CLARE PIHC: Clarecastle’s comeback against Ruan eliminates Tulla & Tubber knock out Parteen/Meelick

*Cian Galvin of Clarecastle gets away from Ruan’s Ryan Power. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.

CLARECASTLE’s dramatic comeback against Ruan has knocked Tulla out of the Clare PIHC with Parteen/Meelick also exiting the championship following their loss to Tubber.

Six teams are left standing in the Clare PIHC with Clarecastle and Whitegate claiming top spots in the respective groups to advance directly to the semi-finals.

Heading into Sunday’s game with Ruan, Clarecastle knew that anything other than victory would see their season at an end. They trailed by a point as the game went into four minutes of additional time but the Magpies finished with four unanswered points to claim victory, a result that has sent them straight into the semi-final.

Tulla were keeping a close watch on that tie as defeat for Clarecastle would see the East Clare side qualify. The fact that the Magpies won means that Tulla’s season is at an end.

Parteen/Meelick also needed a win when they faced Tubber but the North Clare outfit came from behind to claim victory, a result that has seen the South Clare outfit’s season come to an end.

Despite losing by a point to Whitegate, Corofin have secured their place in the next stage of the competition as have Bodyke who were already assured of a play-off place before they played Smith O’Briens on Sunday.

In the quarter-finals it will be Ruan versus Tubber and Corofin against Bodyke.

Smith O’Briens and Sixmilebridge, both without a win, play off to decide who will drop down to the regular intermediate grade for next season

Strong finish by Tubber eliminates Parteen/Meelick

Tubber 1-18
Parteen/Meelick 2-12
Venue: Shannon

A must win game for Parteen/Meelick and for long periods of this tie it looked like they would achieve their goal but, as Tubber have shown many times over the years, they are not easily beaten and they put in a strong finish to seal their quarter final place.

While they will be happy with the victory Tubber will surely be concerned with their wides tally which ran to fifteen in this tie and this is an area of their play they will need to improve on before their quarter final title with neighbours Ruan.

The South Clare outfit got off to a great start with an early goal and at one stage in the opening half they led 1-6 to 0-2.

At half time the margin between the sides was a goal with the score reading 1-8 to 0-8 in Parteen-Meelick’s favour.

Clive Earley. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.

The South Clare men held the edge for much of the second half but a Senan Dnford goal turned the tie in Tubber’s favour and they held on for victory on a day when Pappy Taaffe, Joe Clancy, Ronan Monahan, Clive Earley and Senan Dunford were to the fore.

Clare senior panelist Jack Kirwan top scored for Parteen-Meelick hitting 1-5 while Andrew cleary was their other goal scorers with the experienced Joe O’Connor landing 0-4.

On the day, however, they had to give best to Tubber and the South Clare outfit will now focus on the junior A football championship and their quarter final tie this Saturday against Kilfenora.

Scorers Tubber: Lorcan O’Grady (0-6); Senan Dunford (1-3); Joe Clancy (0-3), Ronan Monahan, Osgar Dunford, Domhnall McMahon, Macauley Brennan, Jordan Nolan, Blane Earley (0-1) each

Scorers Parteen/Meelick: Jack Kirwan (1-5); Andrew Cleary (1-1); Joe O’Connor (0-4); Gavin Marshall, Mark McDermott (0-1) each

Tubber:
1: Ronan Taaffe;

2: Fergal O’Grady,
3: Pappy Taaffe
18: Joey Droney;

5: Ronan Monahan,
6: Patrick O’Connor
7: Joe Clancy;

19: Lorcan O’Grady
9: Clive Earley;

13: Osgar Dunford,
17: Senan Dunford
15: Cathal Droney;

12: Cathal McNamara,
14: Domhnall McMahon,
19: Macauley Brennan;

Subs:
25: Jordan Nolan for C. McNamara;
24: Blaine Earley for M. Brennan;
23: Darragh O’Connor for F. O’Grady (inj.)

Parteen-Meelick:
16: Colm O’Connell;

17: Hugo McDonsald,
23: Tom Collins,
2: Dylan O’Connell;

4: Donal Kenny,
3: Sean Connolly,
7: Shane Fox;

8: Darragh McDermott,
9: Mark McDermott;

10: Daniel Cooney,
11: Dara Nolan,
12: Jack Kirwan;

15: Gavin Marshall,
14: Joe O’Connor,
13: Andrew Cleary;

Subs:
19: Sean Maxwell for S, Connolly;
5: Jack Meaney for D. O’Connell

Referee: Johnnie Healy (Smith O’Briens)

Corofin pipped as Whitegate claim top spot

Whitegate 1-22
Corofin 2-18
Venue: O’Garney Park, Sixmilebridge

An entertaining contest at Sixmilebridge ended with Whitegate edging home by the minimum margin against Corofin.

The end result sees both sides through to the play-offs with Whitegate topping the group and into the semi-final while Corofin face a quarter final contest.

There was little between the sides throughout with Whitegate requiring a strong finish to claim the spoils.

Colm Madden. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.

The early stages were evenly contested and at the end of the opening quarter the teams were level at 0-8 to 1-5.

The teams went to the half time break with Corofin leading by a goal, 1-11 to 0-11 and they were still a goal to the good at the three quarter stage when the score was 2-14 to 1-14.

From here to the finish Whitegate had the better of matters outscoring their opponents 0-8 to 0-4 as Corofin after their involvement in a number of crunch football ties in recent weeks tired a little.

Scorers Whitegate: Jake Gibbons (1-6); Finn Madden (0-5); Ronan Hayes (0-4); Eoin Quirke (0-3); Harry Bogenberger (0-2); Ian Fahy, Mikey Bogenberger (0-1) each

Scorers Corofin: Gearóid Cahill (0-8); Gearóid Kelly (0-6); Kevin Keane, Seanán Kirby (1-0) each; Diarmuid Cahill (0-2); James Organ, Evan Doolin (0-1) each

Whitegate;
1: Andrew Fahey

6: Eoin Quirke,
3: Conor McDermott,
4: Michael Heffernan;

17: Kalum Fahy,
5: Ian Fahy,
7: Liam Murray;

20: Eoghan Qunn
9: Ciaran Keenan;

15: Harry Bogenberger,
11: Finn Madden,
12: Jake Gibbons;

13: Mikey Bogenberger,
26: Ronan Hayes,
19: Colm Madden

Subs;
16: Donal Burke for R. Hayes;
8: Danny Hynes for C. Madden

Corofin;
1: Liam Corbett;

19: Cian O’Loughlin,
3: Fionn Clancy,
4: Marc O’Loughlin;

7: Eoin Davoren,
2: Damien O’Loughlin,
18: Evan Doolin;

14: Micheál Duffy,
9: Gearóid Kelly;

10: Kevin Keane,
8: Gearóid Cahill,
15: Gearóid Hanrahan;

11: Diarmuid Cahill,
12: James Organ,
13: Seanán Kirby

Subs:
17: Cian Doolin for Duffy
24: John Rees for Hanrahan

Referee; Brendan Hannon, O’Callaghans Mills

Magpies fly into semi-finals

Clarecastle 2-25
Ruan 2-22
Venue: Inagh

A big crowd at a well appointed Inagh on Sunday afternoon were treated to a lively encounter which produced some excellent scores.

The result was in doubt right to the final whistle but Clarecastle’s need for victory was evident in their play, particularly in the final minutes.

They were forced to make a late change as Conor Ralph suffered a shoulder injury in the warm up and this led to Jack Murphy being called into the starting fifteen.

They took the lead in the opening minute through Harry Doherty but Ruan’s response was strong as Aidan Lynch found the net when he finished a move involving Shane Punch and Robin Mounsey. Jamie Ryan and Mounsey followed with points and Ruan were four clear before the fifth minute had arrived.

Scorers were swapped regularly from here to the 25th minute at which stage the score was 1-9 to 0-9 in Ruan’s favour.

In the remaining time they outscored their opponents, 0-5 to 0-1 to take a seven point lead to the interval when the score was 1-14 to 0-10.

Clarecastle looked to be in trouble and they returned with Oisin Whelan and Evan Price in their line up in place of Jack Murphy and James Doherty. They had the better of the opening minutes shooting four unanswered points to move to within a goal of their opponents.

Ruan responded with a brace but substitute Oisin Whelan then struck a major blow for the Magpies when he found the net closing the gap to the minimum.

Ruan replied with a point to put two between the sides but, just at the three quarter stage, Clarecastle struck again and Evan Price found the net to put them ahead by the minimum. Robin Mounsey levelled from a line ball and a cracking final quarter was in the offing.

Clarecsastle pushed two clear but Ruan responded and Aidan Lynch struck for their second goal and followed with two points to put his side three clear as the game moved into the final five minutes.

Paul O’Connell and Can Galvin brought it back to the minimum but Patrick O’Halloran replied for Ruan before Stephen O’Halloran and Paul O’Connell scores tied it up at 2-21 each.

As the game move into four minutes of added time Frankie Lyons put Ruan back in front but the remaining minutes were dominated by Clarecastle who hit points from Eoghan Wallace, Darragh Healy, Paul O’Connell and Cian Galvin to seal their progress to the knockout stage.

Gallery of photographs by Gerard O’Neill.

Scorers Clarecastle: Paul O’Connell (0-7, 3f); Cian Galvin (0-5, 2f); Oisin Whelan (1-1); Evan Price (1-0); Rory O’Connell (0-3); Harry Doherty, James Doherty (0-2) each; Lee Brack, Conor Halpin, Stephen O’Halloran, Eoghan Wallace, Darragh Healy (0-1) each;

Scorers Ruan: Aidan Lynch (2-6, 0-5 f); Patrick O’Halloran (0-4), Robin Mounsey (0-3, 1f, 1 line ball), James Cullinan, Frankie Lyons, Jack McDonagh (0-2) each; Jamie Ryan, Piaras O’Se, Dara McInerney (0-1) each.

Clarecastle:
1: Cian Broderick;

12: Colin Brigdale,
3: Stephen O’Halloran,
7: Eoghan Wallace;

15: Conor Whelan
5: Darragh Healy
8;:Aaron Hayes;

6: Cian Galvin
19: Lee Brack

11: Harry Doherty,
13: Conor Halpin
10: Rory O’Connell;

18: Jack Murphy
14: Paul O’Connell,
25: James Doherty

Subs:
23: Oisin Whelan for J. Murphy (HT);
9: Evan Price for J. Doherty (HT);
24: Patrick Kelly for L Brack (51)
4: David Tuohy for A. Hayes (60)

Ruan:
1: Keelan Mounsey;

4: Ashley Brohan,
3: Patrick O’Gorman,
5: Jason Power;

18: Jamie Ryan,
6: James Cullinan,
7: Piaras Ó Sé

8: Ryan Power
9:Darragh McInerney

12: Shane Punch,
11: Robin Mounsey,
10: Patrick O’Halloran;

13: Jack McDonagh,
14: Aidan Lynch
15: Frankie Lyons

Subs:
27: Diarmuid Hastings for P. O’Gorman (45);
17: Christian Cummins for J. McDonagh (51)
20: Daniel Guinnane for P. O’Halloran (59)

Referee: Fergal O’Brien (Broadford)

Bodyke beat Smith O’Briens by ten

Bodyke 2-21
Smith O’Briens 1-14
Venue: Glenomra Park, Broadford

Bodyke had already qualified and Smith O’Briens were heading for the relegation battle before they clashed in this final group game in the TUS premier intermediate championship at Broadford on Sunday.

The East Clare neighbours produced an evenly fought first half at the end of which just a point separated the sides with the winners ahead on a score of 1-7 to 0-9.

A more evenly balanced Bodyke stepped up a gear after the break and they had the better of matters from here to the finish

With Seanie Doyle in top scoring form the winners dominated the second half exchanges. Lining out at corner forward Doyle finished the tie with an impressive 1-12 to his name while the other corner forward, Paddy Fitzgerald chipped in with 1-3 on a day when six players shared in their side’s impressive tally.

Mike Gough top scored for the Killaloe outfit with 1-5. They were short a number of players due to injury while Micheal Ryan was ruled out as he served a one match ban. They will now face Sixmilebridge in a relegation play-off, seeking to avoid dropping down to the division from which they won promotion just twelve months ago.

Scorers; Bodyke: Seanie Doyle 1-12; Paddy Fitzgerald 1-3; Fionn Slattery, Cathal Doyle, (0-2) each; Sean Wiley, Ian Murray (0-1) each

Scorers Smith O’Briens: Mike Gough (1-5), David O’Shea (0-3); Cathal Stritch, Eoin Heffron (0-2) each; Keth Stritch, Mark O’Halloran (0-1) each

Bodyke:

1: Cormac Doyle;

2: Seán Óg Kilkenny
3: Éanna Doyle
4: Tommy Wiley;

5: Kevin Drost,
6: Cian Minogue
7: Seán Wiley

17: Cathal Doyle
9: Tiernan Slattery;

10: Michael O’Brien,
15: Fionn Slattery,
12: Ian Murray;

13: Paddy Fitzgerald,
14: Sean Brwne,
18: Seanie Doyle

Subs:
11: Cathal McKenna for I. Murray;
24: Tommy Minogue for M. O’Brien
25: Oisin Slattery for S. Browne

Smith O’Briens;
16: Adrian Power;

7: Dwayne Sheedy,
2: Sean McMahon,
3: Stephen Geraghty;