Narrow challenge victory for Clare over Waterford

Clare  1-19  Waterford  2-15

In a senior hurling challenge at Sixmilebridge on Saturday evening, Clare emerged with a one point win over Waterford.
Both sides were in experimental mood for this contest, with Clare lining out without the players who were involved in the all-Limerick Fitzgibbon Cup final earlier in the day, which UL won.
The visitors, who were in Clare for the weekend, enjoyed the better of the first half exchanges, helped by goals in the eighth and 17th minutes from Maurice Shanahan and Eamonn Murphy. At half-time they were eight points clear, 2-9 to 0-7, and were full value for this lead as they had looked by far the sharper side in the opening half.
The introduction of Diarmuid McMahon at full-forward allied to a number of positional switches brought about a big improvement in Clare’s play in the second half.
The visitors had the first scores of the second period with points from Brian O’Sullivan and Eamonn Murphy but Clare then took control and scored 1-7 without reply to draw level with 15 minutes still to play.
The goal came in the 14th minute from Colin Ryan, who flicked the ball to the net after Danny Morey, another half-time substitute, had made a great run through the Waterford defence.
Six minutes remained in the 70-minute contest when John Conlon gave Clare back the lead for the first time since the sixth minute. Colin Ryan from a free and substitute Darach Honan added points to give the home side a three-point advantage with two minutes remaining.
In the closing minutes Waterford fought back with points from Shane Casey and Eamonn Murphy but time ran out and Clare held on for victory by the narrowest of margins.
Waterford dominated the opening half when they looked the much sharper outfit throughout the pitch. Wing-backs Gerry Quinn and Liam Markham struggled against Stephen Power and the speedy and impressive Eamonn Murphy, who scored 1-4 from play.
Waterford availed of the fixture to give game time to two of their more experienced panellists,  Ken McGrath and Eoin Kelly. Tony Browne took part in the pre-match warm-up but didn’t participate in the game.

Clare: Philip Brennan; Domhnaill O’Donovan, Cian Dillon, Mark Earley; Gerry Quinn, Cathal Chaplin, Liam Markham; Pat Vaughan (capt), Jonathon Clancy; Cormac O’Donovan, John Conlon, Eoin Hayes; Conor Tierney, Caimin Morey, Colin Ryan.
Scorers: Colin Ryan (1-6, 0-4f); John Conlon, Diarmuid McMahon (0-3 each); Jonathon Clancy (0-2); Pat Vaughan, Cormac O’Donovan, Caimin Morey, Conor Tierney, Darach Honan (0-1each).
Subs: Diarmuid McMahon for Hayes (half-time); Danny Morey for Tierney (half-time); James Gunning for Earley (44 minutes); Darach Honan for D O’Donovan (50 minutes); Kevin Brennan for P Brennan (59 minutes).

Waterford: Clinton Hennessy; Eoin Murphy, Wayne Hutchinson, Darragh Fives; David O’Sullivan, Shane O’Sullivan, Chris Ryan; Ken McGrath, Gavin Crotty; Eamonn Murphy, Shane Walsh, Stephen Power; Brian O’Sullivan, Maurice Shanahan, Eoin Kelly.
Scorers: Eamonn Murphy (1-4); Maurice Shanahan (1-2); Stephen Power (0-3f); Ken McGrath, Brian O’Sullivan (0-2 each); David O’Sullivan, Shane Casey (0-1 each).
Subs: Noel Connors for Fives (half-time); Ritchie Foley for Kelly (52 minutes); Shane Casey for B O’Sullivan (55 minutes).

Referee: Cathal McAllister, Cork