Burren retained their Down SFC crown following a disappointingly one-sided final at Pairc Esler on Saturday night.

Burren 2-14
Clonduff 2-3

Clonduff looked as though they would make a real contest of it in the opening 10 minutes when Jason Brown and Conor Og O'Hagan gave them the lead after Donal O'Hare had opened the scoring for Burren from a free inside the first minute. But the champions gradually took control, scoring four unanswered points to take a 0-7 to 0-4 lead into the interval.

Clonduff made a perfect start to the second half when midfielder Arthur McConville struck the opening goal after less than 20 seconds, but they wouldn't score again until in injury-time when Brown grabbed their second goal. With Ireland International Rules star Kevin McKernan in inspirational form, Burren had opened up a 0-11 to 1-3 lead by the end of the third quarter.

And they put the game well beyond Clonduff's reach when Sean Murdock and O'Hare both found the net in the 52nd and 53rd minutes. The champions led 2-14 to 1-3 before Brown grabbed a consolation goal for Clonduff with virtually the last kick of the game.

Scorers - Burren: D O'Hare 1-5, J McGovern 0-3, S Murdock 1-0, K McKiernan 0-2, S McArdle, C McGovern, A McArdle, S Murdock 0-1 each. Clonduff: A McConville 1-1, J Brown 1-1, C Og O'Hagan 0-1.

Burren - C Murdock; R McGovern, D McCartan, D McEntee; G McCartan, Ciaran McGovern, K McCartan; C Toner, A McArdle; Conal McGovern, S Murdock, E Toner; D O'Hare, J McGovern, S McArdle. Subs: E McCartan for E Toner, P Poland for Conal McGovern, P O'Rourke for Ciaran McGovern, C Byrne for C Toner, A Higgins for McArdle.

Clonduff - N Trainor; J McPolin, P McConville, E O'Reilly; G McDonald, S O'Hagan, M McPolin; D O'Hagan, A McConville; P McPolin, A Carr, J Fegan; P McGreevy, C Og O'Hagan, J Brown. Subs: K Trainor for McPolin, S McGreevy for McDonald.

Ref - B Rice. Tweet

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