A FIRST-EVER opening round home victory in the Munster Senior Hurling Championship round-robin was extremely hard-earned for Clare as they found it difficult to shake off a stubborn Waterford in front of 18,338 in Zimmer Biomet Páirc Chiosóg.
Successive first-round reverses to Tipperary (2023) and Limerick (2024), allied to last year’s rousing share of the spoils with Cork, rather dented the fortress Cusack Park mentality.
However, home pride would be deservedly restored even if they made much harder work of it than entirely necessary.
Conor Leen and Eibhear Quilligan of Clare watch Stephen Bennett of Waterford take a free at the end of the game. Natasha Barton / INPHO
Natasha Barton / INPHO / INPHO
Ten different scorers, including four apiece for talismanic pair Tony Kelly and Shane O’Donnell, who missed the corresponding Waterford showdown 12 months ago in Walsh Park, ensured that Clare were able to just about keep their noses in front in the second half.
Mark Rodgers was unerring with eleven points while Sean Rynne, in only his second championship start, accounted for five points from play. However, despite leading by as much as eight points entering the final quarter, a Stephen Bennett-led Waterford simply refused to yield at any stage.
Stephen Bennett silences Zimmer Biomet Páirc Chíosóg by finding the net at the second attempt.
Bennett almost singlehandedly kept Waterford in the tie throughout with 3-12, starting with two first-half majors that pegged back a buoyant Banner each time at 2-3 to 0-7 by the midway mark of the opening period.
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The first, in the ninth minute, took two attempts to finally find the net after his initial shot was excellently saved by Eibhear Quilligan. The second was a penalty won by Sean Walsh that he emphatically blasted to the bottom left corner.
In contrast, Clare would be repeatedly frustrated in front of the posts as Peter Duggan kicked over the bar from the edge of the square before goalkeeper Billy Nolan pulled off a pair of superb stops to deny Ryan Taylor and Mark Rodgers.
Shane O'Donnell of Clare in action against Stephen Bennett of Waterford. Natasha Barton / INPHO
Natasha Barton / INPHO / INPHO
The latter did arrow over a brace of injury-time frees to inch his side back in front by the interval at 0-15 to 2-08, an advantage that the Banner fully capitalised upon on the resumption when Rodgers turned provider for Peter Duggan to squeeze an angled shot past Nolan at 1-18 to 2-09.
Adam Hogan expertly blocked a Sean Walsh shot while Nolan was again at his best up the other end to tip away an O’Donnell effort. However, the clinical Stephen Bennett would make no mistake in the 42nd minute when picking up a break at the edge of the square to complete a historic hat-trick and take his tally against the Banner to 5-20 in just two championship outings.
Stephen Bennett seals a hat-trick to get Waterford back into the game. Breathless stuff here.
Clare didn’t reach for the panic button and seemed to have finally put clear daylight between the sides when a six-point unanswered blitz from Rodgers (2), Sean Rynne, Darragh Lohan, Shane O’Donnell and electric debutante Diarmuid Stritch made it an eight-point game at 1-27 to 3-12 by the 55th minute.
Amazingly, it still wasn’t sufficient to deter a defiant Deise, who were sparked into life once more with a 63rd-minute goal for Sean Walsh who was a real handful over the entire 70 minutes.
Slashing the arrears to just four, it made the remaining twelve minutes an exceedingly anxious crescendo, with Stephen Bennett’s frees piling on the pressure to lessen the damage to just two entering injury-time.
Tony Kelly doing Tony Kelly things. That looks like sealing it for the Banner
Captain Tony Kelly eased the pressure valve with a 73rd-minute point, but Waterford would muster only a final goal sighting that would be thwarted and punished by a counter-attack goal through substitute Shane Meehan with what proved the last puck of an enthralling contest.
Clare can now sit back and watch all their other rivals battle it out before resuming with a Shannonside derby showdown with Limerick at the same venue in a fortnight’s time but for Waterford, they have to quickly put this reverse behind them as they prepare to host All-Ireland champions Tipperary in a must-win tie in Azzurri Walsh Park next Sunday (4pm)
Scorers for Clare: Mark Rodgers 0-11 (10f, 1’65); Sean Rynne 0-5; Shane O’Donnell, Tony Kelly 0-4 each; Peter Duggan 1-1; Diarmuid Stritch 0-3; Shane Meehan 1-0; Diarmuid Ryan, Darragh Lohan 0-2 each; Ryan Taylor 0-1
Scorers for Waterford: Stephen Bennett 3-12 (1-0 Pen, 12f); Dessie Hutchinson 0-3; Sean Walsh 1-0; Jamie Barron, Austin Gleeson 0-2 each; Peter Hogan 0-1
Clare
1. Eibhear Quilligan (Feakle)
2. Rory Hayes (Wolfe Tones)
3. Conor Cleary (St. Joseph’s Miltown/Kilmaley)
4. Adam Hogan (Feakle)
8. Darragh Lohan (Wolfe Tones)
11. Ryan Taylor (Clooney-Quin)
9. Tony Kelly (Ballyea)
15. David Reidy (Éire Óg)
12. Sean Rynne (Inagh-Kilnamona)
14. Mark Rodgers (Scariff)
18. Shane O’Donnell (Éire Óg)
10. Peter Duggan (Clooney-Quin)
Subs: 25. Conor Leen (Corofin) for Hogan (22-28, BS); 22. Diarmuid Stritch (Clonlara) for Reidy (50); 25. Leen for Hayes (57); 13. Shane Meehan (Banner) for O’Donnell (62); 24. Ian Galvin (Clonlara) for Rynne (66); 19. Ronan Kilroy (Banner) for Hogan (68, inj)
Waterford
1. Billy Nolan (Roanmore)
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4. Aaron O’Neill (Ballygunner)
3. Mark Fitzgerald (Passage)
2. Ian Kenny (Ballygunner)
10. Jack Fagan (De La Salle)
6. Paddy Leavey (Ballygunner)
7. Shane Bennett (Ballysaggart)
15. Michael Kiely (Abbeyside-Ballinacourty)
12. Jamie Barron (Fourmilewater)
9. Jack Prendergast (Lismore)
11. Stephen Bennett (Ballysaggart)
14. Sean Walsh (Fourmilewater)
13. Dessie Hutchinson (Ballygunner)
Subs: 21. Peter Hogan (Ballygunner) for S. Bennett (40); 20. Austin Gleeson (Mount Sion) for Kiely (46); 22. Kevin Mahony (Ballygunner) for for D. Lyons (54); 23. Patrick Curran (Dungarvan) for Barron (67)
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Waterford's Bennett bags 3-12, but Clare hold on to open Munster series with dramatic win
Clare 2-33
Waterford 4-21
Eoin Brennan reports from Cusack Park
A FIRST-EVER opening round home victory in the Munster Senior Hurling Championship round-robin was extremely hard-earned for Clare as they found it difficult to shake off a stubborn Waterford in front of 18,338 in Zimmer Biomet Páirc Chiosóg.
Successive first-round reverses to Tipperary (2023) and Limerick (2024), allied to last year’s rousing share of the spoils with Cork, rather dented the fortress Cusack Park mentality.
However, home pride would be deservedly restored even if they made much harder work of it than entirely necessary.
Ten different scorers, including four apiece for talismanic pair Tony Kelly and Shane O’Donnell, who missed the corresponding Waterford showdown 12 months ago in Walsh Park, ensured that Clare were able to just about keep their noses in front in the second half.
Mark Rodgers was unerring with eleven points while Sean Rynne, in only his second championship start, accounted for five points from play. However, despite leading by as much as eight points entering the final quarter, a Stephen Bennett-led Waterford simply refused to yield at any stage.
Bennett almost singlehandedly kept Waterford in the tie throughout with 3-12, starting with two first-half majors that pegged back a buoyant Banner each time at 2-3 to 0-7 by the midway mark of the opening period.
The first, in the ninth minute, took two attempts to finally find the net after his initial shot was excellently saved by Eibhear Quilligan. The second was a penalty won by Sean Walsh that he emphatically blasted to the bottom left corner.
In contrast, Clare would be repeatedly frustrated in front of the posts as Peter Duggan kicked over the bar from the edge of the square before goalkeeper Billy Nolan pulled off a pair of superb stops to deny Ryan Taylor and Mark Rodgers.
The latter did arrow over a brace of injury-time frees to inch his side back in front by the interval at 0-15 to 2-08, an advantage that the Banner fully capitalised upon on the resumption when Rodgers turned provider for Peter Duggan to squeeze an angled shot past Nolan at 1-18 to 2-09.
Adam Hogan expertly blocked a Sean Walsh shot while Nolan was again at his best up the other end to tip away an O’Donnell effort. However, the clinical Stephen Bennett would make no mistake in the 42nd minute when picking up a break at the edge of the square to complete a historic hat-trick and take his tally against the Banner to 5-20 in just two championship outings.
Clare didn’t reach for the panic button and seemed to have finally put clear daylight between the sides when a six-point unanswered blitz from Rodgers (2), Sean Rynne, Darragh Lohan, Shane O’Donnell and electric debutante Diarmuid Stritch made it an eight-point game at 1-27 to 3-12 by the 55th minute.
Amazingly, it still wasn’t sufficient to deter a defiant Deise, who were sparked into life once more with a 63rd-minute goal for Sean Walsh who was a real handful over the entire 70 minutes.
Slashing the arrears to just four, it made the remaining twelve minutes an exceedingly anxious crescendo, with Stephen Bennett’s frees piling on the pressure to lessen the damage to just two entering injury-time.
Captain Tony Kelly eased the pressure valve with a 73rd-minute point, but Waterford would muster only a final goal sighting that would be thwarted and punished by a counter-attack goal through substitute Shane Meehan with what proved the last puck of an enthralling contest.
Clare can now sit back and watch all their other rivals battle it out before resuming with a Shannonside derby showdown with Limerick at the same venue in a fortnight’s time but for Waterford, they have to quickly put this reverse behind them as they prepare to host All-Ireland champions Tipperary in a must-win tie in Azzurri Walsh Park next Sunday (4pm)
Scorers for Clare: Mark Rodgers 0-11 (10f, 1’65); Sean Rynne 0-5; Shane O’Donnell, Tony Kelly 0-4 each; Peter Duggan 1-1; Diarmuid Stritch 0-3; Shane Meehan 1-0; Diarmuid Ryan, Darragh Lohan 0-2 each; Ryan Taylor 0-1
Scorers for Waterford: Stephen Bennett 3-12 (1-0 Pen, 12f); Dessie Hutchinson 0-3; Sean Walsh 1-0; Jamie Barron, Austin Gleeson 0-2 each; Peter Hogan 0-1
Clare
1. Eibhear Quilligan (Feakle)
2. Rory Hayes (Wolfe Tones)
3. Conor Cleary (St. Joseph’s Miltown/Kilmaley)
4. Adam Hogan (Feakle)
5. Diarmuid Ryan (Cratloe)
6. Niall O’Farrell (Broadford)
7. Cathal Malone (Sixmilebridge)
8. Darragh Lohan (Wolfe Tones)
11. Ryan Taylor (Clooney-Quin)
9. Tony Kelly (Ballyea)
15. David Reidy (Éire Óg)
12. Sean Rynne (Inagh-Kilnamona)
14. Mark Rodgers (Scariff)
18. Shane O’Donnell (Éire Óg)
10. Peter Duggan (Clooney-Quin)
Subs: 25. Conor Leen (Corofin) for Hogan (22-28, BS); 22. Diarmuid Stritch (Clonlara) for Reidy (50); 25. Leen for Hayes (57); 13. Shane Meehan (Banner) for O’Donnell (62); 24. Ian Galvin (Clonlara) for Rynne (66); 19. Ronan Kilroy (Banner) for Hogan (68, inj)
Waterford
1. Billy Nolan (Roanmore)
4. Aaron O’Neill (Ballygunner)
3. Mark Fitzgerald (Passage)
2. Ian Kenny (Ballygunner)
10. Jack Fagan (De La Salle)
6. Paddy Leavey (Ballygunner)
7. Shane Bennett (Ballysaggart)
5. Calum Lyons (Ballyduff Lower)
8. Darragh Lyons (Dungarvan)
15. Michael Kiely (Abbeyside-Ballinacourty)
12. Jamie Barron (Fourmilewater)
9. Jack Prendergast (Lismore)
11. Stephen Bennett (Ballysaggart)
14. Sean Walsh (Fourmilewater)
13. Dessie Hutchinson (Ballygunner)
Subs: 21. Peter Hogan (Ballygunner) for S. Bennett (40); 20. Austin Gleeson (Mount Sion) for Kiely (46); 22. Kevin Mahony (Ballygunner) for for D. Lyons (54); 23. Patrick Curran (Dungarvan) for Barron (67)
Referee: Shane Hynes (Galway)
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