Clare      0-20
Antrim  0-12
Having struggled to stay ahead of visitors Antrim in the first half of this Division 1B hurling tie at Cusack Park on Sunday, Clare took command of the game in the second period and emerged as deserving winners

It wasn’t an impressive display and, as manager Davy Fitzgerald acknowledged afterwards, Clare would certainly have struggled to get a result against stronger opposition.
Showing two changes – both enforced – from the side that scored a comprehensive win over Limerick in the opening round, Clare were fortunate to be in front by the minimum margin at half time. A strong start to the second half that yielded five unanswered points, gave the Banner men control and they were comfortably ahead at the final whistle.
Sean Collins and James McInerney were both ruled out due to illness. Daire Keane came into the attack in place of Collins while McInerney was replaced by his Newmarket clubmate Enda Barrett.
On quite a number of occasions in the opening half, Clare’s short passing game didn’t work with attempted passes being intercepted when they were in good attacking positions. This tactic didn’t please everyone in the attendance but it’s a style of play that Clare has adopted this season.
The game was just 20 seconds old when Nicky O’Connell gave Clare the lead and this was doubled in the fifth minute when Daire Keane found the target. After a shakey start, Antrim got a grip on the game and by the tenth minute they were level.
After direct opponents Nicky O’Connell and Neil McManus exchanged points, the Antrim midfielder gave his side the lead for the only time in the game in the fifteenth minute.
The lead was shortlived as the home side hit back with an equaliser from John Conlon. Scores were exchanged a couple of more times before the half time whistle at which time Clare were 0-8 to 0-7 ahead. Just before the half-time whistle visiting goalie Chris O’Connell made a fine stop from Conor McGrath.
There was a bit more urgency evident in Clare’s play when the second half got underway and points followed from Nicky O’Connell, Conor McGrath (2) and Colin Ryan (2) which saw the home side stretch their lead to six with just eight minutes of the half played.
A further two minutes went by before the Ulster outfit had their first score of the half, a pointed free by Shane McNaughton. Indeed, they had to wait until shortly before the final whistle for their only score from play in this half, a point from substitute Barry McFall.
There was concern in the Clare camp when Domhnaill O’Donovan was sent off a minute before the end of the third quarter at a time when the margin was five points. It was down to four a minute later but that was as close as the visitors got despite their numerical advantage.
Clare’s superior fitness was evident in the concluding quarter and helped them to maintain control on a day when Cian Dillon dominated at full-back, with good support from O’Donovan until his dismissal and Conor Cooney. Midfielder Nicky O’Connell finished as joint top scorer with Conor McGrath, each shooting six points.
Neil McManus had a strong first half for the visitors but he picked up a second yellow shortly before the full-time whistle that resulted in his dismissal.

Clare: Patrick Kelly; Domhnaill O’Donovan, Cian Dillon, Conor Cooney; Brendan Bugler, Patrick O’Connor, Enda Barrett; Nicky O’Connell, Pat Donnellan (capt); John Conlon, Daire Keane, Fergal Lynch; Cathal McInerney, Colin Ryan, Conor McGrath.
Subs: Caimin Morey (0-2) for McInerney (60 minutes); Jonathon Clancy for Lynch (70 minutes); Liam Markham for O’Connell (70) minutes.
Scorers: Nicky O’Connell (4 frees), Conor McGrath (3 frees), 0-6 each; Colin Ryan (0-3); Caimin Morey (0-2); John Conlon, Daire Keane, Cathal McInerney (0-1 each).
Frees for: 17; wides: 11.
Bookings: Fergal Lynch (13 minutes).
Sent off: Domhnaill O’Donovan (50 minutes).
Antrim: Chris O’Connell; Aaron Graffin, Cormac Donnelly, Kieran McGourty; KB McShane, Neal McAuley, Simon McCrory; Neil McManus, Michael Gettens; Karl Stewart, Michael Herron, Colm McFall; Shane McNaughton, Conor McCann, PJ O’Connell.
Subs: Barry McFall for Gettens (32 minutes); Kevin Sheeran for McCann (half time); Declan Lynch for C McFall (46 minutes); Darren Hamill for O’Connell (68 minutes).
Scorers: Shane McNaughton (0-5), all frees; Neil McManus (0-4), 1 free; Karl Stewart, PJ O’Connell, Barry McFall (0-1) each.
Frees for: 16; wides: 7
Bookings: Neil McManus (38 minutes and 67 minutes); Karl Stewart (32 minutes); Simon McCrory (46 minutes); Shane McNaughton (56 minutes).
Sent off: Neil McManus (67 minutes).
Referee: Brian Gavin, Offaly.

No half-time ‘roaring’ from Fitzgerald after sluggish show

Acknowledging that Clare would have been in trouble against stronger opposition, manager Davy Fitzgerald said he was still satisfied that the team “were very comfortable in the second half” after their eight-point win on Sunday.
Responding to the suggestion that Antrim made it difficult for Clare, he said “we got bags of it for the last two years. I am happy with the outcome. I trusted them”.
There was “no roaring” at his charges at half time. “We knew we weren’t happy with what we were doing,” he said. “They are anxious to do well. They were trying a small bit too hard. We stuck at our game and we got there in the end. It’s the biggest win we have had over them in a while. We were down a man for the final quarter and not playing to our capabilities so it’s not too bad. We were very comfortable in the second half. We weren’t in trouble. We scored 0-20 and we missed a lot,” he said.
Fitzgerald also noted, “the pitch was very heavy. We have been training on a better surface than that”.
Asked about Domhnaill O’Donovan’s sending off he said that at the time he thought it seemed a bit harsh.
“I asked him (referee) afterwards and I accept what he said. We have to take our medicine. We dealt well with the situation, used our heads and we picked off some great scores.”
“We are going to make mistakes,” the Sixmilebridge man repeated. “The lads are getting things wrong but they are trying to do the right thing and they are going to learn. We are trying different things and if we don’t try different things, we are going to get the same results we have been getting for years.
“We accept that there are people in the crowd who won’t be happy but we will keep trying to do the best for Clare,” he promised.
Looking ahead to this week’s game against Laois in Portlaoise, the manager warned, “this will be another tough one. They were beaten by Limerick and they will throw the kitchen sink at us. We are in for a tough one but it’s up to us to get a result there”.