AIB Munster Club SFC Quarter-Final

DR CROKES 0-14 CLONMEL COMMERCIALS 0-8

By Conor Kane at Clonmel

All-Ireland club champions Dr Crokes remain in the hunt for another title after producing a power-packed second half display to dismiss the hopes of home team Clonmel Commercials.

Dr Crokes went into the game as fancied as 1/6 with the bookies, but once again had to start without star forward Colm Cooper.

The first half made a mockery of those odds, however, as Commercials - the 2015 provincial champions - raced into an early lead and looked lively from the off; All-Star forward Michael Quinlivan getting one of their scores, while also causing plenty of problems.

By the end of the opening quarter the home team were 0-5 to 0-2 ahead, but they did squander other opportunities.

The Kerry champions came back into things with three points in succession from Daithi Casey, Johnny Buckley and Tony Brosnan to tie things up by the 21st minute, but that was their last score before the break as Kevin Fahey and Ross Peters struck back for Commercials to give them a 0-7 to 0-5 lead.

They also had a couple of half-chances for goals, the best when Quinlivan sent a killer ball into Jack Kennedy, but Kennedy just couldn’t turn properly and his attempt was stifled. They defended well, too, with Jamie Peters, Donal Lynch, Kevin Fahey and Kevin Harney all effective at closing down space as Dr Crokes persisted with their persistent build-up play.

Tony Brosnan started the second half with a quick point, but Commercials were nearly in for a goal when Quinlivan found himself on the end of a sparkling move. His low shot blocked brilliantly by John Payne.

Within a minute of each other Jamie Peters (black) and Alan O’Sullivan (red) exited the scene after falling foul of ref Kevin Murphy, as the tension increased.

But Crokes were able to push ahead, despite being down in numbers, with points by Kieran O’Leary and substitute Jordan Kiely, before Richie Gunne’s short-range score, and then powered on with five on the trot from Michael Burns (three times), Johnny Buckley and Daithi Casey in the last quarter.

In fact, Commercials only scored one point in the second half, despite their extra man, and had to rue a number of wides when they badly needed scores.

Scorers for Dr Crokes: Micheal Burns 0-3, Daithi Casey 0-3 (2fs), Johnny Buckley 0-2, Tony Brosnan 0-2, Fionn Fitzgerald 0-1, Kieran O’Leary 0-1, Jordan Kiely 0-1, Paul Clarke 0-1.

Scorers for Clonmel Commercials: Ross Peters 0-1, Michael Quinlivan 0-1, Eoin Fitzgerald 0-1, Jack Kennedy 0-1, Kevin Fahey 0-1, Kevin Harney 0-1, Jamie Peters 0-1, Richie Gunne 0-1.

DR CROKES: Shane Murphy, John Payne, Michael Moloney, Luke Quinn, Shane Doolan, Fionn Fitzgerald, Gavin White, Johnny Buckley, Alan O’Sullivan, Micheal Burns, Gavin O’Shea, Brian Looney, Tony Brosnan, Daithi Casey, Kieran O’Leary.

Subs: Jordan Kiely for B Looney (36), Paul Clarke for T Brosnan (42), Eoin Brosnan for M Burns (60), Ambrose O’Donovan for K O’Leary (60).

CLONMEL COMMERCIALS: Michael O’Reilly, Jamie Peters, Liam Ryan, Donal Lynch, Kevin Fahey, Danny Madigan, Kevin Harney, Seamus Kennedy, Jack Kennedy, Padraig Looram, Jason Lonergan, Ian Fahey, Ross Peters, Michael Quinlivan, Eoin Fitzgerald.

Subs: Luke Moore for J Peters (32, BC), Richard Gunne for E Fitzgerald (40), Ryan Lambe for I Fahey (54), Alan Lonergan for R Peters (54).

REFEREE: Kevin Murphy (Cork).