Tubber caused a bit of a surprise when defeating county champions Cratloe in the opening fixture of round 4 of the senior hurling championship last Saturday evening. The underdogs have claimed many notable scalps in recent years including Clarecastle, Sixmilebridge and St. Joseph's Doora/Barefield proving that on their day they are well able for the big boys. Tubber raced into an early lead with Clive Earley pointing after just five seconds, the north Clare team added four more points by the end of the first quarter to lead 0-5 to 0-0. Cratloe finally got off the mark in the 17th minute with a Conor McGrath free. However, try as they might there was no stopping the Tubber men as they went on to take a 0-10 to 0-2 interval lead. Inevitably Cratloe were always going to launch a comeback in the second half and this was what they did but Tubber with Clive Earley, David O'Donnoghue, Patrick and Darragh O'Connor to the fore held on. Cratloe did manage a late consolation goal from Aidan Browne but it was too little too late as Tubber picked up their first win (0-15 to 1-10) of the 2010 championship. The county champions have now played all their group games and will face an anxious few weeks ahead as they have to see how the group develops. A win for Sixmilebridge against Inagh-Kilnamona on Saturday would ensure both themselves and Cratloe's place in the last eight. Tweet

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