By Brendan Larkin
Cork 1-20
Clare 1-11
A MARVELLOUS exhibition of point scoring from both play and frees by Jonathan O'Callaghan helped Cork regain the Sweet Afton Cup (Munster Intermediate Hurling Championship) after a three-year absence at the Gaelic Grounds, Limerick, last night.

The Castletownroche youngster scored a magnificent tally of a goal and eleven points as Cork beat Clare in a contest that never really got off the ground.

While O'Callaghan was undoubtedly the Man of the Match, Cork were also well served by a solid defence in which Liam Hayes, Brendan Lombard and Pat Sexton were seldom beaten; midfielders Alan O'Connor and Mick Daly never put a foot wrong, while up front the pace of Seamus Hayes, the excellent striking of Niall Murphy, and the strength of substitute Ronan Dwane, also made major contributions to Cork's success.

Clare will be disappointed at this result. Fielding a very young side that included 12 under 21s, they failed to fulfil their early promise and were a well beaten side at the finish. Only Brian "Beano" McDonnell, Brian Clancy, Mark Lennon, who is a grandson of the legendary Limerick hurler, Mick Mackey, and Tony Griffin came out of this game with their reputations intact.

Cork were forced to make a late change after centre back Mark Prendergast withdrew to be replaced by Pat Sexton but it was Clare who were off the mark first through Tony Griffin who raced 60 yards before pointing after a minute.

Lively Cork forward Jonathan O'Callaghan levelled it three minutes later and two evenly matched sides swapped points at regular intervals to be level on four occasions before Cork's greater penetration up front began to tell.

O'Callaghan's pace and excellent striking earned him two points in a row before Niall Murphy fired over another that could so easily have ended up in the net and Cork were full value for their 0-9 to 0-6 lead after 25 minutes.

However, Clare's tenacity, particularly that of Tony Griffin and Mark Lennon, had the deficit down to the minimum at half time and it was no more than they deserved.

Play resumed in the second-half with Brian McMahon at midfield, and Fergal Lynch at centre back. And, after Niall Murphy stretched the Cork lead with a point, the Bannermen were back to level it for the sixth time before Cork went on a scoring spree which yielded a goal and eight points without reply that effectively killed off the Clare challenge. A feature of that scoring burst were two magnificent points by Seamus Hayes, who on each occasion, soloed a 50 yards score, and a cracking goal by Jonathan O'Callaghan who took a delightful pass from Dave Moher in his stride before giving Clare keeper Barry O'Donnell no chance from close range.

Cork took the foot off the pedal in the last quarter but Clare still had little to offer and had to wait until the 61st minute for their goal, a fine individual effort by Tony Griffin but it was a case of too little, too late.

Scorers: Cork: J O'Callaghan 1-11 (0-6 frees); N Murphy 0-3, M Daly, S Hayes, D Moore 0-2 each;.

Clare: T Griffin 1-3; M Lennon 0-4 (frees); D Madden, B McMahon 0-2 each.

CORK B. Rochford; D. Lynch, L. Hayes, B. Lombard, J. Hughes, P. Sexton, J. Barrett, M. Daly, A. O'Connor, J. O'Callaghan, T. O'Mahony, S. Hayes, N. Murphy, N. McCarthy, D. Moher.

Subs. R Dwane for McCarthy; P Barry for Hughes; W Twomey for Lynch.

CLARE: B. O'Donnell; C. Harrison, D. Duggan, P. Kilmartin, J. McMahon, B. McMahon, B. Clancy, F. Lynch, S. Doyle, S. Arthur, D. O'Rourke, T. Griffin, S. Ryan, M. Lennon D. Madden. Subs. A O'Brien for O'Rourke; E McInerney for J McMahon; D Conway for Ryan; J Punch for Arthur; M Kelly for Lynch.

Referee. M. J. Kelly, Waterford.