Cratloe will be the first name in the hat for the Semi-Final draw of the Clare Senior Hurling Championship after overcoming Newmarket-On-Fergus in dramatic circumstances at Cusack Park, Ennis.
Cratloe dominated the opening proceedings of the South East Clare derby with the usual suspects of Podge Collins, Shane Gleeson and Diarmuid Ryan dictating the play to ensure Conor Earley’s men held a commanding lead at the interval on a score line of 0-14 to 0-05.
Newmarket had no intentions of going down without a fight however and powered back into contention on the restart, Conor McGrath and Colin Ryan exchanged a brace of points before the Blues hit their purple patch notching five points without reply to close out the third quarter with Peter Power and Eoin Hayes in imperious form narrowing the gap to five.
Newmarket would require a goal however to truly throw this contest back into the melting pot and just eight minutes from time, the first of four green flags to come of the evening was raised after Peter Power shot through a field of bodies to beat Gearóid Ryan in the Cratloe goal, leaving just two points between the sides and setting the stage for an epic conclusion heading down the final straight.
However It was Rian Considine of Cratloe who would take the spotlight showing a blistering turn of pace to goal from close range on fifty-nine minutes before turning provider for substitute Seán Gallagher in additional time putting the result beyond all doubt.
Although Newmarket would have the final say in the contest as Colin Ryan cooly dispatched a penalty with the concluding puc of the game, it would offer little more than respectability on the full time score line as Conor Earley’s Cratloe ran out deserving 2-21 to 2-15 winners.