Clare got their first win of the Allianz National Hurling League after displaying a spirited performance which saw them overturn a five point lead with twenty minutes remaining to win by two.
Clare 2-22
Dublin 2-20
Venue: Cusack Park
It was the visitors who got off to the better start leading 1-06 to 0-04 after fifteen minutes. Liam Rushe who proved to be a thorn in Clare’s side at the peak of Dublin’s dominance, deceived Donal Tuohy on the ninth minute and Cian Boland flicked the sliotar over the line despite the Crusheen man’s best attempts.
Further scores from corner-forwards David O’Callaghan and Paul Ryan pushed the Dubs six clear with twenty four minutes on the clock. Momentum swung towards the home side when Dublin netminder Alan Nolan misjudged a long-range effort from Clonlara’s John Conlon to get Clare’s first goal with thirty one minutes gone. However the dismissal of Brendan Bugler for an off the ball incident on the stroke of half-time dampened Clare’s hopes somewhat as they trailed at the interval 1-12 to 1-10.
Again Ger Cunningham’s Dublin started the better with efforts from Mark Schutte and Liam Rushe sailing straight between the sticks. Lively corner-forward David ‘Dotsy’ O’Callaghan reaped the benefit of another goal-mouth scramble as his shot took a deflection before beating Donal Tuohy in the Clare goal.
The concession of this goal ignited the Banner as they hit seven points in succession to turn the tide in their favour including a super effort from corner-back David McInerney which is certainly the greatest point scored in Ennis so far this year. Ballyea’s Tony Kelly raised another green flag on sixty five minutes to secure the all-important win for the Banner.
Dublin will surely wonder how they let this one slip. Leading by five points with twenty minutes remaining, they failed to show the necessary grit to wrap up the win. To their credit they only hit one wide over the seventy minutes but in terms of workrate and resilience they failed to match their opponents. However this is something that Cunningham and his management will have time to work on and address, there is an abundance of potential within the squad and they will only build on their visit to Ennis. Best for the Dubs were Liam Rushe, Chris Crumney, David O’Callaghan and Mark Schutte.
A win was pivotal for the Banner today and they achieved that in the style that has encaptured the whole country. Despite losing the influential Brendan Bugler, Clare refused to give in and gave a well-rounded second half performance in the process. An area of improvement ahead of next week’s trip to Kilkenny is their composure in front of goal, Clare hit too many wides today and against the Cats they will pay the price. At times, possession was coughed up too easily especially in the first half but Davy Fitzgerald’s side refused to panic. While a lot of the talk prior to the tie was focused on events off the field, this bunch of players hurled with freedom on it and deserve a better following than 2,753 from their home supporters as after all they have brought so much enjoyment and good memories to the county so a strong home support is the least they deserve. However all of the Clare fans in Cusack Park made their presence known and deserve praise. Tony Kelly, Colm Galvin, Shane O’Donnell, Conor Ryan and David McInerney were most prominent for the Banner.
Teams:
Clare:
Donal Tuohy (Crusheen)
Paul Flanagan (Ballyea)
Cian Dillon (Crusheen)
David McInerney (Tulla) (0-01)
Brendan Bugler (Whitegate)
Conor Ryan (Cratloe)
Patrick O’Connor (Tubber)
Colm Galvin (Clonlara)
Patrick Donnellan (O’Callaghans Mills) (0-01)
John Conlon (Clonlara) (1-04 2f)
Tony Kelly (Ballyea) (1-09 7f)
Shane Golden (Sixmilebridge)
Aaron Cunningham (Wolfe Tones) (0-01)
Shane O’Donnell (Éire Óg)
Conor McGrath (Cratloe) (0-05)
Subs:
David Reidy (Éire Óg) (0-01) for Golden (42)
Jack Browne (Ballyea) for O’Connor (Inj) (51)
Domhnall O’Donovan (Clonlara) for Flanagan (Inj) (65)
Bobby Duggan (Clarecastle) for Cunningham (70).
Dublin:
Alan Nolan (St Brigid’s)
Paul Schutte (Cuala)
Cian O’Callaghan (Cuala)
Michael Carton (O’Toole’s)
Chris Crumney (Lucan Sarsfields) (0-01)
Peter Kelly (Lucan Sarsfields)
Shane Barrett (Na Fianna)
Colm Cronin (Cuala)
Shane Durkin (Ballyboden St Enda’s) (0-01)
Danny Sutcliffe (St Jude’s) (0-01)
Paul Ryan (Ballyboden St Enda’s) (0-05 5f)
Mark Schutte (Cuala) (0-03)
David O’Callaghan (Ballyboden St Enda’s) (1-03)
Liam Rushe (St Patricks Palmerstown) (1-05)
Cian Boland (St Oliver Plunketts).
Subs:
Niall Corcoran (Kilmacud Crokes) for Carton (28) (Inj)
Ben Quinn (Crumlin) for Cronin (55) (0-01)
Conal Keaney (Ballyboden St Enda’s) for Corcoran (59)
Eamonn Dillon (Naomh Fionnbarra) for Sutcliffe (64).
Referee: Cathal McAllister (Cork)
