Ballyea book spot in fourth Clare decider in six years

Tony Kelly helped his side past Cratloe. 

BLACK AND AMBER: Ballyea's Peter Casey.

Clare SHC semi-final 

Ballyea 0-24 

Cratloe 1-17 

On the Ballyea boys go, with their remarkable success story since their breakthrough year of 2016 taking another giant step forward on Saturday afternoon as they eased their way into a fourth county final in six years.

A fast start to the second half that yielded four points in six minutes pushed them eight clear and from there they always had enough in hand to win by four, despite needing some heroics from goalkeeper Barry Coote to keep Cratloe from mounting a grandstand finish.

This was a confident display by the champions — confidence they showed in adversity by putting the 17th-minute dismissal of defender Gearóid O’Connell behind them to take a grip of a contest in which Cratloe failed to take advantage of their numerical advantage.

Star performers Tony Kelly and Niall Deasy showed the way in the first half, splitting 0-8 between them as the black and amber outfit carved out an interval lead of 0-14 to 0-10 that gave them enough of a cushion when playing against the slight breeze in the second half.

But it wasn’t just the trusty duo that have carried Ballyea to so many big-match wins, as Mossy Gavin’s brilliant haul of 0-6 from play over the hour, as well as Pearse Lillis and Morgan Garry's contributions of 0-3 apiece, ensured they had a spread of scorers that Cratloe couldn’t compete with.

Shane Neville, Rian Considine and Diarmuid Ryan did land important scores before half-time to keep Cratloe in touch, while a Sean Gallagher goal nine minutes after the interval really got them back in the game, but Ballyea's ability to keep the scoreboard ticking was key.

Key to this effort was the introduction Gary Brennan, while Stan Lineen, Gavin and Deasy landed important scores down the stretch before Coote brilliantly foiled a Podge Collins goal effort from point-blank range in the 59th minute that would have brought it back to a one-point game.

After that, it just wasn’t going to be Cratloe’s day.

Scorers for Ballyea: M Gavin (0-6), T Kelly (0-5, 1f, 1 pen), N Deasy (0-5, 2f, 1 sideline, 1 65), P Lillis (0-3), M Garry (0-3), J Browne (0-1), S Lineen (0-1).

Scorers for Cratloe: R Considine (0-6, 4f, 1 ‘65), S Gallagher (1-1), S Neville (0-3), P Collins (0-3), C McGrath (0-2), D Ryan (0-1), L Markham (0-1).

Ballyea B Coote; B O’Connell, P Casey, P Flanagan; G O’Connell, J Browne, J Murphy; M Garry, S Lineen; C O’Connor, N Deasy, P Lillis; M Gavin, T Kelly, A Griffin. Subs G Brennan for O’Connor (Half-Time), C Brennan for Garry (48), M O’Leary for Griffin (52), T Kelly for Lillis (63).

Cratloe G Ryan; S Collins, L Markham, D Browne; S Neville, D Ryan, M Hawes; S Sheehy, D Collins; C McGrath, P Collins, C McInerney; S Gleeson, S Gallagher, R Considine. Subs M Murphy for Sheehy (40), J McInerney for Collins (44).

Referee R McGann