*Keith Smyth. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill
CLARE’S hopes of reaching the semi-finals of the Munster U20 hurling championship are reliant on obtaining results against Waterford and Cork in their final two outings.
Unbeaten after producing last-gasp equalisers through Patrick Crotty and Sean Rynne to secure a share of the spoils against Tipperary and Limerick respectively, Terence Fahy’s side will need to pick up a victory to fulfil their goal of reaching the semi-finals.
Of their exploits to date, Fahy recounted, “It has been an intense week and we faced some serious obstacles in the space of five days so it’s all about recovery now and getting ourselves right for our trip to Waterford”.
That trip sees them head to Fraher Field on Wednesday facing a Waterford side without a win in their opening two rounds.
They head there with a bounce in their step following Rynne’s dramatically impressive score which earned a draw with Limerick. “It was a fantastic score at the death and fear play to Sean [Rynne] for taking it on. He had a fine match so it was great that he crowned that performance that way to snatch a draw”.
Character of the side has impressed Fahy from both their championship games, “There was great character shown by all the lads at the finish. I mean there were times in the second half that you’d be forgiven for throwing your hands in the air and admitting that our goose was cooked on this occasion as their free taker [Patrick O’Donovan] was deadly for Limerick. However, our lads have proven again that they have a bit about them and they went down and produced a great response.
“Patrick Crotty’s goal was a catalyst and he has been a real leader up front for us. When we’ve needed scores and leadership, he has come up trumps which is great to see. Overall it was a positive collective display, even all the subs that came on made an impact so it was a really gutsy display from the team”.
