All-Ireland Hurling qualifier round-up:Davy Fitzgerald won the battle of the former Clare greats in Ennis as his Banner side staged a fine second-half comeback to beat Anthony Daly's Dublin by 1-16 to 0-16 despite being reduced to 14-men.
Dublin led by four points at half-time and when Nicky O’Connell was sent off for a second yellow card it looked good for them to go on and seal victory at Cusack Park.
Dublin stretched their lead to six points before Clare hit their straps, and buoyed on by a vocal Ennis crowd, they took the game to Dublin, with teenager Tony Kelly striking the all-important goal from a free after 53 minutes.
The goal seemed to knock the wind out of Dublin never get closer than two points for the rest of the game. Man of the match John Conlon drove over Clare’s final point in injury to secure the three-point victory.
Dublin boss Daly was disappointed to see his side give up a gift opportunity, pointing to his side’s failure to push on after the sending off as the key.
“We were in a winning position really and probably should have drove home and won. But we didn’t, as soon as the man was sent off we lulled a bit,” admitted Daly, who also congratulated his former county.
“Fare play to Clare, the crowd got behind them and they got on a roll. You couldn’t take it away from Clare on the night, they deserved their victory, and they wanted it maybe that little bit more.”
Daly didn’t comment on his future, although he did admit that the side have failed to push on after some fine performances last year.
“We’ve had a disappointing year really, we promised a lot last year and dipped down this year. As the management I suppose we’d be first to take responsibility for that, but we’re all in it together. It’s a disappointing finish to the season.”
Offaly put up a fine battle against Cork
in Páirc Uí Chaoimh before going down to a 1-26 to 2-16 defeat.
Cork led 1-12 to 1-10 at the break, with Pat Horgan scoring 1-8 for the Rebels, but Offaly drew level at 1-13 apiece in the second half before the home side pulled away late on.