Cork 2-12 Clare 2-9 Road trips are to Cork's liking in this new era of harmony under Donal O'Grady. Yesterday, they raided full points against a leaden Clare in Ennis on a forlorn and drenched afternoon.
Their win adds a dash of intrigue to a league that was threatening to reduce itself to a one-horse canter and spells trouble for the Banner county, whose last two matches will be of academic interest.
Under a quiet and steady fall of rain, this was a muted and poor game. Clare find themselves in a situation that mirrors that of a year ago, when indifferent spring form left them with a lot to ponder. Although they came within a snap Donal Óg Cusack save from forcing a draw here, they fact was they laboured across the field for much of the 70 minutes.
"Yeah, Clare look sluggish now," observed manager Cyril Lyons as he stood in the bare, cold dressing-rooms under Cusack Park. "Even if this wasn't a brilliant game, it was effort more than anything that kept them in touch. When you lose, you have problems and we have lost three in a row now."
Whereas Cork are on something of a winning streak. Reading this match from their perspective will be puzzling enough. Forced to alter their selected team, with Mark Prendergast, Mickey O'Connell and Timmy McCarthy all unavailable, they dominated without quite making the impression on the scoreboard they would have liked. Alan Browne's fine 66th-minute goal appeared to end the issue, and a series of Ben O'Connor frees eased them into a 2-12 to 1-7 lead with just one minute remaining.
But Clare, sporadic at best in attack, stung them for 1-2 over the next two minutes, with Niall Gilligan firing a shot through traffic that could have earned the home side a share of the joy. Instead, O'Grady, peering out at the world through heavy-duty rain gear, reflected on Cork's handsome league state with little fuss.
"Ah, I felt all the players did well enough under very difficult circumstances. We are getting effort in abundance and that is what matters to us."
Wayne Sherlock excelled. The Blackrock defender completely bottled up Daithi O'Connell and was hardly bettered to a single ball. The burly Diarmuid O'Sullivan appeared to revel in the freedom that his wing-half role brought him, while Seanie McGrath was the source of Cork's most flowing attacks. Repeatedly, he surged down the middle of Clare's defence, creating gaps that alarmed the local support.
Clare's consolations were of a more stoic nature. As ever, Colin Lynch hurled on resolutely all through, Davy Fitzgerald denied perhaps two odds-on Cork goal chances early in the second half and David Hoey hurled a lot of ball for the home team. Seanie McMahon was frustrated by a number of referee Aidan MacSuibhne's decisions, and it was a match that saw Jamesie O'Connor auditioning for a role that suited him before a hamstring injury ended his participation.
Clare were probably happy to trail by just 0-4 to 0-6 after a drab first half, and, after seeing Fitzgerald execute dramatic denials from strokes by Ben O'Connor and Joe Deane, they grabbed their only lead of the game in the 47th minute. Tony Carmody buried the goal chance after Barry Murphy squared a flat pass for his colleague.
Cork responded boldly from Cusack's lengthy puc-out, with the lively Ben O'Connor tearing down on goal and Seán Ó hAilpín hammering Fitzgerald's parried save to the net. A finely angled point from O'Connor offered further discouragement for Clare.
By this time, their attack was blunted and Alan Browne and O'Sullivan were forcing a lot of ball Cork's way from midfield. Clare's reasons for cheer were isolated - Barry Murphy finished a well-worked move on 51 minutes and Eamon Taffe drew hand-claps by fetching and pointing a Fitzgerald clearance. They were hanging in, but the signs were worrying.
Gilligan's early influence was cut off. Ó hAilpín's size and ability had begun to trouble the Clare full-back line, who were soaking up a lot of pressure. On 60 minutes, Ó hAilpín broke a ball and toe-poked it ahead for Browne, whose pick-up at speed was perfect. For once, Fitzgerald had no answer. The gallant charge at the death never looked like being enough, nor did it deserve to be.
Cork move further away from the internal storms that cast a doubt over their season at the turn of the year. They left Ennis with a bounce to their step.
CORK: D Og Cusack; W Sherlock, P Mulcahy, M Fitzgerald; D O'Sullivan, R Curran, T Kenny; P Tierney, J Barrett; S McGrath (0-1), N McCarthy (0-3), B O'Connor (0-5, 3 frees); E Fitzgerald, J Deane (0-3, 2 frees), A Brown (1-0). Substitutes: S O hAilpin (1-0) for E Fitzgerald (27 mins), J Gardiner for J Barrett (59 mins), K Murphy for S O hAilpin (62 mins blood), S O hAilpin for M Murphy (64 mins), B Murphy for D O'Sullivan (70 mins).
CLARE: D Fitzgerald; B Quinn, B Lohan, F Lohan; C Plunkett, S McMahon, D Hoey; C Lynch (0-1), G Quinn; T Griffin (0-1), A Markham, J O'Connor; N Gilligan (0-5, 1 free), T Carmody (1-0), D O'Connell. Substitutes: B Murphy (0-1) for D O'Connell (half-time), F Lynch for J O'Connor (39 mins, inj), E Taffe (1-1) for T Carmody (42 mins).
Referee: A MacSiobhne (Dublin).
