Munster GAA Hurling Senior Championship Semi-final
Clare v Cork, Gaelic Grounds, 16:00

CORK v CLARE, GAELIC GROUNDS, SUNDAY, 16:00
It was a very busy rivalry in the last decade with the counties meeting five times in 2003-2008, all of which were won by Cork. The Rebels also won in the1999 Munster final, which leaves Clare seeking their first win over Cork since the 1998 Munster semi-final. Their last meeting was in 2008 when Cork won an All-Ireland quarter-final by two points.

The counties have met on 46 occasions in the Championship with Cork leading 32-11 while there have been three draws. Clare last reached the Munster finalin 2008 when they lost to Tipperary while Cork last reached the final in 2010when they lost in a replay to Waterford.

This will be Cork's first outing in the 2013 championship, whereas Clare havealready beaten Waterford by 2-20 to 1-15. Waterford led by 1-9 to 0-8 at half-time and it was level at the three-quarter mark before Clare out-scored theirrivals by 2-6 to 0-4 in the final quarter. Colin Ryan was Clare's top scorer on 0-7 (0-6 frees, 0-1 '65') while Tony Kelly hit 0-4.

Last Five Championship Clashes
2008: Cork 2-19 Clare 2-17 (All-Ireland quarter-final)
2007: Cork 1-18 Clare 1-11 (Munster quarter-final)
2006: Cork 0-20 Clare 0-14 (Munster semi-final)
2005: Cork 0-16 Clare 0-15 (All-Ireland semi-final)
2003: Cork 1-18 Clare 0-10 (Munster semi-final)

This year's clashes....
This will be fourth meeting between the counties this year with Clare having won the previous three. Remarkably, Clare scored only one goal in the three games, which featured extra-time in the relegation play-off, yet still won them all.

1. Clare 0-20 Cork 2-11 (Waterford Crystal Cup semi-final, Sixmilebridge, February 1)
Late points by Colin Ryan and Cathal O'Connell edged Clare to victory. They led by 0-10 to 0-7 at half-time.

2. Clare 1-22 Cork 1-16 (Allianz Hurling League, Páirc Uí Rinn, March 16)
Clare trailed by 0-12 to 0-7 at half-time but won the second half by 1-15 to 1-4 in a remarkable performance which overwhelmed Jimmy Barry-Murphy's men. Colin Ryan scored 0-12 (0-9 frees) for Clare while Patrick Horgan on 0-9 (0-8 frees, 0-1 '65') was Cork's main marksman.

3. Clare 0-31 Cork 2-23 (Allianz Hurling League - Div 1A Play-off -
Limerick, April 14)

It took extra-time to separate them in a tense battle to decide who dropped into Division 1B. In the end, it was Cork who lost out in the high-scoring shoot-out. Colin Ryan on 0-10 (0-6 frees), Tony Kelly 0-6 and John Conlon 0-4 were top scorers for Clare while Patrick Horgan 0-11 (0-7 frees), Pa Cronin 1-3 and Luke O'Farrell 1-2 were Cork's main marksmen.

Did You Know
That Cork's last Munster final win was in 2006 and that since then they have reached only one final, which they lost in a replay with Waterford in 2010. That if Clare win, they will set up a first Munster final clash with Limerick since 1995, a year they went on to win the All-Ireland title. Tweet

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