Dublin 2-11 Clare 0-10

Dublin justified favouritism when overcoming Clare in this All-Ireland minor football quarter final at O’Moore park in Portlaoise this Bank holiday Monday afternoon but the Leinster champions will be the first to admit that they were asked many questions by Clare.

Indeed when Clare reflect on this, their sixth game in this season’s championship, they will wonder what the outcome might have been had Dublin not benefitted from two fortunate goals. Five minutes into the second half a speculative effort from Dublin centre forward James Doran found its way to the net and it gave a huge lift to Dublin while it proved to be a huge blow to the Banner side

Just a point separated the teams at the end of a low scoring first half with Dublin ahead on a score of 1-3 to 0-5.

Clare could and should have been ahead based on the amount of possession they had enjoyed allied to the fact that Dublin’s goal came from a Clare mistake when team captain Dermot Coughlan lost possession in the fifth minute. That score gave the Leinster champions a four point advantage with the score at 1-1 t 0-0.

The game was sevenminutes old before Clare opened their account through a Gavin Cooney free and further points from Cooney, Dermot Coughlan (both frees) and Gearoid Cahill had the teams level after fourteen minutes.

A Dermot Coughlan effort from play saw Clare hit the front in the twentieth minute before two Ross McGarry frees saw the Dubs ahead by the minimum margin at the interval.

Clare showed two changes in personnell and some positional changes from the side which was hammered by Kerry in the Munster final at the beginning of July.

Stephen Ryan from Kilrush who wasn’t a member of the squad for the Munster final, took over the goalkeeping duties from Mark Lillis while Eire Og’s Danny Griffin was at midfield and in the resultant reshuffle, Cratloe’s Riain Considine dropped down to the substitutes bench

Clare; Stephen Ryan (Kilrush); Jack Sheedy (St. Breckans) 0-1 Jayme O’Sullivan (Wolfe Tones), Joe Miniter (Kilrush); Diarmuid Ryan(Cratloe), Fergal Donnellan (Cooraclare), Colin McNeilis (Clondegad); Danny Griffin (Eire Og), Keith White (Inagh-Kilnamona); Sean Rouine (Ennistymon), Ross Phelan (Kilrush), Dermot Coughlan (Kilmurry-Ibrickane) 0-4, Ross O’Doherty (Ennistymon), 0-1 Gavin Cooney (Eire Og) 0-3, Gearoid Cahill (Corofin) 0-1;

Subs; Seamus Casey (Kildysart) for Cahill; Ciaran O’Donoghue(Cooraclare) for Phelan; Aidan Reynolds (Killimer) for Griffen; Padraic Kelly (St. Breckans) for O’Sullivan (inj). Conor Dillon (Ennistymon) for White; Colm O’Brien (St.Breckans) for O’Doherty

Dublin; Davi d O’Hanlon; Darren Maher, Peadar O’Cofaigh Byrne, Liam Flatman; KieranvKennedy, Neil Matthews, Edin O’Dea (0-1); Donal Ryan, Mark Tracey; Karl Lynch Bissett (0-1), James Doran (1-0), Daniel Brennan; Ross McGarry (1-4), Sean Hawkshaw (0-2),David Lacey

Subs; Fionan O’Sullivan (0-1\0 fgor Brennan; Ciaran Archer (0-2) for D.Lacey; Aaron Lynch for D.Maher; Harry Ladd for McGarry; Gavin Nangle for Kennedy

Referee; Brendan Cawley, Kildare

By Seamus Hayes