Dominant Clonmore outclass Éire Óg
Éire Óg's Alex Donnelly Finn stretches to block the shot of Clonmores' Oisin Doyle.
This was as easy as it looked. After three games without a win, Clonmore dug ever so deep and swept aside the feeble challenge of Éire Óg in this fourth round intermediate football championship game at Netwatch Cullen Park on Thursday.
All around the field, the eventual winners dominated. Work rate is an oft misused word but Clonmore had it in spades as their Teach Asca rivals found out on this occasion.
Within three minutes, Dylan Doyle had posted three points. All from play. Shane McGrath was also on the mark. The only goal of the game came on four minutes when Clonmore opened the Éire Óg defence. Doyle’s initial shot hit the upright and Oisin Doyle followed up in a mass of bodies to get the final touch. From that point there was only going to be one result.
Doyle and McGrath added further scores. Ivan Murphy scored Éire Óg’s only point of the half on 15 minutes. Not too long after that, Jordan Kane did well to keep his line intact as the Clonmore keeper denied Jamie Coakley. To rub injury into insult, the Éire Óg attack couldn’t take the rebound and Clonmore survived.
Right on half-time, Éire Óg created another goal chance but it was one of those nights for the YI’s and Murphy saw his effort fly off the right hand upright and wide at the scoreboard end of the ground.
At the interval, Clonmore were comfortable leading 1-9 to 0-1. Any notion of an attempted Éire Óg comeback faded in the opening minutes of the second period as McGrath, Oisin Doyle and Anthony McDonald all raised white flags.
Eoghan Byrne did come forward from his centre-back position for the YIs and threatened to find a goal but he ran into a wall of Clonmore players who were not for turning. Murphy also had a chance but again there was little menace in his effort. Ronan Quinlan converted two frees for Éire Óg and substitute, Corey Harmon, did find the Clonmore posts.
The Éire Óg effort was more akin to the movements of a dying wasp. It wasn’t easy to look at. Clonmore had to have been surprised by how simple this one was. Then again they were good on the night and the hope is that now the Wicklow border side have turned their season around.
D Doyle 0-6 (1f), O Doyle 1-4 (1-2p), S McGrath 0-3, A McDonald, B Lawlor 0-1 each.
R Quinlan 0-2 (fs), I Murphy, C Brady, C Harmon 0-1 each.
Jordan Kane; Cormac Connolly, Shane Murphy, Matt Cullen; Lee Doyle, Anthony McDonald, Rory Maguire; Eoin Connolly, Luke Connolly; Fiach Byrne, Shane McGrath, Enda McGrath; Oisin Doyle, Billy Lawlor, Dylan Doyle.
Paddy Gahan for E McGrath (h/t), Dara Connolly for Connolly (52), Conal Cullen for L Doyle (52).
Evan Kearns; Ross Donnelly Finn, Daire Dooley, Ryan Fitzgerald; David Dunphy, Eoghan Byrne, Cillian McGrath; Kelvin Chatten, Alex Donnelly Finn; Eoin Maddock, Jody Murphy, Jacob Curran; Ivan Murphy, Ronan Quinlan, Jamie Coakley.
Niall Swan for Dooley (38), Cialan Brady for Curran (38), Leon Fitzgerald for Maddock (40), Corey Harmon for Coakley (47), Dermot Lawlor for J Murphy (47).
Conor Daly (Tinryland).
