Only 70 people turn up for academic clash

Athenry 2-19

Clarinbridge 0-15

HAVING once showcased their skills in front of tens of thousands, two former All-Ireland club champions brought the curtain down on disappointing 2016 campaigns when seeing out their remaining group fixture in front of approximately 70 supporters at Kenny Park on Sunday.

With both teams out of the running for senior honours, and only pride at stake, it was not surprising this Senior ‘B’ group game was nothing more than a glorified challenge match, lacking intensity and, indeed, excitement.

It must be recognised though that it would not have been easy for both to field due to the Leaving Cert. and players already gone to the United States and other far flung places for the Summer. However, credit to both, they somehow managed it.

For Athenry’s part, they had more of a squad to choose from – togging 21 players to Clarinbridge’s 18 – and this was arguably telling in that they had increased options in terms of team selection and fresh legs to draw on from the bench.

In the end, Athenry came away with a deserved 10-point win, mainly thanks to goals in each half from the lively Cian Burke and centre-forward Cathal Keane. The two men would finish with 1-2 and 1-7 (0-6 from placed balls) respectively.

That said, there was little between the two teams in the opening 20 minutes, with the sides tied at 0-7 to 1-4. Evan Niland, as he would be throughout the contest, was on fire and he accounted for five of Clarinbridge’s seven points in this time, four from frees.

In the opening quarter, Eoin Forde was also on the scoresheet for the Bridge who had built up a 0-6 to 0-4 lead on 17 minutes after Niland hit three frees in as many minutes.

However, the lead was short-lived as within moments Athenry struck for their first goal after Cian Burke reacted quickest to breaking ball off a Cathal Keane effort that fell short and he steered the sliotar beyond Aaron Bindon in the Clarinbridge goal to give Athenry a 1-4 to 0-6 lead.

While Alan Armstrong hit the equaliser two minutes later, this was as close as Clarinbridge would get to Athenry for the remainder of the tie. By half-time, the victors had built up a five-point advantage, outscoring their rivals six points to one in the final 10 minutes of the opening period.

Full report in this week’s Connacht Tribune.