Clarecastle in control after a dream start

Clarecastle 3-14 Ballyea 1-11

And so it proved.

Throughout, they had the experience, the added motivation of having lost last year and, after a dream start, they went about their business smoothly and efficiently.

Fergie O'Loughlin, who had coached both teams and would have been playing for Clarecastle only for injuring his knee earlier on, agreed that the game went according to plan.

"The idea was to get Ballyea on the back foot from the start and to take the game to them. Once we did that we dominated.

"Any time they scored, we always seemed to be able to go back up the field and be in the comfort zone. We believed if we played to our potential we were going to win. It was all about getting ourselves right. We were totally focused."

Anthony Daly was well satisfied after winning a fifth medal, having captained the last winning team in 1997. "Starting off, I didn't expect to be playing.

"I intended to re-grade and play a bit of intermediate. We were in a bit of trouble in the Tulla game and the boys asked me to go in for the last seven or eight minutes and after that I got a bit of decent training done!"

Ballyea chairman Mick O'Neill accepted that Clarecastle got the start they were hoping for, but didn't offer this as an excuse.

"They were the better team on the day. Maybe it was a bit of an injustice to lose by nine points, but our inexperience told. We now have to re-focus our attentions to the senior 'B' final with Tubber and we'll be doing that."

With the first of nine points from team captain Ken Ralph in the opening minute followed by a 4th minute goal from Tyrone Kearse, Clarecastle quickly settled.

Interestingly, Ballyea were level in less than nine minutes, after goalkeeper Shane O'Neill put over a well-struck free from the middle of the field. It looked promising for the game and certainly encouraging for Ballyea, but within minutes Ralph had the ball in the net.

Ballyea had hardly recovered from this upset when Seanie Moloney goaled with a well-directed shot, after Derek Quinn stormed through the centre. The game had only reached the end of the first quarter, but effectively the two quick goals gave Clarecastle a psychological advantage which was to sustain their strong challenge.

That was aided considerably by the consistent play of Jonathan Clancy at midfield, the solid covering of their backs notable for the reason that Stephen Sheedy at centre-back dealt capably with the threat from inter-county player Tony Griffin and by their ability to penetrate in attack.

By and large, while they showed admirable commitment, Ballyea were very dependant for scores on the accuracy of Alan Hehir from frees. Griffin saw little of the ball and wasted what few chances he had (until very late in the game).

Donal Chambers had begun well at full-forward but, apart from the reliable defence of Martin Sheedy at full-back, he didn't get much of a service. By the break, it was 3-6 to 0-6 for Clarecastle, with Hehir having contributed four of the challenger's scores.

Ballyea made a very determined start to the second half, scoring three points to Clarecastle's one inside four minutes, but it was a case of flattering to deceive. They continued to struggle until flamboyant keeper Shane O'Neill scored from a 21 yards free in the 42nd minute, to reduce the deficit to six points.

However, while it boosted their challenge and gave a lift to their supporters, the fact of the matter was that they were nowhere nearer to bridging the obvious gap in standards.

O'Neill failed from another close-in free in the 54th minute, and might have goaled from a midfield free but for the vigilance of wing-back Eric Flynn in stopping his shot. But, with man-of-the-match Ralph unerring in his free-taking, the Magpies were always guaranteed to win.

*Referee Tom Stackpole did quite a good job of refereeing.

Scorers: Clarecastle 1-9 (0-9 frees); T. Kearse 1-1; S. Moloney 1-0; J. Clancy, C. Plunkett, A. Daly (free) and D. Quinn 0-1 each.

Ballyea: A. Hehir 0-6 frees; S. O'Neill 1-1 frees; D. Chambers 0-2; I. Kilbane and T. Griffin 0-1 each.

CLARECASTLE: G. Griffey; A. Daly, M. Sheedy, G. Canny; E. Flynn, S. Sheedy, M. McNamara; J. Clancy, A. O'Loughlin; K. Ralph (capt.), C. Plunkett, D. Scanlon; T. Kearse, D. Quinn, S. Moloney. Subs: G. Farmer for O'Loughlin (34th minute); J. Casey for Quinn (42nd); N. Dunne for Kearse and O. Plunkett for McNamara (55th).

BALLYEA: S. O'Neill; M. Hehir, T. Chambers, R. Long; E. Griffin, P. O'Connell, J. Griffin (capt.); F. Griffin, A. Carrig; B. Chambers, T. Griffin, K. Sheahan; I. Kilbane, D. Chambers, A. Hehir. Subs: C. Gavin for Griffin (second half); K. Devitt for Carrig (51st); R. Flannery for Sheahan (58th).

Referee: T. Stackpole (Ennistymon).