Ballyea moved into their fourth Clare senior hurling championship final in seven years after overcoming Cratloe by 0-24 to 1-17 at Cusack Park this afternoon.

Mossy Gavin lead the way for the holders with 0-6 over the hour, while former county senior football captain Gary Brennan also returned to action with his first championship appearance of the season.

Ballyea could afford to see a Tony Kelly penalty tipped over early and Gearoid O’Connell sent off after 17 minutes as they went on to take in a 0-14 to 0-10 lead at the break.

Sean Gallagher’s goal on 38 minutes saw Cratloe keep the heat on their opponents and they nearly hit the net again when Diarmuid Ryan’s effort came off the bar and the rebound by Podge Collins forced a sublime from Barry Coote.

Ballyea kept the points flowing at the other end after that to see out a victory which puts them into another final against either Éire Óg or Sixmilebridge in a fortnight’s time.

Tweet

Most Read Stories