In a challenge game of two halves on Wednesday night at Fraher Field, an unfamiliar Clare side zipped the ball about with confidence and sprinted clear of their hosts. They shot a jaw dropping 2-14 in the second half as opposed to just four points.
Clare punished Waterford’s wastefulness during the first period. They spurned six chances over the opening twenty minutes. Shane Bennett missed two, Kevin Moran struck the post, Thomas Connors saw his shot saved by Donal Tuohy while Jake Dillon and Martin O’Neill sent their efforts astray. Waterford had also recorded eight wides by the time they reached the dressing rooms. David Reidy and Darach Honan made no mistake at the road goal after the break. Bobby Duggan was a danger from start to finish and scored eight points (five frees and three from play). Aaron Cunningham walloped three in the second half.
Waterford practically fielded two different teams as only Barry Coughlan, John Morrissey, Austin Gleeson and Donie Breathnach lasted the full seventy. Martin O’Neill, Donie Breathnach and Austin Gleeson gave a good account of themselves but the eleven substitutes appeared to disrupt a positive first half and it was hard for the new recruits to stand out.
49 different players were used between both sides (26 for Waterford and 23 for Clare). Davy Fitzgerald started with seven All Ireland under 21 winners but turned to the likes of Patrick Kelly, Brendan Bugler, Nicky O'Connell and Darach Honan in the second half. Eleven of Derek McGrath’s fifteen had previous senior championship experience. He emptied an inexperienced subs bench after the break.
The home side only scored seven points from play compared to Clare’s 2-14. Two of the six starting forwards registered (Thomas Connors and Tom Devine). Substitutes Tommy Waring, Eamonn Power and Pa O’Donovan all got on the scoresheet but they weren’t on long enough to perform a decent audition. Kevin Moran and Michael Walsh started in the half forward line and the latter spent time at full forward. He distributed the ball around yet looked uncomfortable when turning to shoot. Tom Devine lined out at fourteen and made a couple of good contributions but couldn’t win the ball cleanly.
A fabulous display of free taking from Martin O'Neill powered Waterford into a commanding position by half time (0-13 to 0-6). Clare duo Bobby Duggan and Cathal O’Connell sparkled early on with two points apiece before O’Neill took centre stage. The Mount Sion marksman was particularly impressive from distance. He fired in five frees, four 65s and one from play. A nice point tight to the sideline by Thomas Connors opened up a five point gap (0-9 to 0-4). Clare went 18 minutes without a score before Duggan grabbed two back. O’Neill finished the half with three in a row to bring his personal total to ten and Tom Devine charged through the centre to blast over.
Waterford should have rattled the cobwebs at least once by that stage as they showed an appetite for goals instead tapping over easy points. Shane Bennett's shot was blocked in the second minute after a Jake Dillon pass. A flowing move started by Austin Gleeson featured contributions from Donie Breathnach and Thomas Connors before Dillon shot wide. Bennett fed Kevin Moran but his rasper struck the left hand post. Connors then forced Donal Tuohy to save. These four chances occurred inside the first ten minutes. Bennett approached from the right wing on 12 minutes but fluffed his lines and the sliotar scuttled harmlessly wide. Martin O'Neill was at the end of opportunity number six and his effort whizzed narrowly wide.
It was a different tale from the start of the second period as Fitzgerald’s men bagged 1-4 without reply. Six minutes in, Ian O’Regan got a stick to David Reidy’s shot but couldn’t keep it out and the ball nestled in the bottom corner. Duggan followed that up with a sweet point straight off his stick as Clare took over and implemented their short game. O’Neill lit up the first half but didn’t reappear and the host of changes appeared to weaken the home team.
A fine brace from Aaron Cunningham allowed the Banner hit the front and substitute Mikey O'Malley also helped himself to two points. Eamonn Power and Pa O'Donovan briefly interrupted but Clare were utterly on top as Brendan Bugler launched one from midfield and Bobby Duggan continued to pick off his scores. Seven minutes from the finish, Darach Honan pounced on a spillage by substitute goalkeeper Eddie Lynch and his goal settled the outcome emphatically. Waterford's challenge petered out yet the glut of missed chances and the chopping and changing undertaken in the second half skewed the final score somewhat. Certainly if the first half team stayed on the field, it would have been a lot closer at the end.
The management team looked at 36 players over the four December games and attempted to mix and match the old and the new. Martin O'Neill's prolific outings against Galway and Clare and Michael Kearney's input of 1-3 versus Dublin made a persuasive case for more minutes in 2015. Apart from those two, it was very hard to pick out other players that will shake up the panel. How many newbies will be integrated into the first team and where McGrath will accommodate the various pieces will create plenty of discussion into the New Year especially when players like Tadhg De Burca, Philip Mahony, Jamie Barron, Colin Dunford and Stephen Bennett are available for selection. One of these conundrums is the positioning of Michael Walsh. Combinations must be settled upon ahead of the trip to the Gaelic Grounds in February and understandings will have to develop. More tweaking can be expected when Davy Fitzgerald visits Waterford on January 11 with his LIT side for the preliminary round of the Crystal Cup. Results will mean a lot more at that stage.
Scorers for Waterford: M O’Neill 0-10 (5fs, 4 65s), D Breathnach 0-2 (1f), T Connors, T Devine, T Waring, P O’Donovan, E Power 0-1 each.
Scorers for Clare: B Duggan 0-8 (5fs), D Reidy 1-1, D Honan 1-0, A Cunningham 0-3, C O’Connell, D Keane (1f), M O’Malley 0-2 each, B Bugler, N O’Connell 0-1 each.
Waterford: I O’Regan; S Fives, B Coughlan, J Morrissey; G O’Brien, A Gleeson, S O’Sullivan; M O’Neill, D Breathnach; K Moran, T Connors, M Walsh; S Bennett, T Devine, J Dillon.
Subs used: M O’Brien, DJ Foran, M Harney, P O’Donovan, T Waring, C Curran, P Walsh, M Flynn, C Murray, E Power, E Lynch.
Clare: D Tuohy; D O’Donovan, C Duggan, S McNamara; G O’Connell, C Cleary, P Flanagan; E Enright, S O’Halloran; D Keane, B Duggan, C Malone; C O’Connell, D Reidy, A Cunningham.
Subs used: P O’Connor, B Bugler, N O’Connell, D Honan, S Golden, M O’Malley, P Kelly, D McInerney.
Referee: M O’Brien (Waterford)
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