The Division 3 promotion race will go right down to the final round next weekend after a resilient Clare kept up the pressure on rivals Down and Westmeath with their fourth consecutive victory, seeing off Antrim at Cusack Park.
With the current joint-leaders set to clash 24 hours later in Mullingar, regardless of that result, Mark Fitzgerald's Banner still need to get a result in Newry next weekend.
In truth, indicative of the bulk of their campaign to date, the home side should have completed a far more comfortable win than the final scoreline displayed.
After all, they had a numerical advantage for over half the tie and looked to be easing up to victory when soaring eight points clear early in the second period.
However, Clare took their foot off Antrim’s throat enough for Andy McEntee’s side to admirably rally in the last 30 minutes as they outscored their hosts by 0-09 to 0-03 to come within a kick of getting a result.
Patrick McBride initiated the fightback with a hat-trick of points, while substitute Ryan McQuillan also had a major impact as he scored two points but might have added a late goal that would have really altered the narrative, only to clear the crossbar.
The final whistle couldn’t come soon enough for a war-weary Banner who, having seemingly turned a corner with a powerful first 40 minutes, somehow managed to skilfully reverse back around it once more.
Ultimately it was only the result that mattered and to their credit, the home side did merit their fifth win in six matches after a strong start and finish to the opening half.
A trio of Ciaran Downes points settled his side into their stride at 0-04 to 0-01, while fellow attackers Cormac Murray, Aaron Griffin, Mark McInerney and Dermot Coughlan all got in on the scoring action late in the half to power the Banner to a 0-09 to 0-03 half-time cushion.
With the added frustration of a straight red card for midfielder Colm McLarnon for an off-the-ball strike on marker Gavin Murray just before the break, things appeared bleak for the Ulster visitors, especially when Clare grabbed the opening two points of the second half.
Put through by Ronan Lanigan, Joe McGann’s shot was excellently stopped by goalkeeper Michael Byrne only three minutes after the resumption.
McGann did point the rebound before earning a free for Mark McInerney to convert and stretch the gap to eight at 0-11 to 0-3 by the 40 minute mark.
It should have been game over, but perhaps Clare presumed it was too as they found themselves firmly on the backfoot for the remainder, only for time to run out on Antrim’s spirited revival.
Clare: Stephen Ryan; Micheál Garry, Ronan Lanigan, Manus Doherty; Ikem Ugwueru, Alan Sweeney, Daniel Walsh; Brian McNamara, Gavin Murray (0-01); Dermot Coughlan (0-01), Aaron Griffin (0-03), Ciaran Downes (0-03, 0-03f); Mark McInerney (0-04, 0-04f), Cormac Murray (0-02), Joe McGann (0-01)
Subs: Jamie Stack for McGann (44), Cillian Rouine for Ugwueru (47), Darren Nagle for Garry (62), Thomas Kelly for McInerney (67), Shane Griffin for C. Murray (68, inj)
Antrim: Michael Byrne; Kavan Keenan, Daniel McNicholl, Declan Lynch (0-01); Dermot McAleese (0-01, 0-01m), Joseph Finnegan (0-01), Ronan Boyle; Colm McLarnon, Conor Hand; Eoghan McCabe (0-01), Patrick McBride (0-03), Ruairi McCann (0-01); Marc Jordan (0-01), Pat Shivers (0-01, 0-01f), Dominic McEnhill
Subs: Benen Kelly for Shivers (HT), Ryan McQuillan (0-02, 0-01f) for McEnhill (52), Eoin Hynds for Hand (53), Cormac McGettigan for Keenan (62), Niall Burns for McCabe (67)
Referee: Derek O’Mahoney (Tipperary)
