*Photograph: Burren Eye Photography
CLARE HAVE suffered back to back defeats in the Allianz National Hurling League.
Wexford 2-20
Clare 1-20
Venue: Cusack Park, Ennis
Inferior in the key battlegrounds throughout the contest, there can be few complaints from Clare with the final outcome, the bulk of the damage occurring in the first half.
An opening half which yielded eleven wides saw Clare register 1-01 from play, despite being with the breeze, they found themselves trailing 1-09 1-07 at half-time. An improved showing followed in the second half but frailties in defence coupled with poor distribution served as their downfall.
Rory O’Connor inflicted plenty of damage on the hosts in the first half, raiding for 1-04. Clare for their part registered a tally of 1-01 from play in this spell. Their return could have been far greater were it not for poor shooting and questionable delivery of ball into the full forward line.
Shane Meehan collected his first NHL goal after Mark Fanning produced a fine double save from John Conlon on twenty nine minutes, the Wexford green flag arrived on twenty minutes when the Banner defence was torn apart with Rory O’Connor ripping through to tap home.
With six minutes of the second half played, Clare were on level terms thanks to scores from Paddy Donnellan, John Conlon and Mark Rodgers. Scariff’s Patrick Crotty made his presence known, the teenager fetching plenty of aerial ball and also chipping in on the scoreboard to lead the way in Clare’s fightback.
Indeed, the Scariff duo of Rodgers and Crotty fired Clare into a two point lead with forty five minutes on the clock, they would maintain this lead until the final quarter when Conor McDonald put the visitors ahead. Eibhear Quilligan made an excellent save to deny Jack O’Connor but he had no such luck in stopping a powerful Diarmuid O’Keeffe shot on sixty three minutes, this chance arising from a far too casual approach from Clare backs.
O’Keeffe’s green flag sealed the result for the Model County despite Clare continuing to chip away on the scoreboard through Rodgers and substitute Robin Mounsey.
Having beaten the All-Ireland champions last weekend, Darragh Egan’s Wexford have followed it up by claiming a win in Ennis in front of 2,055. Conall Flood, Diarmuid O’Keeffe, Mark Fanning, Mikie Dwyer, Matthew O’Hanlon and Jack O’Connor were best for the winners.
Losing at home following a poor display brings with it few positives, generally. For Clare, the showing of the young guns was a big plus, Patrick Crotty impressed when introduced while the efforts of Mark Rodgers and Shane Meehan in the full-forward line could not be faulted, Paddy Donnellan at midfield was Clare’s main scorer from play, Robin Mounsey in his six minutes on the field scored a point while the slightly older Paul Flanagan also did well.
It is only February but big improvements are needed across the board for Brian Lohan’s charges if the overall goal of progressing from Munster is to be achieved. This will be helped when they return to full strength, a two week break allows them to refocus on the task of securing a first win of this year’s League.
Scorers for Wexford: Jack O’Connor 0-9 (6f, 1’65), Rory O’Connor 1-4, Diarmuid O’Keeffe 1-0, Damien Reck 0-2, Conor McDonald 0-2, Mike Dwyer 0-1, Connal Flood 0-1, Paudie Foley 0-1
Scorers for Clare: Mark Rodgers 0-12 (10f, 1’65), Paddy Donnellan 0-3, Shane Meehan 1-0, John Conlon 0-2, Patrick Crotty 0-2; Robin Mounsey 0-1
Wexford:
1: Mark Fanning (Glynn-Barntown)
2: Simon Donohue (Shelmaliers)
3: Liam Ryan (Rapparees)
4: Damien Reck (Oylegate-Glenbrien)
7: Conall Flood (Cloughbawn)
5: Matthew O’Hanlon (St Anne’s)
6: Paudie Foley (Crossabeg/Ballymurn)
8: Diarmuid O’Keeffe (St Anne’s)
13: Liam Óg McGovern (St Anne’s)
10: Oisin Foley (Crossabeg/Ballymurn)
11: Jack O’Connor (St Martin’s)
12: Charlie McGuckin (Naomh Éanna)
14: Mikie Dwyer (St Mogue’s Fethard)
15: Conor McDonald (Naomh Éanna)
9: Rory O’Connor (St Martin’s)
Subs:
19: Cathal Dunbar (Naomh Éanna) for Foley (49)
23: Niall Murphy (Ferns St Aidan’s) for Ryan (61)
22: Paul Morris (Ferns St Aidan’s) for McGuckin (63)
24: Oisin Pepper (Rapparees) for Óg McGovern (68).
Clare:
1: Eibhear Quilligan (Feakle)
2: Rory Hayes (Wolfe Tones)
3: Conor Cleary (St Joseph’s Miltown)
4: Paul Flanagan (Ballyea)
5: Diarmuid Ryan (Cratloe)
6: Jack Browne (Ballyea)
7: David Fitzgerald (Inagh-Kilnamona)
8: Jason McCarthy (Inagh-Kilnamona)
9: Paddy Donnellan (Broadford)
10: Cathal Malone (Sixmilebridge) (Captain)
11: John Conlon (Clonlara)
12: Ryan Taylor (Clooney-Quin)
13: Shane Meehan (Banner)
14: Domhnall McMahon (Michael Cusack’s)
15: Mark Rodgers (Scariff)
Substitutes
24: Patrick Crotty (Scariff) for McMahon (HT)
23: Robin Mounsey (Ruan) for Taylor (67)
20: Shane Golden (Sixmilebridge) for McCarthy (67)
17: Aron Shanagher (Wolfe Tones) for Conlon (69)
Referee: Colm Lyons (Cork)
