Cratloe produce Neville-say-die finish to edge out Scariff

*Diarmuid Ryan catches the sliotar. Photograph: Joe Buckley

DAIRE NEVILLE was among the young Cratloe brigade to lead the line scoring three points in the final ten minutes as John O’Gorman’s side edged out Scariff in the opening round of the TUS Clare SHC.

Cratloe 1-24
Scariff 1-21
Venue: Glenomra Park, Broadford

The Clare Echo’s online coverage of the Clare SHC is brought to you by The Temple Gate Hotel.

In the absence of experience, it was Cratloe’s young guns up front that provided the perseverance to shade a superb war of attrition with Scariff in Glenomra Park, Broadford.

Level a whopping 13 times entering the final ten minutes, it was Cratloe that managed to find that extra gear when needed most coming down the final straight as senior sophomores Daire Neville (3) and Cathal Lohan defied the pressurised cauldron to cement the opening points in the Group of Death.

Indeed, if neutrals were informed that Cratloe would be without vastly experienced attackers Cathal McInerney and Podge Collins while Conor McGrath would be held to a solitary point, one would have wondered where their scores would come from.

Well, the answer was a combination of Rian Considine’s unerring freetaking, a masterclass of centre-back play through Diarmuid Ryan and those two aforementioned young guns Neville (0-6) and Lohan (1-3) who combined for twelve points of their side’s tally.

In such an inch-tight wrestle for supremacy, those contributions were essential, especially having conceded what look like a narrative-altering goal to the unmarkable Mark Rodgers by the two-thirds mark.

That goal powered Scariff 1-18 to 1-15 clear but if anything if only seemed to motivate Cratloe even further as they would outscored Donal Moloney’s side by 1-9 to 0-3 in the remaining 25 minutes.

That said, the game would end in dramatic circumstances as a Scariff puck-out was fielded by Mark Rodgers who would be unceremoniously wrestled to the ground by David Collins. Not expecting the Clare star to somersault back to his feet and plant the ball in the net, Referee Fergal O’Brien had already blown his whistle for a free while subsequently also sending off Collins with a straight red for the cynical challenge.

Understandably, Scariff were aggrieved to have not received advantage but Rodgers unleashed a bullet from the resulting 25 metre free that was admirably blocked by goalkeeper Eoin Deegan while Keelan Hartigan’s follow-up was deflected for a ’65 that ultimately yielded nothing.

Hartigan, Rodgers, Patrick Crotty, Conor Downes and new defensive anchor Liam Crotty were all superb leaders for Scariff while Diarmuid Ryan was simply a sliotar magnet throughout, aided most by chief marksmen Rian Considine, Daire Neville and Cathal Lohan.

With the aid of the slight conditions, Rodgers (2) and Hartigan nudged Scariff 0-3 to 0-1 in front by the fifth minute, only to be outdone by a Cathal Lohan wondergoal only two minutes later when Rian Considine centred for him to unleash an unstoppable bullet to the top left corner of William Kavanagh’s net at 1-1 to 0-3.

(All photographs by Joe Buckley)

Patrick Crotty immediately equalised, resulting in a seesaw battle that saw the sides level six times by the start of the second quarter. A three point rally from Cratloe through Considine (2) and Ryan did finally put some daylight between the sides nearing the break but they simply couldn’t shake off Scariff who finished with injury-time points for Conor Downes and Mark Rodgers to ensure a 1-12 to 0-15 stalemate.

That blow-for-blow pattern was maintained into the new half albeit that a Diarmuid Ryan surge looked to be shaping up for a goal attempt until being timely blocked by Liam Crotty.

Mark Rodgers was much more clinical at the two-thirds mark when gathering a Conor Downes pass to slalom his way through and pick his spot in the right corner to see his Scariff side soar three points clear.

It should have provided a strong platform to build on but instead it was Cratloe that stepped up majorly, with a four point burst through Considine (2), Diarmuid Ryan and Daire Neville actually putting their side back in front only five minutes later at 1-19 to 1-18.

Patrick Ryan arrowed over a worthy leveller while Neville and Rodgers traded points by the 52nd minute at 1-20 apiece.

With the game firmly up for grabs, it was Cratloe that held the better composure to double the dose on Scariff who, having been knocked out by the same opponents in last year’s quarter-final, are now on the backfoot in the Group of Death.

Scorers for Cratloe: Rian Considine 0-9 (8f); Daire Neville 0-6; Cathal Lohan 1-3; Diarmuid Ryan 0-4; Conor Ryan 0-1, Conor McGrath 0-1

Scorers for Scariff: Mark Rodgers 1-9 (6f); Patrick Crotty 0-4; Keelan Hartigan 0-3; Conor Downes 0-2, Eanna O’Brien 0-2; Patrick Ryan 0-1

Cratloe
1: Eoin Deegan

2: Riain McNamara
4: David Collins
17: Enda Boyce

5: Jamie Moylan
6: Diarmuid Ryan
3: John Flanagan

9: Daithi Collins
11: Conor McGrath

19: Conor Ryan
7: Cathal Lohan
22: Liam Markham

12: Tadhg Lohan
14: Rian Considine
10: Daire Neville

Sub
13: Podge Collins for T. Lohan (54)

Scariff
1: William Kavanagh

6: Diarmaid Nash
2: Scott Cairns
3: Michael Scanlan

7: Sean Collins
12: Liam Crotty
10: Michael Barrett