Clare beat Laois comfortably by 2-22 to 2-13 in their Division 1B National Hurling League encounter at O’Moore Park.
You couldn’t fault the Midlanders' work-ethic, but they simply couldn’t match Clare for speed of foot or thought for most of the 70 minutes.
Laois had actually started the match in fine fettle, scoring the first three points of the match and generally looking like they meant business.
All that good early work was undone though when Clare centre-forward Sean Collins ghosted through their defence and slotted the ball coolly past the advancing Eoin Reilly for the game’s first goal.
That was the cue for Clare to quickly up through the gears, and they made Laois look decidedly second-rate as they quickly added a sequence of five points to take a firm grip on the game.
Clare corner-forward John Conlon had shifted some heavy challenges in the early minutes, but remained undaunted and was hurting the Laois defence more than anyone else.
A Willie Ryan free briefly stopped the rot for Laois, but they were soon on the back foot again and trailing by 1-0 to 0-04 after 22 minutes.
They already needed a goal to force their way back into the game, and against the run of play it came when full-forward Neil Foyle turned Cian Dillon all too easily, charged towards goal and smashed the ball to the back of the net.
Clare briefly lost their composure but another fine point from Conlon helped them restore it and go in at half-time leading by 1-11 to 1-06.
That man Conlon then pretty much ended the match as a contest when he scored a fine goal early in the second half after soloing in along the end line and then making a nice angle for himself to clip the ball past Reilly and put Clare 2-12 to 1-06 ahead.
At that point it looked like the home team might be on the end of an awful hiding, but their work-ethic never flagged and they made sure that the nine-point margin didn’t stretch any more from that point until the final whistle.
Clare full-back Cian Dillon never really got to grips with the challenge of Neil Foyle, and more good work from him led to the 21-yard free that Willie Hyland crashed to the back of the net to add a late cosmetic flourish to the final score.
Clare still won the match at their ease thanks in part to the influence of sub Daire Keane who filched three fine points, but if they’re to figure in the Championship this summer, they’ll need full-back Dillon to have better days than this.
Scorers
Clare: J Conlon 1-03, C Ryan 0-05 (3f), S Collins 1-01, P Donnellan 0-04, D Keane 0-03, J McInerney, J Clancy both 0-02, C Morey, N O’Connell (f)
Laois: W Hyland 1-06 (1-02f), N Foyle 1-1, J Brophy, S Maher, M Whelan, J Walsh, M Whelan, M McEvoy all 0-01
Clare: P Kelly; E Glynn, C Dillon, C Cooney; B Bugler, J McInerney, E Barrett; N O’Connell, P Donnellan; C Morey, S Collins, F Lynch; J Conlon, C Ryan J Clancy. Subs: D Keane for F Lynch (48), L Markham for C Morey (52), P Kelly for E Barrett (66), E Hayes for J Clancy (69)
Laois: E Reilly; P Mullaney, D Maher, B Stapleton; C Dunne, J Fitzpatrick, M Whelan; J Walsh, B Dunne; W Dunphy, M McEvoy, W Hyland; J Brophy, N Foyle, S Maher. Subs: D O’Mahony for W Dunphy (ht), S Bourke for B Dunne (54), D Peacock for J Brophy (56), C Murray for N Foyle (63)
Ref: E Hasson (Derry)
