Clare qualified for their first Munster minor football final in 23 years when beating neighbours Limerick by 3-13 to 0-12 at the Gaelic Grounds.

Trailing by two points at the interval, the winners outscored the hosts by 2-8 to 0-2 in a one-sided second half to win by ten and seal a provincial final date with Kerry (victors over Cork tonight) on July 2^nd and - more importantly - a guaranteed place in the All-Ireland series. Top scorer Gavin Cooney (1-6) and substitute Ross O'Doherty netted those second-half Clare goals, adding to Paudie Kelly's first-half three-pointer.

After losing heavily to the Kingdom at Tralee four weeks ago, the Banner County recorded play-off wins over Waterford and Tipperary to reach the last four with momentum behind them, while the Treaty County had in contrast been kicking their heels for a month since seeing off Na Deise in their opener. Tonight's game was Clare's fourth in four weeks and Limerick's second … this showed!

With 1,007 looking on, an unanswered 1-4 salvo in the third quarter saw Seamus Clancy's charges take control of this novel semi-final derby to assume an unassailable five-point lead, 2-9 to 0-10.

With a slight breeze at their backs, the losers delivered a superb first-half display, notching nine points from play to build up a 0-10 to 1-5 interval advantage.

The sides shared six scores inside an action-packed opening five minutes but Kelly's fourth-minute major, palmed to the net,assured the Banner County of a narrow 1-2 to 0-3 advantage. Following scores from captain Karl Moloney, Rory O'Brien and Barry Coleman, Adam Costelloe slotted the hosts' fourth unanswered point as they moved 0-6 to 1-2 ahead.

Not surprisingly after such a lightning start to proceedings, the scores dried up somewhat before a Cooney free tied the scores up for the third time on 17 minutes. Four points were traded inside the next eight minutes as the sides remained deadlocked but O'Brien - who finished the game with 0-6 in brackets after his name - banged over the last two points as Limerick led by a couple at the short whistle. Sean Ryan also contributed a couple of first-half points for the home team.

Clare took control with 1-4 in the third quarter and John Ryan's charges simply had no answer. Two goals separated the teams with a minute of normal time left, 2-11 to 0-11. O'Doherty's goal and two more points in the dying stages provided some icing to the Clare cake. Kelly finished the night with 1-2 to his creedit while Gearóid Cahill and Diarmuid Ryan notched a brace apiece and Dermot Coughlan was also on target for the Banner.

On April 12^th, Clare lost to Kerry by 2-16 to 1-6 in Tralee; on July 2^nd, they will face the Kingdom again seeking their first Munster MFC crown since 1953.

Clare - M Lillis; J Sheedy, J O'Sullivan, J Miniter; D Ryan (0-2), F Donnellan, K Whyte; C McMahon, D Griffin; P Kelly (1-2, 0-1'45), S Rouine, D Coughlan (0-1); G Cooney (1-6, 0-2f), C O'Donoghue, G Cahill (0-2). Subs: C Dillon for C McMahon, R O'Doherty (1-0) for C O'Donoghue, R Considine for G Cahill, A O'Brien for D Griffin, B Clancy for D Coughlan.

Limerick - C Walsh; M Quinlan, E Burke, C Ferris; P Power (0-1), J Fitzgerald, J Cummins; K Moloney (0-1), L Kennedy; B Coleman (0-1), A Costolloe (0-1), R O'Brien (0-6, 2f); N Callanan, C Moran, S Ryan (0-2). Subs: D Burke for N Callahan, C Moran for S Ryan, P Collins for A Costelloe, A Shier for R O'Brien.

Referee - C McManus.

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