Ennistymon have stormed into the quarter-finals of the Clare SFC and taken the scalp of last yearโ€™s beaten finalists Cratloe in the process.

Ennistymon 3-06
Cratloe 1-07
Venue: Cusack Park, Ennis

For this do or die contest, Cratloe were slight favourites and looked to justify this tag for the majority of the encounter but they were left sucker punched when their inability to score in the final quarter was punished by a determined Ennistymon that are showing signs of improvement in each outing.

Conditions at a wet Cusack Park on Sunday morning may have caught both sides by surprise as when Ennistymon and Cratloeโ€™s footballers left North Clare and South Clare respectively, there were little if any drops of rain en route.

They saw enough rain during their sixty minute contest to last them a week while their supporters were grateful to be able to avail of either stand in Cusack Park, the absence of such a facility would surely have led to many departing earlier than planned as the football itself was not worthy of maintaining their attention while battling a constant downpour.

An opening quarter in which both clubs registered two scores each saw Cratloe in front with one of their efforts being a goal from Conor McGrath. He hit the net on five minutes when a Tiernan Hogan line ball was intercepted by Enda Boyce, this led to a combination between the McInerney brothers Cathal and Jack with the younger of the two picking out McGrath with an excellent pass and once given the opportunity he made no mistake.

Substitute David Fitzgerald with a nice score from long range responded for the North Clare side. The Clare senior hurler was brought into the fray to replace his county teammate Cathal Malone who limped off with an injury after seven minutes. Their Banner colleague, Diarmuid Ryan finished out the scoring in the first quarter to put Cratloe 1-01 0-02 ahead.

Within four minutes, Ennistymonโ€™s confidence rose sharply with the Rouine cousins Eoin and Brendan both raising green flags. An indirect free from Pierce DeLoughrey was miscontrolled and turned over with the ball landing at the feet of Eoin Rouine with a simply tap in required by the Clare U20 captain which he duly obliged on.

A dropping ball from Cillian Rouine was batted down by DeLoughrey with Brendan Rouine quickest to react to the break and from the 20m line he spotted the Cratloe netminder was slightly off his line and he excellently lobbed him and left the ball in the top right corner of the net to leave it 2-02 1-02 on twenty nine minutes. Late scores from Podge Collins and Conal Oโ€™Hanlon reduced that gap to the minimum at the sounding of the half-time whistle.

Jack McInerney and Diarmuid Fahy traded scores on the restart while Cratloe added on further efforts from Podge Collins and Cathal McInerney. Ennistymonโ€™s return of a single score in the third quarter did damage their challenge but did not prove fatal whereas Cratloeโ€™s inability to register a single score in the final quarter was a major blow to their cause.

Notably Ennistymon upped their workrate in the final quarter and were much smarter in their use of possession while Fahy struck for the killer blow on sixty one minutes to seal their place in the last eight.

Adam Ralph, Brendan Rouine, Diarmuid Fahy and Ciaran McMahon were best for Noel Croweโ€™s side while David Collins, Diarmuid Ryan and Sean Hynan were prominent for Colm Collinsโ€™ Cratloe.

Scorers Cratloe: C McGrath (1-00), C McInerney (0-02 2f), P Collins (0-02), C Oโ€™Hanlon (0-01 1f), D Ryan (0-01), J McInerney (0-01 1f)

Scorers Ennistymon: D Fahy (1-02), B Rouine (1-01), E Rouine (1-00), T Hogan (0-01), D Fitzgerald (0-01), C McMahon (0-01)

Ennistymon:
1: Noel Sexton

2: Cathal Reilly
3: Darragh Connelly
4: Adam Ralph

5: Sean Rouine
7: Ciaran McMahon
6: Sean Oโ€™Driscoll

9: Cillian Rouine
8: Mattie Kinch

19: John Murphy
11: Cathal Malone
10: Brendan Rouine

15: Tiernan Hogan
17: Killian Malone
14: Eoin Rouine

Subs:
18: David Fitzgerald for Malone (7) (Inj)
20: Diarmuid Fahy for Hogan (HT)
23: Liam Devitt for Murphy (35)
25: Lawrence Healy for K Malone (46)
12: Michael McDonagh for E Rouine (56)

Cratloe:
1: Pierce DeLoughrey

2: David Collins
3: Kevin Harnett
4: Sean Hynan

5: Liam Markham
6: Sean Collins
7: Enda Boyce

8: Michael Brennan
9: Diarmuid Ryan

10: Conor McGrath
11: Padraic Collins
12: Rian Considine

15: Cathal McInerney
14: Conal Oโ€™Hanlon
13: Jack McInerney

Subs:
17: Shane Gleeson for Boyce (24) (Inj)
19: Billy Sheehan for J McInerney (55)
18: Sean Chaplin for Considine (61).

Referee: Wayne King (St Josephs Doora/Barefield)

Related News

john moran jennifer carroll macneill patrick o'donovan 1
Minister says option from HIQA review will be decided before Christmas
banner plaza 1
Planning system 'abused' as Uisce ร‰ireann pause works on Supermac's Plaza over judicial review
1 Cutting of Ribbon CI O'Flynn Bench-2
Stone benches unveiled in Eyre Square in memory of O'Gorman & O'Flynn
garda checkpoint ennis 10-04-20 3
Scariff checkpoint uncovers motorist's claim that his car is registered to six year old daughter
Latest News
Screenshot 2025-10-16 111517
Clare Echo Halloween photo contest
john moran jennifer carroll macneill patrick o'donovan 1
Minister says option from HIQA review will be decided before Christmas
o'callaghans mills vs ruan 04-10-25 colm cleary 1
Cleary swaps World Trade Center for Cusack Park in Mills bid for promotion
banner plaza 1
Planning system 'abused' as Uisce ร‰ireann pause works on Supermac's Plaza over judicial review
1 Cutting of Ribbon CI O'Flynn Bench-2
Stone benches unveiled in Eyre Square in memory of O'Gorman & O'Flynn
Premium
Stig hitting top gear as Magpies make final push for promotion
St Flannan's & St Joseph's Tulla come from behind to force draws in Harty Cup first round
Horgan hopeful of more success with Truagh/Clonlara
'There was no getting past our defence' - Kilmihil brought different attitude says captain Currane
Scariff checkpoint uncovers motorist's claim that his car is registered to six year old daughter

Advertisement

Subscribe for just โ‚ฌ3 per month

If youโ€™re here, you care about County Clare. So do we. Did you rely on us for Covid-19 updates, follow our election coverage, or visit The Clare Echo every week for breaking news and sport? The Clare Echo invests in local journalism and we want to safeguard its future in our county. By becoming a subscriber you are supporting what we do, will receive access to all our premium articles and a better experience, while helping us improve our offering to you. Subscribe to clareecho.ie and get the first six months for just โ‚ฌ3 a month (less than 75c per week), and thereafter โ‚ฌ8 per month. Cancel anytime, limited time offer. T&Cs Apply. www.clareecho.ie.