Clare 1-13 Waterford 0-9:These are restless times in Clare hurling, but there were no burning effigies to be seen last night. Then, they wouldn't have stood a hope in the weather.
Tony Considine's men fashioned a workmanlike victory in ridiculously grim turns of lunchtime gale and hailstone at Cusack Park and afterwards, the manager was in fairly thunderous mood himself when he appeared outside the battered dressingroom door.
Looking lean and curiously Left Bank as he gazed at his inquisitors through a pair of austere black eyeglasses, the Clare boss skipped his thoughts on the match and offered a short, terse critique on an unnamed local newspaper, which he summed up as "a gutter paper with gutter journalism".
Considine was, of course, referring to local reaction to the story about the man who was not there again yesterday - veteran goalkeeper Davy Fitzgerald. Later, under the mellifluous coaxing of RTÉ's Brian Carthy, Considine hinted that the hour of a rapprochement with the iconic Clare net minder had passed.
"In fairness, that is over. Philip Brennan was in goal today and he played right well. That's gone and we don't talk about the past.
"Christy Ring gave up hurling and hurling survived. DJ Carey gave up hurling and it survived. Hurling will survive without individuals. Hurling is a team game and it is an on-going game.
"Davy Fitzgerald said that he won't be back until next year. They are Davy Fitzgerald's words. They are not mine. Clare always produced great goalkeepers going back to the 1930s and on to Séamus Durack and these fellas. And they will tell you down in Waterford that Philip Brennan is a good goalkeeper, too."
The young Tulla man did well in the atrocious conditions. Considine's annoyance at the interest and subsequent public comment in the Fitzgerald affair is understandable.
But Fitzgerald's departure is a pity, for, as he tries to engineer a side capable of challenging this summer, Considine might have harnessed the goalkeeper's fire- and-brimstone passion to his own considerable will and ambition.
Yesterday's win was important for Clare. In terms of recent league patterns, though, it was nothing new - Waterford have enjoyed just one win against the Banner in the last six meetings.
Clare needed this most, and it showed. The defensive six were resolute and gave no change to a rejigged Waterford forward line.
Dan Shanahan and Eoin McGrath retired without a score and Waterford needed the dead-ball striking of Eoin Kelly just to keep them in touch.
Clare's Jonathan Clancy was ferociously industrious, sweeping across the midfield area to tidy up broken ball and targeting Fergal Lynch, the big full forward, who caused Declan Prendergast problems.
Waterford, though, ought to have established more than the 0-6 to 0-5 advantage at the break, firing six wides during a period of dominance. After the break, Clare rolled the sleeves up. Niall Gilligan was dragged down following a powerful run and tapped over the resulting free.
Once thrown in, Colin Lynch was all hustle and action and won two useful frees. By now, Bernard Gaffney - an impressive marksman in the club championship for Newmarket - was taking frees and he clipped a smart four points as Clare pushed ahead.
Some of Waterford's approach play was a joy to watch, but, on a heavy day, the ball dragged and the low, measured passes were snuffed out by the tenacious Clare back men. Conor Plunkett was a staunch presence in the middle of the defence and overall, Clare looked like a physically imposing team. For all the early season problems, it could well be that Considine's team will be nobody's soft touch when it matters.
Waterford substitute Jamie Nagle gave a tidy display upon his introduction and he took an opportunist's score on 52 minutes when Eoin Kelly, crouched over a free, spied him standing all alone about 40 yards out from the Clare goal.
That left it at 0-9 to 0-8, but in general, Waterford were struggling for scores and Clare immediately retorted with a fine point from Barry Nugent. They pushed on from there and the goal was like a nip of brandy for the home crowd, Gaffney claiming a high ball and striking on the turn for a shot which squeezed past Hennessey in the 70th minute.
The Waterford goalkeeper can write it off as a March goal and move on. In Clare, they are ready to move on too.
CLARE:P Brennan: G O'Grady, B O'Connell, F Lohan; A Markham, C Plunkett, G Quinn; B Bulger, N Dilleen (0-1); NB Gilligan (0-3, two frees), T Carmody (0-1),J Clancy; B Nugent (0-3), F Lynch (0-1), B Gaffney (1-4, four frees). Subs:C Lynch for T Carmody (55 mins).
WATERFORD:C Hennessey; E Murphy, D Prendergast, A Kearney, B Phelan, K McGrath (0-1, 65),J Kennedy; M Walsh, E Kelly (0-3, all frees);D Shanahan, K Moran (0-1), S Molumphy (0-1); J Nagle (0-1), S Prendergast (0-1), EMcGrath. Subs:C Carey for K Moran, N Jacob (0-1)for E McGrath (both half-time); T Browne for D Shanahan (57 mins).
Referee: S Ryan(Tipperary).
