Clane pull away in second-half to clinch Division 2 title

WESTGROVE HOTEL SENIOR HURLING LEAGUE DIVISION 2 FINAL 

CLANE 4-25 WOLFE TONES 1-11 

Clane sealed their return to the top tier of the Westgrove Hotel Senior Hurling League with a thoroughly comprehensive win over a gallant Wolfe Tones outfit in the Division 2 final at Cedral St Conleth’s Park on Saturday afternoon.

With Clane preparing for a return to the Senior Championship next month while the Kill/Sallins combination will be operating at Junior level, it was perhaps unsurprising that there was such a chasm on the scoreboard at the end with twenty-three points separating the teams, though Wolfe Tones had beaten a weakened Clane in the opening round of the league and surprised Moorefield in the semi-final.

Such a winning margin seemed unlikely after a first-half in which Wolfe Tones were highly competitive with their inside forward line, prompted intelligently by centre-forward Vinny Teehan, causing the Clane defence plenty of difficulty.

Clane, after a slow start, had still looked like carrying a good lead into half-time before Wolfe Tones struck for a timely goal from one of those dangerous inside men, Fergal Cronin, on the stroke of the interval, leaving just two points between the sides (0-14 to 1-9).

Unfortunately for the underdogs, and any neutrals present, Clane hit back with a green flag of their own from corner forward Paddy McKenna, the Kildare goalkeeper, immediately on the resumption and they went on to outscore their opponents 4-11 to 0-2 in the second half, with Wolfe Tones failing to score after the 35th minute.

McKenna, who top-scored with 2-5 for the winners, opened the scoring from a long-range free but Wolfe Tones were quickly into their stride and points from the impressive Mark Kiernan and Cronin (two) put them 3-1 ahead inside five minutes.

Clane found their feet with the next four points from Cian Shanahan, Seán Christiansen, Shane Henry and another McKenna free during a dominant five-minute spell but by the fifteenth minute the sides were level at 0-6 apiece thanks to points from Conor Egan and Kiernan (two) for Wolfe Tones with the increasingly involved Cormac Vizzard replying for Clane.

Another purple patch for the men in white saw them notch five without reply from McKenna, Vizzard, Caolan Smith, Henry and Daniel Colbert and despite a couple of good points from Egan Clane looked comfortable heading towards the interval with a five-point advantage.

Cronin’s goal changed all that, the corner-forward turning inside his marker Ben O’Dea and then lashing a shot over goalkeeper Jack O’Dea’s head to give his side real hope at the interval.

Straight from the restart, though, Henry set up McKenna to drive low to Niall Gorry’s net and although Jack Couch registered two points for Wolfe Tones, a second McKenna goal, once more created by Henry, on 35 minutes stretched Clane’s advantage to seven and they never looked back.

With thirteen Clane players, including five substitutes, getting on the scoreboard, they had moved into a 2-20 to 1-11 lead when, nine minutes from the end Caolan Smith gathered a high ball and his low shot squirmed through Gorry’s grasp and trickled into the net for goal number three.

Neil Vizzard was one of those substitutes who made an impact for the winners, and two minutes after Smith’s goal, the nippy attacker drove home a fourth with a driven finish into the roof of the net.

The winners kept their foot to the floor and added five more points to round off the most comprehensive of wins ahead of attention turning to the championship next month.

Clane face Celbridge in Group B of the UPMC Senior Championship on Wednesday 26 August while Wolfe Tones face Sarsfields in Group B of the UPMC Junior Championship on Sunday 16 August.

CLANE: Jack O’Dea; Adam Corbett, Micheál Cahalane, Ben O’Dea; Riann O’Neill, Daniel Colbert 0-1, Cian Shanahan 0-1; Tom Malone, Seán Malone 0-1; Caolan Smith 1-3, Seán Christiansen 0-3, Cormac Vizzard 0-4; Paddy McKenna 2-5 (0-5fs), Simon Healy, Shane Henry 0-2. Subs: Aidan Mooney 0-1 for Cahalane 21, Hugh Muldoon 0-1 for Healy h-t, Aaron Connolly 0-1 for B O’Dea (h-t), Neil Vizzard 1-1 for Henry 51, Ben Muldoon 0-1 for Smith 54.

WOLFE TONES: Niall Gorry; Fionn Doyle, Ciaran O’Gorman, Jonathan Fruergaard; Rian O’Gorman, Paddy McGrath, Cillian Power; Jack Fogarty, Jack Heading; Jack Couch 0-2 (1f), Vinny Teehan, Conor Egan 0-3; Mark Kiernan 0-3, Daragh McMahon, Fergal Cronin 1-3 (0-1f). Subs: Harry Younge for R O’Gorman 40, Darrach Brennan for Heading 46, David Cronin for Teehan 51, Jack Mulvihill for C O’Gorman 54, Ross Doyle for Couch 60.

REFEREE: Matthew Redmond.