Broadford met Ruan in the Clare Cup Division Two / Intermediate League final on the evening of Thursday 25th August in Gurteen.
Ruan seemed to make the better start out of the gate and within the first minute of play took an opportunity for goal but the ball was deflected off the hurley of Sean Phelan to deny Ruan an early psychological blow to Broadford. Ruan however pressed ahead taking the first two points of the match, the first from play and the second for a 65 and the gauntlet had been thrown down.
Broadford were not long in finding their stride though and achieved a run of seven scores, including a goal from Cailean Cox after he had just sent one over the bar in the previous minute. Broadford’s rate of scores was also helped after winning the puck outs after Ruan sent a number of balls wide and once the ball was possession of Stiofain MacMahon, who with his speed proved highly effective at out pacing the opposition down the wing and took the opportunity to either send the ball over the bar or pass the ball on for his team mates to finish the job on several occasions. (1-06 to 0-03).
For the rest of the first half both teams continued to battle it out and seemed more or less evenly matched. Ruan came as close it could possibly be to a lucky goal but Broadford goalie Alan McMahon kept the ball from going over the goal line by the narrowest of margins before sending it back out to play. However with a further six points for Broadford and four for Ruan you could easily have been forgiven for thinking that the final had been won in the first half. Half time score
1-12 to 0-08.
The second half almost played out to tell a different story however. With six minutes down before first score, Ruan had a straight run of five points all from play, helped by their success at winning every puck out and this put Ruan just two points behind. Broadford had to wait until the 13th minute and a 65 from Cathal Chaplin and a free from Craig Chaplin to break Ruan’s run. (1-14 to 0-13).
For the next ten minutes, Ruan continued to nip at Broadford's heels scoring points from two fortunate frees and from play. Not helped by playing in to slight breeze, Broadford suffered a high rate of wides which prevented Broadford from running away with the game but Broadford were able to counter Ruan’s scores enough to keep Ruan from narrowing the lead to anything less than two points. A goal for Ruan again seemed inevitable with play again concentrated close to the Broadford goal during several periods of play. Danny Reddan’s boot delivered a remarkable save from a frontal onslaught that could have provided the final turning point for Ruan.
With 28 minutes down and back to four points between the teams, Cathal and Craig Chaplin and Donie Whelan delivered the final three points of the match to put paid to Ruan’s efforts to turn the game around. Final score 1-20 to 0-17
This was a final worthy of two good teams that have delivered some great performances over the competition, with the final spoils going to Broadford who had an unbeaten run through-out.
Ruan seemed to make the better start out of the gate and within the first minute of play took an opportunity for goal but the ball was deflected off the hurley of Sean Phelan to deny Ruan an early psychological blow to Broadford. Ruan however pressed ahead taking the first two points of the match, the first from play and the second for a 65 and the gauntlet had been thrown down.
Broadford were not long in finding their stride though and achieved a run of seven scores, including a goal from Cailean Cox after he had just sent one over the bar in the previous minute. Broadford’s rate of scores was also helped after winning the puck outs after Ruan sent a number of balls wide and once the ball was possession of Stiofain MacMahon, who with his speed proved highly effective at out pacing the opposition down the wing and took the opportunity to either send the ball over the bar or pass the ball on for his team mates to finish the job on several occasions. (1-06 to 0-03).
For the rest of the first half both teams continued to battle it out and seemed more or less evenly matched. Ruan came as close it could possibly be to a lucky goal but Broadford goalie Alan McMahon kept the ball from going over the goal line by the narrowest of margins before sending it back out to play. However with a further six points for Broadford and four for Ruan you could easily have been forgiven for thinking that the final had been won in the first half. Half time score
1-12 to 0-08.
The second half almost played out to tell a different story however. With six minutes down before first score, Ruan had a straight run of five points all from play, helped by their success at winning every puck out and this put Ruan just two points behind. Broadford had to wait until the 13th minute and a 65 from Cathal Chaplin and a free from Craig Chaplin to break Ruan’s run. (1-14 to 0-13).
For the next ten minutes, Ruan continued to nip at Broadford's heels scoring points from two fortunate frees and from play. Not helped by playing in to slight breeze, Broadford suffered a high rate of wides which prevented Broadford from running away with the game but Broadford were able to counter Ruan’s scores enough to keep Ruan from narrowing the lead to anything less than two points. A goal for Ruan again seemed inevitable with play again concentrated close to the Broadford goal during several periods of play. Danny Reddan’s boot delivered a remarkable save from a frontal onslaught that could have provided the final turning point for Ruan.
With 28 minutes down and back to four points between the teams, Cathal and Craig Chaplin and Donie Whelan delivered the final three points of the match to put paid to Ruan’s efforts to turn the game around. Final score 1-20 to 0-17
This was a final worthy of two good teams that have delivered some great performances over the competition, with the final spoils going to Broadford who had an unbeaten run through-out.