Munster Intermediate Hurling Championship Semi-Final – Clare 2-19 Cork 0-15

Gilligan leads veterans’ charge to stun Cork

From the Irish Independent newspaper

Clare 2-19 Cork 0-15

Monday June 20 2011

Clare stunned Cork in Limerick thanks mainly to the heroics of some of their senior stars of the past in what was an interesting, rather than spectacular, affair. Clare started the better and moved into a 0-6 to 0-2 lead but Cork came back and when they drew level at 0-7 each it looked as if they would justify their pre-match favouritism. The scoring was close for most of the way but two goals inside four minutes at a crucial stage gave Clare the victory that they thoroughly deserved. And it was one of the former senior heroes, Niall Gilligan, who struck the crucial first goal midway in the second half, by which stage his side were two points, 0-14 to 0-12, in front.

Gilligan pounced on a loose ball 15 yards from goal and cracked a low shot to the net. The game was wrapped up four minutes later when Daire Keane spotted a gap and swept in for another goal. Tony Carmody was another of the previous senior stars to impress and he put over three points in a true captain’s performance. Cork were a massive disappointment and while they came back from three points in arrears to level matters after 17 minutes, they never led in a game they were expected to win following their comprehensive triumph against Tipperary in the previous round.

Clare dominated midfield thanks to Ronan Keane and Shane Golden, who created such space that they both managed to score a brace of points, while Kevin Moynihan shone at half-back. Up front, Carmody and Daire Keane sparkled. Cork full-back Eoin Dillon had a fine outing on the wily Gilligan and David Drake at corner-forward was their best player and finished with four points. At the half-time interval Clare led 0-10 to 0-9 and it was point for point until Gilligan’s opening goal.

Scorers — Clare: N Gilligan 1-5 (0-5f), D Keane 1-2, T Carmody 0-3, R Keane, P Hickey, S Golden 0-2 each, K Moynihan, A Lynch, D O’Rourke 0-1 each. Cork: D Drake 0-4, M Sexton (3f), B Corry 0-3 each, E Conway 0-2, M O’Sullivan, K Hartnett, E Brosnan 0-1 each.

Clare — A Fahy; M O’Regan, P Kelly, A Brigdale; M Hawes, C Earley, K Moynihan; R Keane, S Golden; D Keane, T Carmody, K Dilleen; M Duggan, N Gilligan, P Hickey. Subs: A Lynch for Dilleen (h-t), J O’Connor for Hickey (48), D O’Rourke for Duggan (56).

Cork — D McCarthy; J Carey, E Dillon, S Corry; T Healy, M Ellis, K Hartnett; R Cashman, M Sexton; B Corry, E Brosnan, C Casey; D Drake, E Conway, Ml O’Sullivan. Subs: Maurice O’Sullivan for Casey (48), S Harnedy for Conway, (55).

Ref — S Hourigan (Limerick)

For the Record

2011 Munster Intermediate Hurling Championship Matches played to date

Cork 2-16 Tipperary 2-12 – May 29^th @ Semple Stadium Thurles (Munster Quarter-Final)

CORK: D McCarthy; J Carey, R Cashman, S White; T Healy, M Ellis, S Corry; B Corry, M Sexton; D Drake, M O’Sullivan, C Casey; J Wall, T Murphy, B Lawton.
Subs: B Withers for White (half-time), E Conway for O’Sullivan (60).

TIPPERARY: J Logue; A Byrnes, G Hannigan, K Maher; J Moloughney, T Stapleton, R Sherlock; J Ryan, P O’Dwyer; D Hickey, W O’Dwyer, P Austin; E Sweeney, P Ivors, R McLoughney.
Subs: B Fox for P O’Dwyer (27), D O’Brien for Austin (40), D O’Brien for W O’Dwyer (47), L Dwan for R McLoughney (50), T Dalton for Ivors (55).

Referee: Declan O’Driscoll (Limerick)

Limerick 2-12 Waterford 2-9 – June 12^th @ Semple Stadium Thurles (Munster Semi-Final)

Munster GAA HURLING Intermediate Championship Roll Of Honour

Cork (13) – 1964, 1965, 1967, 1969, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010

Tipperary (7) – 1961, 1963, 1966, 1971, 1972, 2000, 2002

Limerick (3) – 1968, 1998, 2008

Waterford (1) – 2007

Kerry (1) – 1970

Galway (1) – 1962

Munster GAA HURLING Intermediate Championship – List of Winning Teams

Visit the Munster GAA web site History section to view the complete list of each winning team since the competition began 1888 – https://munster.gaa.ie/history/ih_teams/

Munster Intermediate HURLING Cup

The Sweet Afton Cup presented by Mr. Jerry Shelly of Tipperary in 1961.

All Ireland GAA HURLING Intermediate Championship

In the Intermediate Hurling All Ireland Roll of Honour, Cork lead the way with 7 titles followed by Tipperary with 5. Wexford (4), Kilkenny (3), London (2) and Galway (2) are the only other counties to have won an All-Ireland title in this grade.

Useful Information

Cork hold the record for the longest streak of success in finals. They won four championships in-a-row between 2003 and 2006.

Tipperary hold the record for the longest streak of defeats in finals. They lost three championship deciders in-a-row between 2004 and 2006.

Cork have won 6 of the last 8 Munster titles in this grade, winning 15 of their last 17 matches in the Munster Intermediate Hurling Championship, including their 2011 first round victory over Tipperary.

Tipperary have lost 6 of the last 7 matches in this grade dating back to the 2006 Final.

Cork hold the record for the most consecutive appearances in Munster finals. They played in four-in-a-row on two separate occasions, firstly between 1967 and 1970, and most recently between 2003 and 2006.

Clare have lost two Munster finals, however, they have yet to win one. Intermediate is the only grade of hurling in which Clare have never won a provincial title.

Three counties have completed the Munster intermediate and senior double in the same year:

Cork in 1969, 1999, 2003, 2005, 2006

Tipperary in 1961, 1971

Waterford in 2007

Cork is the only county to have completed the Munster minor, under-21, intermediate and senior ‘grand slam’ in the same year. This was achieved in 1969 and again in 2005.

Only one player has captained his county to Munster titles in both the intermediate and senior grades:

Pat Mulcahy captained Cork to the intermediate title in 1997 and the senior title in 2006.