Clinton Hennessy
Personal information
Sport	Hurling
Irish Name	Clinton Ó hAonghusa
Full name	Clinton Hennessy
Date of birth	July 28, 1977 (1977-07-28) (age 31)
Place of birth	Ardmore , County Waterford
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Club information
Club	Ardmore
Position	Goalkeeper
Inter-County
County	Waterford
Position	Goalkeeper
Inter-County(ies)**
County	Years	Apps (scores)
Waterford	2005-	18 (0-0)
Senior Inter-County Titles
Munster Titles	1
All-Ireland	0
NHL	1
* club appearances and scores correct as of . **Inter County team apps and scores correct as of 09 September 2008.

Clinton Hennessy (born 28 July 1977 in Ardmore, County Waterford) is an Irish sportsperson. He plays hurling with his local club Ardmore and has been a member of the Waterford senior inter-county team since 2005.

Playing career

Club

Hennessy plays his club hurling with his local Ardmore club and has enjoyed some success. He won a county intermediate championship title with the club in 2002. It was the club's first major title in hurling.

Inter-county

Hennessy made his senior championship debut in the 2005 All-Ireland quarter-final against Cork. His big break came at the expense of the regular goalkeeper, Stephen Brenner, who was dropped in controversial circumstances. Waterford were beaten on that occasion after a disappointing year in the championship.

2006 also saw Hennessy's side make an early exit from Munster, however, the team later qualified for the All-Ireland semi-final. Old rivals Cork provided the opposition on that occasion. After an exciting game Waterford were denied a draw at the death when Cork goalkeeper Donal Óg Cusack pulled down an almost certain point at the final whistle. Cork won the game by a single point - 1-16 to 1-15.

In 2007 Waterford threw down a mark of intent when they captured the National Hurling League title. It was Waterford’s first league title since 1963 and Hennessy's first title with his native-county. Later in the championship Waterford finally got the better of Cork. After another thrilling game between these great two rivals Waterford were the winners by 5-15 to 3-18. This victory allowed Hennessy's side to advance to the Munster final where they played Limerick. Waterford justified their favourites tag and won the game with relative ease courtesy of a hat trick of goals by Dan Shanahan. It was Hennessy's first Munster title. Waterford later saw off Cork again after an All-Ireland quarter-final replay to set up an All-Ireland semi-final meeting with Limerick. Many expected the game to be a mere formality; however, Limerick savaged a tired Waterford team Hennessy leaving in five goals. The score line of 5-11 to 2-15 was a major shock to Waterford and to the hurling public at large who expected Hennessy's side to canter home. There was speculation afterwards that some of the older members of the Waterford team, including Tony Browne and Paul Flynn, would retire without ever lining out in an All-Ireland final.

In spite of all the retirement speculation all of the team returned to Waterford in 2008, however, there was controversy from the start. After an embarrassing defeat by Clare in the opening round of the Munster championship ‘player power’ succeeded in forcing manger Justin McCarthy to resign. Waterford went through the qualifier route with Hennessy having a steady season along the way. After five All-Ireland semi-final defeats inside ten years Waterford finally broke their penultimate stage hoodoo after a two-point defeat of Tipperary. The subsequent All-Ireland final saw Waterford take on Kilkenny in the championship decider for the first time since 1963. Much was expected from this unique encounter, however, the game was effectively over after twenty minutes when Kilkenny's Eddie Brennan fired two goals past Hennessy. The final score of 3-30 to 1-13 gave KIlkenny a third All-Ireland in-a-row and left Waterford shattered.

Championship Appearances

Teams