NHL Division 1A: Limerick 0-21 Clare 1-21
In a tough week for All-Ireland champions Clare with the loss for this year of their Hurler of the Year, Shane O’Donell, they at least got their league title defence up and running with a much-needed win in the TUS Gaelic Grounds on Sunday before a crowd of 16,789.
That it came against their perennial rivals and predecessors as double winners, Limerick, made it all the more satisfying.
“Look, off the mark, yeah,” said manager Brian Lohan after the match. “It was, I suppose after the couple of matches that we’ve played [and] didn’t get anything from. So, you know, happy to come in here and get the win – you know, a hard place to come – and obviously to get the two points.”
It was a match that threw up challenging periods for Clare, largely the opening phase of both halves. In these passages of play, Limerick looked formidable, powerfully winning ball and working moves to their productive conclusion.
But the visitors hung in there and gradually turned the match around. By the end they could afford to miss a litany of chances and still get back down the Ennis Road with a three-point win.
The early stages of the match were one-way. Éibhear Quilligan saved from Shane O’Brien in the first minute for a 65. It was one of six goal opportunities that came to nothing. Manager John Kiely accepted that they hadn’t been sharp enough on the day but was pleased to have created the chances.
“Yeah, we left a bit behind us, you know,” he said. “We had 20 shots in the first half, for example, with only nine points so, you know, again, that’s a lot of lost opportunities. Just lacked a little bit of sharpness, a little bit of cohesiveness and maybe should have carried the ball on a little bit and showed a bit more composure at times when the openings came.”
There was a lot of rust to be shaken off on both sides. Even Tony O’Kelly, another Laoch na hImeartha prize to his name – “he may never get one again,” quipped a television operative, as he returned it to the Clare dressingroom – had a mixed afternoon, working hard and shooting some scores but also getting blocked and turned over.
Limerick were missing up to nine first-teamers whereas Clare were only getting some of theirs back after injury but if there was plenty of work in progress, the outcome was heartening for Clare and gives them a shot at avoiding the prospect of becoming the first All-Ireland champions in over 30 years to be relegated.
When Aaron Gillane pointed a seventh-minute free for a 0-3 to 0-1 lead, it looked as if it might get ugly so dominant were Limerick but Clare settled and began to take their own scores.
It will have been particularly heartening for Lohan that two younger players, Seán Rynne and Jack O’Neill ended up with 0-3 from play each and that there were also signs of returning life in established seniors like Kelly, David Fitzgerald and Mark Rodgers.
Having survived goal chances – Gillane crashed a spectacular one-handed shot off the crossbar in the 10th minute – Clare led by three, 0-12 to 0-9, at the break.
Within four minutes of the restart, Limerick had hit back to take the lead. Points from David Reidy, Barry Nash, Cian Lynch – responding lethally to Rodgers dropping one short – and O’Brien reeled off a point a minute.
Rodgers made amends in the 40th minute by supplying an assist for Clare’s David Reidy to crack in the match’s only goal. It was a hugely significant score, restoring the lead and wiping out most of the opposition’s gains. This was copperfastened within seconds when Quilligan again saved, this time from Gillane at the cost of a converted 65.
Limerick never regained the lead. Their play became sloppy while Clare’s defenders turned the screw. Adam Hogan had a fine match and Darragh Lohan after a difficult start put in some terrific blocks – they also functioned far better as a unit, moving the ball out more slickly and not getting into trouble on turnovers.
They also finished far more sharply at the other end, building an at times six-point lead and Reidy getting pulled up for a square ball after touching in what would have been his second goal.
A late scatter ended with Byrnes being shown a red card for his part in the melee.
“Diarmaid led with the leg to get in over the ball,” said Kiely afterwards. “Every player that goes into a ruck tries to get their leg in across the ball to get over the ball. That’s what they’re coached to do. He got it completely wrong in his timing and made contact with one of the opposition players [Kelly].
“He’s never been sent off before in his career so I think we’ll give him the benefit of the doubt on this one.”
Clare finished in a blaze of missed chances, wides and shots dropped short, as Limerick shaved three off the deficit with goalkeeper Jason Gillane dropping over two long-range frees and his older brother adding another.
Lohan acknowledged that this phase had been concerning, given the importance of the points.
“Yeah, it was, you know. We had chances to finish off better than we did, but we didn’t. But overall, I think happy enough with the performance. We worked really hard and created a good few scoring chances.”
Clare have two matches to save their status, against Cork and Tipperary, but they’ve made a start.
Clare: E Quilligan; A Hogan, C Leen, D Lohan; C Galvin (0-1), J Conlon, C Malone (0-1); T Kelly (capt; 0-3), R Taylor; D Fitzgerald (0-2), J O’Neill (0-3), S Rynne (0-3); D Reidy (1-0), M Rodgers (0-1), A McCarthy (0-7, 6f). Subs: S Meehan for Reidy (56 mins), P Crotty for McCarthy (69 mins), A Shanagher for Fitzgerald (70 mins).
Limerick: J Gillane (0-2f); B Murphy, M Casey, B Nash (0-2); D Byrnes (0-2 1’65’), E Hurley, C Coughlan; A English, C Lynch (capt; 0-1); E Stokes, D Reidy (0-2), C O’Neill; A Gillane (0-8, 6f), S O’Brien (0-2), S Flanagan. Subs: A O’Connor (0-2) for Stokes (half-time), P O’Donovan for Flanagan (51 mins), T Morrissey for O’Neill (59 mins), D Ó Dálaigh for O’Brien (66 mins), V Harrington for Nash (66 mins).
Referee: Thomas Walsh (Waterford).
