All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Qualifiers – Cork 0-20 Clare 0-17

Cork defeated Clare by 0-20 to 0-17 in the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Qualifiers on Saturday July 11th at Semple Stadium Thurles.

SHC R2: Cork break Clare in the end

ALL-IRELAND SHC QUALIFIERS ROUND 2: CORK 0-20 CLARE 0-17

By Jackie Cahill at Semple Stadium, Thurles for GAA.ie

A sensational late scoring burst from Cork ensured that the Rebels gained revenge for their 2013 All-Ireland final defeat to Clare at Semple Stadium this evening.

Jimmy Barry-Murphy’s Leesiders came from two points down to win by three with a run of five unanswered points to book a place in the All-Ireland quarter-finals. Patrick Horgan was superb for Cork in that late scoring burst, hitting four points split evenly between frees and play.

Paudie O’Sullivan came off the bench to pop over the insurance score for Cork, who scored 20 points but registered as many wides. Clare were wasteful too in front of 25,245 spectators in Thurles, racking up a tally of 17 wides over the 70 minutes. And for the second successive year in the qualifiers, the Banner County bow out.

They were in a good position when sub Colm Galvin opened up a 0-17 to 0-15 advantage but Cork had that late sting in the tail as they scored a second successive championship win. At half-time, Cork led by 0-10 to 0-9 in what was an intruiging tactical battle.

Both teams operated with sweepers and two-man inside lines, ensuring that goal chances were at a premium. There were some sublime pieces of skill nonetheless, most notably when Conor Lehane’s audacious flick found Patrick Horgan in the 25th minute, before Lehane collected a return pass to fire over.

But Cork, playing against a diagonal breeze, were dreadfully wasteful in that first half, registering eleven wides. Horgan was responsible for four of them, including three from play, but he would emerge as the match winner.

***
Scorers for Cork: P Horgan 0-8 (5f), P Cronin, S Harnedy & C Lehane 0-2 each, A Walsh, C Murphy, B Cooper, A Cadogan, J Coughlan & P O’Sullivan 0-1 each.

Scorers for Clare: T Kelly 0-5 (1f), C McGrath 0-3, Colin Ryan (2f) & S O’Donnell 0-2 each, D McInerney, Conor Ryan, S Golden, D Honan & C Galvin 0-1 each.

CORK: A Nash; D Cahalane, S McDonnell, B Murphy; A Walsh, M Ellis, C Murphy; B Lawton, D Kearney; B Cooper, P Cronin, P Horgan; A Cadogan, S Harnedy, C Lehane. Subs: R O’Shea for Kearney (43), J Coughlan for Cadogan (50), P O’Sullivan for Cronin (59), D McCarthy for Lawton (65).

CLARE: P Kelly, D McInerney, C Dillon, S Morey; B Bugler, P O’Connor, J Browne; Conor Ryan, Colin Ryan; J Conlon, T Kelly, S Golden; D Honan, S O’Donnell, C McGrath. Subs: A Cunningham for Conlon (half-time), P Donnellan for Colin Ryan (43), C Galvin for Golden (49), D Reidy for Morey (57), J Conlon for Honan (67).

Referee: Barry Kelly (Westmeath)

Stats and scorers from Semple Staduim, where Cork edged a titanic tussle with Clare. http://t.co/ofld8LXnLJ pic.twitter.com/467cTLyhJY

— Sky Sports GAA (@SkySportsGAA) July 11, 2015

Preview – All-Ireland SHC Round 2, @GaaClare v @OfficialCorkGAA, Thurles, Saturday, 7pm: http://t.co/ofqdZOS5U2 #GAA

— The GAA (@officialgaa) July 10, 2015

Team News

Team Cork Senior Hurling
1. Anthony Nash (Kanturk)
2. Damien Cahalane (St. Finbarr’s)
3. Stephen McDonnell (Glen Rovers)
4. Brian Murphy (Bride Rovers)
5. Aidan Walsh (Kanturk)
6. Mark Ellis (Millstreet)
7. Cormac Murphy (Mallow)
8. Daniel Kearney (Sarsfields)
9. Bill Cooper (Youghal)
10. Conor Lehane (Midleton)
11. Patrick Cronin (Bishopstown)
12. Brian Lawton (Castlemartyr)
13. Alan Cadogan (Douglas)
14. Seamus Harnedy (St. Ita’s)
15. Patrick Horgan (Glen Rovers)

Subs:
16. Patrick Collins (Ballinhassig)
17. Shane O’Neill (Bishopstown)
18. William Kearney (Sarsfields)
19. Killian Burke (Midleton)
20. Aidan Ryan (Midleton)
21. Rob O’Shea (Carrigaline)
22. Stephen Moylan (Douglas)
23. Paudie O’Sullivan (Cloyne)
24. Luke O’Farrell (Midleton)
25. Jamie Coughlan (Newtownshandrum)
26. Darren McCarthy (Ballymartle)