Seniors Off To A Flyer

Ronan Keane opened the scoring with a point in the 3rd minute, with Brian Shally levelling following a foul on Cathal Egan. Pa Reynolds stormed forward and hit a tremendous point on the run to put Clooney in front. Eire Og dangerman, Danny Russell replied from play but a Shally free and Sean Conheadys first point of the game edged Clooney back in front by the 11th minute. Ronan Keane reduced the defecit to the minimum a minute later but Martin Duggan restored the two-point lead by the 13th minute.
Seven scoreless minutes elapsed before Eire Og were awarded a 20 meter free. Danny Russells powerful shot found the back of the Clooney net, a score that set the Clooney/Quin outfit back on their heels.
From the puck-out, Fergal Lynch was hauled down in the large parallelogram. Referee Andrew Monahan signalled for a semi-penalty. However, Brian Shallys shot was saved and cleared to safety.
Eire Og were now on the up, and Kevin Moynihan pointed from a short free by Fergus Flynn, to put the Town side two points up.
Then, disaster for Clooney. A long delivery from Flynn eluded the Clooney defence, and the ever-alert Russell was onto the ball in a flash and made no mistake, Clooney ‘keeper Damien O’Halloran not having a chance to stop his powerful shot. The Townies were now establishing a substantial lead, but credit to the Clooney lads, who responded brilliantly with points from Sean Conheady, following excellent work from John Earls, and Mickie Daffy to reduce the defecit to a goal as we entered injury time.
Then, it was time for Clooney to exert some damage to the Eire Og defence, as a Sean Conheady delivery was won in the air by Fergal Lynch who smashed a rocket to the Eire Og net to lvel the match at the break. Half-time score – Eire Og 2-4 Clooney/Quin 1-7.

Eire Og’s Barry Nugent opened the second half scoring with a point in the 4th minute, but then the game was turned on its head a minute later when Fergal Lynch netted his second goal. This was followed by a Cathal Egan point 30 seconds later. With their tails in the air and wind in their sails, Clooney hit three more points from play by Conheady and Daffy, and a John Earls beauty from the sideline. The onslaught was relentless, as Shally pointed from a free and then a 65 following a great stop by Eire Og net-minder, Kevin Brennan who denied Fergal Lynch his hat-trick. We reached the mid-point of the half, with Clooney dominant in almost all area’s of the field, leading 2-13 to 2-5.
Eire Og were on he ropes, but back they came with points from Ronan Keane and David Ryan to reduce the arrears. Shally responded with a brace of points, one from play, before Mickie Daffy scored his third point of the day, following great work by Cathal Egan.
Sean Conheady capped an outstanding personal performance with his fourth point of the day and, with the game now deep in injury time, a long John Earls delivery deceived the Eire Og defence and ended up in the net. This completed the scoring, the final whistle being greeted with glee by the Clooney/Quin players, mentors and large number of supporters.
This was an excellent team performance, the hard work done under the guidance of Pat O’Rourke and his Backroom team paying rich dividends.
Clooney/Quin now have a long break as they have a Bye in Round 2 of the Championship. Attention now turns to the remaining matches in the Clare Cup. Final Score Clooney/Quin 3-17 Eire Og 2-7.
The scorers in full were as follows;
Clooney/Quin; Fergal Lynch(2 goals), Brian Shally(0-6, 4 x frees,1 x 65), Seán Conheady (4 pts), John Earls(1-1), Mickie Daffy (3 pts), Catlal Egan, Pa Reynolds and Martin Duggan (1pt each).
Eire Og; Danny Russell(2-1, 1 goal from free), Ronan Keane( 0-3),  Barry Nugent, Kevin Moynihan and David Ryan (1 each).
Referee; Andrew Monahan(Tubber)