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Allianz HL D1A: Kelly inspires Clare

Tony Kelly starred for Clare against Offaly.

Tony Kelly starred for Clare against Offaly.

Allianz Hurling League Division 1A

Clare 4-20 Offaly 0-16

By Eoin Brennan at Bord Na Mona O'Connor Park

2-12 from Tony Kelly marked a sensational competitive bow for the back-to-back All-Star who steered Clare to their first victory of 2022 in Tullamore.

Seven first half points kept pace with lively hosts Offaly at 0-9 to 0-9 before grabbing two clinching goals in the space of a minute that initiated a powerful finish to flesh out the final margin.

The flattering scoreline doesn’t do justice to Offaly’s best performance of the campaign that saw the sides level seven times in a blow-for-blow opening half while there was still only a point between the sides by the 59th minute.

A brace of goals each for Kelly and Shane Meehan put the result beyond any doubt as Clare soared over the finish line by outscoring their flagging hosts by 3-7 to 0-1.

It was a result that few could have foreseen especially early on. Clare had the wind advantage in the opening period but became embroiled in a persistent wrestle for supremacy after hitting as many wides as scores along with passing up two glorious goal opportunities.

Ryan Taylor was on the end of both moves at the start of each quarter but would be superbly denied by a point blank Conor Clancy save before only find the side-netting with the second in the 21st minute.

They were thankful to the returning Kelly who matched a motivated Offaly that had hit the ground running with the first three points through John Murphy (2) and Eoghan Cahill.

The introduction of Aron Shanagher gave Clare a physical edge in their inside line that allowed Shane Meehan to raid for a 44th minute goal. A buoyant Clare would never look back as despite Cahill’s consistency from placed balls, the visitors found another gear when Meehan teed up Kelly for their second goal in the 59th minute at 2-13 to 0-15.

Peter Duggan was also sprung off the bench for his first appearance in almost three years and immediately teed up Shanagher for a goal opportunity that turned into a penalty that Kelly duly dispatched to the left corner of the net.

With the result beyond doubt, it was merely a case of how big the final margin would be as substitute Shanagher added two points of his own while in-form Meehan fired an unstoppable shot to the right corner of the net to kickstart the Banner’s season.

Scorers for Clare: Tony Kelly 2-12 (1-0 Pen, 7f), Shane Meehan 2-1, Ryan Taylor 0-2, Aron Shanagher 0-2; Shane Golden 0-1, Patrick Crotty 0-1, Diarmuid Ryan 0-1

Scorers for Offaly: Eoghan Cahill 0-11 (10f), John Murphy 0-2, Eimhin Kelly 0-1, Liam Langton 0-1, Luke O’Connor 0-1 (f)

Clare: Eibhear Quilligan; Rory Hayes, Conor Cleary, Paul Flanagan; Diarmuid Ryan, John Conlon, Jack Browne; Paddy Donnellan, Shane Golden; Cathal Malone, Patrick Crotty, Darren O’Brien; Shane Meehan, Tony Kelly, Ryan Taylor.

Subs: Aron Shanagher for O’Brien (HT), Robin Mounsey for Donnellan (40), Mike Gough for Cleary (54), Peter Duggan for Golden (63).

Offaly: Conor Clancy; Joey Keenaghan, Ben Conneely, Paddy Delaney; David King, Ciaran Burke, Killian Sampson; Eimhin Kelly, Eoghan Parlon; Brian Duignan, Liam Langton, Adrian Cleary; Eoghan Cahill, John Murphy, Jason Sampson

Subs: Luke O’Connor for Duignan (49), Paddy Clancy for Parlon (60), Luke Nolan for Cahill (65), Padraig Cantwell for Burke (68), Dara Maher for J. Sampson (70).

Referee: Kevin Jordan (Tipperary).