SMASH & GRAB IT! Clare had been good value for their double scores lead
History-chasing Treaty fight back to snatch win from Banner
IF Limerick do go on to lift the Liam MacCarthy Cup, then the story of the first fivein-a-row in hurling history will have to include events here as a central plot point.
Of all the comebacks and achievements of this recordbreaking team, it’s hard to think of another match in this run where they looked second best entering the final quarter.
When Mark Rodgers split the posts midway through the second half, Clare were up by double scores, leading a rollicking encounter by 1-15 to 0-9. And were full value for it. In front of a sell-out crowd, with the atmosphere crackling and the high stakes of the five-in-a-row chasing All-Ireland champions taking on the National League winners, Cusack Park felt like the centre of the sporting universe.
And after a first half that produced five different goal chances, Clare had responded to a bright Limerick start by doing so much of the hurling to put themselves in a winning position.
Limerick’s radar was off — nine first-half wides an illustration of that — and the momentum was all with the home side who hadn’t lost here in Championship to the same opposition since 1990.
Right at that point, it looked like Limerick’s hopes of qualifying as one of the three teams in Munster could hinge on beating Tipperary at the Gaelic Grounds next weekend.
Instead, in an ending that suggests the 2024 edition of the Munster SHC could be just as wild and thrilling a ride as the 2023 edition, Limerick somehow managed a hat-trick of goals between the 59th and 66th minute.
Add in a touch of good fortune and a hint of controversy and what happened will be the source of endless debate.
It all started when Diarmaid Byrnes stood over a 65-metre free. Limerick had clipped a few scores together to reduce the deficit but there was still six in it, Clare leading 1-16 to 0-13. There was a groan momentarily from the Limerick crowd when he mis-hit it but it dipped dangerously around the square where Gillane was standing in front of goalkeeper Eibhear Quilligan. Whether or not Quilligan was unsighted — Clare had legitimate claims for a square ball and a free out — Gillane tried to pull on the sliotar and the goalkeeper flapped at it. The end result was the ball hit the back of the net.
It was a critical score at such a vital point of the game. David Reidy clipped a point from a clever sideline cut pass from Gearóid Hegarty and then substitute Donnacha Ó Dalaigh skidded a low shot to the net that Quilligan again would have been hoping to block.
The sense of shock in the Clare team was compounded when Limerick did it again. Hegarty was a rampaging presence at this stage and there was another touch of good fortune when his shot rebounded off the upright and straight to the waiting Gillane. It was marginal as to whether the Limerick full-forward was just outside the square and, again, the call went Limerick’s way. On such small margins, seasons can turn. Clare were shellshocked to concede 3-1 — more than they had in the first three quarters of the game — in that spell. A Cian Lynch fistpump to mark another score showed that this was Limerick’s day, Clare never really looking like they would find the net in the three-minutes plus of added time. This defeat will be so
hard to take for Clare who now have to travel next weekend to play Cork.
While Gillane was nearly in for goal twice early on, Clare were busy carving out chances themselves. In the eighth minute, Peter Duggan made the first of a string of imperious high catches. He played a lovely handpass into the path of the galloping Mark Rodgers who took it in close to goal and forced a brilliant diving save from Nickie Quaid.
Aidan McCarthy’s finely calibrated free-taking pegged back a 0-4 to 0-2 Limerick lead to push Clare ahead.
Another goal chance fell Clare’s way in the 21st minute with them leading 0-7 to 0-6.
Shane O’Donnell took the ball brilliantly on the turn to feed it inside to David Reidy who was through one-on-one but shot too straight at Nickie Quaid who smothered the effort.
The goal finally came in the 29th minute. A quick puck-out from Quilligan to David McInerney saw the Clare defender play a super pass out in front of Shane O’Donnell who has that electric ability to catch the sliotar and turn, all in one movement. He then showed such vision to fire a pass to Aidan McCarthy who was hovering just outside the square and he thumped the ball to the net.
Just like the Allianz Hurling League semi-final, Limerick’s radar was off. If that felt like an aberration, here again the wides tally cranked up: eight in total, just past the half-hour mark.
The half finished with Hegarty playing a lovely angled crossfield pass to Tom Morrissey who again fired wide of the right post, the last of nine that half.
Clare then had a 1-10 to 0-8 cushion and a scrappy third quarter suited the home side down to the ground. Especially in light of Limerick’s traditional third-quarter surge.
Clare must have felt confident then being 1-15 to 0-9 ahead at that stage.
Credit to Limerick, they rattled off four in a row, Ó Dalaigh making an impression but Clare had Tony Kelly on the field at that point and Aidan McCarthy raised a clenched fist when he hit a great score over his shoulder.
And then came the plot twist when Limerick showed the character of champions to produce a hat-trick of goals to keep their bid for hurling immortality on track.
Roll on round two. LIMERICK: N Quaid; M Casey (S Finn 6), D Morrissey, B Nash; D Byrnes, D Hannon, K Hayes; W O’Donoghue (A English 60), C Lynch; G Hegarty, C O’Neill, T Morrissey (C Boylan 49); A Gillane (A O’Connor 68), S Flanagan (D Ó Dalaigh 46), D Reidy. Scorers: A Gillane 1-5 (5fs), D O Dalaigh 1-1, D Byrnes 1-0 (f), G Hegarty 0-3, D Reidy, C O’Neill 0-2 each, K Hayes 0-1, C Lynch 0-1 Yellow card: S Flanagan 36, A Gillane 42, D Reidy 46 Wides: 9 (5) CLARE: E Quilligan; A Hogan, C Cleary, R Hayes (P Flanagan 59); D Ryan, J Conlon, D McInerney; C Malone, D Lohan (S Morey h-t); D Fitzgerald (A Shanagher 69), M Rodgers (S Meehan 62), P Duggan; A McCarthy, S O’Donnell, D Reidy (T Kelly 55). Scorers: A McCarthy 1-10 (8fs), D Fitzgerald, M Rodgers, T Kelly 0-2 (1f) each, S O’Donnell, S Morey 0-1 each Yellow card: A Hogan 34, C Cleary 42, D Fitzgerald 56 Wides: 4 (6) Referee: C Lyons (Cork) Attendance: 20,055