My Top 2 Hurling games of all time

 Clare vs Cork  2013 All Ireland Final 







If ever a game epitomised the beautiful game of hurling, this is it. There was a crowd of 81,651 and they definitely got their moneys worth that day. Clare used a sweeper system most of the season but they didn't use it for the final to try and confuse Cork. What they did do was having their forwards working extra hard  to give the back line a hand. The first half was nip and tuck with both teams trading scores and Clare went in at half time 0-12 to 0-10. It was Clare who started the second half better and none other than Tony Kelly was leading the charge but things changed when the Cork man Conor Lehane broke through the Clare defence and scored a goal. Clare gathered their composure and tagged on a few more scores and it started to look like it was going to be their day but Anthony  Nash lashed a 20 yard free into the back of the net to leave Cork just two behind going into the last 15 minutes.  Moments later Cork then were awarded a penalty but Nash's penalty hit the crossbar and Clare went up the other end of the field and scored a point which left three between, but Cork never gave up and Pat Cronin seen his shot rifle into the Clare net which made the game level and gave the Cork men momentum and Patrick Horgan scored a free in stoppage time to send the Cork fans crazy. There was to be a final twist in this game though and and it came in the last puck of the ball when Clare's corner back Domhnall O' Donovan scored a wonderful point with the last play of the game which sent the game to a replay which Clare went on to win. 

Tipperary vs Kilkenny 2010 All Ireland Final

This was a highly anticipated game as Kilkenny were going for 5 in a row which had never been done before and it was up to Tipperary to stop them. There was no question that they were the 2 best teams in the championship. The first ten minutes of the game was a nervous one for both teams and most of the scores came from frees. Tipperary in particular had a good start in defence, keeping Kilkenny scoreless from play in the first ten minutes . The man of the day Lar Corbett got his first goal on the tenth minute when the ball was sent in and his marker Noel Hickey slipped and he caught the ball and sent a rocket into the Kilkenny goal. For many people they deemed Henry Shefflin to be the God of hurling, so when he went of injured in the first 15 minutes it was a major blow to Kilkenny. However they got their first point from play in the 15th minute. Kilkenny then showed their skill to knock over 3 points in a row. Then the break that Kilkenny needed came when Eoin Larkin soloed the ball and hand passed it to Ritchie Power who made no mistake in his effort and he found the Tipperary net. Power kept the frees ticking over and Tipperary went in with a one point lead at half time. The second half started with the same intensity as the first, however on the 42nd minute Tipperary got the break that they needed when Lar Corbett found the back of the Kilkenny net. No more than a few minutes later things went from bad to worse for Kilkenny when Noel McGrath from Tipperary scored a scrappy goal making the score 3-11 to 1-10. However Kilkenny showed their never say die attitude and brought the game back from 7 points to 3,

Sources

Cork and Clare to meet again after dramatic draw (rte.ie)

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