*Tony Kelly scores Clare’s third goal. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.
CLARE emerged victors over Dublin by two points in a hard-fought tie to start their quest to get back to the top tier of the Allianz National Hurling League.
Clare 3-18
Dublin 1-22
Venue: Zimmer Biomet Páirc Chíosóg, Ennis
An attendance of 7,553 were treated to a tight and entertaining tussle between Clare and Dublin in Cusack Park on Sunday afternoon, an encounter that may well prove decisive in determining who is promoted from Division 1B of the National League. The sides were level on nine different occasions in the affair.
Fielding nine members of the starting team from the 2024 All-Ireland win, it was evident from the get-go that Clare targeted an opening round victory and rightly so.
Fifteen years on from making his Clare senior debut against Dublin, scoring a penalty to see the Banner knock the Anthony Daly managed Dubs out of the 2012 All-Ireland SHC in Cusack Park, Tony Kelly once again stepped up at defining moments to steer his county to victory. Kelly hit Clare’s third goal on seventy one minutes to seal the win while in the opening half, his first score on the half hour mark gave the hosts the lead for the first time in the game.
How Eibhear Quilligan has recovered from a knee operation last autumn to stand between the posts for the first round has been impressive and he produced a fine display with two superb second half saves, the first a dive to prevent Cian O’Sullivan from goaling and the second to push Donal Burke’s penalty over the crossbar.
Rory Hayes was among those not part of that bracket of nine but he produced a solid display at corner back, a display which should put the two-time All Star nominee back in the pecking order for more frequent game time as the season progresses.
Impacts off the bench were important too, Jack O’Neill and Diarmuid Stritch, two young hurlers with bundles of potential, offering important assists to help Clare regain the lead in the final five minutes of normal time, Stritch also splitting the posts to put Clare back in front before Kelly’s major.
Without question, Clare were fortunate to be ahead when the half time whistle sounded. Goals from David Reidy and Peter Duggan within the space of six minutes at the end of the half helping to create the 2-8 0-11 advantage.
Along with those goals, central to Clare going ahead were the positional switches made by management in attack. Peter Duggan’s move to full forward resulting in Mark Rodgers going to eleven and Tony Kelly to the wing bolstered Clare’s attack and led to more retained ball in the inside line and a growing influence for Kelly out the field.
Missed chances were too common in that first half spell, Clare had eleven in the first half but reduced this to two wides in the second half. Dublin meanwhile only had three misses in the first half but more than doubled this to seven second half wides.
With two of the first three scores on the restart, Clare extended their lead to four, their largest of the tie to date but signs of early dominance were diminished when Dublin raided for goal via Brian Hayes at the near post of Quilligan. They were back on level terms when Conor Burke equalised on forty two minutes in their next attack.
Hayes who was very effective from midfield, scoring 1-3 over the hour helped the Dubs restore a one point lead only for Mark Rodgers to reply with two successive frees.
Donal Burke who had been close to one hundred percent accuracy on placed balls let a big chance slip when his penalty on fifty minutes was saved by Quilligan. This score was their first of four points in a row as they went three points ahead.
Then Clare hit four on the bounce, all from Rodgers and Kelly. O’Neill won the free for the third of these while Conor Cleary plucked the ball from the sky, offloading to Cathal Malone who Shane Meehan, the ball breaking off him to Stritch who popped to Kelly to see Clare go one clear on sixty one minutes.
Stritch then nudged Clare back ahead before Kelly struck for the killer blow to see Brian Lohan’s claim the first points on offer in Division 1B.
Standing out as the big area to work on for Clare is midfield where they came out second best, Cathal Malone was one of Clare’s best at wing back but may well have to be pushed back to midfield to strengthen this sector. Others to set the way for Clare were Kelly, Qulligan, Hayes while Mark Rodgers made vital turnovers in attack.
Scorers Clare: M Rodgers (0-11 9f), T Kelly (1-3), D Reidy (1-0), P Duggan (1-0), D Lohan (0-1), D Fitzgerald (0-1), S Meehan (0-1), D Stritch (0-1).
Scorers Dublin: D Burke (0-11 9f 1’Pen), B Hayes (1-3), A Dunphy (0-2), C O’Sullivan (0-2), C Donohoe (0-2), C Burke (0-1), D Purcell (0-1).
Clare:
1: Eibhear Quilligan (Feakle)
2: Adam Hogan (Feakle)
3: Conor Cleary (St. Joseph’s Miltown)
4: Rory Hayes (Wolfe Tones)
8: Cathal Malone (Sixmilebridge
5: Diarmuid Ryan (Cratloe)
6: Cian Galvin (Clarecastle)
7: Darragh Lohan (Wolfe Tones)
15: Ryan Taylor (Clooney-Quin)
9: David Fitzgerald (Inagh/Kilnamona)
12: Tony Kelly (Ballyea)
10: Peter Duggan (Clooney-Quin)
25: David Reidy (Éire Óg)
11: Mark Rodgers (Scariff)
13: Shane Meehan (Banner)
Subs:
21: Diarmuid Stritch (Clonlara) for Reidy (46)
23: Jack O’Neill (Clooney-Quin) for Fitzgerald (56)
14: Niall O’Farrell (Broadford) for Duggan (58)
17: John Conneally (Clooney-Quin) for Galvin (58)
24: Colm O’Meara (Clonlara) for Lohan (69)
Dublin:
1: Sean Brennan (Cuala)
2: John Bellew (Lucan Sarsfields)
3: Paddy Smyth (Clontarf)
4: Eoghan O’Donnell (Whitehall Colmcille)
7: Conor Burke (St Vincents)
6: Chris Crummey (Lucan Sarsfields)
5: Andrew Dunphy (St Brigids)
8: Brian Hayes (Kilmacud Crokes)
9: Conor Donohoe (Erins Isle)
20: Conor Grooke (Cuala)
11: Donal Burke (Na Fianna)
12: Darragh Power (Fingallians)
13: Diarmaid Ó Dulaing (Commercials)
14: Ronan Hayes (Kilmacud Crokes)
15: Cian O’Sullivan (St Brigids)
Subs:
10: Davy Keogh (Thomas Davis) for Power (32)
24: Dara Purcell (Kilmacud Crokes) for Ó Dulaing (40)
17: Conal Ó Riain (Kilmacud Crokes) for Keogh (56)
21: David Lucey (Kilmacud Crokes) for C Burke (66)
Referee: Shane Hynes (Galway)
