*Patrick Ryan gets away from Jason McCarthy. Photograph: Ruth Griffin.
Scariff unquestionably demonstrated that there are now a senior force after doubling the dose on Inagh/Kilnamona to pick up where they left off in 2023 in O’Garney Park, Sixmilebridge.
Scariff 0-24
Inagh/Kilnamona 0-20
Venue: O’Garney Park, Sixmilebridge
Having blitzed the same opponents with a devastating four goal haul at the group stages twelve months ago, the East Clare side proved that it was definitely no flash in the pan as they controlled matters from the outset to keep their opponents at arm’s length.
An emphatic start had shades of last year’s goalfest as Mark Rodgers and Patrick Ryan both had glorious sightings on goal in the opening three minutes.
Crucially, they did pick off points as did other main protagonists Keelan Hartigan and Patrick Crotty in a blistering start that saw Scariff carve out a 0-6 to 0-1 advantage by the seventh minute.
A relieve Inagh/Kilnamona did finally find their feet with five of the next six by the turn of the second quarter as debutante Fred Hegarty and Niall Mullins both grabbed braces to lower the deficit to just the minimum at 0-7 to 0-6.
Scariff did manage to keep their noses in front and might have grabbed a goal only for Keelan Hartigan to pull tamely at Eamonn Foudy but had to settle for a 0-12 to 0-10 interval edge.
Inagh/Kilnamona did up the intensity on the restart to lower the arrears to just one but they failed to regain full parity and they would be duly punished when Scariff rediscovered their mojo with the next five points while Mark Rodgers also rifled a shot off the crossbar.
Shane Kavanagh (2) and the Crotty cousins Patrick (2) and Liam opened up an 0-18 to 0-12 cushion by the turn of the final quarter, one which they would never relinquish.
Fred Hegarty did his utmost to turn the tide but in terms of attacking threat, the loss of All-Ireland winner Aidan McCarthy was a seismic blow to Inagh/Kilnamona who only had two players scoring more than a point from play (Sean Rynne and Niall Mullins 0-2).
Instead, Scariff’s collective unity and determination weathered any Inagh/Kilnamona storm that came their way to clinch the perfect start to the new campaign.
Scorers for Scariff: Mark Rodgers 0-7 (6f), Patrick Crotty 0-6, Liam Crotty 0-4, Shane Kavanagh 0-3 (1f), Keelan Hartigan 0-2, Patrick Ryan 0-2
Scorers for Inagh/Kilnamona: Fred Hegarty 0-10 (8f, 1sl), Sean Rynne 0-2, Niall Mullins 0-2, Éamonn Foudy 0-2 (2f), Darren Cullinan 0-1, David Fitzgerald 0-1, James Hegarty, Conner Hegarty 0-1, Evan McNamara 0-1
Scariff
1: William Kavanagh
2: Seamus McCaul
3: Michael Scanlan
5: Daniel Treacy
4: Scott Cairns
6: Diarmaid Nash
7: Shane Kavanagh
8: Keelan Hartigan
9: Conor Downes
10: Liam Crotty
11: Patrick Crotty
12: Michael Barrett
13: Patrick Ryan
14: Mark Rodgers
15: Eanna O’Brien
Subs
20: Ben Sweeney for O’Brien (45)
17: Jack Ryan for Downes (54)
21: Tomas MacNamara for Barrett (59)
Inagh/Kilnamona
1: Éamonn Foudy
4: Conor Rynne
3: Shane Woods
2: Colin Shannon
5: Brian Foudy
6: James Hegarty
9: Seamus Foudy
7: Jason McCarthy
17: Jason Griffin
8: David Fitzgerald
11: Darren Cullinan
10: Fred Hegarty
12: Sean Rynne
14: Eoghan Foudy
15: Niall Mullins
Subs
20: Keith White for B. Foudy (HT)
30: Gearoid Barry for Griffin (HT)
27: Conner Hegarty for McCarthy (42)
18: Evan McNamara for Cullinan (54)
Referee: Chris Maguire (Wolfe Tones)
