Late flourish from Tubridy proves enough for Clare

MUNSTER SFC SEMI-FINAL: Clare 1- 13 Limerick 0-15:DAVID TUBRIDY was the toast of Clare after the Doonbeg man hit two dramatic late points to give his side victory over fancied Limerick in the Munster senior football semi-final before 4,446 patrons at the Gaelic Grounds on Saturday evening.

The win puts Clare in the last 12 of the All-Ireland championship and into their first Munster final in 12 years.

For wing forward Alan Clohessy it represented an early present as he celebrated his 30th birthday yesterday.

Clare were coasting when nine points clear at half-time and they tacked on another point 20 seconds into the second half.

But Limerick produced an amazing fightback, inspired by Ian Ryan, and they took the lead for the first, and only time, a few minutes from the end only for Tubridy to become the hero with two magnificent points under extreme pressure.

Winning manager, Michael McDermott, spoke of his “delight” and “anxiety” after the drama.

“I was delighted to be nine points in front at half-time and was full of anxiety after Limerick hauled it back and then went in front.

“But David came to our rescue and we had a bit of luck as the woodwork twice denied Limerick goals. But this is a great night for Clare football and we were overdue a bit of luck.”

Clare made a whirlwind start and scored five points in a row before Ger Collins registered Limerick’s first point.

Only two points separated the sides after 20 minutes before Rory Donnelly extended the Clare lead with a brace of scores.

Then came a major turning point with a superb individual goal by Gordon Kelly who raced 60 yards to fire home a cracking goal.

Clare led 1-9 to 0-3 at the interval and Shane McGrath extended the lead 20 seconds after the restart.

It was all of nine minutes before Stephen Kelly managed Limericks first point and it looked as if a comeback was unlikely.

Three Ryan frees raised hoped and he had another from play. Tubridy posted a superb Clare point from way out on the right before Collins, Ryan and Collins again scored to leave only two points between the sides. Three more Ryan points put Limerick in front but Tubridy had the final say with his late brace of points.

Apart from his superb goal Gordon Kelly was superb at centre-back for Clare whose goalkeeper Joe Hayes made two good saves.

A few days prior to the game Hayes was a hero when, in his role as a Garda, he dived into the freezing river Shannon at 6am to rescue a woman.

Martin McMahon did well at wing back and midfielders Gary Brennan and Ger Quinlan both impressed but up front the star was Tubridy who was ably assisted by Rory Donnelly.

Ian Ryan was Limerick’s star and to finish with a 10-point haul on the losing side was a disappointment.

Ger Collins and Séamus O’Carroll completed a lively full forward line but the defence as a whole was too vulnerable early on and a disappointed Limerick manager Maurice Horan said: “they worked so hard in the second half only to be caught at the end. We will regroup and be ready for the qualifiers. We did not play at all in the first half.”

CLARE: Joe Hayes; K Hartnett, S McNeilis, L Healy; M McMahon, G Kelly (1-0), John Hayes; G Brennan (0-1), G Quinlan (0-1); S McGrath (0-2), E Coughlan, A Clohessy (0-1); M OShea, D Tubridy (0-5 (one 45, one free), R Donnelly (0-3). Subs: S Brennan for Quinlan (57 mins), N Browne for Coughlan (62 mins), D Russell for McGrath (64 mins), B Hartnett for McNeilis.

LIMERICK: B Scanlon; J McCarthy, P Browne, L O'Dwyer; S Lavin, J Riordan, P Ranahan; T Lee, P Kinnerk; I Corbett, S Kelly (0-1), S Buckley; G Collins (0-3), S O'Carroll (0-1), I Ryan (0-10, five frees). Subs: J OMeara for Kinnery (26 mins), E OConnor for Kelly (52 mins), J Cooke for Corbertt (55 mins), J Donovan for OCarroll (62 mins), G OConnell for Buckley (68 mins).

Referee: D Fahy (Longford).

Att: 4,446