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Clare captain Conner Hegarty breaks out of the pack with the sliotar in hand. Photography by Eugene McCafferty

HURLING: Curse of Biddy Late strikes Clare again

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Munster Under 20 Hurling Championship Round 2
Cork 1-19 Clare 1-17

It was more Biddy Late than Early as Clare’s luckless Under 20 campaign ended in the cruelest possible manner for the second time in seven days in O’Garney Park Sixmilebridge on Wednesday evening, reports Eoin Brennan.
Within touching distance of victory against Limerick only to be agonisingly floored by Cathal O’Neill’s dramatic injury-time 1-1 blitz, amazingly Clare would be struck down by an almost identical smash-and-grab operation as Cork fired the last four points to also steal a one point win.
Having led for one hour and 45 minutes of their two hour campaign against last year’s Munster finalists Limerick and Cork, Clare somehow ended up with only gut-wrenching heartbreak.
Granted, it’s a result business but someone somewhere must be pulverising a Clare voodoo doll as it’s almost unthinkable that this would happen a second time.
After all, aside from a three minute spell following Diarmuid Healy’s spectacular volleyed goal at the turn of the final quarter, Clare led for the remainder of the hour and were still ahead by the 62nd minute before Cork substitutes Colin Walsh and Eoin O’Leary pulled off an unlikely victory.
All seemed to be going accordingly to plan as Clare, back by the slight conditions, grabbed the first five points of the contest, four from Shane Punch frees, by the eighth minute.
Indeed, it took Cork until the tenth minute to finally open their account but even then a miserly Clare rearguard limited the visitors to just frees until the second half.
Patrick Crotty (2), Diarmuid Cahill, Shane Meehan and substitute Keith Smyth would protect that five point cushion until injury-time when Ben Cunningham arrowed over his fifth free at 0-9 to 0-5 by the break.
Cork came storming back into the contest on the restart but crucially Clare kept them at arm’s length as a brace of Smyth frees sandwiched a glorious bouncing effort from Meehan that was excellently stopped by visiting goalkeeper Brion Saunderson in the 37th minute.
That save would be magnified when Daniel Hogan teed up Diarmuid Healy for a first time volley to the Clare net in the 44th minute to edge the Rebels in front for the first time at 1-10 to 0-12.
However, Clare refused to panic and got back on track in style with a 1-3 blitz as an exceptional solo goal from Meehan was bookended by points from Oisin O’Donnell, captain Conner Hegarty and Smyth to soar 1-15 to 1-11 clear entering the final ten minutes.
Cork refused to adhere to the home script though and would keep in touch predominantly through midfielder Brian O’Sullivan to lower the arrears to just three by the hour mark at 1-17 to 1-14.
Further scorers from Ethan Twomey and Eoin O’Leary started to create some doubt in the home side’s minds, with a Colin Walsh equaliser from the left wing followed by the unthinkable in the final minutes of injury-time when a foul on substitute Jack Leahy handed fellow replacement the simple task of securing the holders place in the last four.
While Clare are undeservedly forced to lick their wounds, the Rebels now have a group decider against Limerick in Páirc Uí Rinn next Wednesday to decide placing for the last four.
Sport can be ruthlessly cruel sometimes.

Cork: Brion Saunderson (Midleton); Kevin Lyons (Ballygarvan), Ciarmhuc Smyth (Midleton), Cathal McCarthy (Sarsfields); Eoin Downey (Glen Rovers), Ethan Twomey (St Finbarr’s), Luke Horgan (Glen Rovers); Michael Mullins (Whitechurch), Brian O’Sullivan (Kanturk); Denis McSweeney (Blarney), Brian Keating (Ballincollig), Ben Cunningham (St Finbarr’s); Diarmuid Healy (Lisgoold), Jack Cahalane (St Finbarr’s), Daniel Hogan (Sarsfields)
Subs: Colin Walsh (Kanturk) for McSweeney (HT), Eoin O’Leary (Glen Rovers) for Cunningham (48), Darragh O’Sullivan (Ballinhassig) for McCarthy (58), Jack Leahy (Dungourney) for Healy (58), Mark Howell (Douglas) for Downey (61, inj)

Scorers: Ben Cunningham (0-8f); Brian O’Sullivan (0-3); Diarmuid Healy (1-0); Brian Keating (0-2), Eoin O’Leary (3f); Jack Cahalane, Ethan Twomey, Colin Walsh (0-1 each)

Clare: Cian Broderick (Clarecastle); Ian McNamara (Killanena), Adam Hogan (Feakle), Diarmuid Mullins (Crusheen); John Conneally (Clooney-Quin), Cian Galvin (Clarecastle), Oisin Clune (Feakle); Colm O’Meara (Clonlara), Conner Hegarty (Inagh-Kilnamona) (Captain); Cormac Murphy (O’Callaghan’s Mills), Patrick Crotty (Scariff), Shane Punch (Ruan); Jack Kirwan (Parteen), Shane Meehan (Banner), Diarmuid Cahill (Corofin)
Subs: Keith Smyth (Killanena) for Punch (26), Oisin O’Donnell (Crusheen) for Kirwan (35), Keelan Hartigan (Scariff) for O’Meara (46), Gearoid Sheedy (Ogonnelloe) for Murphy (53), Oran Cahill (Éire Óg) for Cahill (59)

Scorers: Keith Smyth (0-6, 5f); Shane Punch (0-4f); Shane Meehan (1-1); Patrick Crotty, (0-3); Diarmuid Cahill, Oisin O’Donnell, Conner Hegarty (0-1 each)

Referee: Conor Doyle (Tipperary)

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