For long periods of the game at the Gaelic Grounds Claughaun were neck and neck with Muiris Gavin's Monaleen before John Paul Stokes struck for a decisive goal late in the game. That three-pointer broke Claughaun's resolve with Monaleen then racing to a six-point win - 1-9 to 0-6.
That defeat left Claughaun rooted to the bottom of Limerick's Live 95FM senior football championship group one while in group two, despite a storming performance against St. Kieran's, a draw (nine points apiece) wasn't enough to haul Athea off the bottom.
Meanwhile Ballylanders, Pallasgreen, Newcastle West, Drom-Broadford, Fr. Casey's and St. Senan's all qualified for the knockout stages of Limerick's Live 95FM senior football championship.
St. Kieran's needed a big win in group one to retain any chance of progressing to the quarter-finals, but that didn't materialise and St. Kieran's missed out on a quarter-final spot by a single point.
Both Pallasgreen, who lost by four points to defending county champions Ballylanders on Friday night, and Newcastle West, who beat Hospital-Herbertstown by an identical margin, finished on six points and thereby qualify for the county quarter-finals.
Ballylanders, who won all five of their group games in impressive fashion, progress directly to the county semi-finals.
In group two there was much heartache for Adare.
They faced Fr. Casey's on Friday night knowing that a win would secure their quarter-final spot.
A win for Adare would have knocked out the Abbeyfeale side so Fr. Casey's were not prepared to concede any ground to the Adare men.
The sides finished all-square (nine points apiece) leaving the Adare men scrambling for their mobile phones in Dromcollogher.
Adare now needed Drom-Broadford to beat St. Senan's, but, alas, St. Senan's, bolstered by the return of Ian Ryan to their ranks, beat Drom-Broadford with five points to spare.
That result helped St. Senan's to leap-frog Adare and join Fr. Casey's in the quarter-finals; despite their five-point defeat at the hands of St. Senan's Drom-Broadford, on eight points, qualify automatically for the county semi-finals.