Crystal clear victory for Clare

IT was one-way traffic at O’Garney Park in Sixmilebridge on Sunday as Clare easily accounted for Waterford IT in the opening round of the Waterford Crystal Senior Hurling Tournament.

Before an official attendance of 638, new manager Davy Fitzgerald saw his charges win their first competitive outing under his leadership. The result was never in doubt as the winners dominated in every sector against an under-strength Waterford outfit.
With the first round of the Fitzgibbon Cup, the third-level colleges hurling championship, scheduled for this Thursday when Waterford IT will face Cork IT, it didn’t come as any great surprise to find the student outfit rested the majority of their first-choice players ahead of that game. No doubt that decision will lead to further debate as to whether or not college sides should be included in these pre-season tournaments.
Davy Fitzgerald wasn’t getting involved in that debate on Sunday. “I couldn’t care less what team Waterford put out once we win and win well. It’s up to Waterford to decide on their line-up. We did what we had to do and that’s all that I am worried about,” he said after the game.
Waterford IT manager Peter Kirwan commented, “The team’s championship is on Thursday and that’s the priority”.
The game was over as a contest after the first quarter at which time, Clare were 1-9 to 0-1 ahead. Their lead could have been greater at this stage but the impressive Stephen O’Keeffe had pulled off a couple of excellent saves, which he repeated in the second half saving his team from a much heavier defeat on the day.
Colin Ryan (3), Daire Keane (2) and Pat Donnellan were on target as Clare raced into a 0-6 to 0-0 lead after just 10 minutes. The game’s first goal came in the 16th minute when Aaron Cunningham finished after O’Keeffe had saved well from Keane.
Three Colin Ryan points followed before Daire Keane took a pass from the impressive Newmarket man and blasted to the net to bring the score to 2-11 to 0-1 with 12 minutes still remaining in the half. Ryan added another point bringing his tally to 0-7 before being forced to retire due to injury. He was replaced by Clarecastle’s Jonathon Clancy. At half-time, it was 2-14 to 0-3.
Clare took up where they had left off and had three early second-half points. With teenager Aaron Cunningham now doing well at full-forward, four more points followed before the end of the third quarter.
In the closing period of the game, Clare introduced Bryan Donnellan, Mark Earley and Stephen O’Halloran, while Eoin Hayes got through for the team’s third goal.
In his first competitive game at senior inter-county level, Seadna Morey excelled at wing-back for Clare. Cian Dillon was always in control at full-back, while up front, Colin Ryan, until injured, Daire Keane and Aaron Cunningham did well. Enda Barrett, who will be with Waterford IT this week in the Fitzgibbon Cup, did well at centre-back for Clare.
Goalkeeper Stephen O’Keeffe excelled for the visitors producing a number of excellent saves.

Clare: Patrick Kelly; Domhnaill O’Donovan, Cian Dillon, Conor Cooney; Seadna Morey, Enda Barrett, James McInerney; Nicky O’Connell, Pat Donnellan (capt); Cathal Chaplin, Daire Keane, Fergal Lynch; Eoin Hayes, Colin Ryan, Aaron Cunningham.
Subs: Jonathon Clancy for Ryan (inj 28 minutes); Bryan Donnellan for Lynch (58 minutes); Mark Earley for Cooney (65 minutes); Stephen O’Halloran for Morey (68 minutes).
Scorers: Daire Keane (1-6), Colin Ryan (0-7, 3f); Aaron Cunningham (1-4, 0-2f); Nicky O’Connell (0-3), Eoin Hayes (1-0), Pat Donnellan, Jonathon Clancy (0-2 each) and Conor Cooney (0-1).

Waterford IT: Stephen O’Keeffe (Waterford); Maurice Power (Waterford), Paddy Nolan (Kilkenny), John Cahill (Kilkenny); Daniel Murphy (Dublin), Luke O’Loughlin, (Corofin, Clare), Stephen O’Keeffe (Waterford); Martin Power (Kilkenny), Joe O’Dwyer (Tipperary); Eoin Madigan (Waterford), Sean Cleary (Offaly), Conor O’Meara (Tipperary); Tommy Kavanagh (Tipperary), Jake Dillon (Waterford), Kieran Hammersley (Tipperary).
Subs: Noel Connors (Waterford) for S O’Keeffe (wing-back); Bernard Burke (Galway) for O’Dwyer.
Scorers: Daniel Murphy (0-2, f); Conor O’Meara, Kieran Hammersley (0-1 each, f) and Jake Dillon (0-1).
Referee: Diarmuid Kirwan, Cork.