Kelly drives Clare to another win

INSPIRED by the excellence and unrelenting commitment of Gordon Kelly at centre-back, Clare qualified for the semi-final of the McGrath Cup, where they will play Waterford on Sunday.
With Rory Donnelly, substitute David Tubridy and Alan Clohessy moving well in attack, Clare improved considerably in the second half, just as they did the previous week against UCC.
Prior to the throw-in, an immaculate minute’s silence was observed in memory of the late Michaela McAreavey.
The opening 23 minutes in Cooraclare featured a mere two points, evenly divided. Barry John Walsh scored CIT’s point, the first of the game, while Clohessy pointed Clare’s opening score in the 15th minute, after he picked up a Timmy Ryan hand pass. Two minutes before that, Clare lost midfielder Gary Brennan with an ankle injury. He was replaced by Tubridy, returning after treatment for a groin injury. Tubridy slotted in at centre-forward, with Shane McNeilis joining Cathal O’Connor in midfield.
Clare kicked 12 wides during the 70 minutes, five of these in the first 23, while they dropped three point efforts into CIT goalkeeper Brian Walsh in that period.
Eventually, Donnelly pointed Clare 0-2 to 0-1 up after O’Connor had caught a CIT kick-out. David O’Brien, from a free won by himself, and Tubridy from play, after a quick Clohessy free, shot Clare into a 0-4 to 0-1 lead.
The remaining four minutes, plus injury time, yielded three successive CIT points from Walsh, Donal Óg Hodnett and Peadar O’Driscoll.
Just before half-time, Tubridy kicked what was Clare’s eighth first-half wide. The cross-field wind didn’t appear to particularly favour either team but Clare should have led by at least a couple of points at the interval as they had the majority of possession in the first half.
Shane Brennan was introduced at half-time for O’Brien, while Donnelly resumed at centre-forward, with Tubridy joining Clohessy and Ryan in the full-forward line.
A foul on Gordon Kelly resulted in a pointed Clohessy free, while a Graham Kelly pass down the line to Tubridy led to the Doonbeg man curling Clare into a 0-6 to 0-4 lead.
Darren O’Neill replaced McNeilis in midfield at this juncture. Points from Hodnett and Andrew O’Brien soon had the teams level at 0-6 each.
However, Clare responded impressively with a trio of points from Clohessy, after a quick Tubridy free, Darren O’Neill and Donnelly. Now three points up with 13 minutes left, Clare again allowed CIT back into the game. Andrew O’Brien pointed from play to reduce the deficit to two points, 0-9 to 0-7.
Five minutes from time, Tubridy kicked a superb free, which curled inside the post, after Donnelly had been fouled. Late points from O’Brien meant that Clare couldn’t relax but they held on to record an excellent win.
They will play Waterford in Bushy Park, Dungarvan at 2pm on Sunday.
Last Sunday, Gordon Kelly was exemplary at centre-back, while his brother Graham also played very solidly at wing-back. In fact, all of the Clare defenders did their respective jobs and although Clare conceded five points from frees, their tackling was more disciplined than it was against UCC.
Gary Brennan was a significant loss from midfield, although Cathal O’Connor worked very hard in that area and significantly upped his game from the previous week.
Diarmuid Daly was the best of the Clare half-forward line with his high workrate especially evident.
Rory Donnelly looked very sharp and again his work rate was noticeable, while Alan Clohessy and David Tubridy contributed handsomely to Clare’s performance.
Darren O’Neill impressed when brought into the Clare midfield and found time to kick a crucial point.
With just three weeks to go before Clare’s opening league game away to Leitrim on February 6, their McGrath Cup run will have significantly helped preparations. Management will head into the league with a very clear idea as to who their best 20 players are.

Clare: Joe Hayes (Lissycasey); Niall White (Doora-Barefield), Laurence Healy (Ennistymon), Martin McMahon (Kilmurry Ibrickane); Graham Kelly (Miltown), Gordon Kelly (Miltown, captain), John Hayes (Kilrush); Gary Brennan (Clondegad), Cathal O’Connor (Coolmeen); David O’Brien (Doora-Barefield), Shane McNeilis (Kildysart), Diarmuid Daly (Corofin); Rory Donnelly (Cooraclare), Timmy Ryan (Kilmihil), Alan Clohessy (Liscannor).
Subs: David Tubridy (Doonbeg) for Gary Brennan (13 minutes, injured), Shane Brennan (Clondegad) for David O’Brien (half-time) and Darren O’Neill (Éire Óg) for Shane McNeilis (43).
Scorers: Alan Clohessy (0-3, 1f), David Tubridy (0-3, 1f), Rory Donnelly (0-2), Darren O’Neill (0-1) and David O’Brien (0-1f).
Wides: 12; Frees won: 34; 45s: 0
Cork IT: Brian Walsh; Brian McGuire, Stephen O’Donoghue, Ross O’Dwyer; Paddy Minihane, Bryan Russell, Conor O’Driscoll; Peter Daly, Seán O’Hare; Peadar O’Driscoll, Barry John Walsh, Ronan Power; John Dinneen, Hugh Curran, Donal Óg Hodnett.
Subs: Aidan Walsh for Peter Daly (17), Andrew O’Brien for John Dinneen (49) and Seán Kelleher for Peadar O’Driscoll (40).
Scorers: Andrew O’Brien (0-4, 2f), Donal Óg Hodnett (0-2f), Barry John Walsh (0-2, 1f) and Peadar O’Driscoll (0-1).
Wides: 8; Frees won: 26; 45s: 1
Referee: Keith O’Brien (Tipperary).