Cratloe 1-19 Sixmilebridge 0-16

The Canon Hamilton has left the Bridge following our loss in the 1/4 final last weekend to Cratloe in Cusack Park. While the current Bridge crop are one of the best teams we have produced with 3 county titles in 5 years they have had a very poor record in defending the title the year after and the same was true for 2018 when a much hungrier Cratloe team outfought our boys on the day. A massive effort was put in by John O'Meara and his management team and players to defend the title but it was not to be.

The Bridge were without top player Caimin Morey which meant a reshuffle of the backs with Aidan Quilligan returning from injury and Barry Fitzpatrick returning from his travels introduced to bolster the defence while Brian Carey in midfield and Gavin White up front got the nod to start.

Cratloe lead by the minimum at half time by 10 points to 9 and the crowd could sense whoever was to score a goal would win this game. The Bridge have struggled to raise the green flag all year and this was the outcome on Saturday also with no real threat on the Cratloe goal. Rian Considine provided a cushion for Cratloe hitting the back of Derek Fahys net early in the second half to drive Cratloe on to a 6 point win.

While it was disappointing to relinquish the title we have to appreciate the super success this team have brought to the club for the last few years and hope the break will allow us charge the batteries and get the hunger back for 2019.

Team: Derek Fahy. Barry Fitzpatrick, Aidan Quilligan, Noel Purcell; Pa Mulready, Seadna Morey, Paidi Fitzpatrick; Conor Deasy, Brian Carey; Cathal Malone. Shane Golden, Jamie Shanahan; Brian Corry, Shane Golden, Jason Loughnane.

Highlights of the game available here