Keelan Haritgan on the attack. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill
The Group of Death came to life in spectacular fashion in Cusack Park when Scariff threw their hat into the ring for a quarter-final spot.
Scariff 4-18
Inagh-Kilnamona 0-23
Venue: Cusack Park, Ennis.
Having lowered Intermediate champions St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield in their opening bout, a month’s recess saw Scariff re-emerge in much more buoyant mood as they led the tie from start to finish despite a rollercoaster hour.
It was their clinical eye for goals that once more set them apart from an inconsistent Inagh/Kilnamona, with three majors in the first 18 minutes of the contest alone carving out a nine point cushion.
To their credit, Inagh/Kilnamona did somehow spring back off the ropes with a remarkable eight point backlash either side of half-time but two opportunities to fully reel in their East Clare opponents were passed up and it provided Scariff with the chance to catch their breathes once more and fire the next four points to quench the revolt.
Patrick Ryan excelled with 3-3 including a clinching last goal at the turn of the final quarter to complete a memorable hat-trick. County senior Mark Rodgers (1-7) and Patrick Crotty (0-5) were also excellent marksmen while Keelan Hartigan and Diarmaid Nash in particular defiantly stood tallest when the momentum appeared to be in Inagh/Kilnamona’s sails in the second period.
In contrast, the absence of Aidan McCarthy was sorely felt for Inagh/Kilnamona as despite having a whopping eleven scorers, only saw one starting forward score more than a single point as Sean Rynne was superb throughout as his side’s driving force.
Conner Hegarty, David Fitzgerald and Keith White when pushed up on the puck-out magnet Patrick Crotty late in the first half initiated a stirring recovery.
The weekend couldn’t have gotten off to a more electric start as within the first two minutes alone, Scariff carved out four glorious goal chances, the first three or which were incredulously kept out by elastic goalkeeper Eamonn Foudy. Mark Rodgers was twice denied before making it third time lucky with a penalty to the bottom right corner of the net.
Inagh/Kilnamona, mainly through Hegarty, kept pace with their opponents until being struck by two Patrick Ryan goals in the space of three minutes. First Patrick Crotty won a puck-out and played a one-two with Conor Downes before cleverly picking out Ryan to pull to the net while the Crotty-Ryan combination once more unlocked the door in the 18th minute, greatly aided by Fergus Madden’s expert pass for the poacher to finish to the roof of the net at 3-7 to 0-7.
Even at this early stage, there only appeared one winner but amazingly Inagh/Kilnamona played their way back into the game with the last six points of the half, with Rynne (2) and Hegarty leading the way before defenders Keith White and Shane Woods completed the first half scoring to only trail by three by the break at 3-7 to 0-13.
Not content with that, Rynne and Hegarty maintained their newfound rampage on the restart with early points to slash the deficit to the minimum. However, they failed to capitalise on further opportunities to regain parity and would be royally punished when Rodgers (2), Keelan Hartigan and Patrick Crotty rattled off points to restore a five point cushion by the two-thirds mark.
A point blank save by Scariff goalkeeper William Kavanagh from Eoghan Foudy was scored at the other end when Fergus Madden again teed up Ryan for a back post finish as Scariff eased eight clear once more entering the final ten minutes.
Inagh/Kilnamona never lowered their heads but simply couldn’t grab the lifeline goal required to have any hope of inspiring a fightback as Sean Rynne (twice), David Fitzgerald and effective substitute Evan McNamara were all left frustrated.
Crucially, Scariff never wilted despite being under immense pressure as key junctures of the second period and that character and maturity has ensured that they are now in the driving seat for a quarter-final place albeit that they do have group favourites Ballyea and Kilmaley to come in their final two outings.
Inagh/Kilnamona’s immediate concern meanwhile is to avoid any threat of relegation as they now need a big response against neighbours Kilmaley in order to finally kickstart their championship campaign.
In a group that keeps on giving, expect a few more twists and turns yet before the advancement and demotion candidates are finally confirmed.
Scorers for Scariff: Patrick Ryan (3-3); Mark Rodgers 1-7 (1-0 Pen, 2f, 2’65); Patrick Crotty 0-5, Keelan Hartigan 0-2, Conor Downes 0-1
Scorers for Inagh-Kilnamona: Conner Hegarty 0-6 (3f, 2’65); Sean Rynne 0-6, Evan McNamara 0-2, Keith White 0-2, Jason McCarthy 0-1, Jason Griffin 0-1, David Fitzgerald 0-1, Shane Vaughan 0-1, Eoghan Foudy 0-1, Shane Woods 0-1, Niall Mullins 0-1
Scariff
1: William Kavanagh
4: Daniel Treacy
3: Michael Scanlan
2: Seamus McCaul
19: Jack Ryan
6: Diarmaid Nash
5: Scott Cairns
8: Conor Downes
9: Keelan Hartigan
10: Michael Barrett
11: Patrick Crotty
12: Liam Crotty
14: Patrick Ryan
13: Mark Rodgers
15: Fergus Madden
Subs
24: Sean Minogue for Barrett (45)
20: Eanna O’Brien for Madden (55)
21: Sean Collins for Cairns (620
17: Martin Cunningham for J. Ryan (62)
Inagh-Kilnamona
1: Eamonn Foudy
3: Cathal McConigley
2: Keith White
4: Shane Woods
7: Seamus Foudy
6: Jason McCarthy
8: David Fitzgerald
9: Darren Cullinan
17: Jason Griffin
5: Sean Rynne
11: Conner Hegarty
14: Shane Vaughan
13: Niall Mullins
19: Eoghan Foudy
15: Josh Guyler
Subs
20: Damien Lafferty for Cullinan (HT)
22: Kealan Guyler for J. Guyler (42)
12: Evan McNamara for Vaughan (46)
21: Colin Shannon for Griffin (49)
24: Shane McInerney for S. Foudy (57)
Referee: Niall Malone (Éire Óg)
