UNDER-21 HURLING ALL-IRELAND FINAL Clare 2-17 Kilkenny 2-11:CLARE'S HURLING revolution continued apace at Semple Stadium on Saturday.

A bunch of players tipped for All-Ireland glory at the start of the season delivered in style to capture a second crown for Clare in four years in this grade.

And joint-manager Donal Moloney believes there will be a massive spin-off for the county’s senior teams in future years on the back of this success. Clare’s win was a repeat of the 2009 All-Ireland under-21 final victory over Kilkenny – but this win was more emphatic and far more impressive.

Clare opened up with a majestic second-half performance to shoot down Richie Mulrooney’s Cats. The Munster champions won the second half 1-10 to 0-4 in front of 9,250 spectators.

And with 26 members of a 35-man panel eligible for the under-21 grade again next year, few would back against a repeat performance. The hope now is that Clare go on to achieve similar success at senior level, with boss Davy Fitzgerald looking to benefit from the remarkable work of Moloney and sidekick Gerry O’Connor in the minor and under-21 grades in recent years.

Eight of Saturday’s under-21 team have already sampled senior fare and Moloney reckons that a talented crop could emulate the achievements of the great Clare sides that claimed All-Ireland senior titles in 1995 and 1997.

He said: “These guys are incredible athletes, incredible ball players. We’re probably looking at probably some of the best potential hurlers in the history of Clare hurling on the field, in terms of what they did here tonight.

“That’s no offence to the guys of the ’90s – they were incredible in what they did. These are a different type of player.”

And Moloney revealed the seeds of this success were sown back in May, when Clare demolished Kilkenny in an under-21 challenge match in Templetuohy.

At half-time last Saturday, Clare trailed by 2-7 to 1-7 but their second-half performance was sensational and Kilkenny, with senior stars Richie Doyle and Cillian Buckley in their ranks, were simply blown away.

“We played Kilkenny down in Templetuohy early on in the year. It was like pressing a light switch with the guys, in terms of how they took them on that night,” said Moloney. The way it started today, there were shades of that again.

“But then Kilkenny, true to form, threw everything at us, were very economical in getting their scores and so on, wasted very little, maybe bar one goal chance. In the second half, the belief the guys had in Templetuohy and the game plan in Templetuohy, they rolled it out again and just caught fire.”

A lethal full-forward line bagged 2-11 on the night, with Cathal O’Connell notching 1-6.

Captain Conor McGrath supplied the assist for O’Connell’s first-half goal before weighing in with a haul of 1-1 in the second half.

And Cathal McInerney played his part too, notching four points from play, two in each half.

But the winners could have had midfielder Shane Golden sent off just before half-time for a wild pull on Kilkenny’s Ollie Walsh.

Referee Diarmuid Kirwan opted instead for a yellow card and Walsh was forced off early in the second half, still suffering the effects of Golden’s swipe.

Kilkenny boss Richie Mulrooney was, however, typically gracious in defeat.

Mulrooney was Kilkenny manager in 2010 when his side claimed victory against Clare in the All-Ireland minor final. Six of Clare’s starting team from two years ago lined out on Saturday while Kilkenny had 11 survivors.

But Clare were too strong on this occasion and while Mulrooney lamented the loss of Walsh through injury, he had no complaints with the result.

Mulrooney said: “When we beat them in 2010, they were extremely gracious to us, their management team of Donal Moloney and Gerry OConnor. It’s my turn now. I couldn’t speak highly enough of the Clare fellas but I’m also really proud of our own lads as well.”

Wind-assisted Clare were on fire in the early stages, playing into the Town End of Semple Stadium.

With less than eight minutes on the watch, five different Clare players were on the scoresheet as they roared into a 1-5 to 0-2 lead.

But Clare would only register two points for the remainder of the half and they were caught with two sucker punch goals approaching half-time.

John Power, younger brother of Kilkenny senior star Richie, lashed home a 27th minute penalty before Ger Aylward showed his predatory instincts as he netted cleverly in stoppage time at the end of the first half.

CLARE: R Taaffe; P Flanagan, D McInerney, K Ryan; S Morey (0-1), C Ryan, P O'Connor (0-1); C Galvin (0-1), S Golden (0-1); A Cunningham (0-1), P Collins, T Kelly (0-1, free); C McInerney (0-4), C McGrath (1-1), C O'Connell (1-6, four frees). Subs: P Duggan for Cunningham (49 mins), N Arthur for Collins (59 mins).

KILKENNY: D Walsh; J Corcoran, W Phelan, B Kennedy; J Lyng, R Doyle, L Harney; G Brennan (0-1), C Buckley; O Walsh, J Power (1-0), K Kelly (0-6, four frees); W Walsh (0-2), P Walsh (0-1), G Aylward (1-1). Subs: M Gaffney for O Walsh (37 mins), C Kenny for P Walsh (55 mins).

Referee: D Kirwan(Cork).

COMEBACK: Roscommon claim title

In the curtain-raiser at Semple Stadium on Saturday, Roscommon surprised Kildare to claim the under-21 B hurling title.

The side were tied early on 2-4 apiece before Kildare looked to be on course to claim the title for the first time when they hit a quickfire 1-6 without reply – including a Conor Kenny goal – to lead by three points with just 12 minutes to go.

However, inspired by man of the match Niall Kilroy who hit six points from play, the Connacht side regrouped to claim a 3-17 to 3-16 victory.