Hungry Clara hold off late Lusk Rally to advance by their finger tips

Leinster Club Intermediate Football Championship quarter-final

Clara hold off late Lusk Rally to advance by their finger tips

Kevin Corrigan

Clara 0-18

Round Towers, Lusk 0-16

CLARA held on by their finger tips to advance to the semi-finals of the Leinster Club Intermediate Football Championship with a hard earned win over visitors Round Towers of Lusk in a very good quarter-final tussle in O'Connor Park on Saturday.

The Offaly senior B champions were the better side and deserved to win but it was a very close run thing and almost unravelled for them in the closing quarter.

Holding onto a two point lead in injury time, Clara lived on their wits a small bit as a two pointer would have forced extra time and with a stiff wind on their back, Lusk could very easily have got one of those.

They didn't and Clara held on for a semi-final place against a fancied Kildare side, Sallins. 0-12 to 0-9 up at half time, Clara were excellent in the third quarter, controlling the game and opening up daylight. They played seriously composed football in that period with the veteran Thomas Deehan turning the clock back spectacularly, kicking three lovely points in five second half minutes.

With the in-form John Fleming also pointing, Clara's lead was 0-16 to 0-10 and they were 0-17 to 0-11 ahead after 38 minutes. It looked a winning lead but the game changed with Conor Egan got a 45^th minute black card after hauling down a Lusk player. Suddenly, Clara were forced onto the back foot and Lusk did really well to get back into it.

They got six points on the trot to bring the deficit back to the minimum, 0-17 to 0-16 with three minutes plus injury time left. It was 0-17 to 0-15 by the time Clara got their fifteen men back on the field but it looked like it could be one of those days for them. They were controversially punished for a three man breach in their attack in their attack in the 54^th minute – it looked like they had the men forward but Lusk went for a two pointer that Liam Bohgan converted.

With impressive sub Adam Burns floating over a point in the 57^th minute, Clara were now looking for the final whistle but to their credit, they did regain their composure late on. For a few minutes, they had allowed Lusk to drive at them but they began to hold onto the ball a bit better in the closing few minutes and broke forward for Conor Doyle to kick a stunning 59^th minute point into the wind.

That gave Clara a two point lead which was still dangerous against the wind – two pointers were very scoreable with the wind but they defended well and almost got another point or goal when David Fleming, playing his first game of the year, hit the cross bar with a point shot that dropped a fraction short.

Clara's discipline was commendable late on as they made sure not to foul near the two point arc and managed to overturn late ball for a very good win.

Clara had plenty to do at half time when they led by 0-12 to 0-9 after playing with the wind. They were marginally the better team, converting almost every chance and playing good, steady football but three points was not a big lead with the wind.

Yet Clara were happy to have that team as Round Towers also attacked well and could have got two goals. Ryan Carroll made a great sixth minute interception to deny Darragh Kelly a goal while Adam Scanlon saved smartly from Cormac Howley in the 19^th minute – Howley didn't get the right strike but it was a great goal chance.

The home side would have been in trouble had those went in while their 12 points included two two pointers, Josh Fleming's and Cormac Delaney's shots assisted by the wind in the 14^th and 25^th minutes.

The sides were very evenly matched early on and were level five times before Fleming's two pointer gave Clara a 0-7 to 0-5 lead. Round Towers had the gap back to one when Delaney got three points, two of them that two pointer to open up a 0-11 to 0-7 lead after 25 minutes.

MATCH ANALYSIS

MAN OF THE MATCH

Conor Doyle (Clara): Once again, Marcas Dalton was a serious contender for Clara. He has been in fantastic form this season, he ran the game in the first half and continued to drive relentlessly in the second half.

Conor Doyle gets the nod on this occasion. He wasn't as prominent on the ball as Dalton but he oozed class when he was and was also excellent off the ball. He marked Lusk's best player Liam Bohan for some of it and stuck to him tenaciously. He moved very well and his late point was crucial – both Doyle and Dalton kicked two points which was a huge haul from the half back line.

It will be interesting to see where Doyle's inter-county future lies. He was outstanding as Offaly won the All-Ireland U20 Hurling Championship in 2024 and hurling is his first choice but his senior intercounty future could very possibly be in football. Time will tell us where his hurling will go but he certainly has the ability and quality to be asked into an Offaly football county panel.

THE SCORERS

Clara: Josh Fleming 0-5 (1 x 2p, 1f), Cormac Delaney 0-4 (1 x 2p, 1f), Thomas Deehan 0-3, Conor Doyle and Marcas Dalton 0-2 each, Graham Guilfoyle and Conor Egan 0-1 each.

Round Towers, Lusk: Liam Bohan 0-8 (1 x 2pf, 1 '45', 3f), Evan Ferguson and Cormac Howley 0-2 each, Luke White, Sean Bollard, Darragh Kelly and Adam Burns 0-1 each.

THE TEAMS

CLARA: Adam Scanlon; Ryan Carroll, Christian McKeon, Darragh McKeon; Conor Doyle, Marcas Dalton, Carl Stewart; Ed Cullen, Graham Guilfoyle; Cormac Delaney, Adam Kelly, Myles Handy; Barry Egan, Josh Fleming, Thomas Deehan. Subs – David Falsey for Barry Egan (39m), David Fleming for Deehan (51m), Myles Handy for Conor Egan (55m), Jack Reynolds for Josh Fleming (58m), Kevin Mitchell for Guilfoyle (63m).

ROUND TOWERS, LUSK: Rory O'Brien; Fionn Moore-Fogarty, James Hanratty; Luke Caul, Chris Tonge, Luke White; Stephen Moore, Stephen Harford; Aaron Naughton, Liam Bohan, Evan Ferguson; Sean Boland, Darragh Kelly, Cormac Howley. Subs – Dan Kiely for Harford (41m), Adam Burns for Naughton (45m), Ryan Caul for Ferguson (58m),

Referee – Darragh Byrne, Wicklow.

REFEREE WATCH

Darragh Byrne had a good solid game and neither side could complain. Conor Egan deserved his 45^th minute black card for pulling down a Lusk player – a lot of referees aren't giving black cards this year but Egan's foul was a deliberate pull down.

He penalised Clara for a three man breach in their attack in the 54^th minute and looked to have got that wrong as they seemed to have the three men up – Liam Bohan converted the two point free to bring Lusk back into it. Having said that, Clara got away with a late breach up front and a free then would have given Lusk a chance of a two point equaliser so those very much balanced out.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

Conor Doyle's 59^th minute point was huge for Clara. They hadn't scored since the 38^th minute and were desperate for a score as Lusk had scored six without reply. It also gave them a two point lead and the difference between having to score a two pointer and one point to force extra time was huge.

VENUE WATCH

The O'Connor Park pitch was in fine order despite the recent inclement weather. It was easy to host the small crowd. A minutes silence was observed before the game for the late Martin Brophy who was a Ballinagar GAA secretary in the late 1980s/early 1990s and played with them for years,

WHAT'S NEXT

Clara go into the semi-finals against Sallins of Kildare.

SEE NEXT: Ballinagar grieves a great GAA and community foot soldier

STATISTICS

Wides: Clara – 3 (3 in first half); Round Towers, Lusk – 7 (3 in first half).

Yellow cards: Clara – 1 (Graham Guilfoyle); Round Towers – 1 (Chris Tonge).

Black cards: Clara – 1 (Conor Egan); Round Towers – 0.

Red cards: 0