Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
The grand old SPOOK of Cork
THE REBELS SURVIVE SQUEAKY BUM TIME RELIEF THE EMOTION FOR REBELS GAFFER
CORK manager Kieran Kingston admitted that he was relieved more than anything after what was at times a white-knuckle ride.
“The most over-riding emotion is relief,” said Kingston (right), “because that game ebbed and flowed.
“We weren’t sure coming into it how our guys were going to react.
“We had had three weeks off, was that going to be a good thing, with the rest would be fresh? Clare had momentum after a very good League campaign and three huge games with two fantastic wins, so we didn’t know if that was going to be too much to deal with.
“There was a lot of uncertainty coming into it from our point of view and we were apprehensive as to how that would work out.
“Relief is number one but I’m fierce proud of the way the lads reacted and the character that they showed, from basically a very young team.”
CORK will play either Dublin or Tipperary in the All-Ireland SHC quarter-finals after just squeezing past Clare at the LIT Gaelic Grounds yesterday.
The outcome was in doubt until the fourth minute of injury time, when the Cork keeper denied Tony Kelly what would have been a matchwinning goal, despite the Rebels leading by six points in the 69th minute.
After Jack O’Connor was sent off for a second booking, Rory Hayes fired over a Clare point and then, when Kelly was fouled by Niall O’Leary for a penalty, the corner-back also received a second caution.
Kelly stuck the penalty beyond Collins to leave two points in it and then, in the fourth and final minute of added time, the ball was worked to the Banner talisman. He drove forward, past two challenges, and pulled the trigger but Collins saved.
Patrick Horgan had an early effort denied by Conor Cleary, and Cork hit the front at 1-4 to 0-5 in the 17th minute when Luke Meade found O’Connor, who used his pace to create space and fire past Eibhear Quilligan.
The goalkeeper had to save well to deny O’Connor a second immediately after and, while Cork led by 1-5 to 0-6 at the water-break, Clare were soon level, but could not find a lead score.
Superb defending from Seán O’Donoghue and Robert Downey had done much to limit the Clare attacking potential while O’Leary suppressed Kelly as well as anyone could for majority of the first half but his class began to tell as Brian Lohan’s side seized the momentum on the restart.
Four points from Kelly and two from Aidan McCarthy put Cork on the back foot, with the lead down to just one point by the 46th minute.
A Horgan free and 65 – the latter following another O’Connor goal chance, when the ball was deflected into the side-netting – settled Cork again, though Kelly’s tenth of the day made it 2-14 to 0-18 at the water-break and Clare levelled when the action resumed, thanks to points from Kelly and sub Shane Golden before wing-back Diarmuid Ryan put them in front.
It was a big moment for Cork but two of their subs, Alan Connolly and Shane Barrett, were both on target as they led again. Clare’s Ryan Taylor equalised again but Harnedy and Horgan replied for Cork and then Harnedy did brilliantly to set up Barrett for their third goal and a five-point lead.
Horgan’s 10th made it six, and while Clare almost wiped out it, Cork held on.