Clare proved that their victory against Tipperary last weekend was no once-off performance as they recorded an emphatic two-point victory over Cork in Thurles in Round 3 of the Munster Championship.
The scoreboard may have said that there was only two in it in the end, but in truth there was an ocean between these two sides as Clare imposed their will on the game from beginning to end.
They led by an incredible 0-17 to 0-11 at the break with Tony Kelly his usual self, hitting 0-10, while David Fitzgerald and Cathal Malone dominated midfield, hitting 0-05 across the 70 minutes while John Conlon was outstanding at centre-back.
The Banner managed their lead brilliantly after the break and quick points from Fitzgerald and Ian Galvin had them leading by eight. That was the pattern for the next 15 minutes as Cork managed to get close, with Patrick Horgan keeping things ticking over, but never close enough as Kelly continued to keep Clare ahead.
A moment of individual brilliance from Alan Connolly then gave Cork hope when he kicked a brilliant goal to blow the game open and when Robbie O'Flynn followed it with his third point of the day, Cork trailed by 0-22 to 1-15 and seemed to be in with a chance.
That chance became bigger when Ian Galvin picked up a red card for the Banner, but they dug in to hit the next three points though Fitzgerald, Diarmuid Ryan and Ryan Taylor to take the wind out of the Cork sails.
A late point from Horgan and a Darragh Fitzgibbon goal brought the teams closer than they were, but there was no doubt about who was the better team.
After a tight start that saw the sides level twice inside the opening three minutes, Clare took over in every facet of the game in a performance reminiscent of their great team of the 1990s. They were full of power, pace, and no little skill as they blew Cork away, just as they had done unto Tipperary last weekend.
After Peter Duggan made it 0-02 apiece, Clare went on to outscore the Rebels by 0-10 to 0-01 in the next 20 minutes to, in essence, put the game beyond their foes from Leeside.
Duggan and Malone hit two points each, Kelly landed four more with David Fitzgerald and Taylor also splitting the posts while all Cork could muster was a Horgan free as they trailed by 0-12 to 0-03 with 23 minutes played.
Rory Hayes was the embodiment of everything that was good about Clare in that period as he completely dominated Jack O’Connor, forcing Cork to bring in Alan Connolly and the young Blackrock man helped Cork gain a foothold in the game as half-time approached.
Horgan tapped over 0-03 while O’Flynn, Connolly and Tim O’Mahony all pointed too but Clare, with O’Donnell in outstanding form and Taylor working well on the opposite wing found themselves 0-17 to 0-10 ahead as the half entered injury-time.
Connolly continued to pose Clare some problems as he combined with Horgan to set up Kingston for a glorious goal chance, but the Douglas man fumbled and though he managed to rescue a point from the situation, Cork still faced a mountainous task after the break.
It was a task that they were unable for, as Clare kept them at arm’s length with relative ease, while Mark Keane saw red for the Rebels, and though Cork forced a couple of goals in the second half, it’s the Bannermen who are in pole position to join Limerick and Waterford in the All-Ireland series.
Clare: Éibhear Quilligan; Rory Hayes, Conor Cleary, Paul Flanagan; Diarmuid Ryan (0-01), John Conlon, David McInerney (0-01); David Fitzgerald (0-03), Cathal Malone (0-02); Ryan Taylor (0-03), Tony Kelly (0-10, 2 65s, 4f), Shane O’Donnell (0-02); Robin Mounsey (0-01), Peter Duggan (0-03), Ian Galvin (0-02).
Subs: A Shanagher for Mounsey (56), D McMahon for Duggan (68).
Cork: Patrick Collins; Niall O’Leary, Robert Downey, Seán O’Donoghue; Tim O’Mahony (0-01), Ciarán Joyce, Mark Coleman; Darragh Fitzgibbon (1-00), Ger Millerick; Séamus Harnedy (0-02), Shane Kingston (0-02), Robbie O’Flynn (0-03); Shane Barrett, Patrick Horgan (0-10, 6f, 1 65), Jack O’Connor.
Subs: Alan Connolly (1-01) for O’Connor (25), Conor Lehane (0-01) for Barrett (h/t), Conor Cahalane for Harnedy (55), Tommy O’Connell for Millerick (inj, 60).
Referee: Paud O’Dwyer (Carlow).
