch after 25 minutes and with that Corofin’s race in this championship was eventually run, even though they responded with another Heagney point just before the interval to give them the lead by the narrowest of margins.

Corofin battled bravely in the early exchanges of the second half, but ul- timately it was a lonely 30 minutes for the men in red – they could add one point to their total while the Mills gradually found their rhythm and hit 2-5 to record a comprenhensive win.

Again, it was a goal that kickstarted the half for the Mills’; again it was Jamie Lynch who worked the oracle, this time finding the net ten minutes in to put daylight between them and Corofin for the first time.

That daylight was extended thanks to Christy Philpott’s 48th minute goal, while Ian Donnellan, Aidan O’Gorman and the impressive Aidan Donovan also chipped in with points as the Mills won as they pleased.

Two late points from Aidan O’Gorman left left three goals in it at the end.

O’Callaghan’s Mills
Henry Skehan, Sean O’Gorman, Gerry Cooney, Michael McGrath, Darren Cooney,Adrian Donovan (0-3,2f),Aidan Fawl, Eoin McInerney, Kevin O’Callaghan, ColmMcHugh, James McMahon (0-2), Eoin McGrath, Jamie Lynch (2-1), Ian Donnellan (0-1),Aidan O’Gorman (0-3). Subs Christy Philpott (1-0) for Eoin McInerney,Jamie Heffernan for O’Callaghan, Eoin McNamara for Donnellan.

Corofin
Patrick Burke, Keith O’Loughlin, Eoin Malone, Manus Malone, Ian Corbett, Luke O’Loughlin, Darren Malone, Fionn Clancy, Stephen Heagney (0-7, 5f), Declan Stack (0-1), Eamon Malone, Jamie Malone, Killian O’Loughlin, Kevin Heagney (0-1), Gearoid Kelly (0-1). Subs Willie Neylon for Eoin Malone, Killian Malone for Killian O’Lgouhlin, Oisin Long for Ian Corbett

Man of the Match
Adrian Donovan (O’Callaghan’s Mills) Referee Ger Hoey (Killanena)

Sixmilebridge 1-17 – Inagh/Kilnamona 2-12 at Clarecastle

SIXMILEBRIDGE HAVE reached the under 21 A final for the third year in a row after seeing off a strong Inagh/Kilnamona side in Clarecastle on Saturday.

Sixmilebridge managed to finished strong in this close encounter thanks to a Declan Morey goal on 46 minutes which edged them in front but there was never more then a puck of a ball between these sides for the best part of the game.

It was clear early on that ill discipline would prove costly for both teams as Inagh/Kilnamona’s Niall Arthur and Sixmilebridge’s Jamie Shanahan were both on form as they battled it out from placed balls.

Points from Shane Golden and Pa Sheehan aided the sharpshooting of Shanahan for Sixmilbridge but it was Arthur’s goal 12 minutes in that was the difference at half time. He had tried for another goal from a 21 yard free soon after but his shot was stopped and cleared. After playing with a strong breeze, his side looked in control, and led Sixmilebridge, 1-8 to 0-9.

A few positional switches at the break brought Sixmilebridge back into the game with scores from Seadna Morey and Sam O’Sullivan. Then when Jamie Shanahan found Declan Morey in front of goal he buried it into the net to give his side a three point lead and the boost they needed.

Seadhna Morey and Shanahan added two more as Sixmilebridge then went five ahead going into injury time. A Sean McConigley goal is all Inagh/Kilnamona could manage in the closing stages as Sixmilebridge claimed a final spot winning on a two point margin, 1-17 to 2-12.

Sixmilebridge will now face Cratloe in this year’s under 21 Championship Final and they will be looking to rectify last year’s final defeat to Eire Og as they go in search of a second title in three years.

Fermanagh 0-17 – Clare 0-09 at Brewster Park, Enniskillen

THERE was revolution in the air around Enniskillen on Sunday as Fermanagh played host to Clare in this Division 4 tie.

Fermanagh football was up in arms following the statement issued by 11 former members of John O’Neill’s squad who outlined their grievances as to where it has all gone wrong for the Erne county this season.

Good news for a Clare team not without their own problems this year thanks to that hat-trick of very disappointing defeats to Leitrim, Carlow and Roscommon that scuppered their chances of mounting a promotion bid.

Great news for Clare after the lightening start they made to this game, as forward talisman David Tubridy ran riot in the opening ten minutes when putting four points on the board as his side raced into a 0-4 to no score lead.

Fermanagh, in turmoil off the pitch thanks the ‘Gang of 11’, were in turmoil on it too as they reeled from this lightening Clare start that should have teed the Banner County up for back-to-back victories for the first time in this year’s campaign.

That it wasn’t to be for Clare is told in the eight points that separated the sides at the end – a turnaround that laid bare that fact that this was a somewhere between a resurrection on the part of Fermanagh and a total collapse on the part of Clare.

Or maybe it was both, because such was Clare’s implosion and Fermanagh’s revival that long before Tyrone referee Sean McNamee blew his final whistle, it was the visitors who looked like they were racked with problems.

When Fermanagh were held scoreless for the first 20 minutes, manager John O’Neill cut a lonely figure on the sideline, but everything seemed to change once Paul Ward opened the Ernesiders’ account with a 20 metre free.

Positional changes had been made in defence to try and curb David Tubridy, with centre-back Brian Mulroone moving over on the Doonbeg- man; left-half-forward Ryan Jones moved to midfield, while Daniel Kille was introduced at full-forward.

Fermanagh were a team transformed and Clare became disjointed at the back, surrendered the initiative at midfield and ran out of ideas up front.

The result was a flurry of points from Fermanagh with Daniel Kille (2) Ryan Jones, and John O’Flanagan to move 0-5 to 0-4 ahead before David Tubridy levelled matters in the 25th minute.

However, it was a brief respite for Clare as points before the break from Paul Ward and John O’Flanagan completed Fermanagh’s first half recovery as they edged 0-7 to 0-5 clear.

All wasn’t lost for Clare, but was within ten minutes of the restart as a brace of points each from Paul Ward and John O’Flanagan extended Fermanagh’s lead to six points. Gary Brennan did peg back a point, but further Fermanagh points from the impressive Daniel Kille, Terry O’Flanaghan and John O’Flanagan put them 0-14 to 0-6 ahead with 15 minutes remaining.

It was damage limitation stuff from there until the end – Clare did boost their tally with two more David Tubridy points to bring his tally to 07 for the hour, but further points by Daniel Kille, Terry O’Flanagan and Paul Ward left the home side comprehensive victors and consigned their to their fourth defeat of a desperately disappointing campaign.

Clare
Joe Hayes, Barry Duggan, Lawrence Healy, Martin McMahon, Kevin Hartnett, Gordon Kelly, Shane McNeilus, Cathal O’Connor, Gary Brennan, Conor Ryan, John Hayes, Shane Brennan (0-1), DavidTubridy (0-7, 0-2 frees, 0-1 45), Niall Browne, Alan Clohessy (0-1).

Subs
MarkTubridy for S Brennan (h-t), Ger Quinlan for Browne (h-t), David O’Connor for Ryan (68 mins).

Fermanagh
J McGrath, J Woods, B Owens, M Jones, CQuigley (0-1), B Mulrone, K Cosgrove, H Brady, MO’Brien,T O’Flanagan (0-2, 0-1 free), N Cassidy, R Jones (0-3, 0-2 frees), PWard (0-3), J O’Flanagan (0-3), S Quigley (0-1).

Subs
DKille (04) for Woods (10 mins), B Óg Maguire for Cassidy (20 mins), J O’Brien for Ward (60 mins), CO’Brien for DKille (65 mins).

Man of the Match
Daniel Kille (Fermanagh) Referee S McNamee (Tyrone).

JOHN O’Neill was jubilant at the defiance shown by his team as they stormed to victory over the Poor Clares. Naturally, Micheál McDermott was at the other end of the spectrum too as surveyed the wreckage of another hugely disappointed National League day.

The defeats to Leitrim and Carlow could be put down to the fact that Clare were reduced to 13 for much of the game; the loss to Roscommon was all down to not kicking the ball between the posts when opportunity knocked.

Not excuses, but explanations.

There were no explanations on Sunday, however. Clare were that bad – that was by their own body language as the trooped off the field and McDermott’s language as he strug- gled for answers as to why it went so badly wrong.

“It was very, very lacklustre after those first 15 minutes. To put a finger on what happened, why was the performance so poor, it’s almost impossible,” admitted McDermott.

“We are very disappointed, not alone with the loss, but with the performance. We got a very good start, played really well for the first 15 minutes and played good quality football. But after that everything just drifted away from us.

“Fermanagh got a grip around midfield and the whole diamond area around midfield and held it for most of the match.

“They kicked some really good quality scores and caused us a lot of trouble. The players are gutted. It wasn’t for the want of effort. It just wasn’t happening for them,” added McDermott.

This time last year Clare a kick of a ball away from promotion to Division 3 when they played Limerick in their seventh match of the campaign after six straight wins – David Tubridy’s kick with the last kick of the game from distance drifted just wide and since then Clare have lost six out of nine league games.

“It has been a very disappointing league results wise and points wise,” said McDermott after this latest loss, “but when we compare it to last year, when we were on the crest of a wave for the first six matches, I would say we have played better football this year and are better prepared because results aren’t going our way.

“Roscommon are promoted already and we produced one of our best performances against them but left it behind us.

“Longford are in second place and we beat them. Carlow are also in contention and we left the two points behind against them when we were down to 13 players.

“Our injuries are hitting us big time. We lost Graham Kelly who came down with bug on the way to the match. Rory Donnelly is out, Timmy Ryan is only coming back from injury. But we’re not using that as an excuse. We just now have to try and pick it up for the match against Wicklow.”

Laois 3-16 – Clare 3-13 at O’Moore Park, Portlaoise

JUST WHEN you think Clare have turned a corner, they skilfully reverse back around it. After a lacklustre start against Limerick and Antrim, Clare produced successive victories over Westmeath, Down and Kerry by an average of 20 points but the step up in opposition allied to a flat first half display ensured that it would not be a comfortable afternoon for Clare on Sunday.

In the end, it was only Willie Hyland’s 72nd minute goal with almost the last puck of the game that separated the sides but in truth, Clare deserved little out of the game after an abject first half and their inability to kill off the game when gaining a lifeline in the second.

Such unpredictability and inconsistency can be put down to the growing pains of such a young developing side but nonetheless it’s thoroughly frustrating viewing at the moment as it’s unknown how Clare will perform until they cross the white lines of combat.

Overall, strange as it may seem, there appears to be a vast improvement in certain areas, especially up front where Clare have already surpassed last year’s total by 13 points with a game to spare. However, Sod’s law inevitably rules that this improvement in attack has coincided with a more porous defence in that Clare have conceded six more points at the six game mark than they did after seven matches last year and one of the obvious places to point the finger is from frees.

Out of the 10-79 that Clare have conceded in six games, over 40 per cent of those have come from placed balls (2-39), a factor that seems to be hurting Clare most at the moment. Now whether you think Clare are being discriminated against due to their perceived status as a traditional hurling power – a kick back to the underdog if you will, or that these are minor indiscretions that won’t even be considered a free in the championship, one might have a case as for a game with little or no malice, there were ten yellow cards distributed.

However, that still doesn’t aid the predicament that the free count was a decisive ingredient on Sunday as Laois’ chief marksman Willie Hyland hit 1-10, with eight of those coming from frees.

The dark clouds initially started to form as early as the fourth minute when Laois cut through the centre of the Clare defence, creating an overlap for John Brophy to finish to the roof of the net. By the tenth minute, that lead was stretched to five as Clare were overrun in midfield but they received their first lifeline in the 13th minute when Nicky O’Connell controlled a Laois puck-out and played a high delivery for Conor McGrath to field and finish with a one handed swing.

By the 16th minute, Clare were level at 1-3 apiece when Sean Collins picked out John Conlon in space from a lineball but far from inspiring the visitors, in truth, that purple patch only papered over the cracks.

After suffering a surprise set-back against Down a week previous, Laois were determined to make amends and as a result, they played in a more defensive manner, playing short puck-outs as well as drawing back their midfield for Clare’s puck-outs.

It frustrated Clare who were unable to get into any flow and five successive points followed from the home side, three from the stick of Hyland who was beginning to cause Brendan Bugler trouble on the wing.

In an effort to spark a revival, Clare rang the changes and by half’s end, only six of the 14 outfield players would remain in their original positions. It did have the desired effect however as Nicky O’Connell (2) and Diarmuid McMahon cut the deficit to just three at the break at 1-9 to 1-6 and considering their lacklustre display, Clare would have felt extremely satisfied to be so close to their opponents.

With time to regroup, Clare reemerged a different animal in the second period and got off to an inspirational start with a Conor McGrath point after only 40 seconds, followed only minutes later by a Darach Honan scrambled goal after goalkeeper Paddy Mullaney spilled a Nicky O’Connell free.

It put Clare into the lead for the first time but it was to be short lived as Willie Hyland hit three out of the next four scores to hold a 1-12 to 208 advantage by the 44th minute. Clare were beginning to dominate the centre through Clonlara pair Nicky O’Connell and John Conlon and it allowed Clare to hit back and build up a four point advantage with another brace from O’Connell and a Jonathan Clancy goal that emanated from a Domhnall O’Donovan clearance which evaded Laois’ last line.

However, it was at this stage that Clare failed to put away their opponents and put the result beyond doubt. Over half of Clare’s 15 wides came in the final quarter and that profligacy at one end allowed Laois a way back in at the other with Hyland and wingback Joe Fitzpatrick pointing before Owen Holohan grabbed a goal when seizing on a mistake by goalkeeper Tuohy in the 60th minute.

Cue an immense solo fightback from Nicky O’Connell who not only picked off two unanswered points to level the game by the 63rd minute but also set up Fergal Lynch for the leading point a minute later.

Again Clare failed to capitalise though by wasting a hatful of chances and inevitably it was Hyland who filled the void when first equalising with a free and then expertly flicking a Joe Fitzpatrick clearance past the onrushing Tuohy to seal the win.

It means that Clare must win their final game against Carlow in Cusack Park in two weeks to guarantee their passage in the Division 2 decider against Limerick. A task that in normal circumstances wouldn’t cause too many sleepless nights but in the current ‘growing pain’ guise, these aren’t normal circumstances.

Laois
Paddy Mullaney, John A Delaney, Brian Campion, Brian Stapleton, Joe Fitzpatrick (0-1), Matthew Whelan (0-1 1f), Brian Galvin, James Walsh (0-2), Sean Burke (0-2), Brian Dunne, Ger Reddin,Willie Hyland (1-10 8f), Owen Holohan (1-0), Neil Foyle, John Brophy (1-0)

Subs
Eoin Costelloe for Dunne (50 mins), Noel Costelloe for Burke (59 mins)

Clare
Donal Tuohy (Crusheen) (6), Pat Vaughan (Crusheen) (8), Conor Cooney (O’Callaghan’s Mills) (7), Domhnall O’Donovan (Clonlara) (7), Brendan Bugler (Whitegate) (6), James McInerney (Newmarket-on-Fergus) (6), Patrick O’Connor (Tubber) (7), Nicky O’Connell (Clonlara) (8) (0-7 4f), Sean Collins (Cratloe) (6), John Conlon (Clonlara) (7) (0-1), Fergal Lynch (Clooney/Quin) (6) (0-1), Jonathan Clancy (Clarecastle) (6) (1-0), Darach Honan (Clonlara) (7) (1-0), Diarmuid McMahon (Kilmaley) (7) (0-1), Conor McGrath (Cratloe) (7) (1-3 2f)

Sub
Caimin Morey (Sixmilebridge) (6) for Collins (49 mins)

Man of the Match
Willie Hyland (Laois) Referee Michael O’Connor (Limerick)

CLARE’S fate still lies in their own hands but they never seem to make it easy for themselves as manager Ger O’Loughlin expressed afterwards.

“I thought we showed a great auld spirit in the second half after a very, very poor and at times completely dead and no attitude first half but I couldn’t ask for any more in the second half.

“We gave them the game really with errors again and we just have to try and eliminate that at this level against better teams and I consider Laois to be one of the better teams in Division 2. If you give them the chance, they will take it and I thought overall that we might deserve to win it with our second half display. But when you miss as much as we missed in the second half from very scoreable positions and you concede the soft enough scores that we did, you are going to end up on the losing end. So I’m disappointed but as I have just said to the lads in the dressing room, we are just going to have to pick ourselves up because it’s still in our own hands. If we beat Carlow in Cusack Park in two weeks time, we will be OK.”

“The bottom line is if we won today, we could have eased our way into the Carlow match and tried a couple of things but now it’s a make-or-break game. So destiny is in our own hands but we definitely need to improve. You would go into the Carlow match worried because we are only hitting it in phases.”

THE INAUGURAL Ennis Duathlon was held on Sunday in Lees Road. The course started with a 3k trail run through the adjacent forest followed by a 14k cycle in windy conditions and finished with another run through the forest.

The short course meant a fast race and the first run was finished in under nine minutes by Mike Yelverton quickly followed by Con Doherty and Ennis Tri Club’s own Patrick Quinn. The first three females home were Derval Devaney, Andree Walkin and Maebh Hurst (below).

Thanks to everyone who helped out with the organisation and running of the event, the athletes, Jane and her physios, DJ yl, Dr. Martin Fitzgerald, Clare Red Cross, Clare County Council and the Gardai.

Ennis Triathlon Club would also like to thank the generous sponsors for this event: Tooling & Engineering Distributors, Kuehne & Nagle, HAAS Group, Seoidin, Tierney’s Cycles, The Bike Shop, Top Bike, Physiozone, Excel Zone, Carrie’s Cakes, O’Connor’s Bakery, Clare Sprint Water, Fergus Credit Union, Turnpike Fruit & Veg, Brian McCarthy Contractors, Sports AI, Base2Race, Dr John McCarthy. Results: 1 MikeYelverton 0:40:44 2 Con Doherty 0:41:37 3 patrick quinn 0:42:29 4 StephenTeeling Lynch 0:43:52 5 Chris Mintern 0:43:55 6 Conor Rooney 0:44:16 7 JUDE MCENTEE 0:44:19 8 Stephen Rooney 0:46:06 9 Shane Geary 0:46:23 10 Aaron O’Brien 0:46:47 11 James Skehan 0:47:02 12 paul horan 0:47:11 13 DAVIDBREW 0:47:16 14 Derval Devaney 0:47:20 15 Ian O’ Halloran 0:47:43 16 Paul Flannery 0:47:57 17 AndreeWalkin 0:48:06 18 Peter Fitzgerald 0:48:07 19 Colin McGann 0:48:47 20 Paul McMahon 0:49:03 21 ColmDaly 0:49:09 22 Cormac Murphy 0:49:15 23 John Cahill 0:49:22 24 Anthony Boyle 0:49:25 25 James Reddan 0:49:49 26 Eddie McMahon 0:49:59 27 Clyde Gaffney 0:50:07 28 Padraic Quinn 0:50:22 29 LiamKennedy 0:50:49 30 Albert Quigley 0:51:04

ONE man, one idea.

That’s what comes to the mind of many of the late Howard Flannery’s old friends when remembering his great crusade – his unique twin-track approach when it came to getting his vision up and running.

One part of it was to get people out running; the other to create a clinic in Ennis for people with special needs. One man, with one idea that came to pass in quite a remarkable way.

You have the clinic in Barefield; you have scores of people out running – cycling and walking too. All beating to the Clare Crusaders drum, early in the morning, late at night, any time.

And, in honour of this achievement, Crusaders present and past, not to mind hundreds of other runners and walkers, will gather on Easter Monday for the inaugural Ennis 10 – Howard Flannery Memorial.

“It’s a 10k and a 10m,” says Frank Landy, one of the chief organisers, “and its for everyone, from runners to walkers. When a group of us got together last October we said to ourselves, why not run a race to remember Howard by and run it every year.

“What better way to remember this remarkable man than by organising a good race, raising a few bob for char ity, letting people have a good bit of craic. That encapsulates Howard Flannery in a nut-shell. We’ll get more of Howard’s spirit between 10am and 12.30pm on Easter Monday than you would running ten or 15 marathons,” adds Landy.

“We have had a core group of people involved. Myself, Frank Cassidy, Tom Gleeson and Paddy Flannery. There wouldn’t be a Clare Crusaders clinic without Howard Flannery. People wouldn’t be out running but for Howard. People who would never have dreamt of doing marathons have marathons run. It has changed the life of the runners, the cyclists and the walkers. The Clare Crusaders are a community on to themselves,” continues Landy.

The Ennis 10 – Howard Flannery Memorial will start and finish opposite Ennis CBS, taking a route out by Roslevan, the 10m will pass the Clare Crusaders clinic at the five mile stage while 10k runners/walkers will take a shorter route back to Ennis.

“We’re promoting it as a big community event,” says Landy. “It’s not that people have lost their community spirit, but it’s that people haven’t been given the opportunity to show their support for the community and show their support for the clinic.

“We will have everybody from sandwich makers to people giving out water. It’s a huge operation and it will remind everyone what Howard set up and how far we’ve got.”

Kilkenny League 3 – Clare League 2 at Deridum Park, Kilkenny

IT was a real case of what might have been for Clare on Sunday afternoon when they just came up short in this national semi-final. With it the hopes of bridging a 40-year gap to when Clare last contested the final in this grade were dashed.

Mike Moloney’s side were undone after an heroic performance that saw them come back from the concession of two goals inside the first 18 minutes to draw level by half-time only to be undone by Kilkenny hero Ross King who settled the tie with his third goal in the 75th minute.

The winner came at a time when Clare had the better of the exchanges after rocking the hosts with a stunning comeback in the first half thanks to goal from Darragh Corry and Ruairi Norrby.

Kilkenny had started this game with a bang, netting as early as the sixth minute when a long ball into the Clare area wasn’t dealt with by the defence, which allowed Ross King head the ball home.

From there things got worse for Clare, albeit they had an early goal chance when Niall Whelan played a long ball over the top into the path of the pacey Ruairi Norrby, only for the Lifford man to be flagged off-side when through on goal.

Then on 18 minutes Sean Maguire tumbled over in the area and was awarded a penalty that Ross King slammed past Ciaran MacMathúna in the Clare goal. It looked bleak for Clare, very bleak, but from there they summoned a brilliant recovery to tee up a second half when everything was to play for.

The early lifeline came on 26 minutes when Jack Walsh’s in-swinging corner from the right was brilliantly met by Darragh Corry who directed the ball home past the hapless Greg Cummins.

Suddenly Clare were transformed, gaining a real grip on things in the middle of the park with Niall Whelan, Darragh Corry and Alan Roche to the fore, while Ruairi Norrby looked dangerous down the left flank.

Indeed, it was Norrby who put the game back in the melting pot when facing up to a free just outside the penalty area in the 40th minute after Darragh Corry was fouled, thumping his shot through the wall into the bottom corner of the net for the equaliser.

Clare were transformed; Kilkenny were on the back-foot, but the goal that would have completed a remarkable recovery never came.

Alan Roche had a half chance early in the second half when he ran onto a ball on the edge of the square but his effort flashed over the bar.

Thereafter things tightened considerably, with both defences on top, while the midfield exchanges became something of a war of attrition, with little room to manoeuvre, until the game’s two most impressive performers conjured up the goal that broke Clare hearts.

Sean Maguire had been a thorn in Clare’s side all day in the middle of the park threaded a ball through to Ross King on the right side, from there the schoolboy international used his strength to shrug off a challenge before driving to the net.

Clare were still not without hope, but by this stage the energy they’d expended in getting back into the game after their horror start began to wane on what was a soft pitch.

They did win two free-kicks on the edge of the area, but unlike the first half when Kilkenny’s wall was penetrated by Ruairi Norrby’s blistering shot, it held firm on both occasions and Clare’s chance was lost.

Clare
Ciaran MacMathúna (EnnisTown), Jack Walsh (Avenue United), Paraic O’Malley (Tulla United), Colin Smyth (Avenue Unitd), Darren Murphy (Bridge United), Niall Whelan (Tulla United), Darragh Corry (Tulla United),Alan Rochie (Avenue United), Darragh Sexton (Avenue Unitd), Eoin Fitzgerald (Avenue United), Ruairi Norrby (Lifford).

Subs
Mark Roche (Avenue United) for Norrby, Dara Fitzgerald (Bridge United) for Alan Roche,TomMcKeown (Tulla United) for Murphy.

Kilkenny
Greg Cummins, BarryWhelan,Andy Hickey, Rob Skehan, SamJohnston, Lee Delaney, ChrisValentine, Declan McQuillan, Sean Maguire, Ross King, Conor Gorey.

Man of the Match
Ross King (Kilkenny League)