Clifford brothers guide Kerry to victory over spirited Clare but O'Sullivan joins injury list

The opening defence of Kerry's Munster and All-Ireland titles has gone to plan, but the treatment table will continue to be terribly busy over the next fortnight.

David Clifford of Kerry fouls Ikem Ugwueru of Clare. Pic: Natasha Barton/Inpho

Munster SFC semi-final: Kerry 2-19 Clare 1-14

It might have taken two fortuitous goals to embellish the margin of victory, but Kerry have got some of the dirty petrol out of the system as they overcame a competitive Clare in this Munster SFC semi-final before a crowd of 5,526 at Cusack Park in Ennis.

The Clifford brothers, who combined for a tally of 2-10 by the final whistle, were the men who raised the green flags for the visitors, in the 43rd and 61st minutes respectively, but there was an element of slight good fortune in both instances.

The winners won’t care much about that, but they will be concerned at losing Tom O’Sullivan to an already lengthy injury list in the early stages of the second half, though Diarmuid O’Connor’s three-point return, and Gavin White’s late cameo, are huge bonuses for Jack O’Connor.

The hosts swung a positional surprise from the outset, with centre-forward Ikem Ugwueru moving straight back to pick up David Clifford from the throw-in. The powerful Éire Óg man certainly competed well against the Fossa star in the opening half.

Returning from injury, it was Paudie Clifford who made the brightest start, settling into his usual role as Kingdom playmaker, and he had the game’s first three points, including a long-range orange flag free, before Aaron Griffin opened Clare’s account in the fourth minute.

Griffin’s liveliness forced the provincial champions into switching Tom O’Sullivan deeper, not before the corner-forward had his second from play, and with the impressive Brian McNamara adding another, Clare were only a point adrift (0-4 to 0-3) after 14 minutes.

Kerry were understandably a little rusty, but they did hit a brief purple patch – David Clifford’s first two-point free, and a point by Micheál Burns pushing them four up – before the Banner struck for a priceless goal.

McNamara, whose direct running from midfield was troubling Kerry, was probably shooting for a point off his left leg but, when his effort dropped short, it was Clare corner-back Alan Sweeney who reacted faster than anyone to fist to the Kerry net (0-7 to 1-3).

With O’Connor and Connor Meaney exchanging points, Clare were only a point behind heading into the last ten minutes of the half before, belatedly, the Kingdom upped the tempo with five unanswered points to build a better cushion.

David Clifford added three, including his second orange flag placed ball, with O’Connor, again, and Keith Evans also on the mark, but a titanic two-pointer by Mark McInerney left Clare well in contention at half-time (0-13 to 1-6), despite losing attacker Eoin Cleary to injury.

The second half was slow to get going but, by the time David Clifford’s attempt at a long-range point dropped short, forcing a mishap within the Clare defence, Paudie Clifford bundled finish from point-blank range had Kerry eight points up (1-15 to 1-7) after 43 minutes.

O’Sullivan had departed by that juncture, which is a worry ahead of the Munster final, and the ingenuity of Griffin and McInerney up front for Clare – they struck 0-10 between the pair – always kept Paul Madden’s side in a respectable position.

The visitors could have sealed victory long before they did, with Mark O’Shea being foiled by the crossbar and Tristan O’Callaghan saving well from Sean O’Brien, who caused havoc to allow an incoming David Clifford delivery to evade everyone and find the net entering the last ten minutes.

The opening defence of their Munster and All-Ireland titles has gone to plan, but the treatment table will continue to be terribly busy over the next fortnight.

Scorers for Kerry: D Clifford 1-7 (2tpf), P Clifford 1-3 (1tpf), D O’Connor 0-3, M Burns, K Spillane 0-2 each, K Evans, D Casey 0-1 each.

Scorers for Clare: M McInerney 0-6 (2tp, 0-1f), A Griffin 0-4, A Sweeney 1-0, C Meaney 0-2, B McNamara, C Murray 0-1 each.

KERRY: S Murphy; T O’Sullivan, J Foley, D Casey; T Morley, M Breen, A Heinrich; M O’Shea, D O’Connor; M Burns, P Clifford, C Trant; D Clifford, P Geaney, K Evans.

Subs: S O’Brien for Trant (ht), E Looney for O’Sullivan, inj (39), K Spillane for Geaney (51), T Brosnan for P Clifford (51), G White for Heinrich (55).

CLARE: T O’Callaghan; A Sweeney, R Lanigan, M Doherty; B Rouine, C Rouine, F Kelleher; B McNamara, C Brennan; C Meaney, I Ugwueru, G Murray; M McInerney, E Cleary, A Griffin.

Subs: C Murray for Cleary, inj (34), J Rafferty for Sweeney (45), D Walsh for Meaney (51), J Vaughan for G Murray (53), D Bohannon for Doherty (61).

Referee: T Murphy (Galway).