Clare dig deep to reel Kilkenny in and book All-Ireland final slot
All-Ireland SHC semi-final: Clare 0-24 Kilkenny 2-16
There was no way other than the hard way. Having suffered agonising defeats in Munster finals and in Croke Park over the last three years Clare are back in the All-Ireland final for the first time since 2013. In a convulsive second half they found whatever had been missing and stormed down the home straight, shooting the last six points.
It was a stunning comeback. In a tense and sometimes suffocating match Kilkenny led by five points at half-time, and by six in the middle of the third quarter after Billy Ryan had feasted on a mistake for their second goal. But from then to the finish Clare outscored Kilkenny by 0-12 to 0-4, rejecting every opportunity to crack or fall down.
Clare have fallen off a cliff so often in tight games over the last two or three years that this was an acid test of their nerve. When TJ Reid put Kilkenny four points clear with his final score, 12 minutes from the end of normal time, it was hard to see Clare recovering without a goal.
Instead, they took over. Tony Kelly, who had been anonymous in the first half, and peripheral after that, charged into the game and landed two late points. Ryan Taylor, who tore his cruciate ligament in the All-Ireland semi-final last year, made a massive impact off the bench in his first appearance of the season and his pace and calmness on the ball unhinged the Kilkenny half backs.
[ Clare 0-24 Kilkenny 2-16: As it happened ]
Whatever tenuous grip the Kilkenny defence had exerted over Shane O’Donnell in the first half was long since sundered and his fingerprints were all over Clare’s final surge. Aidan McCarthy, who had been dropped for the quarter-final, was flawless from frees too and landed two crucial shots late in game, both from an acute angle in front of the Cusack Stand. In the Munster final his freetaking had been part of the problem. He buried that ghost.
In the frantic endgame Kilkenny were unusually rattled. Adrian Mullen was taken off, eclipsed by the outstanding David McInerney, and Eoin Cody, who had been so dangerous in the first half, was worn down by Adam Hogan. All over the field Clare won contests for the ball, in the air and on the ground.
Kilkenny's Eoin Cody scores a goal during the All-Ireland SHC semi-final against Clare at Croke Park. Photograph: Bryan Keane/Inpho
With Kilkenny trailing by a point Reid missed two frees – one from nearly 100 metres, and the other from in front of the Hogan Stand. Reid has made a trifle of difficult frees so often in his career that it wouldn’t have been a surprise if he had landed both of them; instead they both drifted wide.
Kilkenny will wonder how they lost so much altitude. They dominated the first half and if their finishing had been clinical the game would have been over. The game was only 10 minutes old with Eibhear Quilligan made a stunning save from Cian Kenny, and another from Mullen in the same passage of play.
Just three minutes later Mikey Carey burst through the cover, and with only Quilligan to beat, the Clare goalkeeper came off his line and smothered Carey’s shot.
Kilkenny’s first goal, when it finally came four minutes before half-time, was a stunning piece of improvisation. When Cody ran into traffic he tossed the ball up, like he was hitting a serve, and beat Quilligan with a forehand smash.
Kilkenny led by 1-10 to 0-8 at the break and it was an accurate reflection of their superiority. In the first half they had set the pace, committing extra bodies to the middle third and leaving Cody inside, sometimes on his own but usually with one other. Clare didn’t provide their inside defenders with any extra cover and every time the ball went in there was danger.
The Leinster champions hustled and hunted and shut down space with terrific intensity and Clare were unable to build a rhythm. Kelly started at centrefield, just as he had done in the quarter-final, but he couldn’t get his hands on the ball. It would be overstating Kenny’s role to describe him as Kelly’s marker but he was Kelly’s direct opponent and in the opening half he was also the most influential player around the middle. By half-time he had scored two points from play.
Clare defend a late Kilkenny free at Croke Park. Photograph: Ryan Byrne/Inpho
For Kilkenny everything was easier. They had no difficulty getting their puck-outs away and when Eoin Murphy varied the length of his restarts he was able to find players in pockets of space.
Clare made a blistering start to the second half, and scored more points in the third quarter – nine – than they had done in the entire first half. But they had also conceded a concussive goal. Quilligan put his hurley to a long free that had dropped short, but he didn’t quite stun it, and as he chased the ball away from goal he lost control. Billy Ryan picked it up and drove into the net.
That put Kilkenny 2-12 to 0-12 in front and even though they were playing into a fresh breeze it was hard see how they would lose it from there.
Clare saw it another way.
CLARE: E Quilligan; A Hogan, C Cleary, C Leen; D Ryan, J Conlon, D McInerney; C Malone, T Kelly (0-3); D Fitzgerald (0-2), S O’Donnell (0-1), P Duggan (0-1); A McCarthy (0-11, 0-9f), M Rodgers (0-2), D Reidy (0-3).
Subs: R Taylor for Malone (50 mins); I Galvin (0-1) for Fitzgerald (56); A Shanagher for Reidy (60); D Lohan for Duggan (70+3).
KILKENNY: E Murphy; M Butler, H Lawlor, T Walsh; D Blanchfield (0-1), R Reid, M Carey (0-1); C Kenny (0-2), P Deegan (0-1); A Mullen, TJ Reid (0-7, 4f, 1 65, 1 s-l), B Ryan (1-2); M Keoghan, J Donnelly (0-2), E Cody (1-0).
Subs: W Walsh for Keoghan (57 mins); T Phelan for Mullen (63); C Fogarty for Ryan (67).
Referee: Liam Gordon (Galway).
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