Clare v Cork: Three reasons Rebels came out of Ennis victorious 

1. Quality 

 IN the last meeting between the sides in Cusack Park, it was a combination of not being allowed to play and also being that small bit off the pace. In this one, John Cleary’s side started well and finished well and left Clare knowing in no uncertain terms that this was a different Cork display than the one that came up short 13 months ago.

After all, Cork are a Division 2 team with Clare in the third-tier of the league pyramid and that showed in periods especially late on. The Rebels kicked some lovely points and kept onto the ball efficiently. 

2. Composure 

We keep going back to the last championship meeting which was in Ennis in April of last year, but it was always going to be a good indicator as to how much progress this group have come on since then under Cleary. That performance last year was one full of nerves, wrong decision making and a number of panic decisions. It was the opposite on Saturday evening against a Clare team who set up in pretty much the same defensive shape as they did in the 0-23 to 1-13 Munster final defeat to Kerry two weeks ago.

The Leesiders were patient and waited for the right opportunities to come up and didn’t force the issue when they easily could have. 

Naturally, Cork had a few poor wides, but they stuck at it and got their rewards.

3. Impact off the bench 

The game was level after 58 minutes and the team needed a spark. The subs maybe didn’t make the impact they would have liked to in the last game against Kerry but the subs delivered here. Mark Cronin, Steven Sherlock and Ruairí Deane all made impacts. Cronin and Sherlock each kicked 0-2, with one coming from a free. Deane's hard running caused Clare many problems.