Clare let 11-point lead slip away

Waterford 2-19
Clare 2-18

When Clare went to the half time break in Sunday’s Waterford Crystal senior hurling tournament semi-final with an 11-point lead, the odds suggested that they were on their way to next weekend’s final.
Midway through the second half, the picture had taken a dramatic turn and it was clear that the home side would struggle to finish on top. They failed to match the commitment of the visitors in the second half and, more accurately, to deal with the threat of Seamus Prendergast after he moved to full-forward when the teams came out for the resumption of play.
The physically strong Waterford man caused a lot of problems for both Cian Dillon and James McInerney and his ability to win possession led to a lot of Waterford scores. While Clare can argue that referee Johnnie Ryan awarded a few ‘soft’ frees to the visitors, the reality is that the home team failed to maintain first half form into the second period and this proved costly.
This was the second week in succession that Clare experienced problems at full-back when the opposition placed a physically strong opponent in the position.
Last week, the switch of Laois man Willie Hyland to the edge of the square by Limerick IT caused a lot of problems for Ciam Dillon but the move of James McInerney to full back solved the problem on that occasion while Dillon went on to shine at centre back.
Mindful of how the switch had worked on that occasion, Davy Fitzgerald, who is in charge of both Limerick IT and Waterford, repeated the exercise this week when he had a more experienced and, arguably, physically stronger player for the role in Prendergast. This time the switch between McInerney and Dillon didn’t have the same effect although both battled bravely to the end.
Not all of Clare’s problems on Sunday can be put down to their difficulty to cope with Prendergast, however. In the second half, the home side struggled in both the midfield and half-forward sectors where the winners managed to win a lot of possession and this is something that will also concern Ger O’Loughlin and his selectors as they plan ahead to the opening game in the league on Sunday week.
Waterford made the better start on Sunday and were three points clear, 0-4 to 0-1, after 12 minutes. Then Clare sprang to life and three points in two minutes levelled the tie for the first of four times
They were level at 0-5 each at the end of the opening quarter before Clare struck for the game’s first goal that came from teenager, Cathal McInerney. The Cratloe clubman won possession from a Domhnaill O’Donovan delivery and Waterford goalie, Clinton Hennessy was unable to prevent his effort from entering the net. Six minutes after this McInerney provided the pass for Fergal Lynch to shoot to the corner of the net for an impressive score. Five unanswered points in as many minutes left Clare 2-12 to 0-7 ahead at half time.
While a Waterford fight back was expected, few expected such a turnabout. Manager Fitzgerald re-arranged his forward line with Prendergast going to the edge of the square in a switch with Shane Walsh.
The big Ardmore man went on to cause numerous problems for a number of opponents. Referee Johnnie Ryan adjudged that Prendergast was fouled in the fifth minute and Ritchie Foley drove the resultant 20m free low to the net. Four points followed in as many minutes and with 25 minutes still to play the margin had been cut to four points.
Waterford clearly took confidence from this lively start to the half and by the end of the third quarter Clare’s lead was down to two points, 2-14 to 1-15. Top scorer Foley converted another free to leave the minimum between the teams and then Prendergast passed to Shane Casey who struck for their second goal that gave them a two-point advantage with 14 minutes remaining.
It was time for change and Clare introduced Caimin Morey followed by Cathal Chaplin and Gerry Quinn, but the visitors had the momentum and they continued to dominate. Around this time, the home side were fortunate not to go further behind but goalkeeper Philip Brennan came to their aid with two impressive saves.
Four minutes from the end, Clare trailed by two points when they were awarded a penalty with referee Ryan judging that Fergal Lynch was fouled. James McInerney made his way from full back to take the free but his rasping drive went over the bar. A Nicky O’Connell pointed free followed to level the game with a minute of normal time to play
As the game ticked into injury time, Colin Ryan, with his first score of the game, pointed Clare into the lead but they failed to hold on to this advantage and two pointed frees by Foley in added time sealed a one point win for the title holders.
In the opening half when Cian Dillon, James McInerney, Mark Earley, Cathal McInerney and Conor McGrath played some lovely hurling. Because of the dominance of the Waterford half-backs, the young Cratloe due saw little possession in the second half.
Michael Walsh, Jamie Nagle, Stephen Molumphy, Ritchie Foley, Shane Casey and Prendergast were all prominent for Waterford on Sunday.

Waterford: Clinton Hennessy; Frank McGrath, Jerome Maher, Darragh Fives; Shane O’Sullivan, Michael Walsh, Jamie Nagle; Stephen Molumphy, Eoin McGrath; Seamus Prendergast, Ritchie Foley, Paudie Mahony; Shane Casey, Shane Walsh, Brian O’Halloran.
Subs: Gavin Crotty for E McGrath (inj), 34 minutes Chris Ryan for F McGrath (half time).
Scorers: Ritchie Foley (1-11, 1-8 frees, 0-2 ‘65’s); Shane Casey (1-3); Stephen Molumphy (0-2); Seamus Prendergast, Shane Walsh, Gavin Crotty (0-1) each.
Frees for: 21; wides: 7; ‘65s: 3

Clare: Philip Brennan; Mark Earley, Cian Dillon, James Gunning; Ciaran O’Doherty, James McInerney, Liam Markham; Nicky O’Connell, Domhnaill O’Donovan; Fergal Lynch, John Conlon, Cathal McInerney; Conor McGrath, Diarmuid McMahon, Colin Ryan.
Subs: Caimin Morey for Markham (60 minutes); Cathal Chaplin for Gunning (65 minutes); Gerry Quinn for O’Doherty (67 minutes).
Scorers: Nicky O’Connell (3 frees, 1 ‘65), Conor McGrath (4 frees, 0-6 each); Cathal McInerney (1-1); Fergal Lynch (1-0); John Conlon (0-2); James McInerney (free); Diarmuid McMahon, Colin Ryan (0-1 each).
Frees for: 14; wides: 8; ‘65s: 1

Referee: Johnnie Ryan, Tipperary.

 

Young team took foot off the pedal

Clare boss Ger O’Loughlin admitted after Sunday’s defeat to being very disappointed with the outcome.
“We played tremendous hurling in the opening 35 minutes when they had no answer to us. We warned them at half time not to take the foot off the pedal that is what happened,” he said.
“We have a very young and inexperienced team and we have to learn how to win,” he added. “This is something we are finding it hard to do. We did something like this against Wexford in the park last year”.
“Seamus Prendergast did cause a lot of problems for us when he moved to full forward. We knew that the first 15 minutes in the second half were going to be important. We knew that they would come back at us and if we could weather the storm at the start we would have pushed on but it didn’t work out. We went on the back foot straight away and conceded 1-4 in six minutes.”
Continuing the Clare boss said, “we must learn from this. Any of the better teams will put you away when they have a lead like that and we must learn to do that.”
O’Loughlin stressed that Clare can take a lot of positives out of this game and out of this competition.
“We have had three good competitive ties and we have found some very good players. We have brought eight or nine new lads into the set up. It is just a pity that we didn’t push on and qualify for next week’s final.”
“Clare now have to, mentally and physically, get ready for the league and make sure we have all the boxes ticked. The opening match with Limerick will be vital.”
Meanwhile, Davy Fitzgerald admitted he didn’t have to say much at half time.
“The lads knew that they hadn’t played well and that they had to step up. In fairness, we had conceded two soft goals in the first half”.
“We have a lot of lads who hadn’t played for Waterford before. There are 17 or 18 missing who will be in contention for places in our championship team,” he added before saying that Clare can take a lot of positives from this game but they have to get a level of consistency in their performances.
“Seamus Prendergast caused a lot of problems for them when he went to full-forward,” Fitzgerald said. “It was his best game for some time but he is working awful hard in training and it was reflected out there today.”

Next up for Clare

On Saturday Clare will travel to Mallow to play a Cork selection in a challenge game. Starting at 7pm, the match will be played under lights.
The Clare management team are hopeful that team captain, Pat Vaughan will play some part in this game.
“He has made considerable progress in recent weeks and we hope that he will play on Saturday,” said manager O’Loughlin earlier this week.