*Ballyea’s Mossy Gavin. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill
BALLYEA are on the brink of relegation from the top tier of the Clare Cup.
County champions Ballyea suffered a big defeat at the hands of Clonlara in the latest round of action while Feakle impressed when overcoming Inagh/Kilnamona.
In Division 1B, Wolfe Tones and Parteen/Meelick who are both battling to get away from the relegation zone recorded wins while Whitegate overcame East Clare neighbours Scariff.
Action continues in the competition this coming weekend with the second last round of games.
All so easy for Clonlara
Clonlara 1-30
Ballyea 0-8
Venue: Ballyea
A contribution of 1-14 from Micheál O’Loughlin was the highlight as Clonlara recorded an easy win over a very much understrength Ballyea outfit in this FutureTicketing Clare Cup Division 1A clash on Wednesday.
In glorious sunshine the visitors raced 0-6 clear inside the opening ten minutes and they continued to dominate for the remainder of the half at the end of which they were 1-16 to 0-2 in front.
Ballyea had the better of the early second half exchanges, outscoring their opponents 0-3 to 0-1 inside the opening five minutes.
Clonlara quickly regained the upperhand and hit eight unanswered points to kill off the home side’s challenge.
Inter county commitments, injuries and exams robbed the home side of most of their first choice squad.
Clonlara: Seimi Gully; Michael Clancy, Ger Powell, Logan Ryan; Patrick Conlon, Colm O’Meara, David Fitzgerald (0-3); Jathan McMahon, Dylan McMahon (0-2); Micheál O’Loughlin (1-14, 1-7 frees, 0-2, ‘65’s), Cian Moriarty (0-4), James Mc Cormick (0-2); James Hastings (0-2), Daniel Moloney (0-1), Brian McLeish;
Subs: Diarmuid Stritch (0-1) for C Moriarty; Moriarty for Stritch; James Carmody for McLeish; Stritch for Moriarty; Stephen Cullen (0-1) for Moloney;
Ballyea: Barry Coote; Brian Casey, Peter Casey, Brian Longe; Aonghus Keane, Gearoid O’Connell, Joe Neylon; Kieran McDonnell, Brian Murphy; Eoghan Gavin (0-1), Niall Deasy (0-5, 4 frees), David Meaney (0-1); Mossy Gavin (0-1), Cathal Doohan, Cillian Gavin;
Sub: Evan Coote for M. Gavin
Referee: Niall Malone (Éire Óg)
Four in a row for Feakle
Feakle 3-28
Inagh/Kilnamona 1-22
Venue: Feakle
Feakle made it four wins in a row when they accounted for Inagh/Kilnamona at Feakle on Saturday afternoon.
Ahead 1-16 to 1-11 at half time they continued to dominate after the break and ran out comfortable winners.
Once again Shane McGrath top scored for the winners, finishing with 0-12 to his credit.
Nine payers shared in the winner’s tally with their goals coming from Stevie Conway, Martin Daly and Raymond Bane.
Josh Guyler accounted for the Inagh-Kilnamona goal
Feakle: Liam O’Connor; Cillian Bane (0-1), Evan McMahon, Oisin Clune; Eoin Daly, Con Smyth, Gary Guilfoyle (0-1); Enda Noonan, Eoin Tuohy (0-2); Oisin Donnellan (0-4), Shane McGrath (0-12), Stevie Conway (1-4); Martin Daly (1-1), Eoin O’Connor (0-1), Ronan O’Connor;
Subs: Raymond Bane (1-1) for R. O’Connor; Eoin McGuinness for R. Bane (inj); Justin Nelson for Noonan; Diarmuid Bane for M. Daly;
Inagh-Kilnamona; Pa Kelly; Jamie Wynne, Colin Shannon, Cathal McConigley; Darren Cullinan (0-1), Keith White (0-3), Shane Woods; Conner Hegarty (0-1), Jason Griffin (0-1); Seamus Foudy (0-1), Gerry Coote (0-4), Shane Vaughan (0-1); Josh Guyler (1-2), David Mescall (0-6), Keelan Guyler (0-1);
Subs: Jason McCarthy (0-1) for McConigley (inj.); Eoghan Foudy for Griffin; Evan McNamara for Coote; Liam Hehir for Wynne; Keith Barry for K. Guyler;
Referee; John Bugler (Whitegate)
Wolfe Tones on top in high scoring affair
Wolfe Tones 3-22
Cratloe 2-22
Venue: Shannon
A high scoring tie resulted when neighbours Wolfe Tones and Cratloe clashed at Shannon on Saturday in this Division 1B Clare Cup tie.
At the halfway point the home side held a one point advantage, 2-10 to 1-12, their first half goals having come from Cian O’Rourke and Liam O’Dwyer while Cathal McInerney scored the Cratloe goal.
Scores continued to come hot and fast in the second half when O’Rourke struck for his team’s second while Cratloe’s goal in this half came from Conor McGrath.
A number of players contributed to the winner’s impressive tally including Stephen Donnellan, Dean Devanney and Billy Connors in addition to the goalscorers.
Wolfe Tones: Daithi O’Connell; Shane Nihill, Liam Murphy, Brian Murphy; Stephen Donnellan, Daithi Lohan, Sam Meaney; Sean Costello, Dean Devanney; Cian O’Rourke, John Guilfoyle, Luke Merrigan; Kevin McCafferty. Billy Connors, Liam O’Dwyer;
Subs; Aaron Kelly for Merrigan; Rhys Reynolds for Costello;
Cratloe: Gearoid Ryan; Sean Collins, David Collins, Caimin Deegan; Shane Neville, Damian Browne, Rian McNamara; Daithi Collins, Cathal Lohan; Sean Gallagher, Cathal McInerney, Jack Donnelly; Sam Sheehy, Kevin Danaher, Conor McGrath;
Subs: Luke Healy for Danaher; Jake Moylan for Lohan
Referee: Fergal O’Brien (Broadford)
Strong first half showing from St. Josephs
St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield 1-19
Clarecastle 0-16
Venue: Gurteen
A strong first half showing at the end of which they led by ten points laid the foundation for St. Josephs’ victory over Clarecastle in this Clare Cup tie at Gurteen on Saturday afternoon.
Full forward Alan O’Neill converted a penalty for the game’s only goal and this helped his side to a 1-14 to 0-7 lead at the halfway point.
Clarecastle did better in the second period and they closed the gap but the damage had been done in the opening period and the Doora/Barefield side emerged with a merited victory.
Colin Brigdale impressed for the Magpies and scored 0-3 from wing back while David Tuohy, Conor Halpin and Gearoid Ryan were others to do well.
St. Joseph’s Doora/Barefield: Paul Madden; Darragh McMahon, Brian Clancy, Cian Lahiffe; Adam Mungovan, Francie Meaney, Eoghan McMahon; Dara O’Shea, Jack Hannan; Brian Guilfoyle, Eoin Lahiffe, Cathal Ruane; Cian Barron, Alan O’Neill, Conor Tierney;
Subs; Donal O’Halloran for Barron (inj); Ian Williams for Hannan; Podge Geraghty for Guilfoyle; Eoin Burke for Tierney;
Clarecastle; Cian Broderick; Aaron Hayes, Cian Donnelly, Gearoid Ryan; Colin Brigdale, Eoghan Wallace, Conor Griffin; David Tuohy, Conor Halpin; Niall Galvin, Rory O’Connell, Lee Brack; Oisin Whelan, Oisin Casey, Josh Brack;
Subs; Jack Hayes for Galvin; Noel Copley for O’Connell
Referee: John Bugler (Whitegate)
Parteen/Meelick on top in battle against Smith O’Briens
Parteen/Meelick 0-20
Smith O’Briens 1-13
Venue: Meelick
Oisin Hickey contributed 0-9, six from play, as Parteen/Meelick accounted for Smith O’Briens on Saturday evening.
The winners led 0-11 to 1-3 at half time with the Killaloe club’s goal coming from David Gough.
The winners continued to hold a slight edge in the second half despite the best efforts of Micheal Ryan who scored some excellent points for Smith O’Briens.
Darragh McDermott (0-3) Greg Daly and Rory McDermott with 0-2 each were others to contribute to the winner’s tally.
Parteen/Meelick: Alan Murnane; Donal Kenny, Phil Lavin, David O’Sullivan; Gavin Rackard, Nathan Fox, Adam Sherlock; Darragh Mc Dermott, Daniel Cooney; Michael McEvoy, Greg Daly, Ruairi McDermott; Damian Moloney, Gearoid Reddy, Oisin Hickey;
Subs: Shane Fox for McEvoy; Eoin Phelan for R. McDermott; Joe Sherlock for A. Sherlock; Shane Dillon for O’Sullivan
Smith O’Briens: Mark McInerney; Cian Moloney, Steven Geraghty, Brian McInerney; Mark O’Halloran, Eddie Bourke, Dwayne Sheedy; Eoin Heffron, David Gough; Cillian Collins, Micheál Ryan, Dara Nolan; Eoin Power, Pat Aherne, John Cusack;
Subs: Caimin Quigley for E Power; Tony Foley for D. Nolan;
Referee: Kieran Liddane (Sixmilebridge)
Minimum margin separates East Clare neighbours
Whitegate 3-18
Scariff 2-20
Venue: Whitegate
East Clare neighbours Whitegate and Scariff served up a very exciting high scoring contest when they clashed in Division 1B of the Clare cup on Saturday evening.
A tie in which the lead changed hands on a number of occasions ended in a one point win for Whitegate who continued their recent good form on a day when a Cian McDermott goal shortly before the final whistle played a big part in the victory.
Whitegate opened an early 0-6 to 0-4 lead but, helped by a Keelan Hartigan goal, Scariff led at the break when the score was 1-11 to 0-10.
Whitegate struck for an early second half goal from Thomas Holland but Scariff quickly regained the lead and went 0-15 to 1-10 in front.
A Paddy Burke goal helped Whitegate get back in front before a Cian McDermott major following good work from Conor Whelan who contributed 0-11 on the evening, put the winners five points clear.
With time ticking away, Scariff hit back and Shane Kavanagh found the net from a 20m free but time wasn’t on their side and Whitegate held on for victory.
Whitegate: Andrew Fahy; Ciaran Quinn, Finn Madden, Dylan White; Eoin Patterson, Colm Madden, Ian Fahy; Liam Sugrue, Conor Whelan; Conor McDermott, Thomas Holland, Liam Murray; Ciaran Keenan, Ronan Hayes, Paddy Burke;
Subs: Danny Hynes for C. Madden; Cian McDermott for Holland
Scariff: William Kavanagh; Eoghan Keehan, Michael Scanlan, Daniel Treacy; Jack Ryan, Shane Kavanagh, Diarmuid Nash; Conor Downes, Scott Cairns; Liam Crotty, Keelan Hartigan, Michael Barrett; Patrick Ryan, Tadhg Kavanagh, Eanna O’Brien
Subs: Cathal Madden for Treacy; Rory Ryan for E. O’Brien; Sean Collins for Keehan; Martin Cunninghm for Downes;
Referee: Gus Callaghan (Feakle)
