Clare and Waterford shock provincial champions to reach All-Ireland Minor Hurling decider
Clare
completed a weekend of All-Ireland minor semi-final shocks by dumping out Munster champions
Cork
at Semple Stadium.
On Saturday evening, Leinster champions
Kilkenny
fell to
Waterford
at Wexford Park to create a novel final pairing.
In an absorbing Thurles clash, the Banner racked up 27 points despite hitting 14 wides.
They were led by 0-13 from Paul Rodgers, the younger brother of senior star Mark.
READ MORE
Cork's goal arrived in the fifth minute through Cormac Deane, the son of Rebel stalwart Joe. The Killeagh youngster cut on to his left and blasted a low shot from the 21 to the net for a 1-1 to 0-3 lead.
Leon Talty denied him a second goal as Clare soon reclaimed the lead. They were sparked by three in a row from Rodgers, who later added an exceptional sideline cut from close to the 65. All six forwards were on the board by half-time as they led, 0-15 to 1-10.
Clare's Paul Rodgers in action against Cork's Darragh Heavin. Photograph: Tom O'Hanlon/Inpho
The sides were level six times in the third quarter until Clare made the decisive move taking four of the next five points.
Michael T Brosnan and Eoghan O'Shea left one between the sides entering stoppage time, but Rodgers found the insurance score.
On Saturday, Cormac Spain's 2-6 tally helped Waterford to a first minor showpiece since 2013.
Cian Byrne batted home a first-minute goal for Kilkenny, but the Déise took their first lead when Spain whipped to the net in the 18th minute.
They led 1-10 to 1-7 at midway, yet Kilkenny restarted with five points on the spin.
Waterford turned the game on its head with a 1-7 streak around the three-quarter mark, with Spain racing away to bury his second goal.
They still held a seven-point cushion approaching injury time, but Kilkenny got it back to two with Adam Maher's goal. Jamie Shanahan's point steadied their nerves at the death.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Times
29 minutes ago
- Irish Times
Ireland break scoring records as they pass the 100-point mark against Portugal
Summer Tour: Portugal 7 Ireland 106 A rout, plain and simple that doesn't serve any greater purpose from an Ireland perspective than ticking off milestones in terms of debuts, points and try-scoring feats. The only consolation was the majority of the Portuguese supporters had streamed away before a penalty try at the death took the visitors over the 100-point mark. The Irish records tumbled: most tries, 16 and most conversions in a match, Jack Crowley landed 12, breaking Ronan O'Gara's 10 against Japan in 2000. It was the most points scored by an Ireland team and they also eclipsed the previous biggest winning margin, an 83-3 victory over the USA in New Hampshire in 2000. All three debutants, Hugh Gavin (two), Shayne Bolton (two) and Alex Kendellen scored tries. Gavin and Bolton were excellent, particularly the young 21-year-old centre in terms of his carrying game. Ireland did as they pleased for the most part. The back three were sharp, the halfbacks put pace and width on the game and the pack, with Ryan Baird again in the van, gave their backs a perfect platform. This all must be said in the context of a game in which Portugal contributed massively to their downfall. Tommy O'Brien (two), Bolton (two), Gavin (two), Cian Prendergast (two), Stuart McCloskey, Thomas Clarkson, Craig Casey, Calvin Nash, Ciarán Frawley, Kendellen and a penalty try contributed 16 tries, Crowley 12 conversions and one that accompanies a penalty try. READ MORE The atmosphere from the get-go was one of gentle distraction, the decibel levels didn't rise one iota when the teams emerged on to the pitch, or when tries were scored. The chattering continued in the stands, Irish supporters understood that anything more than polite applause would seem a little crass in the context of the game. Portugal would have spoken about the need to be accurate and composed in the opening throes of the contest, to try and thwart Ireland for as long as possible. They gave up a try after 45-seconds to McCloskey and three more before some of the crowd had a chance to get their bearings and take their seats in a sun-drenched stadium. Portugal's Hugo Camacho takes a box kick during the game against Ireland. Photograph: Ben Brady/Inpho McCloskey's try was the product of good work by Bolton and Crowley's neatly judged grubber kick. Gavin's try was down to running a good line and a nice flat pass from his outhalf. Jimmy O'Brien was the architect of the third, a lovely break and perfect timing of the pass allowed Tommy O'Brien to outpace the cover. The fourth went to Bolton after he caught a high ball, fobbed off a couple of limp tackles and accelerated over under the posts. Crowley converted all four and also saved his side by winning a race to a kick through inside his 22 and demonstrated lovely poise to pick up and clear in the same fluid movement. Portuguese fullback Nuno Sousa Guedes had a smartly-taken try disallowed for forward pass, and the home side lost their captain Tomás Appleton to a leg injury. Portugal's head coach Simon Mannix asked one of his players to draw the referee Adam Leal's attention to a croc-roll but the comms to the TMO, Matteo Liperini, had stopped working. They did manage to relay a message and confirm that there was no foul play. Tommy O'Brien got his second of the match and fourth on the summer tour, before Clarkson crossed for a first Irish try on his eighth appearance, with Gavin doing the legwork. Crowley continued to be faultless from the tee. Portugal compounded their misery with loose kicking, gifting Ireland possession, but the visitors, too, were guilty of some sloppy moments in their handling, kicking and tackling. Gavin was again prominent with a build-up in the seventh try after Tom Ahern turned over ball. Casey's decision to kick didn't look the right one but Bolton's pace turned it into one as the ball stopped rolling kindly in the in-goal area. Crowley missed for a first time from the touchline but had an altogether easier time when Gavin grabbed a second try, after a maul and powerful surge from hooker Gus McCarthy. Ireland's Shayne Bolton scores his side's seventh try. Photograph: Ben Brady/Inpho When the dust settled, Ireland led 54-0 at half-time, eight tries, seven conversions. It was brutal for the home side who also lost two players to injury. They'd have to take some culpability for the scoreline, kicking ball away, which was especially clueless given that their back three Nuno Sousa Guedes, Simao Bento and Manuel Pinto were dangerous, even off scraps. The second half started in similar fashion, Bolton's break finished off by Casey and Crowley converted. The points tally like the temperature was soon going to be in the 80s, and the potential for records to tumble. They did before the 60th minute as Ireland eclipsed the 83 points they scored against the USA in 2000. To reach that mark, Nash, Frawley and Prendergast's second, added to Ireland's try tally, Crowley tagging on two conversions. Portugal did break their duck in the midst of the avalanche of green points, with a try from their best player Nicolas Martins, converted by Hugo Aubry. When Kendellen scored, it ensured a record points tally. Ben Murphy and a penalty try brought Ireland's tally to 106 points. SCORING SEQUENCE – 1 min: McCloskey try, Crowley conn, 0-7; 8: Gavin try, Crowley con, 0-14; 9: T O'Brien try, Crowley con, 0-21; 11: Bolton try, Crowley con, 0-28; 22: T O'Brien try, Cowley con, 0-35; 29: Clarkson try, Crowley con, 0-42; 33: Bolton try, 0-47; 38: Gavin try, Crowley con, 0-54. Half-time: 0-54 . 41: Casey try, Crowley con; 0-61; 51: Prendergast try, 0-66; 52: Martins try, Aubry con, 7-66; 55: Nash try, 7-71; 56: Frawley try, Crowley con, 7-78; 58: Prendergast try, Crowley con, 7-85; 70: Kendellen try, Crowley con, 7-92; 76: Murphy try, Crowley con, 7-99; 80 (+1): penalty try 7-106. PORTUGAL: N Sousa Guedes; S Bento; V Pinto, T Appleton, M C Pinto; H Aubry, H Camacho; D Costa, L Begic, D H Ferreira; A R Andrade, P Ferreira; D Wallis, N Martins, D Pinheiro. Replacements: G Aviragnet for Appleton (20 mins); F Almeida for Aviragnet (32); F Almeida for Andrade, A Cunha for Begic, P S Lopes for Costa (all 50 mins); A Campos for Camacho (54); M Souto for Costa (55); G Costa for DH Ferreira (56); Andrade for P Ferreira (59); V Baptista for Pinheiro (62). IRELAND: J O'Brien (Leinster); T O'Brien (Leinster), H Gavin (Connacht), S McCloskey (Bangor), S Bolton (Connacht); J Crowley (Munster), C Casey (Munster, capt); J Boyle (Leinster), G McCarthy (Leinster), T Clarkson (Leinster); T Ahern (Munster), D Murray (Connacht); R Baird (Leinster), A Kendellen (Munster), C Prendergast (Connacht). Replacements: T Stewart (Ulster) for McCarthy, M Milne (Munster) for Boyle, T O'Toole (Ulster) for Clarkson, M Deegan (Leinster) for Baird (all 50 mins); C Frawley (Leinster) for McCloskey, C Nash (Munster) for T O'Brien (both 52); C Izuchukwu (Ulster) for Murray (59); B Murphy (Connacht) for Casey (60). Referee: A Leal (England).
Irish Times
33 minutes ago
- Irish Times
‘Very happy': Ireland thrash Portugal 106-7 to break records
Rampant Ireland ran in 16 tries as they crushed tier-2 Portugal 106-7 in Lisbon on Saturday, the biggest victory in their 150-year history and also their first time beyond 100 points. The 99-point winning margin tops their previous best when they thumped the United States 83-3 in 2000, while they had never previously managed 16 tries in a game either. Ireland were missing 16 of their regular players who are on tour in Australia with the British & Irish Lions , and have stand-in coach Paul O'Connell leading the team, but were far too quick and powerful for the Portuguese. 'I feel sorry for Portugal, but we were very clinical and took our chances,' O'Connell told Virgin Sports. 'It is a unique summer tour given the Lions tour is on at the same time, but I am very happy with how our squad applied themselves. READ MORE 'It is great to get some guys capped and scoring tries and training in an international environment.' The visitors fielded three debutants and all crossed for tries – winger Shayne Bolton and centre Hugh Gavin both scored twice, while flanker Alex Kendellen also got on the scoresheet. Ireland had 11 different try-scorers, not including a penalty try, with wing Tommy O'Brien and number eight Cian Prendergast both scoring twice, while backs Stuart McCloskey, Craig Casey, Calvin Nash, Ciaran Frawley and Ben Murphy also scored. Prop Thomas Clarkson was the only other forward to get a try as Ireland kept the ball in hand and bamboozled their hosts with some scintillating running rugby. Flyhalf Jack Crowley kicked 11 conversions to cap an excellent personal performance, though it is hard to know exactly how much they will take out of a game where they were never unduly tested by their hosts. The friendly was the final fixture of the season for Ireland, who defeated Georgia 34-5 last weekend.
Irish Times
an hour ago
- Irish Times
Kerry boss Jack O'Connor delights in being back in a seventh All-Ireland final
What a difference a fortnight makes. Kerry manager Jack O'Connor is no less happy to have beaten Tyrone in Saturday's All-Ireland semi-final than he was when champions Armagh were tumbled two weeks ago: 'Delighted,' he specifies. But he is a more upbeat, less recriminatory Jack than when taking issue with his team's treatment at the hands of Kerry pundits after the quarter-final, contentedly contemplating his seventh All-Ireland final – even though the season is now truncated. 'In the old days, it was three or four weeks to an All-Ireland final, but it'll be a great two weeks, you know, there's always a great buzz around the county so really looking forward to it now.' There may not have been the sturm und drang of the 15 minutes when Armagh were consigned to their championship exit by an unanswered 14-point barrage, but once again Kerry dominated and ran off a series of scores that effectively took the match away from Tyrone. READ MORE Once Darragh Canavan had cut the margin to a point in the 42nd minute, 0-13 to 1-11, the Ulster team didn't score again for 22 minutes by which stage they were eight points worse off on the scoreboard and embarking on the last few minutes of their 2025 season. It had started quite well for them and they led for most of the first quarter and were right in it until half-time. But Kerry had turned the tables with a 29th-minute goal by David Clifford , who would end the day with 1-9, and they were never headed again. A Kerry fan celebrates a score at Croke Park. Photograph: Ryan Byrne/Inpho O'Connor thought that the wind might have played a role in subduing Tyrone in that third quarter but he also pinpointed a much better performance from his team around the middle where the early imperium of Conn Kilpatrick was broken and Kerry's Joe O'Connor was named TV man-of-the-match for a dynamic display getting on ball and moving forward. 'What a game Joe had, you know, a powerful game and he's getting better ... all the time. 'We got to grips around the middle of the field – that was the big thing. No better man than this man here on a lot of breaks [he was sitting beside his captain Gavin White, who had played a big role in turning things around] and that was the thing that was killing us early on. 'I think there was a bit of a disconnect between Shane's kick-out and fellas getting to the pitch at the break, so we spoke about that at half-time and I think that was a big factor in the second half.' He acknowledged that the win could have been more emphatic, given the number of goal opportunities his team created. But a combination of poor finishing, inspired goalkeeping by Niall Morgan, and some desperate defensive interventions kept the score in check. 'I know, I know, two or three at the back post that looked like tap-ins: it's disappointing ... but at least we created the chances. Today we were creating goal chances. A dejected Kieran McGeary after Tyrone's defeat to Kerry at Croke Park. Photograph: Ryan Byrne/Inpho 'The last day we were creating two-point chances, but I think it's a sign of the team that they recognised what was in front of them and there was a bit more space inside this time. And they got the ball in and created those chances, but yeah, look, sure of course we could have had an easier afternoon if we converted a couple more.' White was asked about the challenge of playing in such hot weather – with on-field temperatures in the high 20s. 'Certainly, they were difficult conditions to play in so I suppose we were looking to try and keep the ball as much as we could, but everyone on our team was obviously trying to run the ball as best as they could. It was fairly warm out there at pitch level.' Malachy O'Rourke, as a former member of the FRC , whose rules modifications have played such a role in making the football championship the best in years, was able to accept ruefully that the additional space accorded to full forwards had been additionally challenging. But he had no excuses, demurring when asked to comment on his team's meagre free count in the first half. In general, he acknowledged that things hadn't worked as planned. 'Yeah, it was disappointing the way it got away from us. I suppose at half-time we felt we were right in the game. First half we played a lot of good football. We did well on both kick-outs. I suppose the downside of that was we gave away a wee bit of possession cheaply through our own efforts, unforced, and then Kerry put us under pressure at times. 'And then we were caught a wee bit at the back then, we left ourselves a wee bit bare at the back. And obviously David Clifford, we didn't give Paudie [Hampsey] enough cover at times, and David Clifford in particular was very prominent there.'
