Sixmilebridge 0-21

Cratloe 0-15

Davy Fitzgerald coached his beloved Sixmilebridge to their fourth Canon Hamilton Cup in seven years at the expense of local rivals Cratloe in Cusack Park this afternoon.

It was also a great day for Fitzgerald's former club and county team-mate Niall Gilligan who bagged yet another county SHC medal at the age of 43. Gilligan came off the bench in the closing stages as Alex Morey and Cathal Malone shot the 'Bridge to a deserved victory before a crowd of 6,330.

After Conor McGrath and Brian Corry had traded early points, Cratloe opened up a 0-5 to 0-1 lead thanks to points from Shane Gleeson (two), Rian Considine and Enda Boyce. But they were undermined by poor finishing as the 'Bridge fought back to level by the 18th minute through the excellent Malone.

Celebration time for Sixmilebridge. ©INPHO/Lorraine O’Sullivan.

Morey then gave them the lead from a free as they took a 0-11 to 0-9 lead into the break.

Two more Gleeson points from frees restored parity early in the second half, but Sixmilebridge hit back with scores from substitute Conor Deasy and defender Barry Fitzpatrick.

Cratloe lost Conor McGrath to injury with nine minutes remaining and Diarmuid Ryan fired a glorious goal-scoring opportunity wide before Malone's fourth point from play sealed a 13th title for the blue and golds.

Sixmilebridge - D Fahy; B Carey, B Fitzpatrick (0-1), N Purcell; S Morey, C Morey, E McInerney; S Golden (0-1), J Loughnane (0-1); J Shanahan (0-2), P Fitzpatrick, P Mulready; C Malone (0-4), A Morey (0-8, 7f), B Corry (0-2). Subs: C Deasy (0-2) for J Loughnane, A Mulready for B Corry, C Lynch for E McInerney, N Gilligan for J Shanahan, K Lynch for A Morey.

Cratloe - G Ryan; O Murphy, M Hawes, S O'Leary; D Browne, L Markham, D Ryan (0-3); C McGrath (0-1), E Boyce (0-1); S Collins, R Considine (0-2), S Gleeson (0-5, 3f); B Connors (0-1f), C McInerney (0-2), P Collins. Subs: S Chaplin for B Connors, D Collins for S Collins, J McInerney for C McGrath.

Referee - N Malone.

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