Down extend Clare's wait for win in All-Ireland series as three goals inspire 17-point rout for Tailteann Cup holders
The Tailteann Cup holders made light work of Peter Keane's men at Cusack Park as the hosts failed to recover from a Munster final throttling by Kerry.
The Banner are in their third year in the Sam Maguire series but have yet to taste victory.
There was little suggestion that Down would inflict such a setback here but based on last year's NFL Division 3 meeting in Newry — which the Ulster men won 3-15 to 1-10 — it was a game fraught with danger.
Emmet McMahon kicked off the scoring for Clare but 13 minutes later, Down had 1-4 on the board with John McGeough netting.
The Banner rallied in the second quarter especially when Alan Griffin ended a confident Clare move with a major.
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Pat Havern and Danny Magill were constant thorns in Clare's defence and both scored at will.
After 23 minutes, Down increased their lead to ten and Clare were barely hanging on.
Ryan McEvoy, Havern, and Danny Magill kept Down's score tally ticking over and with nearly ten minutes of injury time in the first half, the visitors struck four more with Havern hitting three and McGeough on the mark to leave the them 2-17 to 1-6 to the good at the break.
Clare now had the breeze but it was of little use as the Mournemen were in no mood to surrender ground. Mark McInerney led a mini-revival for the home team with five points, including a two-pointer, before Eoin Cleary added another score but the nearest the Banner got to their rivals was ten points.
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Sub Caolan Mooney hit the third Down goal as Clare failed to score for 15 minutes before Emmet McMahon fired a two-pointer.
Up next for DOWN is a home battle with Leinster champions Louth a week on Saturday, while CLARE face a trip to Monaghan the following day.
DOWN
: R Burns; P McCarthy, P Laverty, R Magill; M Rooney 0-1, P Fegan, C Doherty; D Guinness 1-1, J Guinness 0-2; D Magill 0-7, 2tp, O Murdock 0-2, R McEvoy 0-1; J McGeough 1-1, P Havern 0-9, 2tp, 3f, A Crimmins 0-3.
Subs
: C Mooney 1-0 for Doherty 35+2 mins (inj), P Brooks for R MaGill 45, S Millar for McEvoy 54, F Murdock for Guinness 60, C McCrickard for McGeough 63, D Scullion for Murdock 67.
CLARE
: E Tubridy; R Lanigan, C Brennan, M Doherty; C Rouine, I Ugweuru, C Meaney; B McNamara, E McMahon 0-5, 1tp, 2f; G Murray, E Cleary 0-1, D Coughlan 0-2; M McInerney 0-6, 1 tp, 1f, K Sexton, A Griffin 1-1.
Subs
: A Sweeney, for Brennan 15 mins (inj), D Walsh for Murray 35+2, F Kelleher for Meaney h-t, S Griffin for McNamara 60 (inj), J Stack 0-1 for Cleary 63.
REFEREE
: P Neilan (Roscommon).
1
Daniel Guinness of Down shoots to score his side's second goal despite the attention of Ronan Lanigan of Clare
Credit: Tom Beary/Sportsfile
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