Hurney puts Waterford on front foot

MUNSTER SFC Waterford 1-10 Clare 0-9  In the end Clare didn't exactly die of thirst, although they might have had if extra-time had been necessary; what did see them fall short was a lack of ruthlessness in front of goal, as manager Michael McDermott admitted – plus Waterford's stubbornness in limiting them to two points in the second half, while also limiting David Tubridy to one score from play.

Waterford’s twinned-defensive tactics of Maurice and Tomás O’Gorman – and they are actually twins – played a key role in that, with Maurice’s handling of Tubridy a crucial component of Waterford’s victory. What probably decided it was Gary Hurney’s goal eight minutes into the second half – brilliantly collecting from a Liam Ó Lionáin sideline and thundering the ball into the net. He had twice threatened goals and it was no more than he deserved.

Hurney’s goal put Waterford in front for the first time since the fifth minute – as they’d trailed Clare for much of the first half, at one stage by four points. Once they re-established that lead they always looked more likely winners, particularly as Clare’s shortcomings in front of goal became more evident. It wasn’t just their eight wides; they too often over-elaborated their passing, or failed to complete it. The only real issue with hand-passing was getting possession of the water bottle quick enough, although Clare were called back for over-carrying a little more often than usual, and that cost them a couple of scores.

Michael O’Shea was gifted one chance to put Clare back in front, with eight minutes left but he blasted his close-range shot wide. After that Clare were left chasing a late winner in vain, before Waterford substitute Robert Ahearne sealed the deal with an injury-time point.

By then Clare were reduced to 14 men, having lost industrious wing back Declan Callinan to a second yellow card on 65 minutes. Callinan had been driving Clare in the second half, along with centre back Gordan Kelly, and when Gary Brennan switched to full forward early on they looked the more threatening team.

Waterford’s home advantage didn’t appear to count for much. Only 2,269 showed up and for long periods in the first half Waterford struggled to find momentum. Patrick Hurney – younger brother of Gary – hit two points early on, but then Waterford failed to score for 18 minutes. During that period Clare outplayed them, Tubridy scoring two frees, while O’Shea and Brennan hit two scores from play. Clare did have whatever slight wind advantage was on offer but that doesn’t excuse Waterford’s seeming lethargy.

Yet they suddenly found their form again and hit four points without reply, including a coolly-taken score from Wayne Hennessy.

Clare added one late score to restore their lead on the call for half time, at 0-7 to 0-6. But they failed to sustain that effort early in the second half, and once Hurney goal’s went in the scale of their task looked insurmountable – and so it proved.

WATERFORD:1 T Wall; 4 K Connery, 3 T O'Gorman, 2 M O'Gorman; 5 T Grey, 6 S Briggs, 7 E Walsh; 8 M Ahearne, 9 T Prendergast (0-1); 12 W Hennessy (0-1), 11 C McGrath, 10 B Wall (0-3, two frees); 14 G Hurney (1-1), 13 P Hurney (0-3), 15 L Ó Lionáin. Subs:20 S Cunningham for McGrath (55 mins), 18 R Ahearne (0-1) for P Hurney (56 mins), 21 B Phelan for M Ahearne (67 mins). Yellow cards:B Wall (17 mins), E Walsh (35 mins), M O'Gorman (36 mins).

CLARE:1 J Hayes; 2 M Tubridy, 3 B Duggan, 4 B Carrig; 5 M McMahon, 6 G Kelly, 7 D Callinan; 8 G Quinlan, 9 G Brennan (0-2); 15 D Daly, 11 P O'Dwyer, 12 A Clohessy (0-1); 13 D Tubridy (0-4, three frees), 14 D Russell, 10 M O'Shea (0-2). Subs:24 E Coughlan for Daly, 21 G Lynch for O'Dwyer (both half time), 18 B Toner for Russell (57 mins). Yellow cards:D Russell (35 mins), D Callinan (44 mins, 65 mins), M Tubridy (60 mins). Red cards:D Callinan (65 mins).

Referee:Aidan Mangan (Kerry).