Extra time heartache

Waterford 1-20   Clare 3-13

Clare and Waterford have provided some hugely entertaining games in the Munster Minor Hurling Championship in the past few years and their latest meeting continued in this vein at Cusack Park on Wednesday evening.
Extra time was needed to produce a winner with the visitors emerging by the minimum margin to secure a place in the provincial semi-final in June when they play Tipperary.
Clare have just a week to re-group for their next outing which will be against Cork or Kerry next Thursday. It’s a huge ask for the title-holders who picked up a number of injuries in this week’s tie.
GAA officials who talk about burnout need to take a serious look at the schedule of games for players at this age group. To ask Clare – it could so easily have been Waterford in this position – to play a knock-out game in this competition next week is a bit much.
It’s a similar situation for Cork and while they didn’t have extra time in their game against Limerick, they have to face Kerry this Saturday to get through to meet Clare.
This was a hugely entertaining contest, however, between two evenly matched sides that were level on seven occasions. Waterford were first to score but a Shane O’Donnell goal for Clare in the third minute clearly put down a marker that the Banner side were determined to repeat their final success of last year over the Déise.
Clare was forced into an early change when, in the eighth minute, centre-forward Shane Liddy was stretchered off the field with a suspected broken leg.
Waterford were back in front in the third minute when full-forward Darragh Flynn goaled after Clare goalie Eibhear Quilligan had made an outstanding save. It was point for point for the remainder of the half and Waterford went to the break 1-8 to 1-6 in front after playing with the aid of the breeze.
A Bobby Duggan goal two minutes into the second half had Clare back in front but they were level again with ten minutes to play. Waterford edged ahead and were a point to the good with two minutes remaining when Shane O’Donnell struck again for another excellent goal.
Four minutes of injury time were signalled and in the second and third of these, Stephen Bennett pointed for the visitors to force extra time.
At the end of the first period Waterford had gone three clear. The outstanding Conor Cleary who had retired a few minutes before the end of normal time due to injury returned for the second half of extra time.
Three unanswered Clare points had them level again and a replay looked likely as light faded. Cathal Curran hit what proved to be the winner for the visitors and they held out for the remaining three minutes.

Waterford: Sean Barry; Kieran Bennett, Tadhg Bourke, Shane Bennett; Kieran Power, Shane McNulty, Tom Devine; Conor Sheehan, Cian Leamy; Darren Foran, Micheal Harney, Adam O’Sullivan; Stephen Bennett, Darragh Flynn, Cathal Curran.
Subs: Jason Roche for K Bennett; Austin Gleeson for O’Sullivan; Michael J Kearney for Curran; Tom Tobin for Sheehan; Curran for Flynn; Jack Walsh for Leamy; William Hahessy for Shane Bennett (inj).
Scorers: Stephen Bennett (0-7); Darragh Flynn (1-2); Micheal Harney (0-4); Cathal Curran (0-2); Kieran Power, Tom Devine, Darren Foran, Adam O’Sullivan, Austin Gleeson (0-1 each).

Clare: Eibhear Quilligan (Feakle); Shane O’Brien (captain, Clonlara), Brian Carey (Sixmilebridge), Gearóid Ryan (Clarecastle); Aidan McGuane (Kilmaley), Conor Cleary (Kilmaley), Eoin Quirke (Whitegate); David Conroy (Doora-Barefield), Alex Morey (Sixmilebridge); Brian Corry (Sixmilebridge), Shane Liddy (Newmarket), Shane Taylor (Clooney-Quin); Shane O’Donnell (Éire Óg), Conor Deasy (Sixmilebridge), Bobby Duggan (Clarecastle).
Subs: Niall Deasy (Ballyea) for Liddy (inj); Shane Gleeson (Cratloe) for N Deasy; Stephen Ward (Clarecastle) for Corry; Aidan O’Gorman (O’Callaghan’s Mills) for Cleary (inj); Mark McGuane (Clarecastle) for Quirke; Cleary for Gleeson.
Scorers: Bobby Duggan (1-8); Shane O’Donnell (2-0); Alex Morey, Conor Deasy (0-2 each), Shane Taylor (0-1).

Referee: Fergal Horgan, Tipperary.