CLARE’S senior footballers weathered a Limerick comeback in the second half to record their fourth win in Division 3 of the Allianz National Football League.
Clare 1-16
Limerick 0-14
Venue: Mick Neville Park, Rathkeale
Leading by nine points at half-time, Clare tacked on just five points in the second half but it was sufficient to see them hold off neighbours Limerick in a bitterly cold Rathkeale on Saturday evening.
This result pushes Clare into the promotion zone where they are tied on points with Down and Westmeath. Both of whom play on Sunday, against Sligo and Antrim respectively.
Three of those second half points came one after the other, Cormac Murray and an Aaron Griffin brace all within the space of two minutes.
Corner back Manus Doherty fisted over Clare’s two other scores in the second half, ending a nine minute drought on the restart and finishing off their tally on seventy one minutes, the Éire Óg defender showing his trademark impressive burst of pace on each occasion.
An array of different scorers over the course of the seventy plus minutes stood out as a very encouraging aspect from the Clare performance but the trend of completely fading during the opposing side’s purple patch was very visible once again.
Daniel Walsh opened the scoring for Clare inside ninety seconds but Limerick cancelled it out via corner forward Jamie Baynham. Dermot Coughlan kicked a fine score on six minutes before an excellent team move involving Ikem Ugwueru, Cormac Murray and Ciaran Downes was finished off with Emmet McMahon’s first score of the evening.
Barry Coleman pointed at the other end as Limerick found out there was holes in the Clare defence that they could capitalise on, it would take until the second half for them to do so on a repeated basis.
Clare really took control at the turn of the second quarter. Ugwueru’s turnover kickstarted a move which saw Dermot Coughlan find the roving goalkeeper Stephen Ryan, Micheál Garry then combined with Daniel Walsh before McMahon added a nice score from an acute angle. A quick break through the lines from Alan Sweeney helped Ciaran Downes to make it 0-6 0-2 on fifteen minutes.
Baynham kicked his second score but Clare responded with fine scores via McMahon and Walsh.
It was Walsh and McMahon who co-operated to send Brian McNamara on his way to unleash a bullet to the roof of Aaron O’Sullivan’s net on twenty two minutes in what is the Cree native’s first green flag at senior level for the county.
There could just have easily been a second goal when O’Sullivan’s kickout went to the boot of Aaron Griffin, he hesitated just a moment too long and hit the crossbar and sailed over. Further scores from McMahon and Griffin helped Clare to a 1-11 0-5 advantage.
Two minutes before half-time, Jimmy Lee and his Limerick management made the harsh decision to substitute goalkeeper Aaron O’Sullivan, it was a move that could have waited until the interval but it demonstrated that against the conditions kickouts were a tricky business.
Stephen Ryan himself found this out on the resumption as Clare struggled on their restarts. The hosts kicked four points without reply by the forty first minute before Doherty responded.
Limerick then hit five points in a row and were within three points approaching the final quarter. Fortunately for Mark Fitzgerald’s side, they rediscovered their shooting boots, substitute Jamie Stack got a vital flick onto Ryan’s kickout which put the ball in the direction of Cormac Murray for Clare’s first score in fifteen minutes.
From the kickout, Clare won possession and Aaron Griffin converted, the Lissycasey man was on target on the next attack as the Banner County took the wind from the sails of their neighbours. Manus Doherty and Daniel Daly swapped scores to keep Clare ahead by the sounding of the final whistle.
It’s another two points in the bag for Mark Fitzgerald’s charges and before the ball was thrown in that was the aim. Better opposition will punish Clare’s lapses in concentration but they are a team growing in each game, the test is to learn from their mistakes and apply the remedies at every turn. They could definitely have been more clinical during their dominant spell and a more direct approach would have helped this to become a reality.
How they weathered the storm was most pleasing and there is evidence to say that they are learning as they go. Prominent players on this occasion included Emmet McMahon, Manus Doherty and Daniel Walsh.
Without a win in five games, Limerick are facing down the barrel of relegation to the bottom tier of the Allianz National Football League. Their last two outings have shown some positives but if the climate was not so sunny when it comes to Limerick hurling then the Limerick County Board would be coming under fire for letting Mark Fitzgerald go as manager.
Scorers Clare: E McMahon (0-4 1f), A Griffin (0-4), B McNamara (1-0), D Walsh (0-2), C Murray (0-2), M Doherty (0-2), D Coughlan (0-1), C Downes (0-1).
Scorers Limerick J Naughton (0-4, 0-2 frees); B Coleman, J Baynham (0-3 each); C Fahy, R Childs, C Downes, D Daly (0-1 each).
Clare:
1: Stephen Ryan (Kilrush Shamrocks)
2: Manus Doherty (Éire Óg)
3: Ronan Lanigan (Éire Óg)
4: Micheál Garry (Cooraclare)
5: Ikem Ugwueru (Éire Óg)
6: Alan Sweeney (St Breckan’s)
7: Daniel Walsh (Kilmurry Ibrickane)
8: Gavin Murray (Éire Óg)
9: Brian McNamara (Cooraclare)
10: Dermot Coughlan (Kilmurry Ibrickane)
12: Ciaran Downes (Kilmihil)
13: Emmet McMahon (Kildysart)
11: Cormac Murray (St Joseph’s Miltown)
14: Aaron Griffin (Lissycasey)
15: Joe McGann (St Breckan’s)
Subs:
17: Darren Nagle (Liscannor) for Ugwueru (HT) (inj)
21: Jamie Stack (St Breckan’s) for McGann (54)
19: Tom McDonald (St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield) for C Murray (68)
23: Mark McInerney (Éire Óg) for Coughlan (72)
Limerick:
1: Aaron O’Sullivan (Pallasgreen)
2: Jim Liston (Gerald Griffins)
3: Seán O’Dea (Kilteely/Dromkeen)
4: Colm McSweeney (Gerald Griffins)
5: Barry Coleman (Rathkeale)
6: Iain Corbett (Newcastle West)
7: Cillian Fahy (Dromcollogher/Broadford)
8: Tommy Childs (Galtee Gaels)
9: Emmet Rigter (Newcastle West)
11: Cathal Downes (Killdimo/Pallaskenry)
10: Robbie Childs (Galtee Gaels)
12: Paul Maher (Adare)
13: Jamie Baynham (Mongea)
14: James Naughton (St Senan’s)
15: Peter Nash (Killdimo/Pallaskenry)
Subs:
16: Jack English (Adare) for O’Sullivan (33)
24: Eoin Hurley (Newcastle West) for Nash (58)
21: Tommy Griffin (Gerald Griffins) for Rigter (59)
26: Daniel Daly (Monaleen) for Baynham (68)
22: Joe Sweeney (Adare) for Downes (68)
Referee: Margaret Farrelly (Cavan)
