Online Club Hurling Championship coverage brought to you by the Temple Gate Hotel—home to Chapter 24 Gastropub and Gate 96 Restaurant.
*Seán Rynne strikes the sliotar beyond Micheál Duffy. Photograph: Ruth Griffin.
INAGH/KILNAMONA hit over thirty points on their way to collecting the spoils in their first ever North Clare derby with Corofin in the TUS Clare SHC.
Inagh/Kilnamona 0-31
Corofin 0-18
Venue: Gurteen
The Clare Echo’s online coverage of the Clare SHC is with thanks to The Temple Gate Hotel.
A fine team display from every line of the field with a return of twelve different scorers helped Inagh/Kilnamona to a thirteen point win.
Conner Hegarty and Seán Rynne returned from the travels in the United States to take their place in midfield for the winners while David Fitzgerald who has been based Stateside for work purposes lined out at wing back for the Clare Cup finalists.
Shane Woods remains sideline with injury while Josh Guyler was togged among the substitutes, he had been ruled out of Ennistymon’s opening round win over Doonbeg in the TUS Clare SFC last week.
Just three points separated the sides at half time, Corofin giving away five points from frees which were dispatched by Aidan McCarthy and Éamonn Foudy. It took Corofin time to settle into the game, Inamona building up a 0-7 0-1 by the twelfth minute.
Corofin would have been very pleased with their first half showing, centre forward Diarmuid Cahill was effective when everyone put into the scoring zone while to be within a score of their opponents would have been the target from the outset.
By the thirty fifth minute of the game, Inamona had double their lead of half time and by the forty third they had tripled it. At this juncture, the tension of the opening half which saw Corofin manager Liam Donoghue square up to his Inamona counterpart Tomás Kelly was a distant memory.
With the victory sewn up entering the quarter, Kelly and his management able to use their full complement of substitutes, none of which diluted their lineup.
Hegarty at midfield was electric, picking up breaks and showing his stint in the Windy City of Chicago did no harm as he finished the hour with six points to his name. The victors worked the ball very well with short cross-field passes to play the ball out of defence while they could shoot and score from distance as is evident by their final tally.
Keith White and Conor Rynne were very solid in defence, White even popping up with a point on a rare sojourn up the field. Niall Mullins was not bombarded with a supply of ball but he still managed to finish up with his four points to his credit while Aidan McCarthy was effective with anything that came his way. Much stiffer tests lie ahead for Inamona, their second round tie with Clooney/Quin will be a more accurate barometer as to where they stand but the early signs are certainly positive so far as qualifying for the knockout stages are concerned.
From the Corofin perspective, this loss is not a patch on their 6-22 1-11 drubbing in the first round to Kilmaley last season. For a start, they were still in the game at half time and hitting 0-18 is not an overly poor evening’s work. Conor Leen’s exit before the final whistle with a suspected quad injury is a worry as they’ll need their full selection in both their hurling and football championships.
Retaining possession on their restarts is an area for Corofin to focus on, they lost the ball both directly and indirectly on breaks far too often from their puckouts and similarly allowed Inamona win possession from their restarts too easily. When they won primary possession, they created opportunities. Seán O’Brien, Diarmuid Cahill and Gearoid Cahill were their best players over the hour.
Scorers Inagh/Kilnamona: A McCarthy (0-9 8f), C Hegarty (0-6), N Mullins (0-4), F Hegarty (0-4), E Foudy (0-1 1f), T Barry (0-1), D Mescal (0-1), S Rynne (0-1) K White (0-1), E McNamara (0-1), D Fitzgerald (0-1), G Barry (0-1)
Scorers Corofin: G Kelly (0-8 6f 2’65), D Cahill (0-4), G Cahill (0-4), K O’Connor (0-2 1’Pen 1f)
Inagh/Kilnamona:
1: Éamonn Foudy
2: Pádraig Devitt
3: Keith White
4: Conor Rynne
5: James Hegarty
6: Jason McCarthy
7: David Fitzgerald
9: Conner Hegarty
12: Seán Rynne
17: Darren Cullinan
11: Aidan McCarthy
10: Fred Hegarty
13: Niall Mullins
14: Thomas Barry
15: David Mescall
Subs:
25: Gearoid Barry for T Barry (42)
8: Seamus Foudy for Cullinan (45)
19: Brian Foudy for S Rynne (49)
23: Evan McNamara for Mescall (54)
22: Kevin Hehir for Devitt (54)
Corofin:
1: Liam Corbett
8: Conor Leen
3: Damien O’Loughlin
15: Evan Doolin
7: Seán O’Brien
6: Killian O’Connor
5: Cillian McGroary
11: Gearóid Kelly
12: Micheál Duffy
14: Kevin Keane
13: Diarmuid Cahill
22: Seannán Kirby
9: Gearóid Cahill
10: James Organ
17: Cian Doolin
Subs:
4: Colin Fitzgerald for Leen (57) (inj)
Referee: Eoghan O’Leary (Whitegate)
