Clare 0-14
Cork 0-13
26 YEARS AFTER Martin Daly booted home his famous goal, carving a slice of Clare football history for himself, Ennistymon’s Cillian Rouine enjoyed his own scoring milestone this afternoon.
Daly’s strike rocked Cork with a knockout punch in 1997, Rouine intervened with a fisted point deep into injury-time against the same opponents to settle this Munster quarter-final.
In the interim Clare have failed to land a blow against Cork in the provincial meetings, a statistic that irritated them after their impressive league consistency and stirring progress in qualifiers over the last decade.
But the implications of this outcome run deeper. Having slipped through the league relegation trapdoor in Division 2, and with a new championship format being ushered in next month, Clare knew that success here was critical to preserve their interest in the All-Ireland title race.
They still need to defeat Limerick in a fortnight yet this narrow victory gives them a shot at achieving that and avoiding entry to the Tailteann Cup. Rouine found himself in an acre of space in the 74th minute, Ciaran Russell and Jamie Malone engineering the move down the right flank of Cusack Park to transfer possession downfield.
Moments previously Kevin O’Donovan had done brilliantly to nail a leveling kick for Cork under severe pressure, but Rouine’s intervention ensured it was another corner-back that would command the post-match spotlight.
For Cork this was a gut punch after a spring populated with bright moments under John Cleary’s stewardship. They were in front 0-6 to 0-4 at the interval and were 0-9 to 0-5 clear by the 40th minute.
The momentum shifted substantially thereafter. Clare had cut the deficit to one by the 45th minute and were level nine minutes later courtesy of Emmett McMahon. The teams were level four more times before the final whistle.
There was never an element of certainty to the outcome, Clare’s shooting in front of goal was too wayward for them to be assured of success with the final wide count standing 14-5 in their favour. Darragh Bohannon was also denied what looked a certain goal in the 59th minute, Micheal Martin producing a simply stunning save to tip the ball around the post
They came up with enough big plays though, sweeping over ten second-half points and grateful for the 0-4 tallies registered throughout by both Eoin Cleary and Keelan Sexton. Jamie Malone became the most prominent player on the pitch, his driving runs cutting the Cork rearguard apart, ably assisted by Ciaran Russell raiding from deep.
Cork, bereft of injured captain Brian Hurley, faded as the game progressed. Their reliance on Steven Sherlock for points was glaringly apparent. He registered ten of their final tally, Sean Powter was the only other forward to score with defensive duo Rory Maguire and Kevin O’Donovan also on target. Sherlock’s free-taking was on the money, hitting seven placed balls over and one ‘45, while he bagged a brace from play in the second-half.
Ian Maguire’s hard running hurt Clare in the opening period, he drew three fouls with Sherlock converting the frees. Ruairi Deane directed a lot of Cork’s play as well, feeding Brian O’Driscoll in the 21st minute but the subsequent shot crashed off the crossbar. That was as close as Cork, who had hit goals for fun throughout the league, came to firing past Stephen Ryan.
Clare had improved defensively from the league meeting a month ago but that upswing was negated by a bluntness in attack. Sexton hit two early points yet in an opening period that was a grind to watch, they only scored two more from the 5th minute until the half-time whistle. Cork in contrast were more patient and successful in their probing, Sherlock’s accuracy steering them into the lead.
Moving 0-9 to 0-5 clear in the 40th minute looked set to be a springboard for Cork. Instead Clare plotted a route back into contention. The scores were traded in the final quarter after the McMahon effort, three Sherlock points matched by inputs from Sexton, Gavin Cooney and Malone.
Eoin Cleary popped a free that put Clare in the ascendancy, O’Donovan looked set to be Cork’s saviour but it was the Rouine effort that sparked Easter Sunday joy for the home football faithful amongst the 3,661 crowd.
Scorers for Clare: Keelan Sexton 0-4, Eoin Cleary 0-4 (0-2f), Emmett McMahon 0-2, Cillian Rouine 0-1, Jamie Malone 0-1, Podge Collins 0-1, Gavin Cooney 0-1.
Scorers for Cork: Steven Sherlock 0-10 (0-7f, 0-1 ’45), Kevin O’Donovan 0-1, Rory Maguire 0-1, Sean Powter 0-1.
Clare
1. Stephen Ryan (Kilrush)
2. Manus Doherty (Eire Óg), 3. Cillian Brennan (Clondegad), 4. Cillian Rouine (Ennistymon)
5. Ciaran Russell (Eire Óg), 6. Jamie Malone (Corofin), 7. Daniel Walsh (Kilmurry Ibrickane)
8. Cathal O’Connor (Coolmeen), 9. Darragh Bohannon (Shannon Gaels)
10. Pearse Lillis (Cooraclare), 11. Emmet McMahon (Kildysart), 12. Dermot Coughlan (Kilmurry Ibrickane)
13. Eoin Cleary (St Joseph’s Miltown Malbay), 14. Keelan Sexton (Kilmurry Ibrickane), 15. Pádraic Collins (Cratloe)
Subs
- 24. Darren O’Neill (Éire Óg Ennis) for O’Connor (half-time)
- 17. Gavin Cooney (Éire Óg Ennis) for Coughlan (50)
- 23. Mark McInerney (Éire Óg Ennis) for McMahon (69)
- 25. Alan Sweeney (St Breckan’s) for Collins (72)
Cork
1. Micheál Aodh Martin (Nemo Rangers)
2. Kevin O’Donovan (Nemo Rangers), 3. Daniel O’Mahony (Knocknagree), 4. Tommy Walsh (Kanturk)
5. Luke Fahy (Ballincollig), 6. Rory Maguire (Castlehaven), 7. Matty Taylor (Mallow)
8. Colm O’Callaghan (Éire Óg), 9. Ian Maguire (St Finbarr’s)
10. Eoghan McSweeney (Knocknagree), 13. Sean Powter (Douglas), 12. Brian O’Driscoll (Tadhg MacCarthaigh)
11. Ruairí Deane (Bantry Blues), 15. Chris Óg Jones (Uibh Laoire), 25. Steven Sherlock (St Finbarr’s)
Subs
- 20. Killian O’Hanlon (Kilshannig) for McSweeney (48)
- 24. Conor Corbett (Clyda Rovers) for Óg Jones (57)
- 22. John O’Rourke (Carbery Rangers) for O’Driscoll (68)
- 19. Cian Kiely (Ballincollig) for Fahy (68)
Referee: Fergal Kelly (Longford)
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