Derry 5-13 Clare 2-8
Five-star Derry are through to their first All-Ireland semi-final since 2004 after brushing past Clare in a one-sided Croke Park quarter-final.
Goals in the first quarter put clear daylight between the sides and Clare never recovered as a brief rally late in the half was abruptly stopped as Derry led by nine at the break and coasted to victory in the second half, with Shane McGuigan notching 1-8.
For the sake of the contest, an early Derry goal was probably the last thing that was needed. But they had two by the 13th minute as inevitability hung over the outcome from that early stage amid a flat Croke Park atmosphere that is typical of curtain raisers.
READ MORE: Check out our GAA section for all of today's updates
Niall Loughlin kicked Derry ahead from a free after a cagey opening six minutes and after a Tristan O’Callaghan kickout was broken down by the Ulster champions three minutes later, Ethan Doherty fed Benny Heron for the opening goal.
It was quickly followed by a second, with Conor Glass powering through after a one-two with Doherty and applying a fierce finish past O’Callaghan.
Clare didn’t help themselves amid some errant shooting early on that meant they couldn’t get any sort of foothold. Derry’s defensive web didn’t make it easy for them but misses from Cathal O’Connor and Jamie Malone in particular were avoidable.
Eoin Cleary’s free got them off the mark in the 16th minute but they were still struggling to penetrate as Derry got the scoreboard moving at the other end despite Clare retreating in similar numbers.
McGuigan kicked three points, one of them a free, and Glass boomed over another from distance as Derry moved 2-6 to 0-1 clear and when Malone kicked Clare’s first from play, McGuigan had an immediate riposte to bring his tally to 0-4.
But Clare found something approaching half-time which looked as though it might reignite the contest, briefly.
A clever Podge Collins handpass to Ciaran Russell exposed a gap in the Derry cover and Russell passed to Pearse Lillis made light of the tight angle to nestle the ball in the corner of Odhran Lynch’s net.
Cleary followed it up with another from play and the deficit was back to a more manageable six with Clare starting to apply pressure to the Derry kickout.
Their bubble soon burst, however. In a move that mirrored that which led to Lillis’s goal at the other end, McGuigan placed Paul Cassidy to rifle past O’Callaghan from a narrow angle in first half injury time as Derry led 3-6 to 1-3 at the break and were well on their way to a first semi-final in 18 years.
Derry continued to go for the jugular on the restart and, after Loughlin had gone close shortly before, centre-back Gareth McKinless cut through the Clare defence all too easily for a fourth goal in the 40th minute.
Eoin Cleary was among the few Clare players that emerged with an enhanced reputation and his fighting spirit was exemplified by his chasing down a loose ball ahead of McKinless in the 47th minute before sliding the ball past Lynch, who had failed to cover his angles.
Again, Derry’s response was immediate and emphatic as McGuigan hit their fifth goal in the next passage of play.
The Slaughtneil man toyed with Clare for the rest of the game before being replaced to a generous ovation with all bar a point of his tally coming from play.
In the end, it was a routine double-scores 14-point victory for Derry, who will meet Armagh or Galway in the All-Ireland semi-final on Saturday, July 9.
DERRY: Odhran Lynch; Conor McCluskey (0-1), Chrissy McKaigue, Shea Downey; Conor Doherty, Padraig McGrogan, Gareth McKinless (1-0); Conor Glass (1-1), Brendan Rogers; Paul Cassidy (1-1), Shane McGuigan (1-8, 0-1f), Ethan Doherty; Benny Heron (1-1), Niall Loughlin (0-1f), Niall Toner.
Subs: Emmett Bradley for Heron (48), Lachlan Murray for Loughlin (53), Ben McCarron for Glass (61), Paul McNeill for Downey (66), Declan Cassidy for McGuigan (68).
CLARE : Tristan O’Callaghan; Manus Doherty, Ciaran Russell, Cillian Rouine; Cian O’Dea, Cillian Brennan, Jamie Malone (0-1); Darren O’Neill, Cathal O’Connor; Pearse Lillis (1-0), Eoin Cleary (1-5, 0-2f), Emmet McMahon; Padraic Collins, Keelan Sexton, Aaron Griffin.
Subs: Alan Sweeney for Rouine (HT), Brendan Rouine for McMahon (43), David Tubridy (0-2f) for Griffin (43), Joe McGann for Sexton (53), Gavin Cooney for Collins (53).
REFEREE: Martin McNally (Monaghan).
READ NEXT:
Colm Boyle column: Mayo can find performance to tame rampant Kerry
What makes Mick Fitzsimons tick as he bids for a record ninth All-Ireland SFC title
Armagh and Galway return to Croke Park 21 years after sliding doors moment
Kerry legend Aidan O'Mahony doesn't think Kingdom would lose six finals in a row like Mayo
Get the latest sports headlines straight to your inbox by signing up for free email alerts
