Clare 3-21; Cork 2-24
It wasn’t quite an Easter resurrection but Clare had been buried so much in the league and Cork, the ultimate winners of that competition, lauded to the high heavens, that many felt this tie at Zimmer Biomet Páirc Chiosóg, Ennis was little short of a mismatch.
Just over a month ago, the Rebels came to the same ground and broke a current hoodoo against the Banner with a majestic 15-point hammering.
By half-time in this game, they were more than well on their way to a repeat thanks to two great Brian Hayes goals in the first half and an overall team display that left the home side gasping for air in this rarefied atmosphere.
Cork Boss Pat Ryan’s side were simply mercurial at this stage and it looked to be getting worse for Clare who lost Conor Cleary through injury before the game and then another stout defender Diarmuid Ryan in the opening quarter.
Clare had come back in the All Ireland final last year when the same opposition opened up a big gap but since then both sides seemed to have travelled in different directions.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin in attendance at the Clare vs. Cork game at Ennis. [Inpho/Tom Maher]
So how do we explain the second-half when the formbook went out the window and Clare’s pure gumption put Cork on the back foot with two early goals from Aidan McCarthy and David Reidy almost immediately reduced the arrears to just five points?
Cork sent over a few long-distance points while they cleared their heads and it looked like that might work until Shane Barrett walked to a straight red card entering the final quarter. Clare’s tails were up once more and with the big home crowd roaring them on, they went for the jugular.
And it is testament to their mettle that the All Ireland champions shot 1-6 without reply - Peter Duggan’s goal being all of his own making - before they actually went ahead in the red time zone from a simple David Reidy free.
It was Cork’s turn to show what they had in character and Ciaran Joyce stepped up to win a vital 78th-minute free which sub Declan Dalton converted to bring the curtain down on an absolutely pulsating afternoon of Munster hurling.
Cork will get a chance to return to winning ways this weekend when they host high-riding Tipp who forced a draw with Limerick in the other big match of the day, while Clare face the tricky assignment of travelling to Walsh Park to take on Division 1B league winners Waterford, who were the only side without a game in the Munster round-robin last weekend.
Clare: E Quilligan; C Leen, D Lohan, A Hogan; D Ryan, J Conlon, D McInerney; C Malone (0-01), R Taylor; T Kelly (0-5, 0-2f), D Reidy (1-2, 0-2f), D Fitzgerald (0-1); M Rodgers (0-2f), P Duggan (1-1), A McCarthy (1-7, 0-6f) Subs: C Galvin for Ryan (15, inj), I Galvin (0-02) for McCarthy (57), A Shanagher for Rodgers (67).
Cork: P Collins; N O’Leary, E Downey, S O’Donoghue; C Joyce, R Downey, M Coleman; T O’Mahony (0-2), E Twomey; S Barrett (0-2), D Fitzgibbon (0-3), S Harnedy (0-1); A Connolly (0-3), B Hayes (2-2), P Horgan (0-9, 0-6f, 0-1’65) Subs: G Millerick for R. Downey (44, inj), D Dalton (0-1f) for Harnedy (48), B Roche (0-1) for Twomey (54), S Kingston for Horgan (60), D Healy for Connolly (64).
Ref: L Gordon (Galway).
Dublin 1-25; Offaly 2-19
Ah Leinster hurling, the forgotten child of the hurling world. We knew that Kilkenny would spank spineless Galway and even without talisman TJ Reid, they did that by 12 points, but what of Dublin, where new manager Niall Ó Ceallachain was expected to weave his Na Fianna magic once he got his feet under the table following a disappointing run in Division 1B?
We went to the less salubrious surroundings of Parnell Park on a damp and dank Saturday afternoon where a character driven Offaly side led virtually all the way before being forced to bow the knee to a late Ronan Hayes cameo role off the bench which yielded the Kilmacud Crokes star 1-1 in a telling contribution.
Thanks to him what looked like a three-point defeat was changed into a three point victory – a break that the new manager needed as he prepares to have a real go in the eastern championship over the coming weeks while Offaly were left to rue the smash and grab raid at the end when a win was almost in their grasp.
They had already beaten Dublin in a crucial National League win in Croke Park two months earlier so they travelled with a good support behind them it must be said more in confidence than fear of what the Metropolitans might throw at them.
They really ran out of gas in the last five minutes when they were outscored by the Dubs on a 1-4 to 0-1 mini-scoreline.
Conor Donohoe, John Hetherton and Hayes’s top-class performing brother Brian accounted for the other late points which translated into a Dublin victory.
Up to then, though, they had Sean Currie to thank for keeping them in the game as his nine points kept that same scoreboard ticking over. That said, Ó Ceallachain will know his side must up their game at least by 50 per cent if they are to compete with Wexford in Parnell Park in Round 2 of the competition.
Offaly have never liked that ground and Johnny Kelly's side must now host a wounded Galway animal which embarrassed themselves by the timidness of their display against Kilkenny in Nowlan Park.
This Offaly team play without fear and with players of the caliber of goalscorers in Oisin Kelly and Killian Sampson and the rapidly important forward fulcrum of Brian Duignan, they will give it a right rattle at O’Connor Park.
Dublin: E Gibbons; A Dunphy, P Smyth, J Bellew; P Dunleavy, C Crummey (0-1), P Doyle; C Burke (0-2), C Donohoe (0-3); C O'Sullivan, B Hayes (0-3), D Burke (0-4, 0-2f, 0-1 65); S Currie (0-9, 0-5f), D Ó Dulaing (0-1), D Sutcliffe Subs: R Hayes (1-1) for Sutcliffe 23, D Power for Ó Dulaing h/t, F Whitely for D Burke h/t, J Hetherton (0-1) for Whitely 51, A Jamieson Murphy for O'Sullivan 63.
Offaly: M Troy; B Conneely, C Burke, P Cantwell; R Ravenhill (0-1), D Shirley, J Sampson; C King, D King; K Sampson (1-2), D Bourke (0-1), O Kelly (1-1); D Ravenhill (0-5, 0-3f), B Duignan (0-8, 0-6f), C Mitchell (0-1) Subs: E Cahill for Mitchell 51, C Spain for D King 55, C Kiely for R Ravenhill 58.
Ref: J Murphy (Limerick).
GAA RESULTS
Munster SHC round 1
Tipperary 2-23 Limerick 2-23
Clare 3-21 Cork 2-24
Connacht SFC semi-final
Galway 1-24 Roscommon 0-18
Mayo 0-20 Leitrim 0-13
Ulster SFC quarter-final
Donegal 0-23 Monaghan 0-21
Down 2-19 Fermanagh 0-23
Leinster SHC Round 1
Dublin 1-25 Offaly 2-19
Kilkenny 3-24 Galway 0-21
Wexford 2-24 Antrim 0-29
Munster SFC semi-finals
Kerry 3-21 Cork 1-25
Clare 2-18 Tipperary 1-15
Joe McDonagh Cup round 1
Laois 3-25 Westmeath 1-22
Carlow 6-23 Down 0-20
Kerry 1-17 Kildare 0-19
Christy Ring Cup
Derry 2-19 London 1-18
Meath 2-29 Tyrone 2-15
Wicklow 1-11 Donegal 1-10
Nickey Rackard Cup
Louth 3-20 Fermanagh 0-15
Sligo 0-17 Roscommon 1-14
Mayo 1-28 Armagh 0-11
Lory Meagher Cup
Cavan 2-20 Monaghan 1-14
Longford 1-14 Warwickshire 0-16
Leitrim 1-13 Lancashire 1-12
