A dominant first half display paved the way for Limerick's victory over Clare in their ESB Munster MFC qualifier at Ennis on Wednesday night. Limerick..1-9 Clare.....1-5 Favoured by a strong breeze in the opening half, Limerick had raced into a 1-7 to 0-1 lead by half-time. And even though Clare rallied in the second period, they left themselves with far too much to do and bowed out of the championship. Points from team captain Paraic McEnery, Bobby O'Brien, Eoghan O'Connor, Cormac Joyce-Power and Shane Garry handed the visitors the early initiative and they took a firm a grip on proceedings when Joyce-Power blasted to the net late in the half. Clare's only score in the first half came from full forward Sean Crotty. After McEnery missed a penalty for Limerick on the restart, a similar award at the opposite end was taken with aplomb by Cathal McInerney. That goal brought Clare back into it, and they kicked three unanswered points before the impressive Joyce-Power eased Limerick nerves with the insurance point. Limerick - O'Sullivan; T Barrett, P Begley, A Morrissey; M Sheehan, A O'Sullivan, J Browne; B O'Brien 0-1, C Joyce-Power 1-2; S Carroll, E O'Connor 0-1, D Bonfil; E McEnery, S Garry 0-2, P McEnery 0-3. Subs - C Ryan for Bonfil, S Flavin for Carroll, M Cussen for Garry. Clare - J Joyce; S Cormican, D Ryan, E Hanrahan; L Markham, M Malone, D Gallery; C Ryan, D Nagle; P Looney, M O'Donoghue, P McMahon; C McInerney 1-3, S Crotty 0-1, J Curtin 0-1. Subs - E Malone for Ryan, F Hayes for McMahon. Ref - M Condon (Waterford). Tweet

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