Clare 0-11

Kildare 0-10

Gearoid O'Brien and Keelan Sexton scored 0-7 between them as Clare bounced back from last Sunday's first round defeat to Westmeath with a crucial victory over a fancied Kildare in Ennis.

The wet and blustery conditions turned this game into a dogfight which Colm Collins' men deservedly won after making a slow start. Buoyed by their opening round win over Fermanagh, the visitors raced into a 0-5 to 0-2 lead inside the first quarter with Niall Kelly, Paddy Brophy and Kevin Feely among their scorers.

But Clare rallied in the second quarter with points from David Tubridy, Eoin Cleary (two) and Sexton to go into the break on level terms, 0-6 each, with Kildare's Paul Cribbin having spent 10 minutes in the sin bin.

Jack O'Connor's charges regained the lead after the restart thanks to a Feely brace, but with Cian O'Dea excelling in his familiar sweeper role, Clare hit back with scores from O'Brien and Sexton.

Kildare lost Brophy to a second yellow card with 12 minutes remaining before Sexton edged the hosts ahead moments later. The Banner doubled their lead before Feely registered the Lilywhites' first score in 15 minutes from a free. However, it was a case of too little, too late as a battling Clare side held on for the victory.

Clare - S Ryan; K Harnett, C Brennan, G Kelly; S Collins, P Lillis, D Ryan; C Russell, C O'Connor; D Coughlan, K Sexton (0-4), G O'Brien (0-3); C O’Dea, E Cleary (0-3, 1f), D Tubridy (0-1f). Subs: E McMahon for C O'Connor, C Murray for D Coughlan, E Collins for D Ryan.

Kildare - M Donnellan; P Kelly, M O’Grady, E Doyle; C Kavanagh, J Byrne, S Ryan; K Feely (0-4, 3f), L Power; P Cribbin, N Kelly (0-1), P Brophy (0-2); J Robinson (0-1), D Flynn, N Flynn (0-2f). Subs: K Flynn for P Kelly, K Cribbin for N Flynn, J Hyland for J Robinson, A Tyrrell for P Cribbin, J Tracey for N Kelly.

Referee - B Judge.

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