NHL Division 1B Final: Limerick 1-16 – 0-21 Clare
Davy Fitzgerald’s Clare side will bump shoulders with hurling’s top dogs next season after shading an enthralling Division 1B hurling final against Limerick in the Gaelic Grounds.
Trailing by three points at half-time and by seven points shortly after the break, the Banner boys showed a resilience associated with the teams their manager played on in the 90s to chip away at the deficit and gradually haul back the Treaty men before applying the killer blow late on.
The hosts started the brighter at the Gaelic Grounds and lead 0-11 – 0-8 at the break after Shane Dowling (0-7) edged a personal duel with Clare’s Conor McGrath (0-5) in the opening half.
When Dowling buried a penalty shortly into the second half and the Treaty men built up a seven point lead, the writing looked to be on the wall for the Banner, but obviously made of stern stuff, they battled back to level the scores with only five minutes left on the clock.
In a thrilling finale, Conor McGrath put Clare in front only for Seanie O’Brien to level it again, but with McGrath and Nicky O’Connell on the mark before the final whistle, Clare edged it by two points at the finish to claim their second win over their near neighbours this season.
As well as earning promotion to Division 1A, the Banner, of course, can potentially go on and claim the Division One title outright.
All they have to do is claim a measly win over Kilkenny in Thurles in two weeks time and then beat the winner of Cork and Tipperary in the final.
Simple, right?
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ podcast – listen to the latest episode now!
