Weather wreaks havoc with hurling fixtures
Ice-cold Limerick strike late to deny Clare in Cusack cracker
THE line-up for the Allianz Hurling League quarterfinals won’t be known now for another week after the weather played havoc with the Division 1A and 1B fixtures. After the ‘Beast from the East’ delayed the completion of last year’s competition, heavy rain
yesterday saw three key matches in the top flight all postponed. The Division 1A fixtures between Cork versus Tipperary at Páirc Uí Rinn and Wexford versus Kilkenny at Innovate Wexford Park both went, along with
Waterford’s meeting with Galway at Walsh Park in Division 1B. All four quarter-finals were scheduled to take place next weekend, leaving the GAA with another fixtures headache. The Central Competitions Control Committee meet today and will make known the time
and date for any refixtures. It all means that the concluding stages of the GAA’s secondary hurling competition won’t take place as planned. Shoving the entire competition into a compressed time frame to
THE sod will be firmer and the ball flying with a lot more ease when these two neighbours meet later in the year but even in the sleet, snow and rain at Cusack Park in Ennis, there was more than enough edge to proceedings to whet the appetite for what lies ahead in the summer.
Clare joint manager Donal Moloney said he had never experienced such cold conditions for hurling in all his life and few in the crowd of 8,409 would disagree with him as they battled the wind-chill.
Fair play then to the players for serving up such a cracking contest in such appalling conditions. The good surface in Cusack Park was undoubtedly big help and so too was the attitude of these neighbours as they tore into each other.
Clare were the only team to beat Limerick in last year’s Championship and they looked like they had staged a comeback victory until the All-Ireland champions rallied and Aaron Gillane snatched a draw in the
fifth minute of injury-time with his eighth free.
The edge and small margins which both managements will look for were evident in the way the teams took most of their chances with Clare shooting just three wides — all from first-half frees from Peter Duggan — and Limerick shooting just four, three of them from Gillane and one from Shane Dowling.
Both, of course, have their eye on the Championship more than winning the League and there were plenty of positives for each of them as they look ahead, but it’s doubtful if any of them will forget the conditions for a long time.
‘I think the crowd got value for money. I haven’t seen so much passion in a Championship match,’ said Moloney.
‘I’ve been in hurling a long time but I have never seen players
shivering at half-time. We had to do a full scale warm-up at halftime in the dressing room to keep them going. They were actually shaking.
‘We would have liked to have won it, especially after going ahead in the second half but Limerick are worthy All-Ireland champions and they got a couple of points to pull it
back there towards the end,’ added Moloney.
‘But after being four or five points down we are quite happy with it. Limerick fought back as well when they were behind but that’s what top teams do when they go toe-to-toe.’
Moloney said these sort of games will help the Banner as they prepare for the Champion-