Munster U20 Hurling: Cork battle back to secure a draw against Clare
Barry Walsh of Cork going highest to win the ball ahead of Clare's James McCarthy during Wednesday's oneills.com Munster U20HC game at Sixmilebridge. Picture: Dan Linehan
Despite finishing with 13 players and never leading at any stage, Cork took a point away from O’Garney Park in their oneills.com Munster U20HC opener on Wednesday night.
Before a crowd of 2,358 in Sixmilebridge, home side Clare had the better of the play but were hampered by a tally of 14 wides. While they had been reduced to 14 players after a red card for Fred Hegarty, they still led by three points with six minutes left but Cork continued to battle.
A pair of Barry Walsh frees left the minimum in it again, though and then sub Peter O’Shea’s pass allowed the excellent John Wigginton Barrett to embark on a mazy run before levelling.
After Cork lost Ben Walsh to a second booking, full-back James O’Brien did well to block a long-range James Hegarty free from going over the bar before Jack O’Neill put the hosts in front again.
Walsh’s 12th of the night tied things for what proved to be the final time as the game ticked towards injury time but that wasn’t the end of the drama. A red card for Barry O’Flynn meant the Rebels finished with 13 players and Clare had a chance to win it in the 64th minute when the ball was pucked away following the awarding of a sideline cut but James Organ was unable to find the target and it finished honours even.
Cork had trailed by three points at half-time, perhaps a bit less than the balance of play would have suggested as far.
The home side had far more of the ball in the early stages, with Diarmuid Stritch a constant menace for them, but early wides hampered their ability to take control of the game.
A pair of Barry Walsh frees kept Cork in touch early on but Clare held a 0-3 to 0-2 advantage by the tenth minute, when Stritch’s driving run was followed by a pass to Seán Boyce, who finished smartly to the net.
Cork’s response to that setback was good as they had four of the next six points, with John Wigginton Barrett landing one from distance while Mark O’Brien – a pre-match replacement for the injured Ross O’Sullivan – was also on target.
Even so, Clare began to assert their supremacy as they continued to find space through the centre and they fired over three in a row, a lovely one from Stritch making it 1-8 to 0-6 by the 22nd minute.
After Barry Walsh and his equally-accurate counterpart Fred Hegarty exchanged frees, Cork got a boost as Wigginton Barrett latched on to a loose ball and surged towards the Clare goal before sending a low shot past Mark Sheedy and in.
Clare might have immediately replied in kind as Stritch set up Michael Collins but a super Cillian O’Callaghan block prevented a goal, with the resultant 65 going wide.
By half-time, it was 1-11 to 1-8, with Barry Walsh reducing the arrears with a free early in the second half, while Clare’s shooting malaise continued to haunt them They had seven wides in the 15 minutes after the restart, one a goal effort from Jamie Moylan after a good run, while Denis Cashman diverted a Michael Collins shot out for another unsuccessful 65.
Clare suffered another blow when Hegarty was sent off for what was deemed a high challenge on Cork full-back James O’Brien and Walsh’s eighth of the night left just a point in it.
In the immediate aftermath of the dismissal, Clare kept their noses in front, Stritch with a pair of fine scores, and some nervy Cork wides meant that they trailed by 1-15 to 1-12 with time running out. They clawed something back, though.
F Hegarty 0-5 f, S Boyce 1-2, D Stritch 0-4, R Kilroy, J O’Neill, E McMahon, J Hegarty (0-1 f), J Organ (0-1 f) 0-1 each.
Barry Walsh 0-12 (0-10 f, 0-1 65), J Wigginton Barrett 1-3, M O’Brien 0-1.
M Sheedy; E Gunning, J Cahill, F Treacy; J Casey, J Hegarty, E McMahon; J Moylan, M O’Halloran; F Hegarty, J O’Neill, R Kilroy; D Stritch, M Collins, S Boyce.
D Fox for Moylan (48), J Organ for Collins (50), R Keane for O’Halloran (53), R Loftus for Treacy (56).
D O’Connell (Dromina); D Cashman (Bride Rovers), J O’Brien (Fermoy), E Guinane (Valley Rovers); Ben Walsh (Killeagh), C O’Callaghan (Dungourney), D Murnane (Carrigtwohill); T Wilk (Cobh), R Deasy (Ballymartle); John Murphy (Mallow), Barry Walsh (Killeagh), Johnnie Murphy (Dromina); J Wigginton Barrett (St Finbarr’s), B O’Flynn (Sarsfields), M O’Brien (Douglas).
P O’Shea (Erin’s Own) for Johnnie Murphy (half-time), Z Biggane (Charleville) for Murnane (43), R O’Sullivan for John Murphy (45), M Barrett for Deasy (54).
A Tierney (Tipperary).
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