Clare 1-15 Kilkenny 3-10
Kilkenny secured a second successive win in Division IA of the Allianz Hurling League following a narrow defeat of Clare at Cusack Park, Ennis on Sunday.
Despite losing their opening two games in the competition, the Cats are now in with a chance of making the semi-finals of the competiton. Davy Fitzgerald’s side remain in the mix, too, with four points from two games, but they will see this as a missed opportunity, especially as they hit 16 wides against an understrength Kilkenny side.
Kilkenny led by 2-7 to 1-7 at the break, with Lester Ryan putting them ahead with a goal on the stroke of half-time. In the opening stages, Clare dominated and were 1-1 to 0-2 ahead after five minutes when corner forward Colm Galvin found the back of the net.
However, Brian Cody’s side responded with a goal for Kilkenny two minutes later and the rest of the first half was pretty even, with Colin Ryan, who would finish the game with 0-11, trading scores with Kilkenny’s Aidan Fogarty and Richie Hogan.
The Banner County were undone by some very poor shooting in the second half, and they hit 12 wides in total in the second period, which will be a source of deep frustration for manager Fitzgerald. Aidan Fogarty’s goal on 51 minutes proved crucial.
Clare maintained contact with some excellent scores from frees from the ever-reliable Ryan, but in the end they fell just a point short and with it missed a great chance to claim a big scalp.
By Mary Morgan Mon 25th Mar
