For a few minutes after the final whistle the Cork players stood in exhausted silence, their helmets discarded, their shirts off, their hurleys hanging. It was much too soon to gather in a circle and think about looking forward. One of the cruelties of the GAA’s new calendar is that for a few hurling teams, summer will end in spring. With their second defeat in eight days, Cork face that prospect now.
After their slapstick collapse in Ennis a week ago, Clare were staring into the same abyss. Between two teams fighting for their lives, Clare won a staggering match by two points, 3-26 to 3-24. The second half alone produced six goals and twenty-four points. Having it play out behind a paywall will adrenalize the mythmaking.
You could argue that the game turned on a sending-off, even though the momentum had changed by then. Sean O’Donoghue, the Cork captain, was dismissed on a second yellow card, 17 minutes into the second half, when Cork were playing against the wind and holding on to the shrinking remains of a seven-point lead.
When David Fitzgerald scored Clare’s third goal, six minutes from the end of normal time, there were six points between the teams. Cork chased furiously, and came up with two late goals, but once again they had conceded an unsustainable total. In their last five championship matches Cork have now shipped an average of 32 points – goals and points collated. In this game, they were bailing water with a colander.
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“There is no shame ever in losing but to make the errors that we made [against Limerick], that was very disappointing,” said Brian Lohan, the Clare manager. “It made for a tough week. Crucial for us that we responded, and we responded well. But look, we did it last year. It was a tough loss last year as well [in the first round]. There is good grit within that group.”
In the other Munster championship match Limerick obliterated Tipperary, 2-27 to 0-18, their biggest win over their bitterest rivals since 1947. A scoring surge either side of half-time put the All-Ireland champions in command but their victory was overshadowed by a serious injury to Peter Casey, sustained in the act of scoring Limerick’s second goal.
Up the road in Pearse Stadium two of Limerick’s putative rivals for the title duked out an entertaining draw – 2-23 to 0-29 – without producing anything to put the wind up the All-Ireland champions. Galway eked out two points in stoppage time to bring the sides level on a day when Kilkenny were short four first-choice players – including their two most prolific forwards and their All-Star goalkeeper. As a belt-tightening measure, Kilkenny’s shooting efficiency was recorded at about 70%.
“It was a very up and down performance from ourselves,” said Henry Shefflin, the Galway manager, determined to take the good from it. “We did well to grab an equaliser coming down the home straight to get something from the game, which I think was important,”
Ulster, the last bastion of meaningful, heartfelt provincial football, produced another thriller as Donegal overcame Tyrone in extra-time, 0-18 to 0-16. Exposed to their second dose of extra-time in eight days, fatigue ultimately did for Tyrone.
Tyrone were three clear at the break, but in a thunderous match the teams were level nine times and it took a stoppage time point from the Donegal full-back Brendan Cole to keep them alive. Paddy McBrearty came off the bench at the end of normal time and his second point sealed Donegal’s victory, sending them to their first Ulster final in ten years. Armagh will be their opponents in a fortnight.
“Tyrone analysed us well, they asked the right questions of us, it was up to us to come together and find solutions,” said Jim McGuinness, the Donegal manager. “The boys did that, they controlled the ball a lot better in the second half, they found those pockets a lot better.
“This is why it’s so amazing to win the Ulster Championship, because this is what you face every single week and this is why players love playing in it. If you can eventually get over the line, you’ve earned it. It feels great, [to be in the final], it feels absolutely amazing, it’s the pinnacle for people in this part of the country.”
In Croke Park, Louth reached back-to-back Leinster finals for the first time since 1958, defeating Kildare by four points, 0-17 to 0-13, and in the process sending Kildare into the Tailteann Cup. After a hapless league campaign, that ended in relegation from Division Two, Kildare’s only means of staying in the Sam Maguire Cup was to reach the provincial final, but Louth were never headed after the 22nd minute.
In the other semi-final, Dublin put up a hurling score against Offaly: 3-22 to 0-11.
Sam Maguire Cup
Seeds 1&2: Armagh, Clare, Donegal, Dublin, Galway, Kerry, Louth, Mayo
Seeds 3: Derry, Monaghan, Roscommon, Tyrone
Seeds 4: Cavan, Cork, Meath, Westmeath
Tailteann Cup
Seeds 1: Down, Fermanagh, Kildare, Sligo
Seeds 2: Antrim, Offaly, Laois, Leitrim
Seeds 3: Limerick, Longford, Wexford, Wicklow
Seeds 4: Carlow, London, Tipperary, Waterford
The draws for the group stages of both competitions will take place on Tuesday at 3pm, live on gaa.ie and the GAA’s social media channels.
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