Clare always in full control

NHL Division One/ Clare 3-25 Down 1-13: Clare cruised to an 18-point victory over a young and inexperienced Down side in Portaferry yesterday.

The Munster side were always in control, dominated in all sectors of the field and took some excellent scores.

Clare held a 13-point lead at half-time and when they added their third goal six minutes into the second half the game was effectively over.

The visitors started at a lightning pace and led by 1-3 to no score after just four minutes - the goal coming from Barry Nugent. Gareth Johnson and Alan Markham exchanged points from frees before Markham pointed twice from 65s.

Paddy Hughes and Andy Savage had Down points, but Clare were quick to respond with a goal from Bernard Gaffney and points from Brendan Bulgar, Niall Galligan and Fergal Lynch. They added two Barry Nugent points and one from Lynch with Johnson and Savage replying for Down. It left Clare leading by 2-13 to 0-6 at half-time.

A third Clare goal from Nugent six minutes into the second half killed off the game as a contest. They quickly added four points and, while Down came back with two Johnson-pointed frees and a goal from a free by Martin Coulter, the winners were always in full control.

CLARE: P Brennan; C Forde, B O'Connell, K Dillen; G Quinn, C Plunkett, A Markham (0-4, two 65s, two frees); B Bulgar (0-1), D O'Rourke; N Gilligan (0-3, one free), D McMahon, C Lynch; B Nugent (2-5), F Lynch (0-4), A Quinn (0-4, all frees). Subs: B Gaffney (1-2)for McMahon, T Griffin (0-1)for Gilligan, J Clancy (0-1)for Lynch, J McInerney for O'Rourke, S O'Brien for O'Connell.

DOWN: Graham Clarke; L Clarke, S Murray, C Coulter; M Ennis, P Hughes (0-1), Gabriel Clarke; A Savage (0-2), D Flynn; B McGourty, C Sloan, G Johnson (0-7, all frees); M Coulter (1-0, free), E McGuinness (0-1), E Clarke. Subs: S Roddy for C Coulter, E Trainor (0-2)for Sloan, P Coulter for E Clarke.

Referee: G Devlin(Armagh).