Well earned draw for Decies men
Waterford and Clare both earned their right to a replay of the
Munster Hurling Final, played in the usual colour and razzmatazz
associated with the event. The Munster Hurling championship in
recent years has been thrown wide open with the rise of Waterford
and Clare. Their ascent to title challengers along with the Corks
and Tipperarys is to be welcomed. Definitely shades of Clare a
few years ago can be seen in Waterford and they certainly have
the ability to compete and win in Munster and go further in the
championship.
The Decies men in the first half wasted scores of chances after
going down to a Clare goal after two minutes. Clare did not waste
many of their first half chances and went into an eight-point
lead at half time. Anthony Kirwan began the fightback for
Waterford with a goal a minute into the half. A re-organised
Waterford attack chipped away at the score. Clare's Anthony Daly
then appeared to have swung the match back in Clare's favour with
with a free, followed by Conor Clancy's point soon afterwards.
Tony Browne kept the Waterford lads in touch, sending over two
points. The sending off of Clare's O'Connell gave Waterford's
Paul Flynn a chance to win the game from a 100-yard free, but his
puck sailed wide, and his chance to become a cult hero in
Waterford. Although both sides still would have another chance at
all-Ireland glory through the quarter finals, a replayed Munster
Final would easily be the preferred option in Clare and
Waterford.
Galway made it through to the All-Ireland quarter finals by
beating neighbours Roscommon in the Connacht Hurling Final.
Rangers banned from Dublin
Reports in the media at the weekend suggest that the Shelbourne v
Rangers game will have no away support. Most readers will all be
too aware of the sectarian nature, bigotry and extreme right-wing
views of a substantial section of Rangers fans. Shelbourne
confirmed through a Sunday newspaper that no tickets for the game
will be sold to anyone ``from residences outside the Republic of
Ireland''. The club is worried about loyalists and fascist
organisations using the occasion to cause trouble, which hapened
the last time Rangers came to Dublin in 1984 and when England
played here in 1995. On Tuesday and Wednesday, however, contact
was established between the FAI, Shels and Rangers in regards to
the allocation of tickets and they decided not to play the game
in Ireland at all. As we go to press, it appears the match will
be in either Wales or England.
BY CIARAN HEAPHEY
![[An Phoblacht]](http://republican-news.org/graphics/title_gifs/aprn.gif)