New champions will be crowned in the TUS Clare club senior football championship this year.
Cratloe will take on St Breckan’s in the decider, after the south-east Clare men beat reigning champions Eire Óg in a dramatic penalty shootout.
Eire Og led by 0-8 to 1-1 at the break, with the Cratloe goal coming through Conal O’Hanlon.
Cratloe stormed into the game in the third quarter, and by the 37th minute, the sides were level.
That parity continued until the 20th minute when Mark McInerney dispatched a powerful penalty past Padriagh Chaplin to see Eire Óg go 1-10 to 1-7 clear, and it looked to have been a game defining moment.
No one told Cratloe that though, as they fought back to level the contest once more and force the added period. That didn’t come without controversy, with late claims for a Cratloe penalty having foundation, but referee Chris Maguire adjudged the foul had occured outside the area, and Cathal McInerney popped over the free to seal extra-time.
Two Gavin Cooney frees and a Daire Walsh point were answered by an Enda Boyce effort, with the holders leading 1-15 to 1-13 at half time in extra-time.
Cratloe’s grit shone through as they levelled the game once more, before twice answering leading scores for Eire Óg to send the tie to penalties.
They had a 3-2 lead in the shootout by the time Podge Collins stepped up to have the chance to win the game, and he duly obliged to send them into their first final since 2020, and set up a novel pairing with St Breckan’s in two weeks time.
