Cork v Clare: Rebels look to change the Banner record

After Cork lost to Clare in the 2013 All-Ireland SHC final replay, the Rebels went on a run of five unbeaten games against the Banner County in the championship.

That sequence included the Munster final victories of 2017 – the last of the old knockout competition, or so we thought at the time – and 2018, the first under the new round-robin format.

Cork’s first match in the league system was a 2-23 to 2-18 win at home to Clare; a year later, there was a defeat in Cusack Park but it was a strange one in that Cork still progressed in third place on scoring difference, with Limerick second and Clare out.

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The 2021 qualifier tie at the Gaelic Grounds brought a one-point win for Kieran Kingston’s side – the 3-19 to 1-23 final score marked the first time in three decades that Cork had won a championship game by scoring more goals and fewer points than their opponents – and it meant that the 2019 result could be marked as the outlier: six wins in the last seven for Cork against Clare.

And yet, that game on the Ennis Road – which required a marvellous late save from Patrick Collins to deny Tony Kelly – now stands alone, Cork’s last championship win over Clare, the only triumph in the last seven encounters.

In 2022, Cork were outclassed 'at home' to Clare in Thurles; a year later, a one-point loss in Ennis was followed by another in Limerick, ending Cork’s summer early; then in 2024, a 3-26 to 3-24 defeat at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh left Pat Ryan’s team with no points after two games, standing on the brink of another elimination.

Of course, Cork battled back from that to qualify in third, with five straight wins bringing them to the All-Ireland final against Clare. You might have heard about this game once or twice before – Clare won by a point after 90 minutes of hurling.

Then, last year’s opener at the newly renamed Zimmer Biomet Páirc Chíosóg saw Cork lead by nine points at half-time – the final outcome of a draw felt like a defeat but it could have been an actual loss only for the 14-man Cork to get a share of the spoils thanks to Declan Dalton’s late equaliser.

In the heel of the hunt, it was an okay point – Cork went on to reclaim the Munster title while Clare failed to progress – but it meant that the wait for a victory over Brian Lohan’s side continued.

Sunday’s game is slightly like 2019 in that Cork could afford a narrow defeat and still make the Munster final, but of course no Ben O’Connor side would ever go out without the expressed intention of victory.

To do that would mark just the second instance of a 100% record across four round-robin matches – and bring an unwanted record against Clare to an end.

Should Cork take the victory, it would guarantee that they would be playing Limerick in the Munster final: even if Limerick were to lose at home to an already-eliminated Tipperary to finish on four points, they would have the head-to-head advantage over their neighbours after winning in Ennis.