Clare face Limerick for semi-final spot

The Clare minor footballers will travel to The Gaelic Grounds on Saturday evening to take on Limerick in a second-round losers group Munster championship fixture.

Having lost to Cork after a doughty display, Clare beat Waterford comprehensively last Saturday evening. Limerick meanwhile, were beaten 1-13 to 0-9 by Tipperary in Kilmallock last Wednesday week. The fact that Dara Tracey, Dean Lillis and Francis O’Riordan top-scored for Limerick with 0-2 apiece against Tipperary underlines their need for improvement in attack.
Bearing in mind that Limerick have played just one game, Clare’s attack has registered 4-25 in their two games, which is impressive. Not so impressive is their defensive record. Clare conceded 3-19 in total against Cork and Waterford.
Therefore, while Clare will be very keen to maintain their attacking threat on Saturday evening, they will have to tighten up defensively. Some of this is down to covering runners from midfield and the half-back line. That was one area where Clare struggled against Cork, who caused trouble when they ran at Clare, displaying good support play.
Kilmurry Ibrickane’s Niall Hickey is currently the top scorer in the Munster minor championship with 2-7, while Conor Cleary has notched 1-4, all from play.
What is very noticeable about this Clare minor team is the quality of their attacking play. Hickey, the Cleary twins, Martin O’Leary and Jamie Malone, in the first half against Cork, have all shown that they are capable of playing attacking football to a high level. A win on Saturday would represent a badly needed boost to Clare football, with the U-21 footballers having been knocked out by Limerick and the county’s seniors still stuck in Division 4.
Limerick are managed by Tom McGlinchy, while their team captain is Seán Barrett. In 2010 they beat Waterford in the first round but lost 2-15 to 0-7 against Kerry in the semi-final played in Newcastlewest.

Minors win easily in Waterford
Clare 4-14    Waterford 1-9
Following an encouraging, albeit losing display against Cork in Pairc Uí Rínn the previous Wednesday evening, the Clare minors hammered Waterford in Dungarvan last Saturday.
Waterford’s season is now over while Clare will play Limerick at 7.30pm in the Gaelic Grounds this Saturday. The winners will play Cork in the Munster semi-final on May 18. If Clare win in Limerick, they will play Cork at a Clare venue for a place in the Munster final. This was Clare’s third successive win at minor level over Waterford, having also beaten them in the 2009 and 2010 Munster championship.
Clare made two changes in personnel to the team beaten by Cork. Jamie Malone (Corofin) who started at corner-forward in Pairc Uí Rínn, was moved to full-back in place of Craig O’Brien while Ciaran Devitt replaced Darragh Bolton in the starting 15.
Darragh McDonagh was moved from midfield to centre-back, with Conor Cleary replacing him at midfield, while Stan Lineen switched from centre to wing-back. Clare controlled last weekend’s game from the early stages and were 2-4 to 0-1 ahead after just 14 minutes. Miltown’s Conor and Eoin Cleary pointed Clare’s opening scores before Niall Hickey notched 1-2. A minute after he goaled, the Kilmurry Ibrickane full-forward pointed from play after his penalty effort was saved by Conor Mulcahy.
After a slick passing move Conor Cleary netted Clare’s second goal while Hickey scored his second goal in the 18th minute, with Clare now completely on top. Come the interval, Michael Neylon’s team led 3-7 to 0-6 with Eoin Cleary and Martin O’Leary having added points.
Clare remained dominant and added 1-7 during the second 30 minutes. Jack Scanlon and Alan O’Neill added early second-half points before Eoin and Conor Cleary tagged on three between them. Eleven minutes from full-time Dale Sheridan found the net for Waterford but Kilmihil’s Martin O’Leary did likewise at the opposite end, when he goaled a 60th minute penalty.
Ennistymon’s Conor McConigley and Conor Cleary completed Clare’s points tally.
Clare: Darren Sexton (Kilmurry Ibrickane); Conor Galvin (Clondegad, captain), Jamie Malone (Corofin), Oisín Vaughan (Ennistymon); Jarlath Colleran (Barefield), Darragh McDonagh (Miltown), Stan Lineen (Kilmihil); Alan O’Neill (Barefield), Conor Cleary (Miltown); Eoin Cleary (Miltown),Ciaran Devitt (Ennistymon), Adrian Murrihy (Kilmurry Ibrickane), Martin O’Leary (Kilmihil) Niall Hickey (Kilmurry Ibrickane), William Flynn (Wolfe Tones).
Subs: Jack Scanlon (O’Curry’s) for Adrian Murrihy; Conor McNeils (Clondegad) for Jarlath Colleran; Luke Brannock (Barefield) for William Flynn; Cathal McConigley (Ennistymon) for Eoin Cleary; Paudie Nugent (Doonbeg) for Oisín Vaughan.
Scorers: Niall Hickey 2-2; Conor Cleary 1-3; Eoin Cleary 0-5, (0-3 f); Martin O’Leary 1-1, (1-0 pen); Jack Scanlon, Alan O’Neill, Cathal McConigley 0-1 each.
Waterford: Conor Mulcahy; John Heffernan, Ray O’Ceallaigh, PJ Curran; Lorcan O’Corrain, David Hallihan, Seán Hyslop; Emmet O’Toole, Gavin Nugent; Michael Curry, Eamonn Power, Tadhg Burke; Michael Kiely, Ryan Donnelly, Eoin Kiely.
Subs: Paul Connors for Emmet O’Toole; Dale Sheridan for Eoin Kiely; Jeff Jones for Michael Kiely; Adam O’Donoghue for Ryan Donnelly; Daniel Power for Sean Hyslop.
Scorers: Tadhg Burke 0-5, (0-4 f); Gavin Nugent 0-3; Dale Sheridan 1-0; Emmet O’Toole 0-1.
Referee: James Bermingham (Cork).