Clare spoiled the Walsh Park homecoming for Waterford in a spirited win in Division 1A of the Allianz Hurling League this afternoon.
It was a close game throughout, with Waterford edging the first half in terms of performance, but the game still remained level at the break.
The only goal came with just 11 minutes played courtesy of Sean Walsh. The visitors weren’t happy with Walsh looking to have taken a huge number of steps in the build-up, but Liam Gordon was happy with it and the green flag was raised.
A decent first-half showing from Waterford’s star forward Stephen Bennett with four pointed frees was brought cruelly to an end in the second half when he limped off injured to be replaced by his brother.
It was then left to Aidan McCarthy to steal the headlines with a personal tally of eight points over the course of the afternoon, navigating a tricky path to a vital away win by the narrowest of margins.
An explosive start to the game concluded with Walsh and McCarthy exchanging scores inside opening minute of the game before the evergreen Bennett got his free-scoring under way for the afternoon with a simple tap over the bar.
Waterford from the off caused Clare huge problems in around the goal with their direct running, with Neil Montgomery and Michael Kiely in particular posing a big threat.
Ian Galvin was the man to keep Clare in touch early on with two fine individual scores either side of two further Bennett frees.
Waterford, who had started like a train in attack, got the first goal of the game on 11 minutes. Walsh strolled past Conor Cleary with ease on the right hand side of the box and buried the sliothar into back of net despite seeming to take far too many steps.
Clare’s response was superb and three points in a row in the next few minutes saw them narrow the lead for Waterford to just a single score after 17 minutes.
A real ding-dong battle unfolded in the opening half between the sides with Davy Fitzgerald’s side trying their best to take control of the game but a really stubborn and hard-working Clare side determined not to let that happen.
A flurry of scores between the sides kept the scoreboard ticking over for both camps, the pick of the points coming from Prendergast and Cian Galvin, but Clare were having to work a lot harder for their scores.
As was becoming a familiar first-half narrative, just when Waterford looked to be taking control of the game with huge scores from Ryan and Bennett, McCarthy and David Fitzgerald struck back instantly for Clare to frustrate Waterford and stay right with them.
Clare got themselves level having trailed for the majority of the first half with just two minutes left remaining in the half with Cian Galvin’s second score from play.
Aidan McCarthy gave Clare the lead for the first time in the game three minutes into second half and they really started to find their groove, with Patrick Crotty and Sean Rynne also pointing to put Clare four in front and looking comfortable with 30 minutes remaining.
A Bennett free on 45 minutes was a huge relief to Waterford and their fans, with a barren third quarter finally seeing a score being converted. They now trailed by three having led for the majority of the opening half.
Waterford were dealt a huge blow with 20 minutes remaining, with Bennett forced to leave the field with what looked to be a pulled hamstring. His brother Shane was introduced in his place.
Scores were few and far between in the second half, with Waterford going 10 minutes without a score at once stage before Paddy Leavy launched over a booming score from distance to narrow the gap to just two ,with substitute Bennett pointing to narrow the gap to just one heading into four minutes of injury time.
McCarthy’s eighth point of the afternoon secured a very impressive and hard-earned win for Clare and one which Brian Lohan will take a lot of positives from.
Next up for Waterford is a trip to take on struggling Cork, while high-flying Clare travel to Wexford.
Clare: Eibhear Quilligan; C Leen, Conor Cleary, Rory Hayes; John Conlon, David McInerney, Cian Galvin (0-02); Cathal Malone (0-01), Sean Rynne (0-02); David Fitzgerald (0-01), Robin Mounsey, Patrick Crotty; David Reidy (0-01), Aidan McCarthy (0-08, 6f), Ian Galvin (0-02).
Subs: J Conneally for Cleary HT; S Meehan (0-01) for I Galvin 48; G Sheedy for Mounsey 55, S Morey for Conlon 55; P Duggan for Fitzgerald 66.
Waterford: Shaun O’Brien; Ian Kenny, Mark Fitzgerald, Conor Ryan (0-02); PJ Fanning, Tom Barron, Mairtin Power; Patrick Curran (0-02), Neil Montgomery; Paddy Leavey (0-01), Jack Prendergast (0-01), Michael Kiely; Stephen Bennett (0-06, 6f), Sean Walsh (1-01), Padraig Fitzgerald.
Subs: Kevin Mahony for Padraig Fitzgerald 40, Shane Bennett (0-02, 2f) for Stephen Bennett 52, Darragh Lyons (0-01) for Ian Kenny 58, Seamus Fitzgerald for Sean Walsh 58.
Referee: Liam Gordon (Galway).
