Clooney-Quin 2-14 Clarecastle 0-19

An early goal blitz ultimatley proved crucial as Clooney-Quin edged out Clarecastle in this entertaining tussle in Gurteen.

It was a dramatic start and a dramatic finish, with Dylan Cunningham’s late free eventually settling the contest. Clarecastle had a chance to send the game to extra-time but Cian Galvin saw his free drop just wide of the posts in the dying moments.

Clooney-Quin struck for a brace of goals inside the opening quarter through Cunningham and John Conneally to lead 2-5 to 0-4 at the opening water break, and it was that strong start which would give them the cushion to eventually see out the win.

Colm Cassidy and Cunningham were in fine scoring form for the winners, who built a 2-14 to 0-11 lead by half-time.

Clarecastle regrouped well in the third quarter to cut that gap to four, and Conor Halpins’s trio of points in the final period helped level the contest to set up a nervy finish as Clooney-Quin struggled to stem the tide.

Cunningham kept his nerve to fire over what would prove to be the winner, but there was still that late intake of breath as Galvin’s free dropped just wide.