Fitz of fury as Rodgers hits a late dagger to Déise hearts

CLARE 4-21 WATERFORD 2-26

MUNSTER SHC ROUND-ROBIN

After the chaos and the controversy, some perspective on a scorching hot day in Ennis where the temperatures soared even higher after the final whistle.

Waterford are still in the championship, but the road to qualification is now a lot bumpier after Mark Rodgers’ 75th-minute ‘65’ rendered their second-half fightback all for nothing.

If Davy Fitzgerald can raise his war-weary troops for one last stand this Sunday and come away from the Gaelic Grounds with a draw, they should be still alive and kicking. If they can conspire to beat Limerick while Clare take the points from a demoralised Tipperary, then John Kiely’s four-in-a-row kingpins will actually be eliminated.

All fine in theory, but will Waterford still have the legs for Limerick just seven days after another gargantuan battle ended in injury-time heartache?

Two weeks ago they were reeled back to parity by Tipp. Here, at a heaving Cusack Park in front of 19,893 sun worshippers, they battled back to level thanks to Shane Bennett’s 73rd-minute penalty… only to be then undone at the death by Rodgers.

Not for the first time in his marathon managerial career, the match concluded with scenes of pandemonium as Davy Fitzgerald came on to the pitch to remonstrate with referee Liam Gordon over the awarding of that hotly disputed ‘65’, stemming from a Tony Kelly free that veered right and short of the endline before being deflected over it.

He wasn’t the only Waterford stakeholder left incensed by it all, with at least one player and selector arguing with the fourth official on the touchline while, amid a throng of on-field bodies after the obligatory pitch invasion, there was a brief shoving match between rival backroom members.

For what it’ s worth, TV re plays appeared to indicate that the last touch came off the boot of Waterford defender Mark Fitzgerald – in other words, the right call was reached, even if the umpire’s face as he pointed for a ‘65’ suggested he wasn’t overly convinced.

Tough

“I honestly believe that should have been a wide ball. That’s what I feel,” Fitzgerald said afterwards. “I am proud of the guys. It is just a very hard way to take a defeat like that. It is very tough. It doesn’t sit with me well.

“You have to make them decisions and you have to get them right. At the same time, I have always thought Liam Gordon is a really top-class official… while we are disappointed with one or two decisions, that is the way hurling goes. We just get over it.”

Fitzgerald’s comrade-turned-nemesis could afford to be sanguine about Clare’s multiple attempts to snatch a costly draw from the jaws of victory.

“Yeah, just about getting over the line,” Brian Lohan admitted. “We showed a good bit of resilience towards the end and delighted with our lads.”

If Clare had conspired to draw (or even worse), the post-mortems would have been long and painful, even with Tipperary coming down the tracks.

They only trailed once, after Dessie Hutchinson’s second-minute point. They led by eight points after David Fitzgerald’s 26th-minute goal, by five at halftime (2-13 to 0-014), by six after Rodgers flicked to the net five minutes after the restart, and by four after an acutely angled Kelly shot spun off goalkeeper Shaun O’Brien and into the Waterford net on 58 minutes.

And yet, each time, Waterford rebounded and dragged themselves back into the contest. For that, they deserve enormous credit. But they were also facilitated by Clare’s patchy second-half performance.

Nine of their 14 wides came after halftime, with another three point attempts dropping short.

They left the door ajar, and each time Waterford battered at the hinges.

“Yeah, it’s an area we have to work on but look, we can’t complain,” was Lohan’s glass-half-full take. “The lads played really well and did some great scoring. The goal threat was always there, I thought, and happy to get the result.”

Mention of the goal threat is apt: this is why Clare are now in the box seat to reach another Munster final. They finished with four and it should have been more. We counted eight presentable goal chances, with Waterford particularly vulnerable on turnover ball and/ or through the middle of their defence.

Clare’s first goal, finished by Darragh Lohan in the 20th minute, stemmed from a short-passing Déise move that broke down via a stray Jamie Barron pass.

A few seconds later, Rodgers was sending a prodigious handpass over the top for Lohan to ghost onto.

Six minutes later, Tadhg de Búrca’s pass was intercepted by Cian Galvin, whose long delivery left Iarlaith Daly with the impossible task of trying to mark two forwards inside, allowing Fitzgerald to pounce.

The alarm bells were already ringing when Rodgers’ seventh-minute shot was blocked by corner-back Kieran Bennett. Later in the half, both Fitzgerald and Rodgers were denied by O’Brien parries.

The second half saw a marked improvement from Waterford, who started winning more rucks and finding their

men more accurately. They were facilitated by six Clare wides within 10 minutes of the restart.

And yet the Déise remained susceptible, notably when Rodgers accelerated on to a breaking ball and left two defenders in his wake before flicking past O’Brien. Fitzgerald later complained that he had taken “five to six steps”, but it was a marginal call.

Through it all, Shane O’Donnell had tormented Waterford with his ball-handling and balletic movement. Even his presence appeared to unhinge two defenders, leaving Kelly free to race in along the endline before beating the partially culpable O’Brien.

Yet, either side of that score, Stephen Bennett (with a 51st-minute goal after leaving two defenders in his wake) and his brother Shane (with that late penalty won by Patrick Fitzgerald) had breathed fresh hope into Waterford.

All to be expired by that even later ‘65’. SCORERS – Clare: D Fitzgerald 1-4, M Rodgers 1-3 (0-1 ‘65’), A McCarthy 0-5 (4f), D Lohan, T Kelly 1-0 each, S O’Donnell, I Galvin 0-2 each, D Reidy, C Malone, C Cleary, D Ryan, P Duggan 0-1 each. Waterford: D Hutchinson 0-6 (5f), Stephen Bennett, Shane Bennett (1-0 pen) 1-2 each, K Mahony 0-4, J Prendergast, T de Búrca (1f), Pádraig Fitzgerald 0-2 each, K Bennett, J Barron, J Fagan, Patrick Fitzgerald, I Kenny, C Lyons 0-1 each.

CLARE: E Quilligan 7; A Hogan 7, C Cleary 6, R Hayes 7; C Galvin 7, J Conlon 7, D Ryan 6; C Malone 6, D Lohan 6; D Fitzgerald 8, D Reidy 6, P Duggan 7; M Rodgers 8, S O’Donnell 9, A McCarthy 6. Subs: T Kelly 7 for Reidy (49), S Morey 6 for Lohan (57), C Leen 6 for Hayes (59), I Galvin 7 for McCarthy (64).

WATERFORD: S O’Brien 6; I Kenny 7, I Daly 6, K Bennett 7; M Fitzgerald 7, T de Búrca 8, C Lyons 6; D Lyons 5, P Curran 6; Stephen Bennett 8, J Prendergast 7, J Barron 7; D Hutchinson 6, M Kiely 6, K Mahony 8. Subs: J Fagan 7 for D Lyons (16), Shane Bennett 7 for Curran (inj 32), C Ryan 6 for K Bennett (57), Patrick Fitzgerald 7 for Kiely (59), Pádraig Fitzgerald 7 for Stephen Bennett (64).

REF: L Gordon (Galway)