In a thrilling encounter played at great pace, a 56th minute goal from Barry Mullane was the vital score for Ger Cunningham's charges.

This semi-final clash was extremely tight throughout with the sides level at 0-7 apiece at the interval, following a first half that never saw more that two points between the teams.

Cratloe broke two points clear on the restart, but Ballygunner failed to lie down as they produced a five-point turnaround.

Substitute JJ Hutchinson was impressive with two points in the closing quarter for the eventual winners, while he also fed the pass through for Mullane's match-winning goal.

Cratloe rallied well in the closing stages despite the late dismissal of defender David Ryan.

The Clare champions piled on pressure until the end with points from Sean Collins and Damien Browne, who hit 0-6 in all, but it proved to be too little, too late as Ballygunner held out for a narrow victory.