Dublin Clarke defeat Offaly in Celtic Challenge

Wed, 5th June 2019

CELTIC CHALLENGE GROUP C

DUBLIN CLARKE 1-19 OFFALY 1-15

A strong defensive second half showing saw Dublin Clarke earn a deserved four-point victory in Wednesday night's Bank of Ireland Celtic Challenge Group C encounter at the National Games Development Centre, Abbotstown.

Impressive Offaly forward Loughlann Quinn had opened the scoring for the Faithful County before Matthew Lynam struck for Dublin Clarke's only goal of the night in the fourth minute following a good ball into the danger zone from Rory O'Neill.

However, neither side held the upperhand for any sustained passage of the opening half but Dublin Clarke did show signs as the half progressed that they were getting on top.

Their half-back line of Evan McSherry, Reuben Cantwell and Liam Kiernan started to dominate on the breaking ball and as a result the flow of Dublin Clarke's hurling improved towards the conclusion of the first half.

The accuracy of Gerard Ryan was instrumental for Dublin Clarke and he amassed 0-6 in the half with three coming from open play.

Offaly led 0-9 to 1-5 after 20 minutes following a fine point from Callum Flannery but Dublin Clarke responded in style to then score five points without reply to lead 1-10 to 0-9 after a well-contested opening 30 minutes.

St Oliver Plunkett's/Eoghan Ruadh's Ryan ignited this scoring surge for Dublin Clarke with a point from 40 metres after being picked out by Matthew Lynam.

He tagged on a free before the stylish Adam Drewett pointed, following great interplay between Liam Kiernan, Jack Murray and Drewett, which pushed Dublin Clarke two points clear.

Before the interval Gerard Ryan, with a free from just inside his own '65', and Sam Stewart with a fine point on the turn established a four-point half-time lead for Dublin Clarke.

They had to thank Evan McSherry for the most timely of interventions though in the 28th minute when he arrived to dispossess Offaly full-forward Eamon Dolan just as he looked sure to strike for goal.

Dublin Clarke's overall game improved on the restart with the full-back line of Cormac Cullinane, Ben Roberts and Luke Mulligan Lynch first to nearly every ball.

Dangerman Loughlann Quinn cut the deficit in the 33rd minute but Dublin Clarke then reeled off five points in succession to hold a 1-15 to 0-10 advantage by the 42nd minute.

Gerard Ryan, with another long range free, Adam Drewett, Matthew Lynam, and Ryan again with two more points propelled their side into a strong position as the Dublin Clarke forward unit combined to telling effect.

Ryan's last point of that spell came after a great fetch by Rory O'Neill who then showed great bravery to break the tackle and off-load to the Plunkett's lad for the score.

But the Dublin defence highlighted their worth during this sequence of scores when they repelled a dangerous Offaly attack in the 37th minute with McSherry and Roberts combining to smother corner-forward Quinn's goal attempt.

Offaly cut the gap with three points in-a-row before importantly points from Jack Murray and Gerard Ryan quelled their hopes of mounting a late comeback.

Further scores from Ciaran McLoughney and Sean Byrne moved Dublin Clarke out to a 1-19 to 0-14 lead as the game moved into added time.

In that injury-time Offaly goaled through Cian Burke with Quinn concluded the contest with a point, to bring his personal tally to 0-12 (0-7f).

Dublin's Luke Mulligan Lynch and Offaly's Loughlann Quinn were the Best and Fairest award recipients as selected by referee Kevin Brady (Louth).

SCORERS - Dublin Clarke: G Ryan 0-10 (0-5f), M Lynam 1-1, A Drewett 0-2, L Mulligan Lynch, L Kiernan, S Stewart, C McLoughney, S Byrne, J Murray 0-1 each. Offaly: L Quinn 0-12 (0-7f), C Burke 1-0, P Phelan, C Flannery, E Dolan 0-1 each.

DUBLIN CLARKE (panel): B Rodgers, C Cullinane, B Roberts, L Mulligan Lynch, E McSherry, R Cantwell, L Kiernan, S Stewart, C Morgan, G Ryan, J Kielthy, R O'Neill, A Drewett, M Lynam, B Keogh, D Clerkin, C Hassett, C McLoughney, F Rock, C Shaw, E Behan, S Byrne, J Murray, S Murphy.

OFFALY (panel): M Lawlor, D Landy, L Miller, O Kilmartin, J Mahon, J Coughlan, S Ryan, P Phelan, C Flannery, K Tierney, C Burke, A Landy, D Coughlan, E Dolan, L Quinn, C Errity, J Ormonde, L Standish, M Kelly, R Dunne, A Carroll, L Hogan, J Troy, C Bracken, S Rattigan, C McDowell, J Kelly, B Connolly, E Murphy.

REF: K Brady (Louth).

CELTIC CHALLENGE GROUP C: Results

Round 1: Wexford 0-20 Dublin Plunkett 2-12; Laois 3-18 Offaly 2-15

Round 2: Offaly 2-11 Dublin Plunkett 2-10; Wexford 2-15 Dublin Clarke 1-12

Round 3: Dublin Clarke 1-20 Laois 1-11; Wexford 4-20 Offaly 2-6

Round 4: Dublin Clarke 6-18 Dublin Plunkett 1-16; Wexford 5-21 Laois 2-15

Round 5: Dublin Plunkett 0-23 Laois 3-12; Dublin Clarke 1-19 Offaly 1-15

CELTIC CHALLENGE GROUP C: Table

P W D L PTS

Wexford 4 4 0 0 8

Dublin Clarke 4 3 0 1 6

Dublin Plunkett 4 1 0 3 2