Galway's explosive two-goal start undermined Clare confidence and left them struggling for the rest of this disappointingly one-sided All-Ireland minor hurling championship quarter-final at Croke Park yesterday.

Clare sometimes suggested that they could bring about a recovery, but the early deficit weighed heavily on them. Galway made the most of their confidence booster and had their opponents crushed by half-time.

From the moment Damien Hayes placed David Forde for the first goal in just over a minute and Cathal Coen blasted the second a minute later Clare were faced with a steep uphill climb they could not have anticipated.

But it got far worse just when Clare seemed to be creeping back into contention. This second Galway onslaught started in the 22nd minute when, after Kevin Brady lost possession on the left, Galway team-mate Shane Tierney raced forward to pick up and centre the ball as Martin Coughlan was arriving. The attack leader collected and slammed to the net.

Coen then drove a penalty to the net and Forde was on hand to slap in a Coughlan pass just on half-time.

The result was that Galway repaired for the half-time break leading by a whopping 13 points, 5-4 to 0-6. The issue had been settled there and then.

Galway had a wonderful understanding from defence to attack. Goalkeeper Johnny O'Loughlin also added to Clare's woes by stopping two goal-worthy shots from Tony Griffin and Gareth McPhiliips.

The big outfield stars were in Galway's full-back line that consisted of Brian O'Mahony, John Culkin and Ronan Reilly. And Michael McLoughlin, David Forde and Cathal Coen were virtually unstoppable forwards.

For Clare, Conor Harrison had a great game in the right corner of the defence with Diarmuid McMahon proving a staunch centre back. Brian Kennedy and Gareth McPhilips were the best of the Clare forwards.

GALWAY: J O'Loughlin; B O'Mahoney, J Culkin, R Kelly; F Moore, C Dervan (0-1, 65), MJ Quinn; H Whiriskey, S Tierney; R Murray (0- 1), M Coughlan (1-1), K Brady (0-1); D Hayes (0-1), D Forde (2-2), C Coen (2-4 pen goal and pointed frees). Subs: I Canning for Tierney (46 mins); G Farragher for Brady (58 mins).

CLARE: D Quinn; C Harrison, R O'Looney, D Walsh; A O'Brien, D McMahon (0-2, two 65s), P Fitzpatrick; R Liddane, R Hogan; T Griffin, T Carmody (0-1), B Kennedy (0-3); G McPhilips (1-3, pointed frees), B Culbert, D Fitzsimoms.

Subs: A Quinn (0-1) for Fitzsimons (29 mins); B McPhilips for D Walsh (half-time); R Conlon for Lidane (44 mins).

Referee: B Kelly (Westmeath).