It had to take a late scramble from hosts Clare to finally see off an obstinate 13-man Sligo in a dramatic Allianz Football League Division 3 opener in Cusack Park, Ennis.
With a sizeable turnover of twelve players from last year's panel, new manager Mark Fitzgerald seemed to be staring down the barrel of a frustrating reverse when finding themselves trailing by the minimum at 1-05 to 0-07 with only minutes remaining.
By that stage, Sligo had lost both Luke Towey and Paul Kilcoyne to second half red cards, the second of which earned a 64th minute penalty for Clare, only for visiting goalkeeper Aidan Devaney to deny Mark McInerney with a full length save at his left-hand post.
Crucially though, despite their lack of experience, the Banner persevered with talisman Emmet McMahon earning and scoring a levelling free in the 67th minute before Aaron Griffin started and finished a counter-attack deep into additional time to earn the hosts the opening points.
Despite the strong conditions at Clare’s back for the opening half, it was the visitors who started brighter, with Pat Spillane and Niall Murphy edging the Division 4 champions a point clear by the ninth minute.
However, Clare soon warmed to their task, with two eye-catching points on the counter through Dermot Coughlan and Aaron Griffin inspiring the hosts to a five-point unanswered rally for the remainder of the half.
Two Emmet McMahon frees and another from Mark McInerney provided a four-point cushion by the break, which came at the right time for a Sligo side that rather lost their way in the second quarter.
An immediate black card for Clare’s Aaron Griffin was quickly compounded when Sligo raided for the only goal of the game in the next passage of play. It stemmed from a Patrick O’Connor delivery that wasn’t adequately-dealt with by Clare’s last line, with Pat Spillane’s shot blocked before Sean Carrabine was on hand to put the rebound into the net.
Unfortunately for Sligo, indiscipline cost them dearly only four minutes later when dissent from Luke Towey reduced their numbers to 14.
Initially Clare failed to take advantage, as they only scored one of seven point opportunities, with that being a 35-metre McMahon free that inched them two clear at 0-07 to 1-02.
Sligo duly punished that profligacy with points from Patrick O’Connor, Jack Lavin and Carrabine.
However, they simply couldn’t hold out as a relentless Banner’s persistence was finally rewarded as chief marksmen McMahon and Griffin wrestled back control at the death to prevail in their new surroundings.
Clare: Stephen Ryan; Manus Doherty, Ronan Lanigan, Micheál Garry; Ikem Ugwueru, Alan Sweeney, Daniel Walsh; Gavin Murray, Brian McNamara; Ciaran Downes, Emmet McMahon (0-05, 0-04f), Dermot Coughlan (0-01); Mark McInerney (0-01, 0-01f), Aaron Griffin (0-02), Shane Griffin
Subs: Cormac Murray for S. Griffin (HT), Einne O’Connor for Downes (60), James Curran for McNamara (66), Fergal Ginnane (Kildysart) for McInerney (76)
Sligo: Aidan Devaney; Paul McNamara, Evan Lyons, Eddie McGuinness; Luke Towey, Darragh Cummins, Jack Lavin (0-01); Cian Lally, Paul Kilcoyne; David Quinn, Eoghan Smith, Patrick O’Connor (0-01); Pat Spillane (0-01), Sean Carrabine (1-01, 0-01f), Niall Murphy (0-01, 0-01f)
Subs: Brian Cox for Quinn (45), Mikey Gordon for Spillane (52), Alan McLaughlin for Smith (52), Alan Reilly for Lally (63), Mark Walsh for Lavin (69)
Referee: Conor Lane (Cork)
