Clare’s late flurry too much for 14-man Waterford

MUNSTER U21 HC SEMI-FINAL:

Both sides took some time to get to grips with the conditions – the grass was so short on the sunbaked ground that the sliotar took some unexpected bounces, testing the players’ close control.

Clare faced the breeze in the first half but made light of the handicap. With a sprinkling of senior panellists out to impress watching senior boss Davy Fitzgerald, who was among the 2,288 in attendance, ahead of their All-Ireland quarter-final on Sunday week, they settled quickly. They had three wides and two points, from Daire Keane and a Cathal O’Connell free, inside the first ten minutes, before adding a terrific sideline cut from Peter Duggan to make it 0-3 to 0-0.