Waterford 2-18 Clare 2-15: It might have been a couple of weeks late for the Ides of March but there were stages in this Allianz NHL Division One A fixture when everything seemed a bit eerie.
There mightn't have been ghosts abroad or statues moving but the scores coming in from other venues were weird enough to suggest Waterford might have a chance of taking a top-three place.
At the centre of these strange phenomena were the Munster champions themselves, who gave their best display since the storied summer of last year. With the sun out and conditions doing a fair impression of championship weather, Waterford responded with some brisk hurling and a retrospective of their best score-taking.
Although the performance in the end yielded nothing more than two points, it was a satisfactory victory over a county that has exercised an iron grip on them for over 10 years.
The Waterford players reckoned afterwards you'd have to go back to the 1992 Munster first-round replay for the county's last competitive win over Clare - and, to understate, quite a lot has happened between the counties since then.
It was a lively encounter before a small crowd of about 3,000. In excellent conditions the scene was set for both teams to open their shoulders and let the ball go a bit. For the first time since the opening quarter of the All-Ireland semi-final last August Waterford got into the rhythm of moving the ball quickly and striking for scores from a bewildering array of angles.
Although there was only a goal between the sides at the whistle, Waterford were clearly superior in one vital respect: taking scores when the chances arose. Clare shot too many wides, twice as many as their opponents.
Early on the scores flashed over, with Dave Bennett and Dan Shanahan particularly in evidence on the wings of the attack. Clare responded with gusto and the scores came thick and fast, including a massive, rallying point from his own 65 by Brian Lohan.
There was, however, a sense that the visitors were hanging on rather than threatening to take the initiative themselves. So it wasn't a huge surprise when Waterford decisively tipped the balance in the second quarter. In the 17th minute Paul Flynn snapped up possession as the Clare defence struggled to clear. He burst along the end-line and finished with a shot that David Fitzgerald could only deflect into the path of Michael Walsh, who made sure.
Five minutes later Shanahan was taken down in the square and Flynn applied his trademark expertise to the penalty with a vicious shot that went unseen but for the billowing net.
At 2-7 to 0-6 - and with Laois nine ahead of Galway - Waterford were within three scores of moving into third place. By the break they had moved even closer to lead by nine, 2-11 to 0-8. It could have been more but for a brisk save from Flynn in the 35th minute.
Clare needed to make some running repairs and prioritised attack. Although the defence had been under pressure, the forwards had squandered a succession of good chances. Cyril Lyons's tactic had the desired effect and his recast team mounted a determined recovery in the second half.
Daithí O'Connell scored 1-1 and Gearóid Considine caused trouble in the left corner. The deficit had been only trimmed by a point when in the 43rd minute O'Connell got his goal. It came from a mistake by Brian Greene who had been having a good match, making relieving runs from corner back although more troubled at close quarters.
All three replacements took a hand. Tony Griffin dispossessed Greene and combined with Considine to set up O'Connell's goal.
The stage was set for an exciting conclusion and Waterford rose to the challenge, picking off enough points to keep Clare chasing. In a frantic denouement Niall Gilligan had an eventful couple of minutes to the 68th: being just denied a goal by Stephen Brenner, whose double save included Griffin's original shot, missing a straight-forward free before nailing a 20-metre one to the net to cut the deficit to one score, 2-14 to 2-17.
An exchange of points was, however, as close as it got after that.
WATERFORD: S Brenner; B Greene, D Prendergast, A Kirwan; E Murphy, F Hartley, J Murray; T Browne (capt), P Queally; D Shanahan (0-2), M Walsh (1-1), D Bennett (0-9, 6fs); E McGrath (0-1), A Moloney (0-2), P Flynn (1-2, penalty, 1f, '65). Subs: E Kelly (0-1) for McGrath (50 mins).
CLARE: D Fitzgerald; D Hoey, B Lohan (0-1), F Lohan; D McMahon, S McMahon (capt, 0-2, 2fs), G Quinn; C Lynch (0-1), J Reddan; A Quinn, A Markham (0-4), C Earlie; N Gilligan (1-5, 1-4 fs), T Carmody (0-1), B Murphy. Subs: D O'Connell (1-1) for Murphy (half-time), T Griffin for Quinn (half-time), G Considine for Earlie (half-time), F Lynch for McMahon (60 mins).
Referee: P Horan (Offaly).
