Éire Óg swat aside the Nire with third-quarter blitz

Éire Óg 3-11 The Nire 0-5

A ruthless third-quarter display from Éire Óg that saw the Clare champions plunder 3-05 without reply against a shell-shocked Nire to advance to a Munster semi-final date with Kerins O'Rahillys.

The teams shared only four points between them at the interval, but the Townies hit the scoring trail in devastating fashion at Cusack Park, with the full-forward pair of Gavin Cooney and Mark McInerney doing the damage.

The duo accounted for all but three points of Éire Óg's tally, who now march into an away date with Kerry champions Kerins O'Rahillys in a fortnight.

The aforementioned Cooney and McInerney registered the Clare side’s two first-half points, with Dermot Ryan and Kyle Cuddy ensuring the sides retired on level terms with scores at a premium.

The Waterford champions opened the scoring after the break, but the response from Éire Óg was emphatic, with captain Cooney blasting home their first goal.

In the 42nd minute, McInerney raised a second green flag, while straight from the resulting restart, the Calre side had their third through Cooney, who finished the day with 2-04 to his name.

In front of a crowd of 695 at Cusack Park, the Nire’s misery was compounded when Craig Guiry was sent off in the closing stages.

Éire Óg: S Daniels; M Doherty, A Fitzgerald, R Lanigan; C Russell, A McGrath, É O’Connor; D O’Neill (0-01), D McNamara; N McMahon, I Ugwueru, O Cahill; G Cooney (2-4, 2f), M McInerney (1-4, 1f, 1 ’45), J Collins.

Subs: D Reidy for McMahon (40), P Talty (0-02) for McInerney (47), C O’Halloran for Cahill (54), L Corry for Lanigan (58), D D’Auria for for Ugwueru (59).

The Nire: S Ryan; J Mulcahy, T Barron, S Boyce; D Ryan (0-3f), J McGrath, F Hallinan; S Walsh, T Guiry (0-01); D Guiry, A Ryan