A CLARE RUN TO SUMMER
O’Donnell on double as Banner rolls on 11
FOR Clare, this was simply about the destination. This group of players needed to reach their first Munster final. It didn’t matter that it took this strange game, in front of 19,168 at Semple Stadium, to get them there.
The county’s poor record inside their province was weighing down on the players — both Shane O’Donnell and Séadna Morey referenced it after the game. It was only the second time both of those players had experienced a Munster championship victory and both played significant parts in securing the win.
Morey was excellent in the fullback line and even decorated his performance with a foray up the field to nail a rare point, while O’Donnell’s electric first-half performance bore all the hallmarks of that special evening at Croke Park back in 2013 when he burst on the scene.
Afforded the freedom to roam the field by Donal Maloney and Gerry O’Connor, O’Donnell thrived and had found the net twice inside the first 13 minutes.
His first came after just five minutes when he was alert enough to profit from John Conlon’s hard work before he left Mike Casey in his slipstream in the 13th minute to find the net.
O’Donnell, who only turns 23 next week, picked an opportune time to re-discover his All-Ireland winning form, as Clare’s talisman, Tony Kelly, was well below-par. The former Hurler of the Year’s poor day was summed up in the 68th minute when he fired a penalty wide of Nickie Quaid’s goal. That miss ensured that this was Kelly’s first senior Championship outing where he failed to score – breaking a sequence that went back 21 games.
Kelly wasn’t the only member of Clare’s half-forward line who was off-colour. Podge Collins also found it difficult to get into the game. But despite two of their most creative players having an off-day, Clare still managed to build a seven-point advantage, 2-4 to 0-3, by the time Colm Galvin popped a point over in the 17th minute.
Limerick helped them in that regard, as they took some time to settle into the game. They had hit seven wides in the first 16 minutes, 11 in the first-half alone, and didn’t score from play until Peter Casey, one of five debutants that started, put over a fine effort in the 21st minute. Casey’s point ignited a scoring spurt for Limerick and they reeled off 1-5 in the next five minutes, with Cian Lynch and David Dempsey coming to the fore.
Shane Dowling’s clever handpass in the 24th minute released Lynch who ran straight down the centre of the Clare defence. Although Andrew Fahy saved Lynch’s tame shot, Dempsey was there to sweep in the rebound.
Dowling added a free 30 seconds later before Paul Brown landed an excellent point in the 25th minute. From out of nowhere, Limerick were level, 1-8 to 2-5.
John Kiely suggested afterwards that his team should have tagged on another couple of scores after that, but they didn’t score for the remainder of the first half as Clare found another gear, with Conor McGrath and O’Donnell both hitting splendid points to see them go in at the interval, 2-10 to 1-8 ahead.
That was a gap that Limerick simply couldn’t bridge. Barry Nash came on at half-time, replacing the anonymous Graeme Mulcahy, but despite some decent supply, the South Liberties man got no change out of David McInerney, who put in a solid shift at the edge of Clare’s square.
As it did against Tipperary last year, vulnerability in the Limerick full-back line cost them dearly. They had worked hard to engineer a way back into this contest and by the 50th minute, they were only a goal behind. But there was always a sense that they could concede another goal to Clare.
Tony Kelly had a gilt-edged chance in the 50th minute, but was hooked brilliantly by Sean Finn, who had a fine game on his debut, as he was about to pull the trigger.
That was a warning sign but Limerick didn’t heed it. A moment later, Colm Galvin sent a high ball down on top of their full-back line and Conor McGrath reacted quickest to jab the ball into the net. Six points always seemed too great a margin for Limerick.
Championship novice, Kyle Hayes, had a decent debut once he was moved to the half-forward line from full-forward.
In the 69th minute he showed a glimpse of his class when, after winning his own ball, he created space and rifled it into the corner of the net.
That gave Limerick some hope, as they were only four points down. But they needed a bit more guile married to their graft. Still, the encouraging thing for Limerick is that they have Diarmaid Byrnes and Gearóid Hegarty — two of their better players in the National League campaign — both to return from injury, and they stayed within sight of their neighbours, despite only playing in patches yesterday.
However, the defensive frailties that saw them concede three goals and give away a penalty will need to be worked on. But they will be a side that nobody will want to get in the qualifiers.
For this group of Clare players, though, this summer was about getting to a Munster final. They have achieved that. No matter what happens in the provincial decider, they will be hurling in late July and perhaps even into August. That hasn’t happened since they won that All-Ireland title in such thrilling fashion.
It mightn’t have been a perfect performance, but it has given Clare a springboard for the summer.
The relief they will feel this morning will soon give way to excitement about the possibilities that this season holds for them.