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Kilkenny bow out of All-Ireland after miraculous Clare comeback - Clare v Kilkenny Match Report

Kilkenny bow out of All-Ireland after miraculous Clare comeback - Clare v Kilkenny Match Report
Clare beat Kilkenny to secure a spot in the All-Ireland Hurling Final. Photo: Odhrán Johnson

Kilkenny v Clare will go down as one of the highlights of the season for The Banner County faithful as they came from behind to beat the Cats and secure a place in the All-Ireland Hurling Final

Kilkenny went into this semi-final tie against Clare as a favourites, and they certainly lived up to that in the first-half.

Several fantastic opportunities to score a goal fell to Kilkenny early on, with Clare's Eibhear Quilligan forced to make a number of phenomenal saves to keep the Cats at bay.

The standout of the first half came in the 24th minute as Kilkenny's Eoin Cody skipped around the Clare defence to score what can only be described as the bicycle kick equivalent of a goal in Hurling.

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Clare's poor man marking and sloppy passes meant they went in at half-time, losing by five points.

Half-Time Score: Clare 0-8 (8) Kilkenny 1-10 (13)

Clare came back with a vengeance at the start of the second half, with key players having plenty of space to rack up the points.

Despite this, Kilkenny's Billy Ryan managed to pick up a scrappy goal in the 46th minute to put the Cats firmly in the lead.

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The Banner County came close to scoring through Aidan McCarthy in the 52nd minute, but a fantastic save from Eoin Murphy denied the forward from levelling up the tie.

Despite two goals from the Cats, this tie was far from over. The Banner County was absolutely clinical when it came to point scoring.

This precision paid off as Clare levelled the game in the 64th minute before going on to complete a miraculous comeback and secure a place in the All-Ireland Hurling Final on Sunday, July 21 at Croke Park.

Full-Time Score: Clare 0-24 (24) Kilkenny 2-16 (22)

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