Davy Fitzgerald fumes as Clare hold off Waterford after contentious ‘65’ in Munster thriller

Four additional minutes had been signalled, but the clock had already hit 75 minutes when Mark Rodgers held his nerve to nail the winning dead-ball point.

But the decision to award a ‘65’ in the first place left the Deise management, players and subs in a state of rage, their anger compounded when Rodgers secured the victory that sees Clare leapfrog Waterford in the Munster SHC group with a round to go.

Fury was vented at the fourth official and, amid the obligatory pitch invasion, referee Liam Gordon also received an earful.

Suffice to say, the Munster round-robin – the gift that keeps on giving – served up yet another handful of endless drama and tension for the 19,893 fans squeezed into Cusack Park on a sun-splattered day.

Clare won because of their ability to conjure up multiple goal chances, eventually taking four of them, but they were rattled by a brilliant second half fightback from the visitors.

The Banner looked to have weathered Waterford’s best punches, rattling off three unanswered points from Ian Galvin, Peter Duggan and Galvin again to restore a three-point cushion by the 71st minute.

But then Patrick Fitzgerald was fouled by Diarmuid Ryan for a 73rd-minute penalty, venomously dispatched by sub Shane Bennett to leave the sides deadlocked again.

That left enough time for Tony Kelly’s monster free to drop short, only for the umpire to eventually wave a ‘65’ after the sliotar was touched over the end line. Video replays suggested the umpire may have eventually landed at the right decision, even if he didn’t appear totally convinced himself.

This latest love-hate enactment of the Brian Lohan versus Davy Fitzgerald rivalry certainly lived up to all the pre-match hype, but the result leaves Clare (four points) with a more than decent chance of keeping their Munster and All-Ireland dreams alive ahead of next Sunday’s trip to Tipp.

For Waterford, stuck on three points, the visit to All-Ireland champions Limerick looks considerably more daunting – even if their manager was proud of their performance here and the fight they brought to his home county, especially after the break.

During the week, Fitzgerald had teed up the latest renewal of his simmering rivalry with Lohan with a piece of delicious mischief-making.

“It’s a tough task playing this Clare team. I honestly believe they have the players to win an All-Ireland and I don’t know why that hasn’t happened,” he told the Clare Champion.

One can only wonder what his erstwhile Banner comrade made of that if he happened to pick up his local paper.

Once the action started, however, there was huge energy but also plenty of nerves on early display with the sides deadlocked at 0-2 apiece on eight minutes.

But Clare then found their groove and were 0-8 to 0-3 clear before Waterford hit back and reduced the deficit to two.

They were then undone, however, by a cheap turnover trying to work the ball short in their own half, and Rodgers capitalised with a superb over-the-top handpass that found Darragh Lohan in glorious isolation inside. The midfielder fired home Clare’s opening goal, on 20 minutes.

The scoreline took on an even scarier look for Waterford when David Fitzgerald ghosted onto a long ball from Cian Galvin to land Clare’s second goal in the 26th minute.

In truth, Clare could have found the net more than twice during a half which ended with them in the ascendancy, 2-13 to 0-14.

Waterford responded with the first two points on the restart, only to concede a third goal in the 40th minute when Ryan’s delivery broke into the path of Rodgers, who skipped away from two defenders before flicking past Shaun O’Brien.

From there on, though, Waterford surged back into contention – initially through points before Stephen Bennett raced in from the left touchline, beating Conor Cleary and then Cathal Malone before firing past Eibhear Quilligan.

That left the Deise just one behind in the 51st minute, and two minutes later they were level thanks to a Dessie Hutchinson free.

Clare had edged back in front before Kelly, their fit-again talisman, raced in from the left wing and struck an angled 58th-minute shot that spun up off O’Brien and crept over the line.

And still, during a breathless fourth quarter, Waterford refused to slip quietly away. They struck five of the next six points to draw level, once more, in the 66th minute.

End of the melodrama? Not remotely.

SCORERS – Clare: D Fitzgerald 1-4, M Rodgers 1-3 (0-1 ‘65’), A McCarthy 0-5 (4f), D Lohan, T Kelly 1-0 each, S O’Donnell, I Galvin 0-2 each, D Reidy, C Malone, C Cleary, D Ryan, P Duggan 0-1 each. Waterford: D Hutchinson 0-6 (5f), Stephen Bennett, Shane Bennett (1-0 pen) 1-2 each, K Mahony 0-4, J Prendergast, T de Burca (1f), Pádraig Fitzgerald 0-2 each, K Bennett, J Barron, J Fagan, Patrick Fitzgerald, I Kenny, C Lyons 0-1 each.

CLARE – E Quilligan; A Hogan, C Cleary, R Hayes; C Galvin, J Conlon, D Ryan; C Malone, D Lohan; D Fitzgerald, D Reidy, P Duggan; M Rodgers, S O’Donnell, A McCarthy.

Subs: T Kelly for Reidy (49), S Morey for Lohan (57), C Leen for Hayes (59), I Galvin for McCarthy (64).

WATERFORD – S O’Brien; I Kenny, I Daly, K Bennett; M Fitzgerald, T de Burca, C Lyons; D Lyons, P Curran; Stephen Bennett, J Prendergast, J Barron; D Hutchinson, M Kiely, K Mahony.

Subs: J Fagan for D Lyons (16), Shane Bennett for Curran (inj 32), C Ryan for K Bennett (57), Patrick Fitzgerald for Kiely (59), Pádraig Fitzgerald for Stephen Bennett (64).

REF – L Gordon (Galway)