Munster Intermediate Hurling Final – Clare 2-15 Limerick 2-13

Clare defeated Limerick by 2-15 to 2-13 in the Munster Intermediate Hurling Championship Final at Cusack Park Ennis on Wednesday evening.

Kennedy’s men keep Clare run going with first Munster intermediate title

Clare 2-15 Limerick 2-13

By Gerry Quinn for the Irish Examiner newspaper

Thursday, July 14, 2011

FOLLOWING the success of the minors on Sunday, Clare capture their second Munster hurling title in three days when their intermediate side captured a first provincial crown at Cusack Park in Ennis last night Though the winning margin was small, the home side dominated for the most part, a late Limerick goal by wing-back Niall Maher putting a respectable sheen on the scoreboard. Clare started briskly in an entertaining opening half and had two scores on the board inside three minutes, through captain Tony Carmody and Declan O’Rourke. Limerick midfielder Conor Allis opened his team’s account when he landed a 65 in the fifth minute. Clare’s speedy wing-forward Daire Keane and Limerick’s Sean Madden exchanged points before Keane popped up again to record the game’s first goal on 10 minutes.

Daragh Keane then collected a bouncing ball before drilling low to the back of the Shannonsiders’ net. Niall Gilligan added a pointed free to leave the hosts 1-4 to 0-2 ahead and firmly in command. However, a resolute Limerick knuckled down and when corner-forward Michael Ryan split the Clare defence before shooting past Fahey, the deficit was reduced to just one point by the 17th minute. Ryan again and Tommy Quaid then added points to give the visitors the lead for the first time. Gilligan had two pointed frees for the home side before Dinny O’Connor replied for Limerick in injury-time to leave it level at the half time, 1-6 apiece.

From the restart, Niall Gilligan shot Clare in front once more with a well-taken point before midfielder Ronan Keane struck for a fantastic goal four minutes in. His blinding pace deceived the Limerick defence and his shot beat goalkeeper Barry Hennessy. A number of well-taken points by Gilligan kept his county in pole position. Clare’s introduction of Pádraig Hickey also gave them extra firepower up front. Pádraig Hickey was introduced early in the half and his contribution of two valuable points gave Clare some breathing space. Limerick stayed in touch thanks to some good scores by Conor Allis, wing-forward Seanie O’Brien and Maher’ goal, but Kevin Kennedy’s side eased home will now face Galway in the All-Ireland semi-final on August 13.

Scorers for Clare: N Gilligan 0-6 (4f); R Keane, D Keane 1-2 each; D O’Rourke, P Hickey 0-2 each, T Carmody 0-1.

Scorers for Limerick: M Ryan, N Maher 1-1 each; C Allis 0-4 (2 65); S O’Brien, D O’Connor 0-2 each; S Madden, T Quaid, N Kennedy 0-1 each.

CLARE: A Fahy, M O’Regan, P Kelly, A Brigdale, J Fennessy, M Hawes, K Moynihan, R Keane, S Golden, D Keane, K Dileen, T Carmody (capt), M Duggan, D O’Rourke N Gilligan.

Subs: M Earley for O’Regan (21), P Hickey for Duggan (36), J O’Connor for Dileen (50).

LIMERICK: B Hennessy, S Browne, J Dillon (capt), D Moloney, N Maher, P Begley, T O’Callaghan, C Allis, D Hanley, D Ahearne, S Madden, S O’Brien, M Ryan, D O’Connor, T Quaid.

Subs: N Kennedy for Madden (37), S Dowling for Hanley (45), E Gleeson for Ahearne (57),

Referee: C McAllister (Cork)

Score Tracker

1m – CLARE POINT – Tony Carmody scores a point from play after good work from Marty O’Regan – Clare 0-1 Limerick 0-0

2m – CLARE POINT – Declan O’Rourke scores a point from play – Clare 0-2 Limerick 0-0

5m – LIMERICK POINT – Conor Allis scores a point from a 65m free – Clare 0-2 Limerick 0-1

7m – CLARE POINT – Daire Keane scores a point from play – Clare 0-3 Limerick 0-1

9m – LIMERICK POINT – Sean Madden scores a point from play – Clare 0-3 Limerick 0-2

9m – CLARE GOAL – Daire Keane wins a puck out and after a good run, strikes a low ball to the net – Clare 1-3 Limerick 0-2

11m – CLARE POINT – Niall Gilligan scores a point from a 20 metre free – Clare 1-4 Limerick 0-2

12m – LIMERICK POINT – Denis O’Connor scores a point from play – Clare 1-4 Limerick 0-3

17m – LIMERICK GOAL – Michael Ryan wins possession, rounds his man and after a long run, finishes to the net – Clare 1-4 Limerick 1-3

18m – LIMERICK POINT – Michael Ryan scores a point from play – Clare 1-4 Limerick 1-4

21m – LIMERICK POINT – Tommy Quaid scores a point from play – Clare 1-4 Limerick 1-5

22m – CLARE POINT – Niall Gilligan points a 20 metre free – Clare 1-5 Limerick 1-5

24m – CLARE POINT – Niall Gilligan points a 45 metre free – Clare 1-6 Limerick 1-5

30m – LIMERICK POINT – Denis O’Connor points a 20 metre free – Clare 1-6 Limerick 1-6

HALF TIME – CLARE 1-6 LIMERICK 1-6

32m – CLARE POINT – Niall Gilligan gets on to a loose ball and scores a point – Clare 1-7 Limerick 1-6

32m – LIMERICK POINT – Conor Allis scores a point from play – Clare 1-7 Limerick 1-7

33m – CLARE GOAL – Ronan Keane goes on a long run and finishes to the top of the net – Clare 2-7 Limerick 1-7

37m – CLARE POINT – Niall Gilligan points a free – Clare 2-8 Limerick 1-7

40m – CLARE POINT – Niall Gilligan scores a point from play – Clare 2-9 Limerick 1-7

44m – LIMERICK POINT – Wing-back Niall Maher scores a point from play – Clare 2-9 Limerick 1-8

49m – CLARE POINT – Padraig Hickey scores a point from play – Clare 2-10 Limerick 1-8

51m – LIMERICK POINT – Seanie O’Brien scores a point from play – Clare 2-10 Limerick 1-9

51m – CLARE POINT – Niall Gilligan scores a point from play – Clare 2-11 Limerick 1-9

52m – LIMERICK POINT – Seanie O’Brien scores a point from play – Clare 2-11 Limerick 1-10

53m – CLARE POINT – Padraig Hickey scores a point from play – Clare 2-12 Limerick 1-10

56m – LIMERICK POINT – Conor Allis points a 65 metre free – Clare 2-12 Limerick 1-11

57m – CLARE POINT – Ronan Keane scores a point from play – Clare 2-13 Limerick 1-11

58m – LIMERICK POINT – Conor Allis scores a point from play – Clare 2-13 Limerick 1-12

59m – LIMERICK POINT – Niall Kennedy scores a point from play – Clare 2-13 Limerick 1-13

60m – CLARE POINT – Daire Keane scores a point from play – Clare 2-14 Limerick 1-13

61m – CLARE POINT – Declan O’Rourke scores a point from play – Clare 2-15 Limerick 1-13

62m – LIMERICK GOAL – Niall Maher scores a goal from play – Clare 2-15 Limerick 2-13

RESULT – CLARE 2-15 LIMERICK 2-13

Next Round – the winners qualify for the All-Ireland Semi-Final against Galway on August 13^th.

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)

Limerick: B Hennessy; D Moloney, B Kelliher, J Dillon; N Maher, P Begley, T O’Callaghan; J Hayes, D Hanley; C Allis, S Madden, S O’Brien; D Reale, D O’Connor, T Quaid.
Subs: M Ryan for O’Connor (48), W Griffin for Quaid (57), D Ahearne for O’Brien (57).

Waterford: S O’Keeffe; B Coughlan, I Flynn, M O’Brien; B Phelan, C Ryan, S Hannon; D Barrett, D Twomey; P Nevin, S Power, P Power; C O’Gorman, T Connors, A Brophy.
Subs: K Cashell for O’Gorman (46), R Power for Brophy (46), H Barnes for Twomey (52).

Referee: Jer O’Connell (Cork)

Clare 2-19 Cork 0-15 – June 19^th @ Gaelic Grounds Limerick (Munster Semi-Final)

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).

Referee: Shane Hourigan (Limerick)

2011 Top Scorers – Munster Intermediate Hurling Championship
Stephen Power (Waterford) – 1-6 (1-0 penalty, 0-6 frees)
Niall Gilligan (Clare) – 1-5 (0-5 frees)
David Drake (Cork) – 0-8 (0-1 sideline)
Maurice Sexton (Cork) – 0-8 (0-7 frees)
Denis O’Connor (Limerick) – 1-4 (0-2 frees)
Michael O’Sullivan (Cork) – 1-3
Daire Keane (Clare) – 1-2
Tommy Quaid (Limerick) – 1-2
Philip Ivors (Tipperary) 1-2
Colm Casey (Cork) 1-1
Brian Corry (Cork) – 0-4
Tony Carmody (Clare) – 0-3
Paudie Nevin (Waterford) – 1-0
Liam Dwan (Tipperary) 1-0
Ronan Keane (Clare) – 0-2
P Hickey (Clare) – 0-2
Shane Golden (Clare) – 0-2
Donie Reale (Limerick) – 0-2
Seanie O’Brien (Limerick) – 0-2
Dean Twomey (Waterford) – 0-2
Tony Murphy (Cork) 0-2
E Conway (Cork) – 0-2
Ray McLoughney (Tipperary) 0-2 (0-2 frees)
Johnny Ryan (Tipperary)  0-2 (0-1 free)

K Moynihan (Clare), A Lynch (Clare), Declan O’Rourke (Clare), Conor Allis (Limerick) (0-1 65’), Sean Madden (Limerick), Jamie Wall (Cork), E Brosnan (Cork), Joey McLoughney (Tipperary), Thomas Stapleton (Tipperary) (0-1 free), Paudie O’Dwyer (Tipperary), Darragh Hickey (Tipperary), Evan Sweeney (Tipperary), Brian Fox (Tipperary)  0-1 each.

Clare v Limerick

Past Munster Intermediate Hurling Championship Meetings

Played – 8, Limerick 6, Clare 0, Drawn 2

June 22^nd 2008 at Semple Stadium Thurles – Limerick 1-16 Clare 0-15 (Munster Semi-Final)

Scorers — Limerick: D Moloney 1-2, P McNamara 0-4 (0-3f), D O’Neill 0-3, R McCarthy, A Brennan 0-2 each, A O’Connor, D Hanley, P Harty 0-1 each; Clare: S Chaplin 0-5 (0-4f), P Hickey 0-5, D Browne 0-2 (1f), G Lyons, A McNamara, Clive Earley 0-1 each.

Limerick: B Hennessy; T Condon, C Carey, S Walsh; D Stapleton, Damien Moloney, P O’Brien; A Brennan, A O’Connor; David Moloney, P McNamara, D Hanley; D O’Neill, R McCarthy, P Harty. Subs: P O’Reilly for O’Connor (44), M McKenna for Hanley (57), S O’Neill for Walsh (60).

Clare: S Hawes; M O’Regan, S Torpey, C Cooney; A Fleming, E Collins, A McNamara; G Lyons, A Duggan; S Chaplin, N Sheedy, M Noone; Clive Earley, P Chaplin, P Hickey; Subs: Conor Earley for Collins (21), D Browne for Noone (ht), P Reynolds for Duggan (48), E Harrison for Conor Earley (54).

Referee: Tommy Ryan (Tipperary).

June 21^st 1998 at Semple Stadium Thurles – Limerick 0-17 Clare 0-7 (Munster Semi-Final)

May 28^th 1971 at the Gaelic Grounds Limerick – Limerick 1-14 Clare 4-1 (Munster Semi-Final Replay)

May 5^th 1971 at Cusack Park Ennis – Limerick 2-6 Clare 2-6 (Munster Semi-Final)

June 23^rd 1968 at the Gaelic Grounds Limerick – Limerick 0-13 Clare 1-2 (Munster Semi-Final Replay)

May 23^rd 1968 at Cusack Park Ennis – Limerick 2-8 Clare 2-8 (Munster Semi-Final)

April 9^th 1967 at the Gaelic Grounds Limerick – Limerick 5-5 Clare 4-4 (Munster First Round)

May 6^th 1962 at the Gaelic Grounds Limerick – Limerick 1-10 Clare 0-9 (Munster First Round)

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 18 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.