Category: Sport

Clonlara 2-13 – Broadford 0-14 at Cusack Park, Ennis

MORE OF a grudge match than a championship treat as Clonlara’s impact substitutions provided the knock-out blow in an ill-tempered affair. Following on from the last championship meeting at intermediate level in 2007 when the action in Shannon lasted beyond the final whistle, the real winner of the hour was perhaps Flan Marsh’s shatter safe hurleys in a game that had ten yellows cards and a red one for Cathal Chaplin deep into injury-time.

In the end however, Broadford will feel disappointed not to have got anything out of the game, having disrupted Clonlara for long periods and even led by two points as late as the 55th minute.

That the 2008 champions did survive came down to two key aspects; the leadership of John Conlon and the impact of substitutes Donal Madden and James Hastings who grabbed a goal each in a final flourish.

Clonlara’s progress all afternoon was hampered by an unproductive forward unit that hit 15 wides over the hour and carried far more passengers than normal. Neither did they appear in any danger once John Conlon’s superb over the shoulder point from under the stand began a four point unanswered streak that saw them push 0-6 to 0-2 clear by the end of the first quarter.

However, it was to be their final first half contribution on the scoreboard as Broadford came storming back into the contest with Padraig Hickey unerring from frees (3) and further scores from Paurig Taylor and Aonghus O’Brien to hold a 0-7 to 0-6 lead by the break.

Clonlara re-emerged in determined fashion and might have grabbed a goal in the opening minute had it not been for an excellent block by James Gunning on Cormac O’Donovan in front of goal.

Instead, Broadford held the whip hand, mainly through the scoring prowess of Hickey who was growing in confidence as the hour developed while strangely muted in his celebrations of those scores. Largely it came down to a shooting match between Hickey at one side and Conlon at the other but every time Clonlara would gain parity, Broadford had the ability to pull clear once more.

Such was the case in the final straight when points from Alan Kilcoyne and Hickey had Broadford 013 to 0-11 clear and seemingly on the road to an opening victory.

Cue the introduction of Donal Madden and James Hastings who both would make telling contributions to the final result. Conlon fed Madden for a 55th minute point and only a minute later, the two were again involved as Conlon’s effort for a point dropped short, goalkeeper Ollie Marsh stopped the ball from going over the bar and Madden was there to pounce from close range to pull the ball to the net.

Broadford weren’t finished yet however as Hickey struck a goalbound shot two minutes later that was blocked by John Moloney and after a Hickey point and Cathal Chaplin’s second yellow, Hastings punished another defensive error to pour salt into Broadford’s wounds.

Cratloe 0-16 – Scariff 0-10 at O’Garney Park, Sixmilebridge

CRATLOE have yet to spark in this year’s championship but at least they demonstrated that they have the belly to fight for their championship survival after a bruising hour on Sunday.

Wounded after their disappointing opening round defeat at the hands of Tubber, nothing but victory would do for the 2009 champions if they were to reach their third successive final.

In the end, the best that can be said is that they dug the victory out with minimal ruthlessness and maximum fuss. Fourteen wides over the hour told a tale of wastefulness that normally isn’t part of Cratloe’s make-up but it was the manner of those wides that will infuriate most as at times they tended to attempt shots from near impossible angles.

Scariff, meanwhile were making their championship bow and came with an expected warm welcome for last year finalists but for all their hustle and bustle, they didn’t possess the firepower to punish sufficiently on the scoreboard, emphasised by the fact that none of their forwards got more than a point from play.

While Cratloe led from start to finish, perhaps the turning point of the game, came in the 46th minute when Cratloe goalkeeper Sean Hayes produced a magnificent full length save to deny Ross Horan. Had that goal gone in, Scariff might have taken advantage as they were certainly on the front foot with the switch of Diarmaid Nash to midfield for the final quarter.

As it was however, Scariff did hit three of the next four points to cut the deficit to just three points but without a goal, they never looked like cancelling Cratloe’s lead as the south east Clare side cruised home with the last three points of the game.

They had started strongly too, weathering the physical Scariff challenge to score the first four points of the afternoon through county senior duo, Conor McGrath (3) and Cathal McInerney by the 12th minute. Scariff finally opened their account two minutes later when Ross Horan converted a ’65 followed by a Patrick Minogue effort on the run but the remainder of the half was noted more for the tally of wides than scores as Cratloe had nine missess to Scariff’s five. It was 0-6 to 0-3 at the break but in a quickfire resumption, Scariff would double their first half margin in only three second half minutes through Kenny McNamara, Padraig Brody and Horan with brief replies from Cathal McInerney and Padraigh Chaplin.

Two points was still the margin when Enda Boyce and Horan swapped points at 0-9 to 0-7 before Cratloe upped the ante to hit three successive points approaching the turn for home.

One of the features of Cratloe’s display was the strong link between Sean Collins in midfield who pulled the strings all afternoon and front pair Conor McGrath and Cathal McInerney, and despite the expected Scariff onslaught in the final quarter, it was that triumvirate that provided just enough quality to gather Cratloe’s first points of the campaign.

Tubber 2-10 – Whitegate 0-07 at Shannon

IT’S 30 years since Tubber reached their first and only county final – there’s no talk of marking that 30th anniversary with another big day out, but they definitely talking amongst themselves about a first quarter-final appearance in eight years.

Why not? It’s all to do with backto-back wins to start this campaign – following up their first round win over Cratloe with a comprehensive nine-point triumph over a very disappointing Whitegate side.

It’s onwards and upwards for Tubber as they face into the 15-week break – for Whitegate it’s a fight for survival in senior ranks on the back of two straight defeats.

Tubber had much of their work done by half-time when they had forged a 1-5 to 0-3 lead despite hitting nine wides; their work was done when they hit 1-3 without reply inside the opening 12 minutes of the second half as they moved 11 points clear.

This game never set the pulses racing, but Tubber didn’t care as they always had the edge from the moment Shane O’Connor bustled his way through on goal and kicked the sliotar to the empty net for the opening goal in the 11th minute.

O’Connor’s strike franked Tubber’s steady start that saw them hit 1-4 without reply in a six-minute period after Georgie Waterstone had opened the scoring for Whitegate in the fourth minute.

Mark Early, Barry O’Connor (2) hit points by the eighth minute, while the mercurial Eamonn Taaffe teed up Tommy Lee for an 11th minute point to put Tubber 1-4 to 0-1 clear and firmly in control.

Whitegate did stop the rot with a Pat Minogue point in the 12th minute, but the remainder of the half was a forgettable affair as the sides could only muster two points between them – Eamonn Taaffe opened his account in the 15th minute while Brendan Bugler, Whitegate’s lone star throughout, burst forward in the 25th to hit an inspirational score.

Not that it inspired those around him, save a burst midway through the second half when Michael O’Brien, John O’Brien and Georgie Water- stone hit points.

By then, however, it was already too late as Tubber’s impressive start to the half sealed the two points and put them top Group 2.

Tommy Lee lofted over a point two minutes, while the decisive score came two minutes later when Shane O’Connor sealed his and Tubber’s day when pouncing on a rebound when Andrew Fahy foiled Mark Early’s goal-bound drive, batting to the net from seven yards.

It put them 2-8 to 0-3 clear – Whitegate did peg it back to eight points with ten minutes left, but that was as good as it got. David O’Donoghue and Patrick O’Connor, who hit three second half points ensured Tubber cruised home.

Tubber
Ronan Taaffe (7), John O’Connor (7), Eoin Ruane (7), Paul Fogarty (7), Fergal O’Grady (7), Conor Earley (8), Patrick O’Connor (7) (0-3f), Mark Earley (7) (0-1), Clive Earley (7), David O’Donoghue (7) (0-1), Shane O’Connor (8) (2-0),Tommy Lee (7) (0-2), Darragh O’Connor (6), Barry O’Connor (7) (0-2), EamonnTaaffe (7) (0-1).

Subs
Justin McMahon (6) for Darragh O’Connor [51 mins].

Whitegate
AndrewFahy (7), John Minogue (7), John Bugler (7), Cathal Mulvihill (7),Trevor Kelly (7), Brendan Bugler (8) (0-1), Jason Malone (7), Ian Fahy (6), Tomas McNamara (6), Michael O’Brien (7) (0-1), Terence Fahy (6), Stephen Malone (6), Georgie Waterstone (7) (0-4f), Patrick Minogue (7) (0-1), Shane O’Rourke (6).

Subs
John O’Brien (7) for Fahy [40 mins], Eoin Quirke (6) for Malone [48 mins].

Man of the Match
Shane O’Connor (Tubber) Referee TomStackpoole (Ennistymon)

Sixmilebridge 3-16 – Wolfe Tones 0-10 at Cusack Park, Ennis

WORD had it down in the Goalpost bar in Shannon that Patsy Keyes was Libya bound for work before its people decided to rise up against Colonel Gadaffi – if he’d gone he would have had an easier time manning troops on the ground than he had managing Wolfe Tones from the field of play as they took their bow in the 2011 senior championship on Friday evening.

All because, so depleted are the Tones resources this year that this was like going into battle with water pistols against anti-aircraft tanks. The difference between the sides was that stark as the ‘Bridge, no doubt on their guard because of the scare they got against Clarecastle in the first round, strolled to a 15-points success.

It was every bit as easy as the scoreline suggests with Jamie Shanahan’s brilliant 24th minute goal breaking the Tones’ resistance. The underdogs were competitive until then as points from Bobby and Garret McPhillips (2) in reply to ‘Bridge points from Shanahan (2), Niall Gilligan (2) and Caimin Morey had them only 0-5 to 0-3 in arrears.

The goal changed everything as Shanahan showed great pace when gathering in the right corner, turning and flashing a great sot to the net from 15 yards. From there the ‘Bridge turned the screw before half-time with a further five points to move 1-10 to 0-3 clear. Gilligan helped himself to two from play and a free, while Pa Sheehan and Caimin Morey were also on the mark.

With the wind to come in the second half, all the Tones could do was be like Colonel Gadaffi himself – refuse to surrender. That they did, with Colonel Keyes doing his best from full-back, while up front the two-time senior champions save some face when adding to their tally by seven points. Three points in row from the 37

Tulla 1-13 – Clarecastle 0-10 at Shannon

WHEN the Magpies were in their pomp in the mid-‘90s Tulla never stood back from the challenge, famously nearly bringing them to ground in their greatest ever year of 1997.

They didn’t stand back here either – but did the business this time as their mix of youth and experience eased them to a thoroughly deserved six-point win over a Clarecastle team that’s going through tough times.

Daragh Corry was the star turn from the new generation; David McInerney had his moments before being injured, while old boys Andrew Quinn, Aidan Lynch and Mark Quinn provided inspiration at key intervals as Tulla took another giant step towards a return to the quarterfinal for the first time since their sto- ried 2007 season.

The final leap was provided by last year’s county minor Corry – another soaring catch that was crowned when he turned and drove to the net from eight yards in the 59th minutes to ease any Tulla nerves and put them six clear.

Truth is, Tulla were nerveless at key moments of this tempestous encounter that saw referee Seanie McMahon flash five yellow cards and reds to Danny O’Halloran and Derek Quinn.

Before half-time when when Andrew Quinn hit four points in a row to ease Tulla 0-9 to 0-5 clear at the break; at the death after Clarecastle had pegged it back to point, only for the claret and gold to hit back with points by Cathal Dinan and Daragh Corry; finally Corry’s goal.

Clarecastle did have their chances, but a spate of bad wides in the closing stages – they hit ten in all – cost them very dear, as did their failure to match Tulla in the physical stakes.

Tulla’s Danny O’Halloran paid the price of a straight red card for a wild pull on Ollie Plunkett after only seven minutes; Eanna Torpey was very lucky not to walk for a pull on Eric Flynn three minutes later, while Clarecastle’s Derek Quinn went that way after some argy bargy in first half injury time.

In between there was actually some hurling – Tulla held the initiative early on and led 0-4 to 0-1 after 15 minutes with Aidan Lynch to the fore with two good points, but a flurry of four-in-a-row from the Magpies when Tyrone Kearse (2), Derek Quinn and Darragh Moloney put them 0-5 to 0-4 clear.

Ultimately, however, it was Clare- castle’s failure to raise a flag in the final ten minutes and Andrew Quinn’s haul of 0-5 in the same period that set them up for victory. Their fourpoint lead was still intact by the 40th minute after they traded a brace of points each.

Another surge by the Magpies saw them peg it back to the minimum as two Tyrone Kearse frees and a Conor O’Gorman effort had the matters delicatley poised at 0-11 to 0-10 in Tulla’s favour.

Clarecastle looked capable of kicking on, but didn’t as their wide tally mounted and they failed to score in the final 13 minutes of the game.

Tulla had no such problems and Clarecastle could have no complaints as the 2007 champions also missed two penalties during the game, as Aidan Lynch and Andrew Quinn had their shots stopped.

Tulla
Philip Brennan (7), Eugene Cooney (7), SeanTorpey (7), John Brennan (7), Paul Lynch (7), Mark Quinn (8), Cian McInerney (7), Cathal Dinan (7) (0-1), Conor O’Halloran (7), EannaTorpey (6), Daragh Corry (9) (1-1), David McInerney (7), Danny O’Halloran (6) (0-1) (6),AndrewQuinn (8) (0-7, 3f, two 65s),Aidan Lynch (8) (0-3).

Subs
Michael Murphy (6) for McInerney [40 mins], Raymond Stewart (6) for Murphy [57 mins].

Clarecastle
Donagh Murphy (7), Seanie Moloney (7), Stephen O’Halloran (6), Ollie Plunkett (7), Fergus Ryan (6), Patrick Kelly (7), Eric Flynn (7), Eamonn Callinan (6) (0-1), Danny Scanlan (6), Darragh Moloney (7) (0-2), Ciaran O’Dwyer (6), Jonathon Clancy (7),Aaron Considine (6), Derek Quinn (6) (0-1),Tyrone Kearse (7) (0-5, 4f).

Subs
Conor O’Gorman (6) (0-1) for O’Dwyer [41 mins], Gary Farmer (6) for Callinan [57 mins].

Man of the Match
Daragh Corry (Tulla) Referee Seanie McMahon (Newmarket-on-Fergus)

Newmarket-on-Fergus 1-8 – Kilmaley 1-8 at Cusack Park, Ennis

ONE of these days Kilmaley will actually win a championship game, while this could yet be one of those days that Newmarket-on-Fergus look back on and say was the making of them.

The Blues were lucky to escape with a draw; Kilmaley unlucky to be consigned to their sixth draw out of their seven championship outings over the past three seasons. They looked to be home to the two points when leading by 1-8 to 0-7 entering the last two minutes – they were brilliant in defence, with veteran Anthony Cahill putting in an inspiring hour’s work on the edge of the square, while on the edge of the other square Diarmuid McMahon’s strike for a 45th minute goal put daylight between the sides for the first time.

The Blues looked a beaten docket, in a performance that was strikingly similar in standard – the lack of standard that is – to the championship opener against Wolfe Tones three years ago.

Kilmaley had the hunger and that extra bit of class up front too thanks to Daire Keane who chipped in with three delightful points from play as they closed in on the victory that was denied them in the first game against Crusheen thanks to Paddy Vaughan’s last gasp levelling point.

However, history repeated itself thanks to Newmarket’s late surge. Firstly a needless foul on David Bar- rett on the 21-yard line when the sliotar was going away from goal yielded the free that was blasted to the net by Colin Ryan; three minutes later Eoin Hayes landed a brilliant equaliser from underneath the grandstand to save the Blues’ day.

It was rough justice on Kilmaley really, but punishment at the same time for their failure to kill off the game in the closing minutes against a lethargic Newmarket side that seemed to be going through the motions for much of the hour.

Kilmaley started the better with points from Brian McMahon and John Cabey inside five minutes, while it took Newmarket 13 minutes to get off the mark through an Eoin Hayes point.

It was pedestrian stuff for the first half – the standout moments provided by Daire Keane’s two points from, while four Colin Ryan points, three of which were from frees, and a David Barrett effort edged them 0-6 to 0-5 clear at the break.

However, the Blues’ looked to have blown their chance by failing to raise another flag until the 47th minute when David Barrett scored, by which time Kilmaley had hit 1-2 without reply.

Daire Keane got them going with the equaliser eight minutes in while 1-1 from Diarmuid McMahon inside three minutes had them in pole position. A fine point from play by Kenneth Kennedy in the 53rd minute edged them four clear and within touching distance of victory until Newmarket’s late, late show.

Crusheen 1-14 – Clooney/Quin 1-11 at Cusack Park, Ennis

PERHAPS IT comes with championship success but it was Crusheen’s ability to take their chances while on top that decided this relatively open final encounter at Clare headquarters on Sunday evening.

1-8 in the final 20 minutes, inspired by a Conor O’Donnell goal in the 42nd minute and the introduction of Paddy Meaney who could have scored a hat-trick of goals only for the bravery of goalkeeper Damien O’Halloran, cemented a first victory for the holders and puts them back in charge of their own destiny in the group.

On the flip side, it was Clooney/ Quin’s profligacy when backed by a strong breeze in the opening half that ultimately cost them the win in this their championship bow, having hit ten first half wides. In fact, had Clooney/Quin led by six or seven points at the break, few could have argued as Crusheen were struck to the ground and on the backfoot for the majority.

Between the wides, Padraig Ward was the chief marksman while Peter Duggan also dissected the posts with a stunning 50 metre lineball as the challengers held a 0-7 to 0-5 halftime advantage.

Crusheen were a different animal on the turnover however, even though it took them until Conor O’Donnell’s 42nd minute free to gain some much needed confidence and indeed the lead as well.

That goal came midway through a 1-5 unanswered streak for the champions that essentially decided the game as Clooney/Quin were unable to get past the old familiar half-back line wall of Cathal Dillon, Cian Dillon and Ciaran O’Doherty while Paddy Vaughan and Tony Meaney fed off the breaks.

They did eventually rally with three Peter Duggan frees and a late Cathal Egan volley to the net from a dipping Duggan effort from distance but by now substitute Paddy Meaney was causing consternation in the Clooney/Quin full-back line that should have yielded at least two more goals for the champions who ran out deserving winners in the end.

LESS said about this the better, really. Suffice to say Clare came to their home patch with real hope; presumably they came with a game-plan too, but whatever it was they must have left it in the dressing room because it was hard to believe after this excruciating hour that they brought it out onto the field.

It was that bad and worse as Clare endured a dark day – their biggest defeat against the Rebels at championship level in 15 years.

Yes, conceding a goal to Mark Sugrue inside 15 seconds was a hammer blow, but equally as bad was the lack of any pattern to Clare’s play – apart from bunching and following the ball like an under 10 that is.

Harsh yes, but true to as Clare were given a harsh lesson in the real realities of championship football at the knockout stage.

The goal came when midfielders Sean Kiely and Kevin Kavanagh fed Sugrue who sailed through on goal before blasting to the net. It was an exocet missile to Clare’s chances at the same time as the Rebels, despite playing against the breeze and being very profligate over the 30 minutes still cruised into a 1-5 to 0-3 lead.

Clare were scoreless until the 21st minute when Niall Hickey pointed a free, while their only point from play in the half came seven minutes later when Eoin Cleary’s goalbound effort was tipped over the bar.

Truth told, that goal effort was as good as it got from Clare as Cork turned the screw with the wind at their backs as they tacked on four points inside the first ten minutes from O’Mahony, Sugrue, the impressive MacEoin and Cian O’Sullivan to move nine clear before Eoin Cleary converted a 43rd minute free.

Cork
James McDonnell, Jamie Davis, Conor Dorman, Kevin Fulignati, Kevin Crowley, Brian O’Driscoll (0-2, one 45),Tadhg Brosnan, Sean Kiely, Kevin Kavanagh, Mark Sugrue (1-2), David Harrington, Cathal Vaughan (0-3, 2f), Dan MacEoin (0-5), Stephen O’Mahony (0-1), Cian O’Sullivan (0-2).

Subs
Alan Cadogan for Harrington (37), J Corkery (0-1) for O’Mahony (40), DMurphy for Brosnan (47), Killian McIntyre for O’Sullivan (54), Andy O’Connell for Kavanagh (57).

Clare
Darren Sexton (Kilmurry Ibrickane), OisinVaughan (Ennistymon), Jamie Malone (Corofin)(0-1), Conor Gavin (Clondegad), Stan Lineen (Kilmihil), Darragh McDonagh (St Joseph’s Miltown), Jarlath Colleran (St Joseph’s DooraBarefield),Alan O’Neill (St Joseph’s DooraBarefield), Conor Cleary (St Joseph’s Miltown), Eoin Cleary (St Joseph’s Miltown) (0-2, 1f), Ciaran Devitt (Ennistymon), Joey Rouine (Ennistymon) Martin O’Leary (Kilmihil), Niall Hickey (Kilmurry Ibrickane) (0-3f), Jack Scanlon (O’Curry’s).

Subs
WilliamFlynn (WolfeTones) for Rouine (half-time), LiamCorbett (Corofin) for Devitt (40), Craig O’Brien (WolfeTones) for Lineen (48), Eoin Donnellan (Clondegad) for Scanlon (54).

Man of the Match
Dan McEoin (Cork) Referee Sean Joy (Kerry)

Cork 1-23 – Clare 0-11 at Páirc Uí Chaoimh, Cork

LET’S indulge Clare senior football for a moment by picking positives from what was in the end a 15-point pummelling at the hands of the AllIreland champions.

Ten points from play; the revelation that was Rory Donnelly as he hit five of them in his greatest day in a Clare geansaí; the spirit the side showed in the early stages of the second half when pegging it back to six points.

It was this revival on the back of three points in a row that opened up the possibility of Clare making a game of it with the wind at their backs. Rousing stuff as Cork looked bothered. ALAS, it was Clare who were bothered by the end, especially Graham Kelly as his sending off for the second successive championship match being the final implosion of a home stretch that saw them concede the final seven points of the game to a rampant Cork side.

To say it was a disastrous finale is putting it mildly – the spirit and honest endeavour that had characterised much of their performance was washed away in the welter of controversy near the end.

That it came to this with Kelly leaving the field to a chorus of boos from the Cork supporters in the crowd of 4,186 was rough justice on the rest of the team – they’d taken the fight to Cork thanks to Rory Donnelly’s tour de force and played themselves into the parish of having their honour intact.

This didn’t look like happening in the first half as Cork picked up where the left off in the National League final win over Dublin by cruising into a 1-9 to 0-4 interval lead. They had the wind, but at times it was too easy as they used the midfield dominance of Aidan Walsh and Alan O’Connor to rack up the scores.

Ciaran Sheehan made hay down the right flank; Donncha O’Connor was his chief ally in attack; Daniel Goulding never looked like missing and with that the scores tumbled as they moved 0-6 to 0-2 clear by the 18th minute.

It took a very good save from Joe Hayes to foil Ciaran Sheehan’s goalbound effort in the 20th minute, but a minute later Hayes was powerless to prevent Donncha Walsh palming the ball to the empty net after being put through by Paddy Kelly. Daniel Goulding (2) and Aidan Walsh followed up with points and it was Cork in a canter, with Clare in radical need of surgery around the field.

One change saw Gary Brennan relocated to full-forward, a move that yielded a score before half-time as he slipped Michael Shields before firing over his second point.

Brennan stayed on the edge of the square for the start of the second half as Clare started with Darren O’Neill and Ger Quinlan at midfield and set about making a game of it.

They did just that with three points inside the first three minutes and with that hope floated that Clare could make a game of it. Alan Clohessy, Rory Donnelly and David Tubridy hit those points as the space opened out before Clare’s forwards.

The same space was there for the remainder of the game, but the gaping holes that Cork managed to open up in Clare’s defence meant that whenever danger threatened they had a ready supply of scores on tap.

Clare’s early rally was snuffed out quickly thanks to points from Donncha O’Connor (2) and Pearse O’Neill – a pattern that repeated itself after Donnelly and Tubridy again found the range.

However, when Cork hit four-in-arow between the 52nd and 59th minutes – the last of those coming from full-back Michael Shields – there were reduced to playing for pride in the closing stages.

Pride that took a battering when Graham Kelly received a red card in the 69th minute as Cork cantered to their point-a-man win.

CLARE’S Munster championship is over for another year – the fifth time in the last six year’s that they’ve bowed out at the first hurdle. All that’s left is for some Clare players to get a prized Cork geansaí, and for the management to gather in a huddle on field and mull it over for a few minutes before talking to some waiting pressmen. It’s hard to know which is more depressing – the way it ended with the sending off of Graham Kelly; the result itself or sobering statistic that Clare’s only win in Munster in the last decade have been against Waterford. As for the sending off, manager Micheál McDermott missed the incident that led to the Miltown man seeing red and what happened afterwards as well. He tells us so. “I didn’t really see it to be honest and couldn’t comment on it as a result, but it’s disappointing any time you lose a man on a second yellow. The referee makes decisions and we have to live with that,” he says. “I wouldn’t condone anything,” he adds, “but I didn’t see the incident, so I can’t comment. I am very much a man who lives by discipline on the pitch and discipline off the pitch. I can’t comment on the incident when I didn’t see it, so I’m not going to say yes, I or no, whether to condone or not condone it. It’s only going on hearsay, but I didn’t see it.” What everyone saw was the way Clare imploded near the end in the face of the Cork juggernaut at fulltilt. And, no one is more downcast than McDermott.

“I am very disappointed with the collapse in the last 12 minutes because were competitive,” he says. “We said we were going to take the game to Cork in the second half and we did well to get within six points of them. We just collapsed in the final 12 minutes.

“We lacked a lot leadership on the field in that crucial period – we could have got at them and made life a little bit difficult for them, but at times there the power and strength and physicality of Cork at times made it a miss-match in a lot of areas of the field. That’s what we have to try and live with and that’s what we have to try and progress towards.”

As for the positives, there many before the were out-weighed by the negative ones as Cork’s class came to the fore once more in the closing stages.

“When our forwards got the ball inside, I thought we caused them a lot of trouble. Our full-back line was very, vry competitive, because there was good quality ball going in there. There was a lot of times in the game when we actually played well, but it comes back to that we have to learn from our mistakes.

“We made a lot of mistakes. We carried ball into the tackle and gave away the ball cheaply and that’s where a lot of Cork’s scores came from. That’s disappointing, but we’ll look to the qualifiers now and try and learn from our mistakes.”