'It's the character' - Madden hails Banner resolve after reeling in Laois 

ROUSING SCORE: Clare's Aaron Griffin. Pic: Ray McManus/Sportsfile

NFL Division 3: Clare 0-24 Laois 2-15 

Clare had to roll with the punches of a thrilling rollercoaster ride with 14-man Laois before finally unearthing a seven-point second half turnaround to complete back-to-back victories in Ennis.

In a real seesaw tie that saw the lead change hands eight times amidst a flurry of spectacular two-pointers, a win of any kind was almost a prerequisite for both teams for their Division 3 promotion hopes.

“We’ve only a record of two from four but the last two matches have been wins and we’ve needed them,: admitted Clare Manager Paul Madden. “Look, there’s no doubt that we made hard work of it, we really did. We had a great start and a great finish and there was a lot of stuff in the middle that we wouldn’t be overly happy with but look, a win is a win and it’s point on the board which we need right now.” 

A home victory was far from a certainly despite having a numerical advantage for the majority of the final 50 minutes after Laois’ Brian Byrne was handed a straight red for an off-the-ball incident with Ikem Ugwueru in the 22nd minute.

With a wind-assisted Laois only leading by 0-5 to 0-4 at the time, it looked to be curtains for the visitors but it would be far from straightforward for Clare to finally turn the tide in their favour.

Clare native Killian Roche stepped up to arrow over a two-pointer that ensured that Laois kept their noses in front by the break at 0-9 to 0-8.

Clare’s attempt to wrestle back control with the wind didn’t initially far much better as Evan O’Carroll’s 41st-minute opportunist goal put Laois four clear at 1-10 to 0-09.

Rousing two-pointers from Aaron Griffin and Eoin Cleary kickstarted Clare’s challenge once more as they kicked seven unanswered points over the next six minutes, five from former captain Cleary at 0-16 to 1-10.

However, Laois would remain in touch and could even afford to see an Evan O’Carroll penalty at the three quarters mark repelled by a combination of home goalkeeper Stephen Ryan and post before they remarkably snatch back the lead once more.

That penalty incident would also see Cillian Brennan black-carded to even up the numbers while Clare’s fortune appeared to have deserted them at just the wrong time when seeing Brian McNamara’s goal attempt just drift wide of the right post entering the final ten minutes, only for the ball to end up in the opposite next only seconds later.

Patrick O’Sullivan placed an incisive one-two with talisman O’Carroll to flick to the net at the back post and catapult Laois 2-14 to 0-17 clear by the 61st minute.

However, upon Brennan’s return, the Banner would save their best for last as further two pointers through replacement Cormac Murray and Aaron Griffin would eventually steer Madden’s side over the line for a second successive win.

“That’s the one thing I said to the lads in the huddle afterwards, if I’m going to praise anything from this game, it’s the character. In the past, if you go behind like that so late, you lose but the boys kept going and they were rewarded for that endeavour," added Madden.

“I thought the substitutes made a huge impact. Cormac [Murray] got three points and Jamie Stack is a great tackler and stopped the last kick-out to score the final point.

“So overall it wasn’t a great performance to be honest but it’s a win and look, we’re still alive in the division and we’re heading to Limerick next Saturday for a big local derby.” 

Scorers for Clare: E Cleary 0-10 (1tpf, 2f); A Griffin 0-6 (2tp, 1f); M McInerney (1f), C Murray (1tp) 0-3 each; D Coughlan, J Stack 0-1 each 

Scorers for Laois: E O’Carroll 1-5 (3f); K Roche 0-4 (2tpf); P O’Sullivan 1-0; Brian Byrne (1tp), Rioghan Murphy (1f) 0-2 each; Ciaran Burke, Darren Brennan 0-1 each 

Clare: S Ryan; A Sweeney, R Lanigan, M Doherty; I Ugwueru, C Meaney, B Rouine; C Brennan; B McNamara; D Walsh, D Coughlan, J Vaughan; E Cleary, M McInerney, A Griffin Subs: C Murray for McInerney (46, inj), S Griffin for Walsh (49), J Stack for Vaughan (62) 

Laois: K Roche; B Dempsey, T Collins, S Fingleton; P O’Sullivan, K Swayne, J Lacey; R Tyrrell, M Dempsey; J Hogan, B Byrne, C Heffernan; R Murphy, E O’Carroll, D Galvin Subs: J Darcy for Lacey (HT), D Brennan for Hogan (HT), C Burke for M. Dempsey (46), R Coffey for Galvin (49), P Kingston for Tyrrell (59) Referee: J Molloy (Galway)