Clare come from behind to seal draw in Cork’s backyard

Cork 1-13
Clare 1-13

CORK AND CLARE played out an entertaining draw in Pairc Uí Chaoimh in Division 2 of the Allianz NFL tonight.

In a tie that was level on seven occasions it was the visitors who came from behind to earn a deserved draw as substitutes Emmett McMahon and Daniel Walsh kicked the levelling scores after Brian Hurley had put Cork in pole position to win it.

Cork seemed to be in big trouble with ten minutes to go when Podge Collins was fouled inside the square with ten minutes to go. The excellent Keelan Sexton crashed home the resultant penalty as the Bannner men’s hoodoo over Cork looked set to continue.

Cork managed to get themselves back into the game with scores from Hurley and Mark Cronin before the Castlehaven man found himself standing over a free with a chance to level the game. However, his effort dropped short but managed to squirm into the Clare net and all of a sudden Cork looked set for an unlikely victory.

Cork’s Colm O’Callaghan gets clear.

Source: Ken Sutton/INPHO

Colm Collins’ outfit are made of stern stuff, however, and they kept their cool and etched out the chances that they needed to take a share of the spoils though Cronin did have the chance to win it for the Rebels, but his effort dropped short.

Clare played with the advantage of a significant wind in the opening period, but it was Cork who started the sharper, though they struggled to make their superiority tell on the scoreboard. John O’Rourke and Brain Hurley kicked the Rebels into an early lead with fine scores from play, but Clare were soon level thanks to two Keelan Sexton scores. Blake Murphy then put Cork back in front, but this was followed by a run of three wides for the home side before Jamie Malone brought Clare level for the second time in the eighteenth minute.

Two points in two minutes from Murphy and Hurley then restored Cork’s lead but David Tubridy’s opening score and a free from Sexton made it all square again with ten minutes left to the interval. The impressive Murphy’s third score then slipped Cork back in front, but Clare then began take control as the Rebels struggled to progress beyond midfield. Eoin Cleary tapped over a free for the visitors, Cian O’Dea gave them the lead for the first time with a super score from distance before two superb Sexton strikes from dead balls gave them a 0-9 to 0-6 at the change of ends.

Cork then outscored Clare by 0-5 to 0-2 to level the game again before Sexton’s penalty and the late drama.

It leaves Clare pushing towards the top of the league, while Cork are facing a fight to avoid relegation.

Scorers for Cork: Brian Hurley 1-4 (1-2 fs), Blake Murphy 0-3, Fionn Herlihy 0-2, John O’Rourke Kevin O’Donovan, Seán Powter (free) and Mark Cronin 0-1 each.

Scorers for Clare: Keelan Sexton 1-5 (1-0 pen, 1 ’45, 3 fs), Eoin Cleary 0-2 (fs), Cian O’Dea, Aaron Griffin, David Tubridy, Jamie Malone, Emmett McMahon and Daniel Walsh 0-1 each.

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