(Sam Scanlon evades the attention of Jacob Loughnane and Darragh Moroney. - Photo: Gerard O' Neill/Clare Echo)
Clooney-Quin secured top spot in Group 3 and booked their place in the knockout stages for the second consecutive year with a comfortable victory over 2025 intermediate champions O'Callaghan's Mills at Sixmilebridge on Saturday afternoon.
A tightly contested opening period saw the Mills somewhat unlucky to trail by four at the interval, though they will rue missed opportunities having been denied by the crossbar on a Mark Pewter strike and a series of sharp saves from the excellent Clooney goalkeeper Keith Hogan.
Peter Duggan’s unerring accuracy from placed balls kept Clooney-Quin infront and in control, and they put the contest beyond reach shortly after the restart when Jack O'Neill delivered a pinpoint pass to Jerry O'Connor, who finished clinically past Killian Nugent. The green flag extinguished the Mills' challenge, allowing Clooney-Quin for whom O'Connor, O'Neill and Callum Hassett impressed most, to dominate the remainder of the half and pull a sizeable twelve points clear by the finish.
