Munster U20 hurling: Cork push on in second half against 14-man Clare

Cork 2-22 Clare 1-19

CORK made it two wins from two in the oneills.com Munster U20HC but not without a gut-check from Clare at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Friday night.

On three occasions in the first half, Ben O’Connor’s side - playing into the wind - trailed by seven points but, after Clare were reduced to 14 players coming up to half-time, the Rebels managed to eat into the deficit, Ross O’Sullivan scoring a goal, and it was 0-13 to 1-8 for the visitors at the break.

Though Clare’s Conor Whelan sent over an early free after the restart, by the time they scored again, Cork had taken control. Points from Jack Leahy, William Buckley – who had taken over the frees from Leahy – and Diarmuid Healy had them level before they took the lead for the first time, James Dwyer picking out Leahy with a good pass before the full-forward fired a shot to the top corner.

While a Whelan free did break the scoring flow, it was only a brief interlude and Leahy, coursing with confidence, sent over two more before Buckley’s fourth of the night.

Cork were six in front when Clare got a lifeline with a goal from sub James Organ, but the home side pushed on again, sub Eoin O’Leary on target twice, to make sure of the win.

With a two-week break before they host Limerick, Cork will have things to work on, not least the fact that they had ten second-half wides, but they are top of the table on their own.

Cork never led at any stage in the first half but they were in better shape by the end of it than they had been midway through.

Whelan had the opening score inside a quarter of a minute and they took that momentum and ran with it. Whelan had four points in the opening ten minutes as Cork struggled to make inroads, despite playing with a two-man full-forward line as Tadhg O’Connell dropped deep from the throw-in.

When Seán Rynne landed a good score, it was 0-8 to 0-1 for Clare and though Cork responded with nice points from William Buckley and James Dwyer, each was answered in kind by Clare’s Ronan Kilroy.

That 0-10 to 0-3 advantage after 15 minutes was the last time Clare led by so much. It was 0-11 to 0-5 when a scuffle broke out as Clare manager Terence Fahy held on to the ball when Cork were awarded a sideline puck and he and one player from each team ended up booked.

Before action could properly resume, there was another fracas, with referee Nicky O’Toole sending off Clare’s Ronan Keane on the advice of a linesman.

Aided by the extra man, Cork enjoyed their most fruitful period of the half, with the excellent Mikey Finn and Leahy both pointing before Oran O’Regan’s pass set Diarmuid Healy away. Though his shot from a tight angle was well-saved by Mark Sheedy, Ross O’Sullivan was there to poke the rebound home. While Clare would score two of the remaining three points in the half, it meant the sides retired with just two points between them and Cork pushed on after half-time.

Scorers for Cork: J Leahy 1-6 (0-2 f), W Buckley 0-8 (0-3 f, 0-1 65), M Finn 0-3, R O’Sullivan 1-0, J Dwyer, E O’Leary 0-2 each, D Healy 0-1.

Clare: C Whelan 0-10 (0-8 f), J Organ 1-0, R Kiroy 0-2, S Rynne J O’Neill, J Hegarty, N O’Farrell, M Collins, R O’Connor, R Keane 0-1 each.

CORK: P O’Sullivan (Fr O’Neills); D Cashman (Bride Rovers), K Lyons (Ballygarvan), D O’Sullivan (Ballinhassig); J Dwyer (Ballincollig), O O’Regan (Erin’s Own), C Tobin (Bride Rovers); M Finn (Midleton), Ben Walsh (Killeagh); D Cremin (Midleton), W Buckley (St Finbarr’s), D Healy (Lisgoold); T O’Connell (Ballincollig), J Leahy (Dungourney), R O’Sullivan (Na Piarsaigh).

Subs: E O’Leary (Glen Rovers) for R O’Sullivan (44), A O’Sullivan for O’Connell (46), P O’Shea (Erin’s Own) for Tobin (54), J O’Brien (Fermoy) for Cashman (56-58, temporary), Barry Walsh (Killeagh) for Cremin (60).

CLARE: M Sheedy; J Cahill, T Leyden, J Hegarty; J Moylan, E Gunning, E Maxted; R Keane, R O’Connor; R Kilroy, S Rynne, N O’Farrell; C Whelan, M Collins, J O’Neill.

Subs: J Organ for Collins (51), O O’Connor for R O’Connor (52), L Crotty for Kilroy (60).

Referee: N O’Toole (Waterford).