Banner hold off Offaly fightback
AS the sun beamed down on O’Connor Park, Clare’s Championship campaign got back up and running as they edged out a hugely improved Offaly side. The game was tight and highly entertaining throughout with only two points separating the sides at the end.
While there were a lot of chances spurned by both sides throughout the game, Clare just about deserved their win with the forward class of Jamie Malone and Eoin Cleary standing out as one of they differences between the two sides.
With a big defeat at the hands of Kerry in the Munster semi-final still hanging over his side, Clare manager Colm Collins was just delighted to get the win and advance to the next round of qualifiers.
‘The Kerry game was a tough day. We came up against a slick outfit on the day and they really gave us a lesson, and it was nice to get a game. I knew it was going to be tough up here, Offaly were at home and are a proud football county, and rightly so, they’ve a great history.
‘We didn’t expect anything soft here and that’s how it turned out.’
Clare had the chances in the opening half to be more in control but they left a string of goal chances behind them before Jamie Malone finally found the net on 24 minutes.
Offaly responded with the last two scores of the opening half, the final one being a rasper of a penalty from Alan Mulhall to send them in level at the break.
While Clare were wasteful, manager Colm Collins insisted that there were chances missed on both sides.
‘We missed a few chances at the other end which probably would have left us comfortable at half time, but that was the nature of the game.
‘Offaly had a couple of misses as well, at one stage there was a ball kicked over the bar and it was so close to the goal, it was almost hard to do. So there were chances missed by both sides, we’re delighted to still be in the pot on Monday morning.’
While Offaly may have been fortunate to still be in the game, they came back out more in tune and ready for the tempo that Clare brought. Despite looking doomed before half time, they went on to actually have chances to win the game in the second half.
Speaking after the game, Offaly manager Paul Rouse couldn’t speak highly enough of his players.
‘It’s an honour to be associated with a group of players who sweated blood for their county from the start to the finish. We rode it a bit in the first half, took us a while to get to the pace of the game.
‘In the second half, to hear the Offaly crowd, the roaring, the support that they gave our players, who were out on their feet, who were on empty, who went toe to toe with a team who were third in Division 2, in a way that an Offaly team has not gone toe to toe with a very good team for a long time, so I’m immensely proud of the players.’
After Ruairi McNamee hit the net for Offaly in the fourth minute, the home side held on early lead of 1-1 to 0-2. Clare took some time to find their range but a Jamie Malone goal on 24 minutes sparked them into life.
Malone and Eoin Cleary were on form and firing over some superb scores which helped Clare looked well in control as they led 1-8 to 1-4 with two minutes left in the half.
Offaly then gave themselves a chance with Johnny Moloney popping over a point before Mulhall’s penalty left it all square as the sides retired for half-time, 1-8 to 2-5.
Clare put down a marker early in the second half with the first two scores of the half but to their credit Offaly refused to wilt. The home side led briefly but Clare responded with four points on the spin to put them back in control leading 1-14 to 2-8 with 20 minutes to go.
Ruairi McNamee almost had his second goal before blazing over as both sides kept the scores flowing.
With Bernard Allen on form from frees and Clare substitute Gearoid O’Brien making a real impact when he was introduced, the Banner men were just able to keep their noses in front and keep their Championship alive.