Clara withstand second half comeback from Tubber to stay on the road

A DOMINANT first half display from the likes of Conor Doyle, Marcus Dalton and Graham Guilfoyle helped Clara to secure a semi final spot over Tubber in the Senior B football championship quarter final. 

Tullamore Court Hotel Senior B Football Championship Quarter Final

Clara 1-13 

Tubber 0-12

A 1-13 to 0-12 win was enough for Clara to be within 60 minutes of a county final, despite a good fight back in the second half from Tubber in which they outscored their opponents 0-7 to 0-4, with Bernard Allen ending with a personal tally of 0-8. 

Guilfoyle’s first half goal epitomised Clara’s dominance as they led by seven at the break with the likes of Conor Doyle and Marcus Dalton showing great promise with both link up play and shooting, albeit Clara would have felt they should have had a bigger lead at the break but won’t care now as they’ve another day out to look forward too.  

A high paced beginning to the game saw the sides level after the opening seven minutes, with Graham Guilfoyle opening the scoring with a lovely score, with Adam Kelly adding another, while Bernard Allen got Tubber’s opening two scores at the other end. Conor Doyle restored Clara’s lead shortly afterwards, however, they soon begin kicking some poor wides by their standards, but did finally register two further scores back to back in the 15th minute thanks to Marcus Dalton and Robert Mitchell. Ciaran McGuinness finished off a lovely build up to get Tubber’s first score on 10 minutes, before Graham Guilfoyle was found across the square and he expertly finished his chance to give Clara a five point lead after 17 minutes. 

Tubber had James Langan to thank for keeping them within touching distance of their opponents, as he kept out both Adam Kelly and first Robert Mitchell for goal attempts, but Clara did manage to a score a few minutes later through Marcus Dalton's individual work, before Alex Egan once again set up Cormac Delaney for his opening score and the gap was widening rather quickly. 

Graham Guilfoyle fisted his effort over on 25 minutes to leave Clara seven to the good approaching the half time whistle and in full control of possession and chances created. Langan once again was at the fore when he kept out Alex Egan’s effort at goal, before Tubber ran up the other end and Bernard Allen kicked his fourth of the game after linking up with Eoin Murphy. Conor Doyle batted over a final score of the half from inside the 13, to give Clara one foot in the semi finals, Tubber needing a big second half to turn this around. 

Half time Clara 1-9 - 0-5 Tubber. 

Tubber started the better in the second half, with Eoin Murphy and a double from Bernard Allen cancelling out two scores from Conor Doyle and Robert Mitchell. A fine move was soon finished off by Allen once again before a stunning free from outside the 45 yard line from Ciaran McManus drew the Tubber men back to within just three of their opponents, while Clara were failing to take their chances. 

 The game got very tense for both sides but Graham Guilfoyle used his experience to find some gaps while bursting his way through the middle and sending it over to calm their nerves a bit, Eoin Murphy and Hugh Murphy did come up with two more scores as Clara held a three point advantage heading into injury time. Barry Egan finally killed the game off with his 61st minute point to officially send Clara into the semi finals. 

Full time Clara 1-13 - 0-12 Tubber.  

MATCH ANALYSIS

MAN OF THE MATCH

Graham Guilfoyle (Clara): Bernard Allen was by far the best player for Tubber, scoring 0-8 and his shooting overall as we’ve come to expect from him, while Eoin Murphy also had positive moments. 

Conor Doyle and Marcus Dalton had a solid first half for Clara but Graham Guilfoyle stands out above the rest. 

His power and experience was on show, his goal was very well taken from close range and when his side needed someone to step up he delivered when most important. 

THE SCORERS

Clara: Graham Guilfoyle 1-3;  Robert Mitchell , Marcus Dalton and Conor Doyle 0-2 each; Adam Kelly, Barry Egan, and Cormac Delaney 0-1 each  .

Tubber: Bernard Allen 0-8 (4frees); Eoin Murphy 0-2; Ciaran McGuinness and Ciaran McManus (1free) 0-1 each. 

THE TEAMS

Clara: Mark Fallon; Kevin Minnock; Cathal O’Meara; Christian McKeon; Ryan Carroll; Alan Gavin; Darragh McKeon; Edward Cullen; Conor Doyle; Robert Mitchell; Marcus Dalton; Barry Egan; Graham Guilfoyle; Cormac Delaney; Adam Kelly. Subs– Myles Handy for Dalton (15m; blood sub); Thomas Deehan for O’Meara (HT); Barry Egan for Mitchell (46m); John Ledwith for Egan (46m); Lorcan Hiney for Minnock (55m).

Tubber: James Langan; Enda McLoughlin; Eddie Kavanagh; Sean Farrell; Ronan Farrell; Lee Colgan; Padraig McLoughlin; Ciaran Kinahan; Donal Shirley; Conor Fox; Patrick Farrell; Ciaran McGuinness; Eoin Murphy; Bernard Allen; Joe Higgins. Subs- David Fallon for Farrell (HT); Olsen North for Kinahan (HT); Ciaran McManus for Higgins (HT); David Colgan for McGuinness (41m); Brian Kelly for Farrell (50m). 

REFEREE WATCH

Adam Kinahan refereed this match and had a standard solid game in the middle. Frees awarded were generally the right calls and he dealt with any off the ball issues very quickly to allow the game to continue to flow. 

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

Graham Guilfoyle’s 51st minute point was not only a great individual score but also came at the right time: with his side's backs against the wall , he took the ball and went on a darting run before sending it over to give Clara that small bit of breathing space that they needed to hold on for the win.

VENUE WATCH

Ferbane was the venue for this clash and held up really well on a pleasant evening, with the pitch in very good knick and parking not an issue with the second pitch being used to occupy the decent sized crowd.   

WHAT'S NEXT

Clara will go into the semi finals to face Cappincur, while Tubber go into relegation play offs. 

STATISTICS

Wides: Clara –9   ( 6 in first half, 3  in 2nd half); Tubber –  8( 2 in first half,6  in 2nd half).

Yellow cards: Clara - (3) Edward Cullen, Thomas Deehan and Kevin Minnock; Tubber – (3) Ciaran McGuinness, Patrick Farrell and Eoin Murphy

Black cards: 0.

Red cards: 0