*Ruan players celebrate following the final whistle. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.
SHANE PUNCH struck for goal in the final puck of the Clare Premier Intermediate Hurling Championship (PIHC) quarter-final to send Ruan through to the semi-finals for the second year running.
Ruan 1-20
Tulla 2-16
Venue: Clarecastle
In a game where the pendulum swing either direction on plenty of occasions, the last strike was the defining one.
Among the Tulla sideline, they feared the worst as Shane Punch stood up at an acute angle on the 21m, well to the left of the goal and he struck to sliotar above the hurleys of five of Tulla’s tallest players and to the roof of Daniel Vaughan’s net.
A bright start from Ruan saw them lead for almost the entire duration opening half, Tulla would have been content to only trail by two points at half time knowing they hadn’t fully got going.
Within the space of 81 seconds, Tulla struck for 2-1 without reply in the early stages of the second half which put them well and truly on the front foot. They lost their footing completely in the final quarter, failing to score for the final twelve minutes of normal time and the entirety of additional time with Ruan hitting 1-4 without reply from the fiftieth minute to the final whistle to emerge with the spoils.
Following a stop-start first half, Ruan held a 0-8 0-6 advantage, eight of the fourteen scores coming from placed balls via Aidan Lynch and Seán Withycombe. Withycombe put Tulla in front first before Lynch equalised with his second effort, he had been penalised for taking too long with his first free by referee Joe Mullins.
Four Lynch scores on the trot, three from frees had Leon Quirke’s Ruan 0-4 0-1 in front by the tenth minute. The gap was four points entering the second quarter after Ryan Power picked off a score in between frees from either side.
Keelan Mounsey denied Tulla corner forward Emmet Mulcahy a potential green flag but the former Clare minor scored Tulla’s second point from play on twenty one minutes, Colin Corbett nabbing their first two minutes previous.
Centre back James Cullinan mopped up ball throughout the tie for Ruan and one such instance led to Brian Roughan putting his name on the scoresheet after Cullinan offloaded him possession. Points from Corbett, Éanna Culloo and Withycombe when he was outnumbered four to one helped Tulla to lower the gap by half time.
They did miss out on three goal chances in the one sequence of play with twenty nine minutes on the clock. Keelan Mounsey made a save from Withycombe’s shot, Daragh Corry struggled to get a shot away with the rebound before Ryan Molloy dropped the sliotar out of his hands and the danger was diverted.
On the restart, Ruan went four points clear with two Lynch frees and a Frankie Lyons point to cancel out a Withycombe free. Then came Tulla’s dominant spell with 2-1 in eighty one seconds.
Daragh Corry landed their first major, Dan Withycombe turned over possession, offloaded to Colin Corbett who found the on-rushing Tony Leyden, he had a runner on his side in the guise of Feargal Kearney who broke up the field with a tremendous run, drew his opponent and handpassed to Corry who finished to the net.
From the puckout, Tulla turned over the ball in their own half-back line, Pádraic Mulconroy sent a dropping ball into the square which was batted out by Ruan goalkeeper Keelan Mounsey but only as far as Seán Withycombe who finished to the back of the net.
Again they claimed the next puckout and Ronan Molloy pointed when given the chance to complete their ten point turnaround.
Ryan Power settled Ruan with his second score of the evening to calm the rising nerves, Withycombe dispatched another free before Robin Mounsey potted his first point of the evening on thirty nine minutes, this was followed by another Frankie Lyons white flag before Tulla hit five points in a row to go six points ahead with forty eight minutes played.
Crucially the East Clare side would fail to score for the remainder of the game as Ruan once again dug deep with Mounsey converting two frees, James Cullinan scoring from long range, an effort which was initially ruled wide by the umpires but then overruled, Lynch scored his third point from play and then Punch stepped up with the knockout blow.
Spirit is growing in the Ruan camp with the manner in which they are winning games. They came from five points down at half-time to beat Bodyke by two points to seal their place in the quarter-finals while on this occasion they were trailing by six points with twelve minutes of normal time remaining. The manner of such victories cannot be understated and will fuel their confidence heading into the last four.
Although they still scored six points in the third quarter, they conceded 2-6 and the manner in which they struggled at this spell was almost the losing of the game for them. They lost control of the game and were unable to win primary possession from their own restarts but withstood the storm. Best players for the winners were Ryan Power, Aidan Lynch, Jason Power, James Cullinan, Frankie Lyons and Patrick O’Gorman.
Sixteen wides, eight in each half were hurtful for Tulla who will find themselves in the second tier for the seventh year in succession in 2026. Despite not hitting the peak of their powers in the first half, they were still in the game and took control in the third quarter but became very disorganised. Confusion seeped in from the sideline, it was highlighted with the substitution of Dan Withycombe on fifty five minutes, at first they ended up with sixteen players on the pitch and then fourteen when Daragh Corry was told he was being taken ashore. Manager Brian Quinn was shown a straight red card before normal time.
They still only lost by a single point and while they were outhurled in the opening half it was they that let a place in the semi-finals slip from their fingers. Colin Corbett, Seán Withycombe and Fearghal Kearney were prominent for Tulla.
Scorers Ruan: A Lynch (0-10 7f), R Mounsey (0-3 2f), S Punch (1-0), R Power (0-2), F Lyons (0-2), B Roughan (0-1), P O’Halloran (0-1), J Cullinan (0-1)
Scorers Tulla: S Withycombe (1-9 7f), C Corbett (0-4), D Corry (1-0), E Mulcahy (0-1), É Culloo (0-1), R Molloy (0-1)
Ruan:
1: Keelan Mounsey
2: Jason Power
3: Killian Ryan
4: Patrick O’Gorman
5: Ashley Brohan
6: James Cullinan
7: Brian Roughan
9: Ryan Power
8: Darragh McInerney
13: Jack McDonagh
11: Robin Mounsey
12: Patrick O’Halloran
15: Frankie Lyons
10: Shane Punch
14: Aidan Lynch
Subs:
18: Christian Cummins for O’Halloran (49)
17: Conor Wynne for McDonagh (58)
Tulla:
1: Daniel Vaughan
3: Feargal Kearney
4: Liam McInerney
2: Fionn Ryan
5: Tony Leyden
6: Ryan Hayes
7: Padraic Mulconroy
8: David Meehan
9: Éanna Culloo
12: Dan Withycombe
11: Seán Withycombe
10: Colin Corbett
15: Ronan Molloy
14: Daragh Corry
13: Emmet Mulcahy
Subs:
20: Colm McInerney for D Withycombe (55)
19: William Halpin for Mulcahy (58)
27: Niall Bolton for Corry (58)
Referee: Joe Mullins (Clonlara)
