A Dominant performance throughout from the South East Clare men ensures Conor Earley’s charges take the seeded spot in group two for the Quarter Final draw in the Clare Senior Hurling Championship.
In what was a repeat of the 2018 County Final match up in which Ballyea claimed only their second of three Canon Hamilton’s , Saturday evenings result would have no such favour for recent history.
In a seesaw first half battle it was Ballyea who made the brighter start with Tony Kelly and Niall Deasy both pointing in the opening minutes, although Rian Considine and Cathal McInerney would waste no time resetting the balance for the eventual winners as the sides would continue to trade scores throughout the opening period.
The defining moment of the tie came just before the half time whistle when two majors in rapid succession came first from Rian Considine followed by an effort from club stalwart Mikey Hawes leaving Cratloe 2-07 to 0-06 in front at the interval.
On the restart the lethal duo of McInerney and Considine again raised white flags for Cratloe until Tony Kelly pulled one back for the champions in an attempt to stem the tide. However the final nail in Ballyea’s coffin would come soon afterwards when Brandon O’Connell received a straight red card on thirty eight minutes.
With Ballyea trailing by nine points at this juncture and now losing a crucial member of their defence, the floodgates would open for Cratloe, who would utilise the extra men to perfection hitting seven points without reply in the ten minutes since O’Connell had left the field.
Despite Ballyea outscoring their opponents by 0-06 to 0-03 in the final ten minutes, the damage had most certainly been done in Cusack Park as Cratloe ran out deserved winners on a full time score line of 2-21 to 0-14
