Clare 3-19
Down 0-5

CLARE went into their All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship quarter-final at Cusack Park in Mullingar on Saturday as strong favourites to progress but few would have expected their passage to be so easy.

 

Twenty-three points separated the sides at the final whistle and Clare would not have been flattered with an even bigger winning margin, such was their dominance throughout the field.
They took the lead in the first minute and were four points clear in the second minute after they struck for their first goal. Playing with the aid of the breeze in the opening half, the winners built up a 14-point advantage by the midway point and Down were always facing an uphill battle.
A blistering start to the second half, which saw them add 1-3 to their half-time total in five minutes, killed off any slim hopes Down supporters may have entertained of a fight-back.
The Clare team showed two changes from that which started the Munster final. Aidan O’Gorman replaced the injured Alex Morey at midfield, while Jamie Malone was at centre-forward and, in a reshuffled attack, Conor Deasy was the one to lose out.
However, the Sixmilebridge teenager entered the game early as he replaced the injured Shane Taylor after just 14 minutes. This change led to a further reshuffling of the attack, with Niall Deasy switching to full-forward, where he made a strong impression, ending the game with a tally of 1-5.
Bobby Duggan opened the scoring when he converted a free in the first minute and he followed with a goal after a good delivery from Jamie Shanahan was flicked into his path by Taylor. Shane O’Donnell was narrowily wide a minute later, before Shanahan pointed to leave Clare 1-2 to 0-0 in front after just four minutes.
A strong wind blew down the field and Clare had the benefit of this in the opening half. In addition, players had to contend with heavy rainfall in the opening period.
It was 1-4 to 0-3 in Clare’s favour at the end of the opening quarter but this was as good as it got for the Ulster champions. From here on, there was really only one team in the contest as Clare dictated the play.
Duggan and Niall Deasy had points before Shane O’Donnell struck for goal number two to bring Clare’s tally to 2-7 with just 20 minutes played. They added four more points before the break, at which stage the score stood at 2-11 to 0-3.
With the wind assisting, Down were expected to put pressure on Clare on the resumption but the winners were in no mood to let their grip on the game slip. Niall Deasy struck for 1-2 in the opening stages of the half and the game was over as a contest.
Clare had resumed with Martin O’Leary in at wing-forward in place of Aidan O’Gorman and they went on to give game time to Shane Gleeson, Niall Bolton and Eoin Tuohy. They finished with four points in as many minutes before the final whistle.
Gearóid Ryan, Conor Cleary, David Conroy, Jamie Malone, Niall Deasy and Conor Duggan were prominent throughout for Clare, who will face a much stiffer test when they play Leinster winners Dublin in the All-Ireland semi-final.

Clare: Eibhear Quilligan (Feakle); Shane O’Brien (Clonlara, captain), Brian Carey (Sixmilebridge), Gearóid Ryan (Clarecastle); Aidan McGuane (Kilmaley), Conor Cleary (Miltown, St Joseph’s), Eoin Quirke (Whitegate); David Conroy (Doora-Barefield), Aidan O’Gorman (O’Callaghan’s Mills); Niall Deasy (Ballyea), Jamie Malone (Corofin), Jamie Shanahan (Sixmilebridge); Bobby Duggan (Clarecastle), Shane Taylor (Broadford), Shane O’Donnell (Éire Óg).
Subs: Conor Deasy (Sxmilebridge) for Taylor (inj, 14 mins), Martin O’Leary (Kilmihil) for O’Gorman (half-time), Shane Gleeson (Cratloe) for O’Donnell (38 minutes), Niall Bolton (Tulla) for Quirke (39 minutes) and Eoin Tuohy (Feakle) for Cleary (49 minutes).
Scorers: Bobby Duggan (1-7, 0-5f), Niall Deasy (1-5), Shane O’Donnell (1-0), Shane Gleeson (0-2), Aidan O’Gorman, Jamie Shanahan, Jamie Malone, Conor Deasy and Martin O’Leary (0-1 each).
Frees for: 13; wides: 4
Bookings: Eoin Quirke (37 minutes).

Down: Sean Savage; Conor Costello, James McGrath, Caolan Taggart; Ryan Brannigan, Gareth O’Neill, John McManus; Lorcan McMullan, Chris Egan; Caolan Bailie, Conor O’Neill, Rory Burns; Gareth Lynch, Myles Nicholson, Eoin Sands.
Subs: Sean Mageen for Lynch (20 minutes), Sean O’Callaghan for Mageen (40 minutes), Conal Fitzsimons for G O’Neill (40 minutes), Pearse Óg McCrickard for Burns (54 minutes) and Brook Byers for Costello (55 minutes).
Scorers: Caolan Bailie (0-3, 2f), Gareth Lynch and Eoin Sands (0-1 each). 
Frees for: 15; wides: 6
Bookings: Conor O’Neill (15 minutes), Rory Burns (37 minutes) and Pearse Óg McCrickard (56 minutes).

 

Referee: Paud O’Dwyer, Carlow.

 

Work still to be done says Fennessy

CLARE manager Eamonn Fennessy, while pleased with the team’s work-rate, believes there is still work to be done ahead of their All-Ireland semi-final clash with Dublin.
“Our work rate was pleasing today and we kept going right to the finish. There were times when we did the wrong things but we regrouped and came back and that was pleasing,” the manager said.
He acknowledged, “This was always going to be a banana skin for us but we came here and treated Down with respect. They are the Ulster champions and for a while there, they were hurling strong. It took a while for us to get going but we are back on the road and I am delighted about that.
“There is, however, work to be done and there is no doubt about that but that’s a good way to be going into a semi-final, knowing that you have work to do. We’ve got to go back, regroup and start again.
“We’ve got to keep going for 60 minutes. We fell asleep after seven or eight minutes, which we’ve tended to do in games. That cannot happen in Croke Park, as there’s no way we will survive if that happens.”
Fennessy said the management team were happy to be able to introduce a number of players during the course of their latest outing.
“We were delighted to have the opportunity to try those players. They were on the fringes long enough and some of them have put us thinking,” he admitted.
Forward Shane Taylor had “a slight niggle coming into this game. It flared up in the first seven or eight minutes. We didn’t want to risk him any further so we decided to replace him early on.”
Meanwhile, Down manager Fergus Cooper was understandably disappointed. “These lads have put in an absolutely fantastic season. We’ve been at this since June last year and this year nobody gave us a chance in hell. We went out and beat Antrim in the League Cup final and then we hurled Antrim off the field in Casement and won our first provincial title in 18 years.
“We have a very special bunch of lads but we didn’t bring our own game to the quarter-final. I’m disappointed for them that they didn’t produce the hurling they have. They have a lot of hurling and a lot of ability. They are very disappointed themselves.
“I know that we exited the semi-final last year in June against Derry. At that stage, we knew something had to change. We looked at 105 hurlers from June. We entered the development squad into the Mageean Cup (Ulster Colleges). We trained over the winter and they put in some shifts. We had Mickey McCullagh, Ulster coach, coming in and he took them from April,” the Down boss explained.
“While I’m disappointed for them today, I know Down hurling is in better shape. I’ve been in three years and in three years, we’ve had three victories over Antrim, won our first provincial in 18 years and the development squads are now bedding in. For the seniors, the only concern I have, and it’s the same for every county, is that we’re losing players to London. That’s the unfortunate thing,” he said.

 

Next up

CLARE’S next opponents will be Dublin in the first of the All-Ireland semi-finals. The game will take place at Croke Park on Sunday, August 12 at 1.30pm and will be a curtain raiser to the senior semi-final between Galway and Cork at 3.30pm.
On the other side of the draw, Tipperary play Galway in the second of the semi-finals on Sunday, August 19, also at 1.30pm in Croke Park. That game will be followed by the second of the senior semi-finals, when Tipperary play Kilkenny at 3.30pm.