Brave Clare come up clutch to shock Cork and seal All-Ireland final berth
All-Ireland MHC semi-final: Clare 0-27 Cork 1-22
Ger O'Connell hailed his Clare team for their brave finish to spring an All-Ireland semi-final shock on Munster champions Cork.
The sides were level 11 times in front of 2,855 fans at Semple Stadium, but the Banner were more assured at the death, despite hitting 14 wides.
Their clever passing moves cut through Cork around the middle and created a steady flow of scoring chances.
In an absorbing last-four clash, Paul Rodgers, the younger brother of senior star Mark, topped the scoring charts. He tallied 0-13, including 10 frees and an exceptional sideline cut from close to the 65.
Ben Talty and Ian O'Brien were other major contributors, while Dara Kennedy performed the dual function of defensive anchor and attacking springboard.
'We've made so many mistakes trying to work the ball. You'd have lads saying just hit the fecking ball. But we're trying to encourage these guys to play,' said O'Connell.
'Under pressure, we really showed quality on the ball. Coming off the shoulder when the easy thing to do would have been to lump a ball.
'We've really tried to encourage the boys to do the right thing. Make mistakes. That's okay. They're young lads. They're going to make them.
'The boys came up trumps in the last 5-10 minutes. They're a brilliant bunch and I'm so proud.'
A weekend of upsets results in a novel All-Ireland final pairing. The 2023 champions will meet Waterford in a fortnight for the third-ever all-Munster final.
For Cork, Cormac Deane scored 1-2 and assisted six points, Eoghan O'Shea struck 0-5, and free-taker Craig O'Sullivan tallied 0-8.
Callum Coffey scored a hat-trick in their Munster round-robin victory over the same opponents, but injury reduced him to a bench role here.
'The better team on the day won,' reflected Cork manager Fergal McCormack, who now hands over to U16 boss Donal Mulcahy.
'We've a great bunch, and they've done everything that we could possibly ask of them. Even down to the last minute, I had belief that our fellas would come good.
'But Clare dug in there, got their scores, and turned us over a few times, which was tough to take. They seemed to be playing triangles, which got the better of us a few times.'
Cork started slow, and even Deane's fifth-minute goal couldn't immediately lift them. The Killeagh youngster cut onto his left and blasted a low shot from the 21 to the net for a 1-1 to 0-3 lead.
Leon Talty denied him a second goal, by which time Clare had rebuilt a three-point lead. They were sparked by three in a row from Rodgers, and all six forwards were on the board by half-time.
They led 0-15 to 1-10, but Cork were back in front by the 33rd minute as O'Sullivan's brace bookended Deane's second point.
The sides were level six times in the third quarter, with Rodgers' frees accounting for four Banner points.
Substitute Jack Counihan got a first-touch point in the 44th minute, which proved to be Cork's final lead.
The Banner were working the sliotar better and they produced a decisive move with four points out of five between the 51st and 58th minutes. Liam Murphy, O'Brien, and two Rodgers frees made it a 0-26 to 1-20 lead.
Cork weren't done yet as Michael T Brosnan's third point and O'Shea's fifth left one between the sides entering stoppage time.
But Niall Doyle drew the free for Rodgers' insurance score.
Scorers for Clare: P Rodgers (0-13, 10 frees, 1 s/l); B Talty, I O'Brien (0-3 each); R Ralph, L Murphy (0-2 each); D Kennedy, E Cleary, J O'Donnell, J Barry (0-1 each).
Scorers for Cork: C O'Sullivan (0-8, 6 frees); C Deane (1-2); E O'Shea (0-5); MT Brosnan (0-3, 1 free); S Ring (0-2); R Dineen, J Counihan (0-1 each).
CLARE: L Talty (St Joseph's Doora-Barefield); J O'Halloran (Sixmilebridge), Z Phelan (Sixmilebridge), N Doyle (Éire Óg Ennis); E Crimmins (Newmarket-on-Fergus), D Kennedy (Ballyea), C Daly (St Joseph's Doora-Barefield); G Ball (St Joseph's Doora-Barefield, captain), E Cleary (Ballyea); J O'Donnell (Broadford), R Ralph (Clarecastle), I O'Brien (Cratloe); B Talty (St Joseph's Doora-Barefield), P Rodgers (Scariff), L Murphy (O'Callaghan's Mills).
Subs: E O'Connor (Ballyea) for Talty (9-13, temp), J Barry (Inagh-Kilnamona) for Ralph (36), O'Connor for Talty (51), G Marshall (Parteen-Meelick) for O'Donnell (58), D Murrihy (Inagh-Kilnamona) for Daly (60+4).
CORK: TC Walsh (Aghada); C Lawton (Midleton), D Fitzgerald (Bride Rovers), D Heavin (Russell Rovers); MT Brosnan (Glen Rovers), B Carroll (Dromina, capt), C Garde (Lisgoold); TA Walsh (Carrigtwohill), R Dineen (Erin's Own); C O'Sullivan (Na Piarsaigh), C Deane (Killeagh), R Donovan (Fermoy); S Coughlan (Passage), E O'Shea (Ballinhassig), S Ring (Carrigtwohill).
Subs: J Counihan (Watergrasshill) for Coughlan (43), C Coffey (Na Piarsaigh) for Dineen (52), A Dunlea (Sarsfields) for TA Walsh (60).
Referee: C Doyle (Tipperary).
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Independent
4 hours ago
- Irish Independent
John Mullane: I can't trust this Galway team yet – they still have too many questions to answer
I'm expecting Micheál Donoghue to make a number of tactical switches for this Tipperary duel, but they still lack the consistency to be considered genuine All-Ireland contenders at this stage Today at 21:30 Galway have slipped back into a position that no team want to be in, and a position they know all too well. One of the worst things you can say about any team is that you don't know what they are going to produce on a given day, and the Tribesmen have that unwanted tag once again.
Irish Examiner
4 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
'These big monsters started running directly at us and we panicked'
Subscriber 'These big monsters started running directly at us and we panicked' Dublin host Cork on Saturday in a tantalising All-Ireland SFC preliminary quarter-final. Tantalising because no-one is sure which Cork will show up - but also for the fact that once every 15 years, the first and real capital tend to put on a show. Kieran Shannon looks back.
Irish Examiner
4 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Anthony Daly: Can Galway bring enough anger to derail what is now a Liam Cahill team?
During my six years as Dublin manager, I only had a handful of rows with John Costello, then Dublin secretary and CEO, but one of the biggest arguments I had with John was before the 2014 All-Ireland quarter-final against Tipperary. We had just been beaten by Kilkenny in the Leinster final when I got a call from John the following day to inform me that the likely venue for our quarter-final was Thurles. I lost the head. 'What the hell are we going down there for, into their backyard? No way. Tell them to clear off.' John wasn't having it, saying that Tipp were arguing the decision on the basis that they had played us in Croke Park in the All-Ireland semi-final three years earlier. 'Is this a joke John?' I asked him. 'Sure every All-Ireland semi-final is in Croke Park. What did they want us to do – play it in Portlaoise? Tell them not a hope are we going to Thurles.' I was bull thick but I ended up banging my head off a brick wall. When I couldn't get around Costello, I tried to sweet talk the late Andy Kettle, who was then chairman. When Andy couldn't do anything to change the decision, I got Ciaran 'Hedgo' Heatherton, one of my selectors, to ring Seán Shanley, who was vice-chairman and very sympathetic and supportive towards the hurlers. I was raging when we seemed to be talking to the wall, especially when I was already seething with our performance in the Leinster final. I felt we needed every advantage going to try and beat Tipp – and now we had to go into their own patch. In my own head, I just felt it was all very unfair. I remember going into Parnell Park the Tuesday night before that quarter-final and the grass wasn't even cut. Even at the best of times, the pitch in Parnell had a ropey surface and I was picturing Tipp below in Thurles training on the carpet they were now going to play on. That Tipp game was my last match as Dublin manager. We were well beaten. It wasn't the way I wanted my six-year tenure to end, but the whole frustration almost encapsulated my attitude towards All-Ireland quarter-finals. I just didn't like them. And I still kind of don't. Maybe it's just my experience with Dublin that has clouded my judgement because I had a lot of good days in quarter-finals as a player and manager with Clare, beating Galway in 1999 (after a replay) and overcoming Wexford twice (as a manager) in 2005 and 2006. The only blip was the quarter-final defeat to Kilkenny in 2004 after a replay but the drawn game was a magical day, when we looked dead and buried before Jamesie O'Connor nailed the equaliser with the last puck. My first quarter-final with the Dubs was in 2009 when we lost to Limerick in a match we should have won. We had a good year and had made great progress, which was very satisfying, but it was still a missed opportunity that gnawed away at me over the winter. In 2011, we had won the league before losing the Leinster final to Kilkenny, but it wasn't that hard to lift the lads ahead of the quarter-final against Limerick. We'd had a good year. The league final gave us great confidence and the Kilkenny defeat didn't drain a lot of that out of us. I felt we'd beat Limerick, which we did. That was the one high-point but I have never warmed to quarter-finals since. Even though Clare won their last three quarter-finals, I found them frustrating experiences even as a supporter. Maybe it's just the hurling fanatic in me but I always get the impression that half the stadium doesn't care when there is a double-header. Whichever crowd loses the curtain-raiser is gone by the final whistle, while the winners' supporters are out the gap by half-time of the second match. And the whole sense of occasion just collapses like a deck of cards. Cork are a different animal again, win or lose. After they lost the 2022 curtain-raiser to Galway, the rebel hordes emptied Semple Stadium. After they beat Dublin in the curtain-raiser last year, the red wave just swept out of Thurles like a tide washing out to sea. Having the games early on a Saturday afternoon twice in the last three years certainly didn't help, but I have long felt that the double-header just doesn't work and that there should be standalone fixtures. Circumstances have dictated as much now, which I think will certainly make a difference around the atmosphere and appeal of the matches. The Dubs may be part of a double-header with the footballers but at least they'll get a decent crowd in early, while Limerick will arrive to the capital in enough numbers to make it feel like an occasion. I'm glad that Galway-Tipp is in Limerick but I'd have preferred if it was on in Ennis – and not just out of comfort for me. I'm not sure what kind of a crowd will be in the Gaelic Grounds but it certainly won't be a sellout, whereas Ennis would have been. I just felt they should have gone with Cusack Park and made it an all-ticket game. The vast majority of people who will go today would have got a ticket but the scramble would have also drummed up more hype and discussion around the occasion, which, to be honest, has been fairly low-key this week. Much of that is down to the GAA not promoting the quarter-finals enough but it's also probably a result of the distrust around Galway and what team may actually turn up. Galway haven't liked Tipp since the 1980s but they're so Jekyll and Hyde that even their own supporters can't trust them to bring enough anger into this match to make it into the kind of spectacle that their public deserves. Galway were a joke in their opening game in Nowlan Park and, while they recovered well in their next four matches, they were back to their old bad habits in the Leinster final. Aside from a seven or eight minute burst late on, Kilkenny rode roughshod over them. Galway need to cut loose again now because I'd be fairly confident that Tipp will. They're back in a quarter-final when a lot of people – including their own – wouldn't have expected Tipp to have reached this stage at the outset of the championship. They have improved as the championship has gone on, but I also think they're in a far better physical – and mental – state than they were when Tipp were last on this stage in 2023. That year, their form was slowly draining away as the championship progressed and they effectively bottomed out against Galway that afternoon in Limerick. I'm not sure if all the older brigade had bought into the Liam Cahill project in that first year whereas this is definitely Cahill's team now. Tipp almost seemed stuck in neutral on that mid-June evening in 2023 whereas this is a team on the move now. This has all the makings of a cracker but I really think it's down to Galway to make sure that it is. Is there enough badness in them to win a game like this? Everybody is already talking about Cork and Tipp in the semi-final. That's dangerous talk for Tipp but it's music to Galway's ears. Tipp have to block out all that outside noise. They're capable of beating any team on any given day, but can they step up and take down a Galway team now that, on paper, they are better than? I just think that you can trust Tipp more so I fancy them by about three points. When the option of going to Croke Park to take on Dublin was put to Limerick, I'm sure it wasn't even a discussion for John Kiely. As well as Limerick loving the venue, only losing there under Kiely in championship for the second time last year, it's also an ideal opportunity for Limerick to flush that bad memory out of their system before stretching their legs at Headquarters ahead of an expected match-up there with Kilkenny in two weeks. Limerick are too professional to be looking that far down the tracks without focusing on the job in hand, but I can't see Dublin being able to contain a wounded animal hell-bent on retribution since the Munster final defeat. Losing that game on penalties again underlined just how hard Limerick are to beat and, aside from the deficit in physicality and hurling ability, I don't think Dublin can be in the right frame of mind to take down Limerick either. If they had beaten one of Galway or Kilkenny in Leinster, it would have at least given them the confidence to think that they can live with Limerick. But I can't see it. Limerick won't be concerned about putting on a show. They will only be focused on getting the job done, which Limerick will. Kilkenny will come in their own good time.
