Relieved Clara go back to top flight as Tubber rue missed chance

A RELIEVED Clara went back up to the top flight when they edged out Tubber in a tough uncompromising Senior “B” Football Championship final in O'Connor Park on Sunday afternoon.

Tullamore Court Hotel Senior “B” Football Championship final

Clara 1-13
Tubber 0-9

It was a less than spectacular performance by Clara, who struggled for extended periods and only found their best form in fits and starts but the result was all that mattered here. It eventually went in their favour and while it would be stretching things to suggest that they were very close to losing here, it was much closer run than the final scoreline suggests.

Ultimately this game was settled by a mistake that Tubber will rue over the long Winter months. Their goalkeeper Jamie Colgan lost the ball as he came out with it in the 52nd minute, attempted to pull down Pa Smith, who off loaded to county U-20 star Ed Cullen. With an empty net, Cullen still did very well to finish from forty metres out and that gave Clara a 1-10 to 0-8 lead at a crucial stage.

It completely knocked the stuffing out of a brave Tubber who were very much in the hunt at that stage. With the victory post in sight, Clara finished strongly with three of the last four points for a deserved but very hard earned win.

It was far from the vintage performance that Clara would have liked but they still did well to grind out the result. Tubber were very competitive here and only for that goal, they would have been alive for much longer.

Tubber gave a mighty effort on the day and were the better team for a good twenty minutes in the first half. With the wind on their backs, they attacked well and Bernard Allen was on song for them up front. Clara found it hard to find form in that first half. Tubber fully deserved to lead by 0-5 to 0-2 after eighteen minutes and it was only after this that the red hot favourites started to play.

Josh Fleming got two points and Ross Brady slotted over a free to level it up by the 23rd minute. A key moment arrived a minute later when Bernard Allen raced clear but didn't find the net as Joey Deehan saved well. Clara got two of the final three points to lead at half time by 0-7 to 0-6 and they were delighted to be in that position.

Tubber continued to fight with everything they had in the second half. Clara did look like they would have an enough in the tank but Tubber replied to their opening two points before Cormac Delaney's free put the winners two up with fourteen minutes left. Then came that Cullen goal and that was very much the defining moment of the game.

It was a pity that the game was decided by a mistake but it was that type of game. It was a hard hitting, dour game with only spells of real quality football. It did make for engrossing viewing while things threatened to get out of hand with a dust up just after the half time whistle.

Clara weren't at their best but a lot of the credit for this has to go to the work ethic of the Tubber team. Ed Cullen was outstanding for Clara, getting better and better as the game wore on. Ross Brady was also a key figure for Clara while Colm Doyle, Carl Stewart, Scott Brady and Josh Fleming also had good moments.

Bernard Allen had a great game for Tubber, scoring four points and causing a lot of problems for the Clara defence, though he will have been disappointed not to get a goal. Nigel Farrell and Ciaran did a lot of hard work in their defence while Lee Colgan had a fine game and Ciaran McManus also impressed for the losers.

MATCH ANALYSIS

THE SCORERS

Clara: Cormac Delaney (4f) and Ross Brady (4f) 0-4 each, Ed Cullen 1-1, Josh Fleming 0-2, Graham Guilfoyle (f) and Matthew Mitchell 0-1 each.

Tubber: Bernard Allen and Eoin Murphy (3f) 0-4 each, Ciaran McManus 0-1 (f).

THE TEAMS

CLARA: Joey Deehan; Ciaran Ennis, Ciaran Doyle, Cathal O'Meara; Colm Doyle, Carl Stewart, Lorcan Hiney; Graham Guilfoyle, Scott Brady; Cormac Delaney, Thomas Deehan, Ed Cullen; Josh Fleming, Ross Brady, David Fleming. Subs – Pa Smith for David Fleming (22m), David Falsey for Scott Brady (47m), Matthew Mitchell for Thomas Deehan (50m), John Ledwith for Hiney (57m), Conor Egan for Delaney (57m).

TUBBER: Jamie Colgan; Nigel Farrell, Eddie Kavanagh, Ciaran Allen; Joe Higgins, Dan Kelleher, Brian Kelly; Lee Colgan, Ciaran McManus; David Colgan, Bernard Allen, Sean Farrell; Eoin Murphy, Ronan Farrell, Ian Daly. Subs – Pauric Robbins for Higgins, inj. (10m), Patrick Farrell for Ronan Farrell (44m), Eoin Dunne for Sean Farrell (50m), James Langan for Kelly (63m).

Referee -Eamon O'Connor (Ballycommon).

MAN OF THE MATCH

Bernard Allen (Tubber): A toss of the coin between Tubber's Bernard Allen and Clara's Ed Cullen. Cullen was immense for Clara, especially in the second half but Allen gets the nod. He was the single biggest reason Tubber were so close and was fighting a lone battle for much of it.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

Ed Cullen's goal decided this game

REFEREE WATCH

A good solid display by Eamon O'Connor. He probably should have showed Jamie Colgan a black card after he pulled down Pa Smith after making the mistake for Clara's goal but overall, he handled a tough, hard hitting game well.

TALKING POINT

Clara will be very relieved at winning this. Another year at senior “B” would have been a nightmare for them and at least now, they can begin rebuilding.

VENUE WATCH

The O'Connor Park pitch held up well despite plenty of rain.

WHAT'S NEXT

Clara are away to the Longford champions in the Leinster Club Intermediate Football Championship on November 19-21.

STATISTICS

Wides: Clara – 8 (3 in first half); Tubber – 4 (2 in first half).

Yellow cards: Clara – 2 (Ciaran Ennis and Scott Brady); Tubber – 2 (Brian Kelly and Eoin Murphy).

Black cards: 0.

Red cards: 0.