*Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.
ÉIRE ÓG are Clare U21B Football Champions after overcoming the challenge of Cratloe, who failed to score in extra-time.
Éire Óg Inis: 0-20
Cratloe: 2-07
Venue: Clarecastle Astro Turf
By Gearóid Howley
It was a chaotic finish to normal time as Éire Óg captain Seán Perrill levelled proceedings in the sixty-fourth minute, before Cratloe won a free of their own giving then an opportunity to regain the lead but the free was overturned on the sound of the final whistle.
For Éire Óg it caps off a fairytale season which also saw them win a senior football and hurling championship double.
It was a lacklustre opening 20 minutes on the scoring front with Éire Óg leading on a scoreline of three points to no score before Cratloe’s Cathal Lohan nailed a two-pointer to kickstart the tie.
Eire Óg’s Danny Lyne then produced a super turnover with a thundering tackle before Luke Pyne latched onto the break, drove forward and drew the foul. It was the man who regained possession Lyne, that slotted over the resulting free for his third point of the day.
A number of cards were handed out during the game, including two blacks, with the first coming for Pyne in the 27th minute after a late swipe of his boot.
Cratloe utilised their one man advantage as they scored the last three-points of the half, two of those coming from Keelan O’Donoghue, before Tadhg Lohan levelled matters on the brink of the interval.
Seán Perrill put the Townies two points ahead once again after the restart, although it wasn’t long until Cratloe took the lead for the first time. A pass across the Éire Óg full-back line was intercepted by Tadhg Lohan, who dispatched the ball past Cian Howard to put the side coached by well-known GAA journalist Tommy Rooney ahead by the minimum.
O’Donoghue pushed their lead out to two shortly after through a placed ball, before Cratloe goalkeeper Cian O’Gorman, who ended up outfield for the final five minutes of the game, made the first of three superb saves.
As the third quarter came to a close, Rooney was shown a yellow card by referee Eoin Keane, resulting in an Éire Óg free being moved forward fifty metres, with Danny Lyne converting, adding insult to injury.
Two minutes later, Lyne notched over another straight-forward free following a three-up breach to restore parity.
With 53 minutes on the clock, Cian Howard nailed a two-point free from 45 metres to give the Ennis club a two score advantage heading into the closing stages.
Tadhg Lohan responded superbly for Cratloe, breaking a tackle and slotting over his second point of the evening.
A minute later, the Blues struck for their second goal after turning over Éire Óg in their own half-back line, with Riain McNamara showcasing exceptional ball-carrying ability before Éanna Collins rifled the ball to the back of the net to put them ahead by a single score with four minutes of normal time remaining.
As the clock hit sixty, captain Perrill slotted over his first free before slotting over another four minutes later, following a lengthy deliberation between Eoin Keane and his umpires, to send the game to extra-time.
As the whistle to bring the first sixty minutes to a close loomed, Cratloe drew a free of their own, but a scuffle broke out, prompting the referee to blow for full-time.
Éire Óg came firing out of the blocks in extra-time, with substitute Cillian Moroney having a shot on goal saved by O’Gorman directly from the throw-in.
Cratloe substitute John McAuliffe was shown a black card early in extra-time following an off-the-ball incident, and they momentarily went down to thirteen men after a second yellow was brandished to Cathal Lohan minutes later.
O’Gorman made yet another point-blank save on the cusp of the break in extra-time, but Bernard Keating was quickest to the rebound and launched the ball over the bar to give the Townies a one-point lead with the wind at their backs to come for the second period.
(All photographs by Gerard O’Neill)
Seán Perrill scored his fifth point of the afternoon two minutes into the final ten-minute spell, floating a shot from play over the bar from just inches inside the arc.
With five minutes to go, Cian Howard sealed the deal, pushing the lead out to four with another two-point free gliding straight over the black-spot. Cillian Moroney followed up directly from the kick-out with a fisted point.
As the game began to peter out, Cratloe became increasingly complacent with two three-up breaches in quick succession, both resulting in tap-over frees for Danny Lyne to bring what was an all-action game to a close.
Tadhg Lohan carried the fight for Cratloe throughout.
For Éire Óg, the relentless Darren Moroney impressed in his first appearance of the season for the club’s footballers at this level, while Seán Perrill, Alex McNamara and Niall Doyle also made valuable contributions.
Scorers Éire Óg Inis: D Lyne (0-8, 8f), S Perrill (0-5, 2f), C Howard (0-4, 2tpf), B Keating (0-1), A McElwee (0-1), C Moroney (0-1)
Scorers Cratloe: T Lohan (1-2), É Collins (1-0), K O’Donoghue (0-3, 2f), C Lohan (0-2, 1tp)
Éire Óg Inis:
1: Cian Howard
2: Evan Casey
3: Jack Lynch
7: Niall Doyle
5: Alex McNamara
6: Fionán Treacy
17: Luke Pyne
9: David Loftus
18: Darren Moroney
12: Bernard Keating
11: Seán Perrill
10: Conor Perrill
14: Andrew McElwee
15: Danny Lyne
13: Charlie O’Doherty
Subs:
4: Roan McDermott for Casey (HT)
26: Michael Heneghan for O’Doherty (42)
23: Cillian Moroney for McNamara (60, inj)
21: Luke Vaughan for McElwee (67)
20: Luke Malice for C Perrill (78)
Cratloe:
1: Cian O’Gorman
2: Jim Conolin
15: Marc O’Brien
3: Jake Higgins
17: Harry Strogen
6: Denis Mundy
5: Evin Crowe
9: Riain McNamara
14: Sam Sheehy
4: Éanna Collins
8: Cathal Lohan
7: Ultan Donnelly
13: Keelan O’Donoghue
11: Tadhg Lohan
19: Matthew Danaher
Subs:
24: John Moloney for Mundy (33)
18: John McAuliffe for Danaher (49)
6: Denis Mundy for Crowe (67)
27: Cian O’Gorman for Strogen (74)
20: Jack Bermingham for Higgins (78)
Referee: Eoin Keane (Corofin)
