Munster SHC: Clare 1-18 Limerick 2-30
Sometimes, there’s simply no coming back. Limerick struck early and often to leave Clare 13 points adrift at half-time and despite all of the Houdini activity that the championship has showcased to date, there was no way back. The winners were too relentless and the home team too out of sorts.
The second half was closer but by the end, John Kiely’s men had won by 15, an echo of days past, putting up the same score, 36, as they had visited on Clare in Brian Lohan’s first championship match in the bleak winter of 2020.
Since then, the counties had become a byword for epic contests with little between them.
On paper, this was a match between the winners of Division 1A and 1B, and that’s how it ended up looking. Limerick had lost their first Munster match the previous week, raising questions about the nature of their resurgence – all the more so because they were forced to field without two former Hurlers of the Year, Aaron Gillane (injured) and Cian Lynch (suspended).
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All questions were emphatically answered in Zimmer Biomet Cusack Park, before a capacity crowd of 20,751 on Sunday. Such was the force and precision of their play that Limerick were in control from an early stage.
They started as strongly as they had in Cork but this time sustained the barrage. Clare were as open as their defensive uncertainty against Waterford had suggested but the balancing virtue of irresistible forward play was not to be seen, as generational talents Shane O’Donnell and Tony Kelly struggled at times with their touch and not simply under pressure from opponents.
As early as the fourth minute, Barry Nash, breaking from the back with Clare pushing up, found Aidan O’Connor and he hit the opening goal to claim the lead for Limerick, 1-1 to 0-2, and they simply pulled steadily away from there on.
The belated second-half resistance, which produced four successive points in as many minutes and cut the margin to 10 by the 53rd, drew an even quicker riposte, 0-5 in four minutes suffocating any notions of even a single-digit defeat.
A happy Kiely pinpointed the difference a week makes.
“Our use of the ball was very good. Our support play was very good and I think most importantly, compared to last week, so was our shooting, our efficiency in front of goals. We created a lot of opportunities last week, and we just didn’t take them and it hurt us badly.
“You lose matches when you don’t take your chances. And today was the opposite, we took our chances. I think our efficiency will be up around 80 per cent this week, so I think that’s where the difference is.”
That difference was evident everywhere. Limerick reduced wides to single figures and their younger forwards had a good afternoon. O’Connor was flawless on the frees and added 1-3 from play. Shane O’Brien hit 0-6.
It was a full-on, physical contest, refereed with “let-it-flow” enthusiasm by Michael Kennedy. A clear foul on O’Donnell by Diarmaid Byrnes in the early stages went unpunished and the frustrated Clareman was shown yellow shortly afterwards for a head-high challenge on O’Brien.
Limerick picked up five yellow cards – two of them for Adam English, who became their second player sent off in successive weeks.
Clare simply couldn’t find a way through the Limerick defence. Will O’Donoghue hooked O’Donnell in the 11th minute and three minutes later, Kelly’s attempted handpass to the same player was cut out by Seán Finn.
When they did get the shots off, Nickie Quaid was vigilant, making two good saves from Mark Rodgers, whose free taking wasn’t as precise as it can be but remained the most fruitful source of scores for Clare for much of the match.
The match as a viable contest was formally ended as early as the 19th minute, when Adam Hogan, who would be sinbinned, pulled down O’Brien on his way towards goal and Byrnes dispatched the penalty for a nine-point lead, 2-8 to 0-5.
Clare responded admirably in adversity last year, pulling back big leads against Cork and Tipperary, but on this occasion they just weren’t playing well enough. There was a step-up in competitiveness after half-time but it was tinged with desperation.
Two-time All Star David McInerney came on in the 43rd minute for the rarely replaced Conor Cleary, and within seconds had earned himself a yellow card.
Even with English off the field from the 58th minute, Clare couldn’t get more than parity. Kelly was fouled for a 61st-minute penalty, which he drove past Quaid.
If there was an emblem of Clare’s difficulty, it came in injury-time with the sight of Rory Hayes – who had endured a tough afternoon at corner back – standing over a line ball, deliberating and then hitting it straight to Cathal O’Neill, who hit it back over the bar for Limerick’s 29th point.
Kiely’s team move on to play two home matches, against Waterford and Tipperary, and a place in their eighth successive Munster final looks a distinct possibility. Tipp are next up for Clare, who will need to park the disappointment of this weekend and find a response.
Clare: E Quilligan; R Hayes, C Cleary, A Hogan; D Ryan (0-1), N O’Farrell (0-1), C Malone; D Lohan, R Taylor; T Kelly (1-2, 1-0p, 0-1, 65), D Reidy (0-1), S Rynne; M Rodgers (0-10, 7f, 1 65), P Duggan, S O’Donnell (0-1). Subs: J O’Neill (0-1) for Rynne (half-time), D Stritch for Reidy (42 mins), D McInerney for Cleary (43 mins), I Galvin (0-1) for Rodgers (63 mins).
Limerick: N Quaid; S Finn, M Casey, B Nash (0-2); D Byrnes (1-2, 1-0p, 0-1f), W O’Donoghue, K Hayes; A English (0-1), D O’Donovan; T Morrissey (0-1), C O’Neill (0-3), G Hegarty (0-2); A O’Connor (1-9, 0-6f), S O’Brien (0-6), P Casey (0-3). Subs: D Reidy for T Morrissey (54 mins), D Morrissey for Finn (59 mins), E Hurley for O’Donovan (63 mins), F Fitzgerald (0-1) for Casey (70 mins), H Flanagan for O’Neill (73 mins).
Referee: Michael Kennedy (Tipperary).
