1. Clare bounce back
Given the nature of the setbacks both had suffered last Sunday, this game essentially boiled down to who could cope best in recovering from that psychological hit. In that light Clare’s response was highly impressive. They threw away a winning position on home soil seven days ago against Limerick, but faced with a tricky test as they headed to Cork, they met it head-on. Suddenly their Munster championship journey has achieved lift-off for 2024.
A further boost for Clare was the manner in which they achieved the success. It was a shift in scenario from the Limerick game, where they enjoyed a sizeable lead in the third quarter. Today Clare trailed by seven after half-time and Cork were in the position of strength, energised by a rush of scores either sie of the break. If it looked daunting for Clare, they rose to the challenge to outscore the home team 3-10 to 0-6 across a 25-minute period in the second-half.
That was crucial to the winning of the game.
2. Inefficiency with goal chances hurts Cork
For a team that raised three green flags, it might appear curious to flag attempts to find the net as an issue, but the devil is in details when examining Cork’s performance. Patrick Horgan ingeniously scooped the ball to the net after half-time, rocketed a late free home, and Robert Downey showed the opportunism to score another goal. But it was earlier in the game where Cork will rue the chances they squandered.
Cork’s best hurling was done in the phases just before the break and immediately upon the resumption. Their hard running punched holes in the Clare rearguard but of the five shots they had on goal during that time, only one was converted, with Darragh Fitzgibbon, Alan Connolly, Horgan and Shane Barrett all denied.
Some of the shots were under extreme pressure from Clare’s covering defence, yet during a period when Cork were on top, they needed at least one more goal to really squeeze the pressure on Clare.
3. Red card setback for Cork
On a day when James Owens brandished yellow cards with great frequency, the one time he showed a red had a major influence on the course the game took. Cork were a point ahead when Sean O’Donoghue produced a superb piece of defending to stop Mark Rodgers from finding the net, but as the ball spilled loose the Cork captain stepped across Shane O’Donnell in full flight for a bodycheck that saw him receive a second yellow.
The resultant free was tapped over by Aidan McCarthy as Clare drew level and they hit the front soon after. From there they would not be pegged back and Cork discovered for the second week running how damaging a second-half sending-off can be.
“Unfortunately, you’re not going to win games if you’re going to have 14 men against 15, against a top class side,” remarked Cork boss Pat Ryan.
“Our discipline probably left us down a bit. I think Sean [O’Donoghue] made a very good challenge on the first thing. I don’t know did he do a third man tackle then on the way out, that’s what the lads said to me. To be hones with you we’ve been down to 13 and 14 and I don’t think we’re the dirtiest team in the world. I just thought there was too many yellow cards, that’s the way we go, move on.”
4. Clare forwards sparkle
The pre-match team news was dominated by the withdrawal of Clare’s listed number 26 from their squad. The unavailability of the Tony Kelly card to play looked a serious blow to Brian Lohan’s hand, yet he still saw his team amass 3-26. Aidan McCarthy was again assured from frees, while both David Reidy and David Fitzgerald thundered into the game as the second half progressed.
There were sources of ball-winning joy for Clare in Peter Duggan in the half-forward from puckouts and Shane O’Donnell’s electric style as the focal point of their attack inside. The major plus for Clare was the form of Mark Rodgers. He may not have been clinical in the last two outings against Kilkenny and Limerick, today he was on song from the off.
Rodgers popped over the opening point of the first half and the opening point of the second half. It was his coolness that resulted in Clare’s first goal that ignited their comeback, while he clipped a sideline cut in the opening period and swung over a beauty underneath the South Stand late on. By the finish the Scariff man had notched 1-6 and Cork hadn’t been able to handle his threat.
5. The contrasting Munster outlook for both teams
This welcome win leaves Clare in a good place again. Their schedule means they can now pause for three weeks and watch the Round 3 ties with interest. Clare are back out on 19 May at home to Waterford and then travel to Thurles on 26 May to face Tipperary. It will be a pivotal week, but one they will eagerly await as they have the comfort of points on the board.
Cork’s situation is more difficult and uncertain. Two losses places them on the backfoot, particularly when they must next take on a Limerick team that have a perfect winning record to date and look to be finding their groove once more. After that it’s an away meeting with Tipperary.
“We have Limerick coming in in two weeks time,” said Ryan afterwards.
“What are we going to do, fall down on our sword. We have to get ready to go against Limerick next week. In fairness to the lads, it will probably be easier to get them up after this game than it was last week because it was an abysmal performance below in Waterford whereas today was a much better performance. But at the end of the day, we are only interested in winning. That didn’t happen.”
