Clare 0-15
Limerick 0-13

Clare were forced to dig deep to withstand a spirited second-half Limerick showing at Cusack Park, Ennis this evening.

With the wind in their favour, the first-half went very much according to plan for Colm Collins' charges as they built up a 0-9 to 0-4 advantage by the halfway stage but they were made to sweat by a Limerick side that upped the ante considerably after the resumption.

An Ian Ryan point left the bare minimum between the sides (0-12 to 0-13) with 10 minutes to play but, in a tension-filled climax, substitute Cathal McInerney came to Clare's rescue with two crucial points which proved to be the difference between the sides at the final whistle.

All Limerick could muster in response to the All-Ireland hurling winner's brace was a converted 45 by goalkeeper Brian Scanlan.

An attendance of 4,520 witnessed Banner captain Gary Brennan lay the foundations for their five-point half-time cushion.

The influential midfielder put his team on the front foot with three points in the opening 35 minutes but their backs were against the wall for much of the second-half as Limerick piled on the pressure.

Both teams lost players to black cards during the second-half as Jame Malone's participation was brought to a premature end in the 45th minute while Limerick's Peter Nash suffered a similar fate late on.

Incidentally, Davy O'Halloran, who left the Clare hurling panel in controversial circumstances earlier this year, came off the bench to make his championship debut as Malone's replacement while another Clare substitute, Rory Donnelly, also made a big impression with two points.

Despite their best efforts, John Brudair and the Treaty County came up short in the end and were left to rue some missed goal opportunities while Clare's reward is a semi-final date against Cork on June 14.

Clare - J Hayes; C Russell, K Harnett, M McMahon; S Hickey, G Kelly, D Ryan; G Brennan (0-4), C O'Connor (0-1'45); Sean Collins (0-1), J Malone (0-1), S Brennan (0-1); E Cleary (0-2), P Collins (0-1), P Burke. Subs: Stephen Collins for S Hickey, R Donnelly (0-2) for S Brennan, D O'Halloran for J Malone (BC), C McInerney (0-2, 1f) for E Cleary, C Dunning for Stephen Collins, K Sexton for P Burke.

Limerick - B Scanlan (0-3, 2f, 1'45); J McCarthy, R Browne (0-1), S O'Dea; I Corbett (0-1), C Fahy, S Cahill (0-1); T Lee, G Hegarty; J Riordan, P Ranahan, S Buckley; P Nash (0-2), D Treacy, I Ryan (0-4, 2f). Subs: D Neville for T Lee, C Sheehan (0-1) for J Riordan, K Moore for P Ranahan, G Noonan for R Browne, C Phair for P Nash (BC).

Referee - D O'Mahoney.

Tweet

Most Read Stories