Double whammy fast-tracks Clare towards the play-offs

THE BIG home contingent in a crowd of around 12,000 went home happy from Cusack Park in Ennis yesterday. Clare defeated All-Ireland champions Offaly and collected the two points which virtually guarantee the county's progress to next month's Church & General NHL semi-finals.

In a match turned into a lottery by heavy rain which left enough surface water on the pitch to sink the Titanic, Clare completed an unlikely turnaround in the closing 10 minutes to win. Two goals in the space of 60 seconds decided matters.

Johnny Dooley's 40th-minute free had pushed Offaly 0-6 to 0-3 ahead and even Clare appeared to feel that the match was moving beyond them. "At that stage, we didn't look like winning," said trainer Mike McNamara afterwards.

Instead, it was Offaly who checked out. They didn't manage to score again until injury-time when the result had been settled. In the 51st minute, Ollie Baker sent a sideline cut from the left skimming across the square and untouched into the corner of Offaly's net.

The puck-out was returned quickly with Colin Lynch bursting through Offaly's cover and placing Barry Murphy in on goal. His shot ran across the face of the goal and the in-rushing David Forde touched it into the goal.

Offaly's three-point lead had been turned inside out. In the prevailing conditions, scores were hard come-by, but there was always the danger that some slippery error would result in a decisive score and that is what happened.

"We were beaten in two minutes," said Offaly manager Michael Bond. "There was real surface water out there and I'm glad that no one was seriously injured. The two goals were simple enough, but they were putting untold pressure on us. After John Ryan had to go off, there was no one in the forwards to hold the ball up for us."

Ryan received an injury to his hip and had to be stretchered off in the 47th minute (after the stretcher had been retrieved from some early service carting off a spectator - who didn't appear in serious difficulties - before the match began).

Clare captain Anthony Daly was also nursing a bang on the elbow which necessitated his half-time substitution. "It stiffened up in the dressing-room and I decided not to play on. It feels alright, but I'm getting it X-rayed this evening anyway," was his own diagnosis.

Bond agreed that there was nothing which could be taken from the match given the conditions but he was impressed by his defence - in which Barry Whelehan filled in for his brother Brian at right wing back - and unhappy with the attack.

In particular, the full forward line had a frustrating afternoon. John Troy was well policed by Brian Lohan, whose brother Frank also played well, marking tightly and getting in his clearances.

In goal Christy O'Connor was reassuringly sound on a treacherous day for goalkeeping and by way of illustration in the 28th minute casually killed a plummeting ball from Johnny Dooley on his stick before whipping out a clearance.

Michael Duignan disconnected from the inside line as usual and worked in deeper positions. He did his bit, scoring one point from distance and creating a couple more.

Clare drew some good, battling performances from centre-fielders Lynch and Baker. Both kept the game pushing against Offaly in the second half and quietened the early promise of Johnny Pilkington, who after picking up a booking for some wild pulling at the throw-in went on to have a constructive first half.

Referee Pat O'Connor was firm in control of the match. In the 17th minute, a brief scatter broke out and he restored order by sending off Clare's Niall Gilligan and Offaly's Simon Whelahan, both of whose uninhibited enthusiasm for the fray had brought them to his attention.

Thereafter the match settled, although it was always robust. Offaly picked off their points with a consistency that looked as if it would suffice. Their defensive cover was tight and it wasn't until Forde hit the second goal with nine minutes left that Clare scored from play.

Clare were themselves solid at the back and once they had established their unexpected lead, it was Offaly's turn to look doomed. A last-minute 65 from Hubert Rigney was touched to the net by Pilkington to narrow the margin, but by then the effect was cosmetic.

"It's a matter of survival for us now," said Bond. "We've to play Dublin and Kerry and hope we can win both games."

"We're possibly into the semi-finals now," said McNamara, "and we'll be hoping for better preparation than we managed for the semi-final last year."

The reference was to last year's 11-point wipe-out by Cork at the same stage - a setback emphatically reversed in the championship a few weeks later.

"Yeah," said McNamara, "we thought we might be playing Tipperary (probable championship opponents this year). That would be great. No one would know what way we'd be approaching it."

CLARE: C O'Connor; R Woods, B Lohan, F Lohan; L Doyle, S McMahon (0-1, a free), A Daly; C Lynch, O Baker (1-0, a sideline); N Gilligan, S Sheedy, L Hassett; B Murphy (0-1), R O'Hara, D Forde (1-3, all points from frees). Subs: D Scanlan for Hassett (31 mins); K Morrissey for Daly (half-time); A Markham for Scanlan (57 mins).

OFFALY: S Byrne; S Whelahan, J Errity, M Hanamy; Barry Whelahan, H Rigney, K Martin; J Pilkington (1-0), P Mulhare; J Dooley (0-4, all frees), J Ryan, C Cassidy; B Dooley, J Troy (0-1), M Duignan (0-1). Subs: N Murphy for Cassidy (37 mins), G Hanniffy for Troy (42 mins), N Claffey for Ryan (47 mins).

Referee: P O'Connor (Limerick).