All-Ireland SHC semi-final

KILKENNY 1-25 CLARE 1-22

By John Harrington at Croke Park

In a match of fine margins, an inspired piece of goalkeeping from Kilkenny’s Eoin Murphy ensured Kilkenny march on to an All-Ireland Final date with Limerick for the second year in a row.

Deep in injury-time he flew through the air to tip a scorching first-time shot from Peter Duggan onto his cross-bar and, eventually, away to safety.

Had that ball hit the back of the net the teams would have been level again with time almost up, and this might be a very different match report.

In the final reckoning it was a deserved win for a more clinical Kilkenny team, but Clare will have no shortage of regrets.

Some rash tackling cost them dearly, with a tally of 10 converted TJ Reid frees telling a story of its own.

They’ll also reflect that the decision to select Seadna Morey as a sweeper in the first half ultimately didn’t pay off.

Morey hurled a lot of ball but Clare trailed by five points at half-time and posed a much bigger attacking threat in the second-half when they went man for man.

Even then though their forwards struggled to find the sort of attacking fluency that was a hallmark of their campaign to date, with Tony Kelly in particular well marshalled by the Kilkenny defence.

Shane O’Donnell did his best to inspire those around him, but Clare ultimately didn’t have a player as clinical as Kilkenny’s Eoin Cody who hit 1-5 from play in a man of the match performance.

Prominent from the get-go, he was directly involved in Kilkenny’s first three scores, winning two frees that TJ Reid converted and scoring one himself.

At the other end of the field Clare looked dangerous in the early exchanges too, as Ryan Taylor and Peter Duggan landed two sweet points.

But as the half progressed, Kilkenny’s dominance grew steadily. More often than not they outhustled Clare in contests for possession and their hooking, blocking, and tackling was all of the highest order.

Adrian Mullen’s point on 12 minutes when he blocked down Cathal Malone and the fired the ball over the bar summed up his team’s impressive work-ethic.

Crucially, Kilkenny were much more disciplined in the tackle than Clare were, and the frequency with which the Banner county players conceded frees in scorable positions was a real problem for them because TJ Reid was not in the mood to misss.

The big moments kept coming from Kilkenny, as Huw Lawlor charged forward from full-back for a mighty point that put his team 0-8 to 0-5 ahead.

The Cats then created the first real goal-scoring chance of the match as Billy Ryan did well to put Reid through on goal, but his fiercely struck shot was brilliantly saved by Eibhear Quilligan.

Tony Kelly and David Fitzgerald did their best to rouse their team-mates with two nice points, but their concession of cheap frees remained a real Achilles heel and two more frees from Reid increased Kilkenny’s advantage to four.

Then came another moment of defensive excellence from Kilkenny when Conor Fogarty heroically blocked a Mark Rodgers shot on goal that most likely would have ended up in the net had the not put his body on the line as bravely as he did.

After a rocky start Rory Hayes had been doing well to contain Eoin Cody, but the balance of power swung again in the closing minutes of the half as the Ballyhale Shamrocks man landed two more points that helped his team into a 0-15 to 0-10 half-time lead.

Clare changed things up tactically at the start of the second-half as they went man for man and pushed higher up on Kilkenny. It quickly paid off.

Midfielder David Fitzgerald, especially, thundered into the contest, but all over the pitch there was greater intensity from the Munster men.

They scored the first three points of the half to get their supporters into the game, and drew level by the 51st minute as Mark Rodgers converted three frees in quick succession.

When David Reidy landed a nice point after a storming run from Fitzgerald and Rodgers followed up with another free he’d won himself, Clare were two points ahead and had all the momentum.

But then they shot themselves in the foot. Eibhear Quilligan hit a short puck-out to Rory Hayes and then he and the defender played a one-two that left Hayes in trouble and ultimately stripped of the ball by Billy Ryan.

TJ Reid raced onto the breaking ball, drew the defensive cover, and played in Cody who lashed a piledriver to the back of the net.

Clare’s self-belief seemed to wilt as a TJ Reid sideline and Cian Kenny point pushed Kilkenny three ahead, but then Shane O’Donnell dragged them right back into the contest when he scored a cracking goal.

He burst past marker Tommy Walsh and lashed a shot to the top corner of the net that not even Eoin Murphy could get anywhere near.

The teams were level again with six minutes of normal time to play, but when the game was there to be won it was Kilkenny who showed the greater composure.

Veterans Walter Walsh and Richie Hogan displayed all their experience to win two frees that Reid converted, but, again, they were poor ones to give away from a Clare point of view.

The gap remained at three points as the game ticked towards the last minute of injury-time and then came that pivotal moment when Murphy saved brilliantly from Duggan.

Diarmuid Ryan did manage to score a point for Clare seconds later, but it was never going to be enough and Kilkenny put the seal on their victory when substitute Padraig Walsh scored the last point of the match.

They march on to the All-Ireland Final where they’ll have a crack at the current Kingpins of the game, Limerick, for the second year in a row.

Scorers for Kilkenny: TJ Reid 0-12 (10f, 1 sideline, 1 ’65), Eoin Cody 1-5, Adrian Mullen 0-2, Huw Lawlor, Paddy Deegan, Tom Phelan, Billy Ryan, Padraig Walsh, Cian Kenny 0-1.

Scorers for Clare: Mark Rodgers 0-10 (6f, 3 ’65), Shane O’Donnell 1-1, David Fitzgerald 0-3, Diarmuid Ryan, David McInerney, Cathal Malone, Peter Duggan, Tony Kelly, Ryan Taylor, Ian Galvin, David Reidy all 0-1

KILKENNY: Eoin Murphy; Mikey Butler, Huw Lawlor, Tommy Walsh; David Blanchfield, Richie Reid, Paddy Deegan; Conor Fogarty, Adrian Mullen; Tom Phelan, Martin Keoghan, John Donnelly; Billy Ryan, TJ Reid, Eoin Cody. Subs: Walter Walsh for Martin Keoghan (44), Cian Kenny for John Donnelly (54), Cillian Buckley for Conor Fogarty (56), Richie Hogan for Tom Phelan (60), Padraig Walsh for Billy Ryan (68)

CLARE: Eibhear Quilligan; Adam Hogan, Conor Cleary, Rory Hayes; Diarmuid Ryan, John Conlon, David McInerney; Cathal Malone, David Fitzgerald; Peter Duggan, Tony Kelly, Ryan Taylor; Séadna Morey, Shane O’Donnell, Mark Rodgers. Subs: David Reidy for Ryan Taylor (33), Ian Galvin for Seadna Morey (ht), Aron Shanager for David Reidy (71)

Ref: Colm Lyons (Cork)