Allianz Hurling League Division 1A – Clare 0-18 Galway 1-15

Clare and Galway finished level in round 5 of the Allianz Hurling League Division 1A on Sunday March 23rd at Cusack Park, Ennis on a scoreline of Clare 0-18 Galway 1-15.

Clare salvage a draw against Galway

Allianz Hurling League Division IA: Clare 0-18 Galway 1-15

Report from the GAA.ie web site

Colin Ryan came off the bench to score a late equalising point from a free as Clare finished top of the Division IA table with a draw against Galway at Cusack Park, Ennis on Sunday. Galway led for most of the final quarter having played with an extra man after Clare’s Shane Golden was sent off on the half hour mark, but in the end it mattered little as Galway qualified for the Division I quarter-finals anyway, where they will face Limerick, while Clare will play Laois.

Tony Kelly hit an incredible 0-12 of Clare’s total, but his side trailed by 0-9 to 0-8 at the break and then Cathal Mannion scored a goal for the Tribesmen in the 52nd minute, before completing an impressive comeback in the final quarter, with Ryan landing a pressure free right at the death to give the All-Ireland champions a share of the spoils.

Two Kelly frees gave Galway an early lead but Galway hit back with five unanswered scores to take control, the returning Niall Burke (2), Conor Cooney (2) and Johnny Coen all on target for the visitors. Clare hit back with a sequence of four points – Kelly hit three and David Reidy found the target from play, but Galway, by now a man up following Golden’s dismissal for s straight red card, led by the minimum at the break when Mannion scored two points from play just before referee Diarmuid Kirwan blew the half-time whistle.

Kelly added three more frees after the break and the Banner County looked to be coping well with their numerical disadvantage, but Galway hit the front when Mannion found the back of the net in the 52nd minute, turning sharply and driving past Patrick Kelly, who would make a super save from Niall Burke minutes later. Clare manager Davy Fitzgerald played his trump card late on, bringing Colin Ryan and Conor McGrath, who scored five points between them, off the bench. Galway still led in added time, but Ryan showed he has ice flowing through his veins when he calmly slotted over the leveler right at the end of a keenly contested game.

Scorers for Clare: T Kelly 0-12 (0-11f), C McGrath 0-3, C Ryan 0-2 (0-1f), D Reidy 0-1.

Scorers for Galway: C Cooney 0-6 (0-5f), C Mannion 1-2, N Burke 0-3, J Glynn 0-1, J Coen 0-1, P Brehony 0-1, D Hayes 0-1,

Clare: P Kelly; D O’Donovan, C Dillon, J Browne; B Bugler, Conor Ryan, P Flanagan; P O’Connor, C Galvin; P Duggan, T Kelly, S Golden; C McInerney, S O’Donnell, D Reidy
Subs: J Conlon for McInerney (36), C McGrath for Reidy (53), P Donnellan for Bugler (56), C Ryan for Duggan (65), D McInerney for O’Donovan (67).

Galway: C Callanan; F Moore, R Burke, D Collins; A Harte, I Tannian, Daithi Burke; J Coen, P Brehony; David Burke, C Cooney, N Burke; N Healy, J Glynn, C Mannion
Subs: D Hayes for Healy (44), A Smith for David Burke (52), J Cooney for Mannion (63), J Flynn for N Burke (68), P Killeen for Harte (70).

Referee: D Kirwan (Cork)

MATCH PREVIEW

Division IA Preview: @GaaClare and @Galway_GAA, who share a border and a long hurling history, meet in Cusack Park: http://t.co/yOUcVRBwCU

— The GAA (@officialgaa) March 21, 2014

TEAM NEWS

GALWAY: Colm Callanan (Kinvara); Fergal Moore (Turloughmore), Ronan Burke (Turloughmore), Johnny Coen (Loughrea); David Collins (Liam Mellowes), Iarla Tannian (Ardrahan), Daithi Burke (Turloughmore); David Burke (St Thomas), Padraig Brehony (Tynagh Abbey-Duniry); Aidan Harte (Gort), Niall Healy (Craughwell), Jonathan Glynn (Ardrahan); Cathal Mannion (Ahascragh-Fohenagh), Conor Cooney (St Thomas), Niall Burke (Oranmore-Maree).