Cork stroll past Clare in Munster Championship

Clare 1-11 Cork 1-18

Cork launched the defence of their Munster SHC title at Semple Stadium this afternoon with their fifth successive championship victory over Clare.

Gerald McCarthy's Rebels were stretched at times, but with their dominance in the half-back and midfield sectors, the defending champions were never headed in front of a 23,448-strong crowd.

The tension was evident before the throw-in as, in an idiotic scenario, both teams were allowed to leave their dressing rooms and grace the pitch at the same time.

Emerging from the stadium's sandwiched confines, a number of players were seen to clash and clatter into each other as the sides thundered out onto the pitch.

Scuffling broke out, hurls were raised, cameramen and officials raced to the scene, but when temperatures were cooled it was Cork, playing into the wind, who let their hurling do the talking.

Captain Kieran Murphy, Niall McCarthy and the O'Connor twins, Ben and Jerry, all found the target as McCarthy's side took an early 0-4 to 0-0 lead.

In what was a lacklustre first half, with the usual championship vigour strangely absent, Clare hit back with three straight points from Jonathan Clancy, Niall Gilligan and Barry Nugent.

Yet Cork, who beat the Banner men in the 2005 and 2006 championships, owned the remainder of the half with McCarthy, Sarsfields' Kieran Murphy, who was a late inclusion for Timmy McCarthy, and ever-reliable free-taker Joe Deane, who landed three frees in the closing minutes, adding to their side's tally.

The champions led 0-9 to 0-4 at the break, with Andrew Quinn squeezing in Clare's fourth just before the half-time whistle.

Both sides hit five wides apiece in the opening 35 minutes, but the quality of hurling and marksmanship improved in the second period with Cork enjoying an immediate purple patch.

On 39 minutes, Patrick Cronin notched a well-taken goal to crown his championship debut, lashing past the advancing Philip Brennan from the right edge of the square, after accepting a clever reverse pass from Sarsfields clubman Murphy.

Points from Tom Kenny and Cronin nudged Cork 1-12 to 0-4 ahead before Tony Considine's Clare side awoke into life.

They hit 1-3 without reply, with Niall Gilligan, who showed good strength to hold off Sean Og O hAilpin, smacking home a 47th-minute goal - his county's first in a championship match against Cork since Stephen McNamara netted a full decade ago.

Clare cut the gap to just five points when Nugent and Andrew Quinn both split the posts, but two poor wides from Quinn and Gilligan, following by a rallying score from O hAilpin, robbed Considine's men of some much-needed momentum.

Cork comfortably saw out the win in the closing 15 minutes, with the classy Ben O'Connor landing four points, in between scores from Clare substitutes Declan O'Rourke and Bernard Gaffney, and Alan Markham, who cracked over the game's final point from a '65'.

But the Cork management are evidently concerned that midfielder Jerry O'Connor, who picked up a hamstring injury, could be out of the Rebels' mouth-watering Munster semi-final clash with league champions Waterford on June 17.

CLARE: P Brennan; G O'Grady, B O'Connell, F Lohan; A Markham (0-1, 1 '65'), B Bugler, G Quinn; B Bugler, K Dilleen; J Clancy (0-1), F Lynch, N Gilligan (1-1, 0-1f), A Quinn (0-2), C Lynch, B Nugent (0-4).

Subs used: B Gaffney (0-1, 1f) for C Lynch (17-20 mins, blood sub), Gaffney for F Lynch (30), D O'Rourke (0-1) for Clancy (half-time), C Ryan for C Lynch (57), D Quinn for Ryan (65).

CORK: D Sg Cusack; B Murphy, D O'Sullivan, C O'Connor; J Gardiner (0-1, 1f), R Curran, S Sg S hAilpmn (0-1); T Kenny (0-1), J O'Connor (0-1); Kieran Murphy (Erin's Own) (0-1), N McCarthy (0-2), P Cronin (1-1); B O'Connor (0-5, 4f), Kieran Murphy (Sarsfields) (0-2), J Deane (0-3, 3f).

Subs used: N Ronan for K Murphy (Sarsfields) (47 mins), C Naughton for Deane (60), K Hartnett for J O'Connor (61).

Referee: Pat O'Connor (Limerick)