A big, fit and determined St Mullins team gave the Juniors a tough test on Wednesday evening and if they had their shooting boots on, the result could have been very different. But full credit to the Clonmore lads, they stood up to the physical challenge, defended like demons and struck decisively on the break. After playing second fiddle for most of the first half, Clonmore went in 0-4 to 0-3 behind at half-time.
Owen Coleman was again our main scoring threat and he intercepted a bad kick-out to score a vital goal on the 44th minute. Owen followed this up with another goal from a penalty on 51 minutes after he himself was hauled to the ground when clean in on goal. Black card to the St Mullins defender.
These two goals and a superb long range point from John McGrath put Clonmore 2-6 to 0-6 up at the second water break and gave us a cushion that allowed us to control the game from there to the end. Two further excellent points from frees by Owen closed out the scoring for us.
The blocks and tackles put in by the Clonmore backs, especially Adam Smith, John Kelly and Rory McKernan in the full back line kept us in the game when St Mullins threatened to take over. Also, a brilliant first half save by Jason Fitzharris deserves special mention.
Clonmore: Jason Fitzharris, Adam Smith, John Kelly, Rory McKernan, Eoin Connolly, Anthony Byrne, Andrew Byrne, Willie Byrne, Paddy Byrne, Cormac Malee, Collie McGrath (0-1), Daniel Quigley, Owen Coleman (2-5), John McGrath (0-2), Sean Tompkins. Subs: Aaron Corless for Cormac Malee, Darragh McKernan for Sean T, Willie Rooney for Paddy Byrne.
