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*Cathal Killeen keeps the ball from Cratloe’s Ryan Larkin. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.
DOONBEG rampaged for three goals in the last ten minutes to secure a spot in the knockout stages and send 2023 champions Cratloe into the relegation playoffs.
Doonbeg 4-13
Cratloe 2-07
Venue: Clarecastle
Level heading into the final quarter, Doonbeg outscored Cratloe 3-4 to no-score in the closing fifteen minutes.
Having both suffered defeats to Éire Óg and St Joseph’s Miltown, the sides came into this clash battling for third spot, which would secure a quarter-final place given it was the seeded group. Defeat, meanwhile, would send either side into the relegation battle.
It was Cratloe who made the brighter start, scoring two goals inside the opening ten minutes, alongside a pair of Ryan Harkin points, to lead 2-2 to 0-3.
The first goal came from the penalty spot, with Harkin making no mistake after Diarmuid Ryan’s effort was illegally stopped by a foot block.
Jamie Moylan then doubled their advantage moments later, picking up possession outside the forty-metre arc before powering past his marker and firing the size five into the bottom-left corner.
As the opening quarter ended, Harkin brought his personal tally to 1-3 with another point to stretch Cratloe’s advantage to six points at 2-4 to 0-4.
Darragh O’Sullivan responded with his second point of the afternoon, which was initially waved wide. After consulting with his umpires, referee Gary Twomey overturned the decision and raised the white flag, although Doonbeg could still feel aggrieved as the effort appeared to have potentially come from outside the arc.
Doonbeg grabbed their first major shortly afterwards. Cathal Killeen’s effort dropped short, the rebound falling to corner-back Jason Linnane, who palmed the ball to the net to reduce the deficit to two.
Gavin O’Shea added another score for the Magpies, opting to fire over the bar rather than go for goal, before Harkin responded with his fourth and final point from play.
The Cork native appeared to tweak a muscle shortly afterwards and was visibly frustrated after an extremely potent opening twenty minutes.
Seán Conway swung over a point from an extremely acute angle in the twenty-second minute, before Eoin Killeen levelled proceedings four minutes later.
O’Sullivan and Rian Considine exchanged scores on the brink of half-time, leaving the sides level at 2-6 to 1-9 as they headed for the dressing rooms.
Considine got Cratloe off the mark inside the opening minute of the second half, but that proved to be the only score of the third quarter for either side. Cratloe left 1-5 behind them during that period, with Éamon Tubridy producing a stunning save to prevent Jamie Moylan from scoring his second goal.
In the middle of squandering that significant sum of scoring chances, Seán Collins was shown a black card for last year’s semi-finalists.
With just over fifteen minutes remaining, O’Sullivan brought the sides all square from a free before putting Doonbeg into a two-point lead in the forty-eighth minute, nailing a free off his left boot to raise an orange flag.
Tubridy was called into action again with ten minutes remaining, producing another sensational stop to push an attempt that appeared destined for the top-right corner onto the post.
Two minutes later, Doonbeg finally found the breakthrough they needed. Cathal Killeen superbly claimed a Cratloe kickout before playing the ball over the top of the defence, it deceived David Collins, allowing Eoin Killeen to latch onto the bounce before coolly slotting past Cian O’Gorman.
Their third goal followed five minutes later, with Gavin O’Shea rifling the ball into the back of the net to give Doonbeg a commanding 3-12 to 2-7 advantage.
With the game already out of sight and their senior status secured, Seán Conway found the net for their fourth a minute into injury time, sparking an eruption of noise from the crowd donning black and white.
Fittingly, it was Doonbeg stalwart David Tubridy who had the final say, notching the last score of the afternoon from a placed ball on the sound of the final whistle.
Most impressive for the victors were Tadhg Lillis, Cathal Killeen, Gavin O’Shea, Seán Conway and Darragh O’Sullivan. For Cratloe, Marc O’Brien, Conor Ryan and Rian Considine stood out across the hour.
All photographs by Gerard O’Neill.
Scorers Doonbeg: G O’Shea (1-2), D O’Sullivan (0-5, 1TPf, 1f), E Killeen (1-1), S Conway (1-1), J Linnane (1-0), D Burns (0-2, 1f), Conor O’Mahoney (0-1), D Tubridy (0-1, 1f)
Scorers Cratloe: R Harkin (1-4), J Moylan (1-0), R Considine (0-3)
Doonbeg:
1: Éamon Tubridy
4: Jason Linnane
3: Tadhg Lillis
2: Shane Bermingham
5: Conor O’Mahoney
6: Ger White
7: Cian O’Mahoney
8: Kevin McInerney
9: Cathal Killeen
10: Mikie Tubridy
26: Seán Conway
12: Gavin O’Shea
11: Darragh O’Sullivan
13: Eoin Killeen
15: Darragh Burns
Subs:
14: David Tubridy for Burns (54)
21: Daithí Conway for White (54)
22: Eoin Conway for C Killeen (57, blood)
18: Cian Clancy for Conor O’Mahoney (59)
19: Kian Conway for Bermingham (63)
Cratloe:
1: Cian O’Gorman
19: Michael Brennan
20: David Collins
2: Marc O’Brien
4: Riain McNamara
6: Ryan Bowden
5: Enda Boyce
8: Conor Ryan
9: Diarmuid Ryan
17: Shane Gleeson
11: Seán Collins
12: Rian Considine
21: Tadhg Lohan
22: Jamie Moylan
18: Ryan Harkin
Subs:
14: Conal O’Hanlon for Harkin (38)
10: Tommy Rooney for Gleeson (42)
23: Cathal Lohan for S Collins (46)
Referee: Gary Twomey (Ennistymon)
