From Croke Park to Tuam — no stopping Clonbur
By BILLY COSS An Fhairche .1-12 Monivea-Abbey .0-8 SIX MONTHS on from their historic All-Ireland Junior success at Croke Park, Clonbur have moved to within two wins of securing back-to-back promotions after a commanding seven-point victory over Monivea-Abbey in Sunday afternoon's Intermediate Football Championship quarter-final replay at Tuam Stadium. Steven Joyce's team underlined the value of a fast start, hitting 1-3 without reply in the opening ten minutes as they qualified for the last four with their best display of the Championship so far. It's likely they'll be ranked as underdogs next time out against either Menlough or Carna-Caiseal but with a very strong central spine to their team and some stand-out footballers in Declan Kyne, Trevor Lydon, Éamon Ó CuÃÂv, Alan Kyne, Liam Kearney, Eoin Joyce and Pat Lambe in their ranks, they'll be a stern test for any of the remaining teams. Monivea-Abbey did not recover from a dreadful start and were always chasing the game. While the woodwork denied them at crucial stages, their finishing was below their opponents' standards and as a result they could not get close enough to ask serious questions of a much slicker, far more clinical Clonbur team that was full value for their margin of victory. Monivea-Abbey needed two points in added time to secure a controversial draw at the same venue seven days earlier but matters were far more clear-cut this time around. Clonbur quickly established a six-point lead with Trevor Lydon's 4th-minute goal the crucial moment in a whirlwind opening. Their finishing was of the highest calibre during that spell with the impressive Éamon Ó CuÃÂv and Liam Kearney also getting in on the scoring act. By the time Monivea-Abbey opened their account through Brian Flaherty, who had lined out with Galway U-21 hurlers less than 24 hours earlier, Mike Warren's men were already well adrift. Jason Finn was unfortunate to see his goal-bound effort come back off the Clonbur crossbar in the opening seconds and their shooting was not nearly as economical as their opponents, yet they closed the half strongly with Cathal Coleman's direct running drawing fouls that resulted in a couple of converted frees. After trailing 1-7 to 0-4 at the break, things could have got much worse for Monivea-Abbey early in the second half had it not been for a penalty save by Denis Farragher from Pat Lambe but they enjoyed their best spell of the match soon after. Jason Finn and David O'Reilly pointed and they could have stormed right back into contention but Craig Kennedy's goal effort was denied by the post and a couple of attempts at points were off-target. Allied to that, the winners' defence â€â€ in which Declan Kyne was outstanding at full-back â€â€ came up with a series of important blocks and interceptions when the pressure was at its greatest. Crucially, the margin never fell below five points at any stage in the second half and Clonbur finished strongly with Eoin Joyce and Pat Lambe points wrapping up a convincing win. An Fhairche: P. Breathnach; L. Ó DiscÃÂn, D. Ó Cadhain, S. Ó hAllmhuráin; D. de BhaillÃÂs (0-1), T. Ó Loideáin (1-1), F. Ó Conamha; É. Ó CuÃÂv (0-3), A. Ó Cadhain; P. Ó Cadhain, E. Seoige, captain (0-4, one free), L. Ó Cearnaigh (0-2); G. Ó Cadhain, P. Ó hUain (0-1), W. Ó hAllmhuráin. Subs used: D. Ó Domhnaill, D. Ó MuirÃÂn. Monivea-Abbey: D. Farragher, captain; C. Treacy (0-1), B. O'Donnell, J. Blade; C. Maher, L. Laheen, P. O'Donnell; D. O'Reilly (0-1), T. Mullins; E. Roche (0-1, free), B. Flaherty (0-1), P. Flaherty; C. Kennedy, C. Coleman (0-3, all frees), J. Finn (0-1). Subs used: D. Finn, S. Walsh. Referee: James Molloy. Herald Sport Man of the Match: Declan Kyne (Clonbur).