Waterford netted their first brace of NHL Division One points when they had much too much firepower (0-20 to 0-13) for hosts Clare in a poor game at Cusack Park, Ennis. The Decies were hungrier, fresher and more direct in their play and, in truth, were never seriously troubled over the course of the game. With nine minutes on the clock, the Decies led by the odd point in three, the first of their efforts coming from a sweet effort by Seamus Prendergast. The opening few minutes were of the nip and tuck variety with Clare giving as good as they got in the opening period. A brace of neat points from McGrath in the 9th and 11th minutes added to Waterford's growing momentum. A point from Conor Morley helped counter a typically pin-point long-range effort from the impressive McGrath but then Waterford began to seriously dominate the play midway through the first half. Clare worked overtime to keep in touch and Niall Gilligan came good with a fine angled point before Dan Shanahan gave Clare another reminder of the task at hand. However from the 20th to the 24th minutes, Gary Hurney and Shane Walsh shared four points as Waterford sat pretty on the back of a 0-11 to 0-6 interval lead. With 45 minutes on the clock, Waterford still looked in control, leading by 0-12 to 0-9 with a brace of points from Barry Nugent and one from Colin Ryan then illuminating proceedings. A great point from James McInerney left it 0-12 to 0-10 but when Seamus Prendergast landed a free in the 13th minute, the Decies set sail for home. Powered forward from the back by Michael Walsh, Waterford rifled over five points - including four from sub. Eoin Kelly - without reply up to the 17th minute and the die was cast. Waterford - C Hennessy; E Murphy, D Prendergast, N Connors; R Foley (0-1), M Walsh, J Murray; S O'Sullivan, J Nagle (0-1); D Shanahan (0-1), K McGrath (0-4), G Hurney (0-2); J Kennedy, S Walsh (0-2), S Prendergast (0-5). Subs: E Kelly (0-4) for Shanahan, P Hurney for Kennedy, J Hurney for G Hurney, M Shanahan for McGrath. Clare - P Brennan; P Vaughan, C Dillon, G O'Grady; B Bugler, J McInerney (0-1), P Donnellan; J Clancy, C Lynch; D McMahon, T Griffin, C Ryan (0-3); N Gilligan (0-5), C Morey (0-1), B Nugent (0-3). Subs: A Markham for McMahon, C Hassett for Lynch, M Flaherty for Nugent, M Hayes for Donnellan. Ref - D Murphy (Wexford). Tweet

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