Michael Collins scored two goals for the Clare U20 hurlers in their victory over Limerick.
oneills.com Munster U20 Hurling Championship
CORK 0-21 WATERFORD 1-10
CLARE 2-17 LIMERICK 2-15
The meeting of 2023 Eirgrid All-Ireland U-20 hurling champions Cork and Waterford, who came into tonight’s game at Fraher field on a run of five consecutive defeats at this level, went exactly as expected, with the Rebels picking up a comfortable 0-21 to 1-10 victory.
There are hurling games where eight points is not a lot, but 21 scores to 11 was probably a fairer reflection on proceedings and it felt like a game where if Cork needed to win by more, they could have.
When the tie was still up for grabs, Cork were at their best. They built up an 0-14 to 0-5 interval lead while playing with a tricky, diagonal breeze, with Jack Leahy firing over seven of those points. More significantly, it was 0-8 to 0-1 after 15 minutes, hot on the heels of Cork hitting seven in succession.
The half-forward line of Tadhg O’Connell, Darragh O’Sullivan and Oran O’Regan also weighed in with five between them, often finishing off slick team moves that saw the Rebels move the ball from one end of the field to the other without opening the door for Waterford to get in a meaningful tackle.
Charlie Treen (0-8, 0-7f) and Patrick Fitzgerald (0-2, 0-1f) worked hard along the spine of the Waterford attack, but this was a game where Cork were always in complete control, holding Waterford to just those two points from play until Conor Tobin struck a late, late consolation goal.
As expected, the local derby at Sixmilebridge was a much more lively, evenly-contested affair, albeit Clare were the better team for much longer stretches. However Limerick’s scoring burst of 2-3 before half-time looked like it might have been enough to see them home, but a late point from the impressive Seán Rynne and two Conor Whelan frees, bringing his tally to 0-7, gave the Banner men a 2-17 to 2-15 win.
Michael Collins got the first of his two goals to help Clare to lead by 1-6 to 0-3 midway through the first half, but a route one goal, clinically finished the net by Oisín O’Farrell, opened the door for Limerick to finish the half very strongly.
The visitors, who were hurling into the freshening wind, got back to within a point before Robert O’Farrell intercepted a stray Clare pass and delivered a deadly finish to give Limerick a 2-8 to 1-9 interval lead.
Clare were much improved after the break however as they played a much more thoughtful and effective brand of hurling into the wind. A point from Rynne and Collins’ second goal put them in the ascendancy, though a run of points by Donal Coughlan, Oisin O'Farrell and Con Hayes put Limerick back into the lead going into the closing minutes.
That was all the time Clare needed to strike late and snatch what feels like a significant win for a team that started with seven of last year’s All-Ireland minor championship winning side.
