Clare 3-26; Cork 3-24
In terms of breathtaking championship fare, this was by far the best match of the weekend as these old rivals went hammer and tongs at it before 38,000 at Pairc Ui Chaoimh on Sunday mindful that both had lost their opening games the previous weekend.
When Pat Ryan’s Rebels, who bossed the first half, went six points up in the second-half and were playing with the confidence and elan of Cork of old, it looked like the Banner would be lowered in no uncertain terms in front of the packed house on Leeside.
But that’s hurling for you. Just when you are about to feel sorry for the travelling Clare fans, their players find an extra gear and with Cork ending the game for the second Sunday running with only 14 players, the winners were well worth the two point- victory despite a late Rebel rally.
There was a bit of history about this match as it was the first time Clare ever won a senior championship match in the venerable Cork HQ.
It didn’t look like that early in the second half when the ageless Patrick Horgan’s goal flick put his side seven to the good and playing like men possessed as Seamus Harnedy, Declan Dalton and Horgan himself with a 65 put the home side a 1-17 to 0-13 ahead.
With the loss of a nine-point lead fresh in Clare minds from the previous week’s loss to Limerick, it looked like Clare were a spent force once again. It was then when two of the old hands, John Conlon and Shane O’Donnell muscled their way into the contours of the game and began to shape it in favorable terms for the blue and gold.
O’Donnell took a pass from Conlon to set up Mark Rodgers for a goal on the 43rd minute when reignited the whole Clare team.
Excellent points by David Reidy and Aidan McCarthy reduced arrears to the minimum and then a second yellow card for Sean O’Donoghue over an unnecessary third-man tackle on O’Donnell, resulted in more than a converted free by McCarthy, it changed the flow of the game.
Within four minutes, O’Donnell came back to haunt Cork again with a goal that lifted morale even higher. Horgan tried to keep Cork ticking over with points but when Rodgers fed Fitzgerald, he outpaced his pursuers before dodging the defense to blast past Patrick Collins in the Rebel net to leave the score standing at 3-23 to 1-23.
To their credit, Cork refused to go away and Horgan’s 20 metres free raised a green flag in the 66th minute to cut the margin to four but Rodgers edged Clare out to five. It still wasn;t over as five minutes into added time the raiding half-back Robert Downey shot home to cut the margin to two - where it stayed to the end.
Antrim 2-22; Wexford 2-20
Wexford’s ability to be the see-saw side of hurling continued on Saturday and unfortunately for the Model county it was on the downward spiral when a superb finish by Antrim at Corrigan Park saw them deservedly collect their first brace of points in the Leinster Round Robin series.
Having been beaten out the gate the previous weekend by Kilkenny at Nowlan Park, nothing less was expected than a Wexford win on this occasion. However, obviously hurt by the Cats mauling, Darren Gleeson’s lads refused to bow the knee on this occasion even when it looked like defeat would be their lot once more.
Fighting for everything as if their lives depended on it, they kept in Wexford’s face and got their reward with late scores to snatch a sensational victory - the biggest upset in hurling or football over the weekend.
Wexford were never cruising while ahead but appeared to have enough of a margin to see out a win when later second half goals by Niall McKenna and Seaan Elliott proved a double hammer blow, arriving as they did three minutes from each other.
It unnerved the visitors and gave the hosts added confidence as They then held Gerard Walsh slotted over a sideline before Conal Cunning sealed the day with a late point.
You had to feel sorry for Wexford’s Lee Chin who scored 2-11 on the day and yet ended up on the losing side.
