Four-goal Clare defeat Galway to claim All-Ireland U20HC title

May 31, 2026

Clare's Marco Cleary celebrates after scoring a goal against Galway in the All-Ireland U20HC final at FBD Semple Stadium ©INPHO/Stephen Heaney

Clare hit Galway for four goals on the way towards clinching their fifth All-Ireland U20 hurling championship title in Thurles this afternoon.

It finished 4-20 to 2-16 at FBD Semple Stadium, where Thomas O’Connor registered a brace of majors for the Banner lads while Fred Hegarty struck half a dozen points over the hour.

O’Connor’s first goal came inside the opening four minutes of this decider, moving Clare 1-1 to 0-2 in front after Michael Burke and senior star Jason Rabbitte had sent over the first two scores for the Tribesmen.

Gavin Keary’s side trimmed their deficit to one with the help of scores of Brian Callanan and Jack Shaughnessy (free) ahead of their opponents pushing clear again and fired in a Jamie Moylan goal just before the break to lead by 2-8 to 0-9 when the teams went in.

Paul Rodgers struck a sideline cut and Marco Cleary raised a white flag to increase the lead to seven for Terence Fahy’s charges, with Galway introducing ace attacker Aaron Niland to the fray shortly after to try and stem the tide.

Instead, the Leinster champions conceded back-to-back goals via O’Connor and Cleary which left them with a mountain to climb in the closing 20 minutes.

Niland sailed over a ‘65’ before adding a point, which was backed up by Ciaran Leen, and a goal from Callanan from would bring the margin back to 10 points with as many minutes remaining in normal time.

Two Niland frees would be erased by two at the other end from Hegarty prior to Sean Boyce and Moylan raising more white flags for Clare down the home stretch, leaving an injury-time goal for Rabbitte as only consolation for Galway, as Banner County’s got their hands on the coveted James Nowlan Cup for the first time since 2014.


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Four-goal Clare defeat Galway to claim All-Ireland U20HC title