HURLING: Clare clash with Dublin to form part of Limerick double header

CLARE will return to the TUS Gaelic Grounds as they face Dublin this Saturday in their crunch All Ireland quarter final showdown, writes Ivan Smyth.

Brian Lohan’s side will take on Dublin the quarter-final on Saturday at 4pm in the first game of a double header with Galway facing Tipperary at 6.15pm.

This will be the third Championship game this year Clare will play at the Ennis Road venue. The Banner beat Limerick in the round robin stage of the Munster Championship by a single point before losing out by the same margin in the decider.

This will be Clare’s first game since that Munster final defeat as they try and secure successive semi final appearances and set up a rematch against Kilkenny.

Dublin reached this stage of the competition after finishing third in the Leinster Championship. They trailed Joe McDonagh Cup winners Carlow by a point at half time in their Preliminary Quarter Final clash last weekend before powering to a 2-25 to 0-21 win.

Mark Grogan and Cian O’Sullivan goals along with eight pointed frees from Donal Burke saw Dublin avoid falling at the Preliminary Quarter Final stage for the second time in five years after a shock loss at the same stage to Eddie Brennan’s Laois in 2019.

Saturday’s tie will mark the first meeting of Clare and Dublin in the All-Ireland SHC since 2012.

That day brought former Clare teammates Davy Fitzgerald and Anthony Daly against each other with the former in charge of Clare while the latter took charge of Dublin.

The 14 men of Clare overturned a six point deficit on a day when Tony Kelly made his Championship debut and ended up slotting a critical goal as the Banner prevailed 1-16 to 0-16.

Tickets for this Saturday’s game will go on sale at 10am tomorrow (Tuesday).