Banner crystal clear on march to final

SCORING 1-6 in the third quarter, while conceding just a point helped Clare lay the foundations for a comfortable win over Waterford in the semi-final of the Waterford Crystal Tournament at Walsh Park in Waterford on Sunday.

On a heavy and bumpy surface, which made hurling difficult, Clare adapted much better and dominated the second half to secure a final date against Tipperary, who needed extra time to overcome the challenge of Cork in the other semi-final, which was played in Templemore.
Clare had struggled in the opening quarter of this tie, at the end of which they found themselves six points adrift. Then, in a 12-minute spell, they hit 1-6 without reply on their way to taking a two-point lead to the break and thereafter, they were never troubled.
Only five of the team which started against Limerick in the quarter-final replay on the previous Tuesday night, were in the team when Sunday’s semi-final got underway.
Pat O’Connor returned from injury and lined out at wing-back before moving to midfield midway through the opening half.
Level at 0-3 each after seven minutes, Waterford made their early dominance tell when hitting 1-3 in the next eight minutes, the goal coming from Seamus Prendergast.
The switch of Pat O’Connor to midfield with Pat Donnellan going to wing-back helped Clare get a grip on proceedings and after Tony Carmody, Colin Ryan (free) and O’Connor had points, Daire Keane had Clare’s first goal when he found the net after taking a pass from John Conlon. O’Connor, Ryan and Fergal Lynch followed with points as Clare went on to lead 1-9 to 1-7 when the half-time whistle sounded.
The Banner outfit returned with Patrick Kelly at wing-back allowing for Pat Donnellan to move to centre-back in place of Enda Barrett. Freetakers Colin Ryan and Martin O’Neill swapped points before Clare hit a purple patch and added points from Daire Keane, Patrick Kelly, Colin Ryan, Aaron Cunningham and Colm Galvin to stretch their lead to six points as the end of the third quarter approached.
The lead was quickly extended to nine when Aaron Cunningham raced through before shooting low to the Waterford net. After 18 scoreless minutes, Waterford had a point from a Martin O’Neill free before the corner-forward was denied a goal by the combined efforts of Crusheen’s Cian Dillon and Donal Tuohy. Clare’s lead went to 11 points when Ryan (free) and John Conlon were on target leaving them in a commanding position with just nine minutes remaining.
Waterford put in a strong finish and a brace of O’Neill goals cut the lead to five with three minutes remaining. It could have been down to two but Donal Tuohy made an excellent save from Seamus Prendergast five minutes from time.
With the game in the final minute of normal time, Waterford goalie Adrian Power dropped a 70m delivery from Colm Galvin into his own net. With the second last puck of the game, Seamus Prendergast’s low shot found the net but it was too late to prevent Clare from recording a merited win.
Domhnaill O’Donovan, Cian Dillon, Patrick O’Connor, Pat Donnellan, Colm Galvin and John Conlon worked hard for Clare throughout this tie.

Clare: Donal Tuohy; Domhnaill O’Donovan, Cian Dillon, Conor Cooney; Seadna Morey, Enda Barrett, Patrick O’Connor; Colm Galvin, Pat Donnellan; John Conlon, Daire Keane, Fergal Lynch; Tony Carmody, Colin Ryan, Aaron Cunningham.
Subs: Patrick Kelly for Barrett (half-time); Cathal Chaplin for Lynch (48 minutes); Ross Horan for Keane (57 minutes); Stephen O’Halloran for Cooney (65 minutes).
Scorers: Colin Ryan (0-6, 4f) Aaron Cunningham (1-2), Daire Keane, Colm Galvin (1-1 each); Patrick O’Connor (0-2), Pat Donnellan, Fergal Lynch, John Conlon, Tony Carmody, Patrick Kelly (0-1 each).
Frees for: 11; wides: 5;
Waterford: Adrian Power; Shane Fives, Declan Prendergast, Aidan Kearney; Jamie Nagle, Shane O’Sullivan, Kevin Moran; Michael Walsh, Paul O’Brien; Maurice Shanahan, Seamus Prendergast, Dean Twomey; Martin O’Neill, Shane Walsh, Eoin McGrath.
Subs: Paudie Nevin for Twomey (42 minutes); Thomas Ryan for S Walsh (inj, 51 minutes).
Scorers: Martin O’Neill (2-6, 0-6f), Seamus Prendergast (2-0); Shane Walsh (0-2); Maurice Shanahan (1f).
Frees for: 15; wides: 7; 65s: 2.
Referee: Johnnie Ryan, Tipperary.