Banner headlines as Clare come good

ONE FROM THE ARCHIVE CLARE WIN MUNSTER SHC FINAL 1995 Seán Moranon the day Clare emerged from the provincial wilderness after 63 years with a 1-17 to 0-11 victory over Limerick

FINALLY HURLING has come up with something for the 1990s. We have already seen new All-Ireland football champions on two occasions and the emergence of Leitrim and Clare from the provincial wilderness. Improbable as it was, it seemed nothing compared to odds on the Tatter's hurlers managing to come out of Munster for the first time since 1932.

Yesterday, it happened. On the same pitch and with the same weather that have distinguished many Munster hurling finals, Clare and another team went out to play for the title, and on this occasion, the other team were left flailing in their wake.

As with Leitrim last year , there was continuity when it all ended: John Joe "Goggles" Doyle - the last Clare captain to lift the trophy - was present as his successor, Anthony Daly, came forward to bridge a 63-year gap that has seen heartache and disappointment beset Clare without respite.

The 1995 Munster hurling final, sponsored by Guinness, will go down in history. Maybe Clare won't have to wait another six decades for their next, but this will be the one that lives in the memory. For all that, it was an ungainly exhibition of hurling and a match so one-sided that only Clare's reputation for eternally falling foul of fate kept it alive in the minds of the 46,361 attendance.

When you start listing the reasons behind this momentous event, you are left with a strange combination of circumstances.

The many items of negation Clare required for victory looked as daunting as the level of improvement they themselves would have to exhibit.

One by one, the check-list was exhausted, and in the second half, such was the explosion of confidence in the winners' ranks they managed to avenge precisely the nine-point defeat they had suffered against the same opposition 12 months ago.

Furthermore, there was an unusual presence in their line-up: good luck. The odd bounce of the ball and the woodwork came in their turn to assist the challenge of a county that has seldom benefited from such assistance.

The contest was never less than absorbing. Clare's defence was as usual splendid throughout, but it was the frequently underachieving forwards that struck unprecedented form to put the match beyond Limerick's reach.

There will be sympathy for Limerick. They endured their own sadness last September and were desperately anxious to make amends. They had already recorded a gutsy victory against Tipperary in the semi-final and entered yesterday's match as red-hot favourites.

The favouritism was well justified on the basis of past performance, but such criteria were not in evidence yesterday. Gary Kirby, on whom the attack relies so much, had a reasonable afternoon in that he shot six points, but he was well below the form that saw him deliver double that total against Tipperary.

Playing on Seán McMahon, whose broken collarbone had even led to speculation that he wouldn't line out, Kirby had a subdued afternoon in general play during which he was held scoreless by the vigilant McMahon. He also uncharacteristically dropped several frees short.

At midfield, Limerick never got the sort of hold that had enabled them to whack Clare in last year's final.

Eventually Jamesie O'Connor began to emulate the form that had distinguished his semi-final display against Cork. He had an unhappy Munster final last year but came good this time around, using his polished hurling to attack Limerick and firing over six points, four of them from play.

Finally, Ciarán Carey, Limerick's totemic presence at centre back, never got the sort of space he needed to launch his speciality runs from defence. The Clare forwards harried all around the 40, making sure that ball dropping in was pulled on robustly, and denying the Patrickswell man the opportunity to take clean possession.

With these three vital components of the Limerick challenge disabled, Clare went to work in other sectors.

After an unpromising beginning when all their efforts looked thoughtless and cack-handed - random passing in the forwards and witlessly unproductive solo running - the attack clicked in the second half.

PJ O'Connell, in particular, went to work on a series of magnificent points, from the one which sounded Clare's intentions at the start of the second half, to the glorious long-range effort that nudged the margin to six points in the 59th minute.

By the time the match had ended, all six of the Clare forwards had scored from play and all pre-match reservations about the team's ability to win a major title had been dazzlingly refuted.

The match hung in the balance when Limerick, with the wind advantage, pulled away into a 0-5 to 0-2 lead by the 23rd minute. At this point, it was possible that Limerick could open up a gap that would expose Clare's nerves, but O'Connor narrowed the gap three minutes later with what in retrospect was a significant score.

It was built on two minutes afterwards when Conor Clancy was judged to have been fouled by Mike Nash in the square, after it looked as if a Stephen McNamara run would come to nought.

Up from goal came David Fitzgerald and he drilled the penalty to the net.

Fitzgerald was to have another accomplished afternoon. Like Liam Doyle, he is a little less noticed than merited, because of his consistent excellence, but yesterday he added to his goal with a number of confident clearances and two splendid reflex saves.

The first came shortly after his penalty when Damien Quigley cracked a ball off the bar and, in the ensuing scramble, Fitzgerald leapt to bat away the follow-up.

Quigley and his partner TJ Ryan in the other corner of Limerick's attack both had another unproductive day, with neither scoring despite the menace Quigley posed on a couple of occasions.

Most crucially, he turned the match in the second half. Buoyed by a 1-5 to 0-7 interval lead, Clare maintained their momentum in the second half.

In the 51st minute, McMahon hit an inspiring free over the bar from about 70 metres to extend the lead to three points.

Quigley, shortly afterwards, turned O'Halloran so completely he was clear in on goal. He chose not to use his stick and kicked for goal, only for the ball to fly wide.

A goal at that stage, with 15 minutes to go, could well have spooked Clare. Instead they outscored Limerick by four points to one in the next five minutes and the match was decided.

The sentimental business of introducing Cyril Lyons remained, although Ger Loughnane and his selectors took no chances on that, waiting until the very end.

In the spectacular surprise of the result, other significance is easily lost. Clare turned out to have more reserve strength than Limerick, who were quite unable to effect running repairs and had to replace a substitute.

Clare made the right changes and maintained constructive tension throughout by continually warming up Eamonn Taffe on the sideline. Although he never came on, he probably expended more energy than a few on the field. He will hardly mind though, as the next time he warms up, it will be at Croke Park.

CLARE: D Fitzgerald (1-0, penalty): M O'Halloran, B Lohan, F Lohan; L Doyle, S McMahon (0-1, a free), A Daly; J O'Connor 0-6, two frees), O Baker; F Tuohy (0-1), PJ O'Connell (0-4), F Hegarty (0-1); S McNamara (0-1), C Clancy (0-2), G O'Loughlin (0-1). Subs: J Mclnerney for Tuohy (69 mins); C Lyons for Clancy (71 mins).

LIMERICK: J Quaid: S McDonagh, M Nash, D Nash; D Clarke, C Carey, T Herbert; M Houlihan, S O'Neill; F Carroll (0-1), Q Kirby (0- 6, five frees, one 65), M Quilligan (0-3); TJ Ryan, P Heffernan (0-1), D Quigley. Subs: T Hayes for Herbert (half-time); B Tobin for Carroll (59 mins), D Barry for Hayes (62 mins)

"Clare made the right changes and maintained constructive tension throughout by continually warming up Eamonn Taffe on the sideline. Although he never came on, he probably expended more energy than a few on the field