All-Ireland SFC Group Four

Derry 1-19 Clare 1-13

By Páraic McMahon at Glennon Brothers Pearse Park

Crackles of thunder accompanied the closing moments of this contest, but Derry produced the lightning in the third quarter, including a scoring tally of 1-3 without reply to book their spot in the quarter-finals.

It was much tighter and tense than when the sides met in the 2022 All-Ireland quarter-final, Derry ran out winners on a score of 5-13 to 2-8 on that occasion and Clare minus the services of captain Eoin Cleary and full-back Cillian Brennan had been on level par with the Ulster champions for large spells of the first half.

On the sideline, both managers, Ciarán Meenagh and Colm Collins picking up yellow cards in the second half.

Emmet McMahon goaled on 20 minutes to put Clare in front for the first time, Derry who dominated the possession stakes for the bulk of the opening half were ahead for the entire first quarter with points from Shane McGuigan, goalkeeper Odhran Lynch and Ethan Doherty.

By the sounding of the half-time whistle, the sides were level for the fourth time with McMahon kicking the equaliser making it 1-6 to 0-9.

Derry kicked the first three scores of the second half through Niall Loughlin, Paul Cassidy and McGuigan. Midfielder Darragh Bohannon kicked Clare’s first score of the second half off his left boot with forty four minutes on the clock.

What followed was the defining scoring spree from Derry, first Benny Heron slid across the goal and kicked the ball past Stephen Ryan in the Clare net with Eoghan McEvoy and Cassidy playing starring roles to create the chance.

White flags from Cassidy, McGuigan and Ethan Doherty put Derry firmly in the driving seat and leading by eight points with 50 minutes on the clock. Emmet McMahon ended Clare’s seven minute wait for a score before Derry hit back with points from McGuigan and Cassidy.

Clare kicked five of the final seven scores of the game, it was insufficient to overturn the result but enough to considerably lower the dent and the final margin between the sides.

Without a win in their three games of the All-Ireland series, Clare bow out of the race for the Sam Maguire. They will certainly have regrets regarding their opening round loss to Donegal as they bounced back with much improved showings against Monaghan and Derry. For Colm Collins’ side, Keelan Sexton, Ciaran Russell, Ronan Lanigan, Emmet McMahon and Manus Doherty were best. Indeed Collins announced his resignation to players in the dressing room following the game.

Unbeaten in the championship thus far, Derry take top spot in Group Four and advance to the All-Ireland quarter-finals. The scoreline leaves no doubt that they were the better side in this affair and despite taking their time to find their scoring boots, kicking three wides in the first ten minutes, they grew into proceedings and their powerful third quarter was testament to this. Odhran Lynch, Conor Glass, Paul Cassidy, Shane McGuigan, Gareth McKinless and Niall Loughlin were prominent for the winners.

Scorers for Derry: Shane McGuigan 0-9 (4fs), Paul Cassidy 0-3, Benny Heron 1-0, Odhran Lynch 0-2, Gareth McKinless 0-2, Niall Loughlin 0-2 (1f), Ethan Doherty 0-1.

Scorers for Clare: Emmet McMahon 1-6 (6fs), Jamie Malone 0-3, Daniel Walsh 0-1, Darragh Bohannon 0-1, Mark McInerney 0-1, Micheál Garry 0-1.

Derry: Odhran Lynch; Eoghan McEvoy, Gareth McKinless, Conor McCluskey; Pádraig Cassidy, Conor Doherty; Conor Glass, Brendan Rodgers; Benny Heron, Paul Cassidy, Ethan Doherty; Shane McGuigan, Ciarán McFaul, Niall Loughlin.

Subs: Niall Toner for Pádraig Cassidy (47), Ben McCarron for McFaul (56), Shea Downey for Heron (59), Paul McNeil for Glass (66), Declan Cassidy for McEvoy (70+1).

Clare: Stephen Ryan; Ronan Lanigan, Ciaran Russell, Manus Doherty; Cillian Rouine, Pearse Lillis, Alan Sweeney; Cathal O’Connor, Darragh Bohannon; Brian McNamara, Keelan Sexton, Jamie Malone; Podge Collins, Emmet McMahon, Daniel Walsh.

Subs: Micheál Garry for Rouine (HT), Aaron Griffin for O’Connor (51), Mark McInerney for Sexton (52) (inj), Ikem Ugweru for Sweeney (52), Darren O'Neill for Bohannon (66).

Referee: Seán Hurson (Tyrone).