Clarinbridge carry the day thanks to forward artillery

Clarinbridge 2-22

Craughwell 3-14

Patrick Earley at Kenny Park

Has a club ever won two junior county titles in the same season? Never mind the same week. Rarely, if ever but that’s exactly what Clarinbridge achieved in Athenry on Saturday evening, overcoming a late rally by Craughwell to capture the 2020 junior A county title.

This was a hugely enjoyable encounter for large periods with talent aplenty on both sides, but Clarinbridge’s greater spread of scorers and impact off the bench ultimately proved crucial as they added to the junior C title won seven days earlier.

What was more crucial than that though was the ‘Bridge’s burst just before the break where they turned a four-point deficit into a two-point lead.

At the time there was little or nothing between the sides in general play. They went back and forth, trading blows and indeed the lead for much of the half but, having struck a goal through Cian Larkin which opened a four-point gap inside stoppage time in the opening half, Craughwell looked in position to take a commanding lead in at the break.

Had they managed to do that, it could well have been their captain Colin Rooney who got his hands on the county cup. Instead, Rooney found himself picking the ball out of his own net less than two minutes after Larkin had put them in control.

It was an avoidable scenario for Stephen Glennon’s side too as Rooney’s short puck out, not for the first time in the half, went wrong, with Craughwell spilling possession, allowing Clarinbridge to nip in and win the turnover.

The moans and the curses from the crowd grew all the more audible as the reality set in that there was a genuine goal chance on as Oisin Shannon took possession and headed for Rooney’s goal.

The young corner-forward burst through a couple of tacklers before finishing with aplomb past Rooney. That was enough to confirm to those in attendance that going long from the puckouts was the only way forward for Craughwell but by then, they had already paid the price.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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