Banner quell the Rebels to secure final place

Clare 0-20   Cork 2-11

Clare will contest the final of the Waterford Crystal Senior Hurling Tournament for the second successive year following their three-point win over Cork at Sixmilebridge on Friday night.

There was an attendance of over 700 for what was expected to be a lively affair and while the game did produce some good patches of hurling, the pre-match disruption due to the late arrival of Cork didn’t help matters.

The closure of a section of the dual carrigaway from Limerick to Ennis caused huge delays and caught in the backup of traffic were the Cork players and the match referee.

To their credit, Cork took to the field when they had 15 players but they started the tie with six changes in personnel from the selected side. They had substitute goalie Willie McCarthy at corner-forward.
Clare named a side that showed nine changes in personnel from the side that overcame Limerick IT in the quarter-final a week earlier.

Points were exchanged twice in the opening 10 minutes before a brace from Shane O’Donnell and a ’65 by Nicky O’Connell pushed Clare three clear by the end of the opening quarter.

Cork responded through Pat Horgan (2 frees) and one from Cormac Murphy to level at 0-5 each with 10 minutes remaining in the half. The home side had the better of matters in the remaining time and when the half time whistle sounded they were three in front, 0-10 to 0-7.

Just before the break, Adrian Mannix, one of the Cork players that hadn’t reached the grounds when the match got underway at 8.35pm, was introduced and he immediately made his presence felt with a fine point which was the final score of the opening period.

Three points in the opening five minutes of the second half put Clare six clear and suggested that the home team might be about to pull away. Cork had other ideas, however and following a defence splitting run by their captain Horgan, he passed to Mannix who gave Donal Tuohy no chance with a rasping shot to the corner of the net.

Tuohy then produced an excellent save when he deflected a Horgan rasper over the bar but the visitors didn’t have long to wait for their second goal and, again, it was Mannix who found the net when his first time effort in a crowded goalmouth went to the net. This score levelled the tie, 2-9 to 0-15 and things looked good for the visitors.

At this point Clare made three changes to their attack, bringing in Tony Kelly, Mark Flaherty and Cathal O’Connell. They quickly regained the lead with two pointed frees from Colin Ryan. In the next few minutes the Leesiders pulled the margin back to the minimum twice but Clare finished strongly and Cathal O’Connell’s point in the final minute sealed a merited win.

Domhnaill O’Donovan was prominent throughout at corner-back for the winners, while his clubmate Nicky O’Connell did well at midfield although he will be a little disappointed to have missed the target from a couple of frees in the second half. Seadna Morey, Patrick O’Connor and Shane O’Donnell were others to impress on the evening.

Clare will be concerned at the fact that the Cork half-backs, particularly centre-back Christopher Joyce, won a lot of possession during the 70 minutes. Others to do well for the visitors were Cormac Murphy, Pat Horgan, Jamie Coughlan and substitute Adrian Mannix.

Clare: Donal Tuohy; Domhnaill O’Donovan, Cillian Duggan, Brian O’Connell; Brendan Bugler, Patrick Donnellan (capt) Patrick O’Connor; Nicky O’Connell Seadna Morey; Colin Ryan, Paudge Collins, Enda Barrett; Shane O’Donnell, Alan O’Neill, Jonathan Clancy.
Subs: David McInerney for B O’Connell (45 minutes); Tony Kelly for Collins (54 minutes); Mark Flaherty for O’Neill (54 minutes); Cathal O’Connell for Clancy (55 minutes); Davy O’Halloran for O’Donnell (65 minutes).
Scorers: Colin Ryan (0-8, 6f); Nicky O’Connell (0-6, 4f, 1 65); Shane O’Donnell, Paudge Collins (0-2 each); Jonathan Clancy, Cathal O’Connell (0-1 each).
Frees for: 19; wides: 8; 65s: 1
Bookings: none.
Cork: Anthony Nash; James O’Donovan, Mark Ellis, Pat O’Sullivan; Michael Walsh, Christopher Joyce, Stephen White; David Pyne, Rob O’Shea; Brian Corry, Jamie Coughlan, Cormac Murphy; Willie McCarthy, Pat Horgan, Daire Lordan.
Subs: Adrian Mannix for McCarthy (30 minutes); Cian McCarthy for Lordan (half-time); Daniel Kearney for Pyne (39 minutes); Stephen Moylan for Corry (58 minutes).
Scorers: Adrian Mannix (2-1); Pat Horgan (0-4, 3f); Cormac Murphy (0-2); Rob O’Shea, Cian McCarthy, Daire Lordan, Jamie Coughlan (0-1 each).
Frees for: 15; wides: 8.
Bookings: none.
Referee: Johnnie Ryan, Tipperary.