Better-balanced Waterford advance

CLARE’S dream of a place in the Munster Intermediate Hurling Championship final was shattered at Semple Stadium in Thurles on Monday when a better-balanced Waterford outfit came out on top.

There were high hopes ahead of the tie that the Clare side would prevail but they struggled in a number of areas on the day and this proved costly.
Behind by five points at half-time, having played against the strong wind, things did not look too bad for Clare but the concession of the game’s only goal early in the second half was to prove a huge blow.
In the end, the goal separated the sides as Clare bowed out of the title race. When Cathal Chaplin failed to clear, Waterford full-forward Nicky Jacob pounced and gave Ger O’Connell no chance with a powerful strike.
Mark Gorman followed with a point from a free and suddenly Clare found themselves nine points behind with just over 20 minutes remaining.
Try as they did they were unable to close the gap and a better-balanced Waterford moved on to contest the provincial final against either Cork or Limerick.
Waterford played with the strong breeze in the opening half and after the teams had exchanged points, the winners hit seven without reply. Jamie Kearney, Danny Murphy, Mark Gorman and Chris Gorman struck some excellent scores during this period.
A brace from Padraig Hickey gave Clare some hope and when the half-time whistle sounded they were just five behind, 0-4 to 0-9. Clare had reason to be confident about their chances at this stage as they would have the assistance of the strong breeze for the second half but they were rocked in the early period after the break.
Five unanswered points in a 10-minute spell gave Banner followers some hope as the margin was cut to four points with 13 minutes to play.
Sensing danger, Waterford stepped up a gear and three points in four minutes saw them regain the upperhand.
To their credit, Clare battled to the finish but time was not on their side and when the final whistle sounded, Waterford were deservedly in front.
Before the throw-in, Clare were forced to make a change to their selected side as full-back Stephen Kelly cried off with a back injury. Kevin Dilleen was moved from midfield to full-back, Patrick O’Connor went from wing-back to midfield and Corofin’s Dara Shannon came into the team at wing-back. Dilleen had a fine game at full-back and he got good support from Patrick Kelly and Ciaran O’Doherty, while further afield team captain Seán Chaplin tried hard, while Martin Duggan had a fine second half.
Paul Murray, Danny Murphy, Chris Gorman and Mark O’Gorman did well for the winners.

Waterford: Stephen O’Keeffe; Shane Kearney, John O’Leary, John Coffey; Seamus Hannon, Paul Murray, John Hurney; Danny Murphy, Nodlaig Ó Murchadha; Chris O’Gorman, Michael O’Gorman, Jamie Kearney; Mark Gorman, Nicky Jacob, Keith Landers.
Subs: B Phelan for Landers, J Hutchinson for Kearney and Alan Lawlor for M O’Gorman.
Scorers: Mark O’Gorman (0-5, 3f), Nicky Jacob (1-1), Jamie Kearney, Chris O’Gorman and Danny Murphy (0-2) each and John Hurney (0-1).
Frees for: 9; Wides: 9
Bookings: None.

Clare: Ger O’Connell (Clonlara); Marty O’Regan (St Joseph’s), Kevin Dilleen (St Joseph’s), Ciaran O’Doherty (Crusheen); Patrick Kelly (Clarecastle), Michael Hawes (Cratloe), Dara Shannon (Corofin); Patrick O’Connor (Tubber), Cathal Chaplin (Broadford); Seán Chaplin (Cratloe) captain, Tomás O’Donovan (Clonlara), Joe O’Connor (Parteen); Martin Duggan (Clooney-Quin), Alan Brigdale (Crusheen), Padraig Hickey (Broadford).
Subs: Marc O’Donnell (Éire Óg) for Brigdale (19 minutes), Danny Russell (Éire Óg) for O’Connor (41 minutes), Damian Kennedy (St Joseph’s) for Hickey (45 minutes), Mark Earley (Tubber) for Shannon and Francis O’Grady (Feakle) for O’Regan (56 minutes).
Scorers: Seán Chaplin (0-6, 5f), Martin Duggan (0-3), Patrick O’Connor (0-2, 1f) and Padraig Hickey (0-2).
Frees for: 15; wides: 6
Bookings: Dara Shannon (32 minutes).
Referee: Noel Cosgrove, Tipperary.

Goal delivers killer blow to Clare
THE game’s only goal, which came early in the second half, was the killer blow in Monday’s Munster Intermediate Hurling Championship semi-final, according to Clare manager Kevin Kennedy.
“Five points down after playing against the breeze wasn’t a bad position to be in but the goal proved to be a killer. The ball should have been cleared before Waterford struck,” the Clare boss said after the game.
He was pleased with the manner in which his charges hit back. “We fought back well and we were unlucky not to get a goal in the closing stages,” he said.
He also lamented having to make changes to the team line-up before the throw in.
“Because of a back injury, Stephen Kelly withdrew on Saturday night. We had to move Kevin Dilleen from midfield to full-back and his absence was sorely felt in the middle of the field,” Kennedy added.
Waterford impressed Kennedy. “They clearly had a lot of work down and on the day we can have no complaints really, as they were better than us. We played a good number of matches but to be properly prepared for the competition, you need to be together for at least six months.”
The Clare boss is pleased that a lot of young lads have been introduced to inter-county hurling this year.
“Almost all of our players are under the age of 25 and many are just 19 and 20. They did well and many will go on to play at senior level for Clare but to win this competition, a team needs a core of seven or eight older lads, which Waterford had.”
Kennedy said he will watch with interest how Waterford do in the final. “In the past few years, the team which beat us won the provincial title and it will be interesting to see if Waterford will do the same,” he concluded.