Clare have secured their second win of the 2017 Munster Senior Hurling League.
Clare have secured their second win of the 2017 Munster Senior Hurling League.
Both sides began in good style with Waterford getting the opening two points, before Conor O'Donnell and Cathal Malone levelled it up.
O'Donnell and Shane Golden got the next two scores before Aaron Cunningham opened his account to put Clare 0-5 to 0-2 clear
Waterford struck back either side of a John Conlon effort to leave it 0-6 to 0-4 in what was a keenly contested opening 15 minutes.
The first big score of the game was a Peter Hogan goal for the Deise, to give them the lead once more, 1-4 to 0-6.
A Bobby Duggan free levelled matters once more, before Waterford answered with a point to regain the lead.
Waterford struck for their second goal of the game from Hogan once more to see them lead 2-5 to 0-7 after 20 minutes.
Another Duggan free cut the gap to three, before Peter Duggan reduced it to two.
Just on the half hour mark, Cathal Malone pounced for a goal with another swiftly following from Ben O'Gorman to put Clare into the lead by 2-11 to 2-7 when the half time whistle sounded.
The home side cut the gap to three just after the restart, but Jason McCarthy, Aaron Cunningham and Ben O'Gorman responded to extend Clare's lead to six.
The Deise struck back for the next four in a row to leave it Clare 2-14 Waterford 2-12 midway through the second half.
The Banner were then reduced to 14 men with Brendan Bugler picking up a second yellow card.
Almost 25 minutes passed between scores in that second period for Clare, but John Conlon's brace with five to play left the Banner four points clear.
A third Deise goal ensured a nervy finish, but Clare finished strongly with the last two scores of the game to take victory by 2-19 to 3-13.
Up next is a clash with Cork next week where a win would see Clare into the final to meet the Rebels once more.
Meanwhile Clare's final round fixture in the competition against Cork on Wednesday night could now be postponed to Friday due to 13 of the current panel being involved in the Fitzgibbon Cup fixtures this week.
A decision on that will be made in the next 24 hours
