Car Tourismo Banner
Home » Sports » Clare enjoy well-deserved victory over Tipperary

Clare enjoy well-deserved victory over Tipperary

Car Tourismo Banner

IMPRESSIVE performances from U-21 stars Cian Dillon, Domhnall O’Donovan and particularly John Conlon inspired Clare to a deserved victory over Tipperary in the last of the Waterford Crystal senior quarter-finals, which was played under lights at Borrisoleigh on Tuesday night.

Before an attendance of 1,500, Clare had the upperhand against what was quite a strong Tipperary line-up which included such experienced players as Eoin Kelly, John O’Brien, Paul Curran, Declan Fanning and Brendan Cummins.
The Banner men were never headed and held a four-point advantage at the halfway point, when the score was 0-10 to 0-6. They were five points clear when Tipperary scored the game’s only goal with five minutes remaining but despite the home side’s best efforts in the closing stages, the Clare defence held firm.
Clare were forced to make one change from the selected side when Gerry O’Grady, due to line out at corner-back, picked up an injury in the pre-match warm-up and he was replaced by his clubmate, Pat Vaughan.
There were four changes in personnel from the side that overcame Waterford IT in round one, with Jonathon Clancy, Alan Markham, Mark Flaherty and Scariff’s Michael Scanlon in the starting line-up in place of Diarmuid McMahon, Gerry Quinn, Gerry O’Grady and Colin Ryan.
Fergal Lynch and Mark Flaherty had Clare points inside the opening two minutes but points from Pat Kerwick and Gearóid Ryan had the home side on level terms by the fifth minute.
With Conlon winning good possession at centre-forward, Clare created the greater number of scoring chances and points from Pat Donnellan (free), Alan Markham and Conlon had the winners three clear by the 10th minute. 
While Tipperary had six wides in the opening half, credit must go to the Clare defence, which put their opponents under a lot of pressure when they had possession.
Tipperary stepped up the pressure early in the second half and shortly after the resumption of play Michael Webster was introduced at full-forward but he failed to make any impression against Cian Dillon, who had a particularly good second half. By the mid-point of the half, the margin was down to two, 0-11 to 0-9.
Then Clare responded with three unanswered points in as many minutes, leaving the home side with a huge task in the closing stages.
Both sides made changes in the final quarter and Tipperary followers were given hope of victory when Noel McGrath scored the game’s only goal five minutes from the end.
This closed the gap to two but their only other score was a point from substitute Shane McGrath in the third minute of injury time.
Overall, the Clare defence did well with Cian Dillon and Domhnall O’Donovan particularly prominent, while Pat Vaughan also got through a lot of work at corner-back. Pat Donnellan looked more comfortable in defence than he had done at midfield last week and he finished strongly on Tuesday.
Jonathon Clancy, playing his first game in a few months, got through some good work in the second half.  John Conlon was the outstanding forward on view and he got good support from Alan Markham.
Clare: Philip Brennan; Pat Vaughan, Cian Dillon, Alan Brigdale; Domhnall O’Donovan, Brian O’Connell, Pat Donnellan; Martin ‘Ogie’ Murphy, Jonathon Clancy; Fergal Lynch, John Conlon, Alan Markham; Mark Flaherty, Michael Scanlon, Aonghus O’Brien.
Subs: Diarmuid McMahon for O’Brien (43 minutes); John Cusack for Scanlon (50 minutes); Brendan Bugler for O’Connell (53 minutes).
Scorers: Mark Flaherty (0-6), all frees; John Conlon (0-3); Jonathon Clancy, Alan Markham (0-2) each; Pat Donnellan (free); Ogie Murphy, Fergal Lynch, Diarmuid McMahon (0-1) each.
Frees: 12; Wides: 5.
Bookings: Domhnall O’Donovan (42 minutes).
Tipperary: Brendan Cummins; Conor O’Brien, Declan Fanning, Paul Curran; David Young, Thomas Stapleton, Shane Maher; Benny Dunne, Gearóid Ryan; Pat Kerwick, Hugh Moloney, Paul Kelly; Pa Bourke, John O’Brien, Eoin Kelly.
Subs: Michael Webster for Bourke (35 minutes); Lar Corbett for P Kelly (45 minutes); Noel McGrath for Kerwick (47 minutes);  Shane McGrath for Ryan (55 minutes); Padraic Maher for Dunne (57 minutes).
Scorers: Eoin Kelly (0-6), 5 frees; Noel McGrath (1-0); Pat Kerwick (0-2); Gearóid Ryan, Benny Dunne, Pa Bourke, Shane McGrath (0-1) each.
Frees: 15; Wides: 11.
Referee: David Copps, Cork.

Clare draw with ­Portumna
DR Daly Park in Tulla was the venue for a challenge game between Clare and All-Ireland club champions Portumna last Friday night. The East Clare club recently installed floodlights at their famed venue.
The match ended in a draw, with Clare scoring 1-10 to the Galway club’s 0-13. John Cusack scored the game’s only goal.
The Clare starting line-up was Donal Tuohy; Alan Brigdale, Cian Dillon, David Ryan (Cratloe); Michael Hawes, Gerry Quinn, Pat Donlon; Jonathon Clancy, Brendan Bugler; Alan Markham, Michael Scanlon, Ogie Murphy; Mark Flaherty, Diarmuid McMahon, John Cusack.
Amongst those introduced on the night were Brian O’Connell, Fergal Lynch and Aonghus O’Brien.

 

Chaplin delighted with the effort
SPEAKING after Tuesday’s game, Clare selector Danny Chaplin said he was delighted with the performance. “All of the players showed great commitment and effort all over the field and we are fierce happy with that,” he said.
The former Sixmilebridge player went on to say that “we know our hurling has a bit to go but what we looked for tonight was honesty, commitment and effort and I think we got that”.
The former Broadford manager was clearly happy with the fact that Clare had run up 17 scores on the evening. “That is good scoring at this time of the year and some of the scores were excellent with the lads working hard for them. When we got the chances, the lads were capable of taking them, which is very pleasing,” he said.
The win provides Clare with another competitive tie, which pleases Chaplin. “These are good quality games, which we need in the build up to the league. Hopefully, we can keep the winning run going and go into the league campaign with a winning run behind us,” he said.
He added that the games also give the mentors the opportunity to give panel members games. “We had four changes tonight from the first round and we probably will have some again for Sunday’s game. We are trying to give every panel member three or four games before we finalise our panel for the league. There are guys that got games tonight that might not be playing on Sunday and lads that weren’t used today will get their chance on Sunday,” he concluded.

Much interest in Waterford match
THE build-up won’t be as big and the hype not as great as it will be in the lead-up to their Munster championship clash at the beginning of June but there is still sure to be a lot of interest in this Sunday’s clash of Clare and Waterford in the Waterford Crystal tournament semi-final.
The venue was decided on a toss of a coin and Waterford won that battle and will host the game at Ballyduff Upper this Sunday at 2pm.
Davy Fitzgerald will take charge of a Déise outfit against his former Clare team mates Ger O’Loughlin and Liam Doyle and his former clubmate at Sixmilebridge, Danny Chaplin.
On their way to the semi-final, Waterford have used a mixture of regulars and newcomers, while resting the likes of Ken McGrath, Tony Browne, Seamus Prendergast and Dan Shanahan.
They will have Michael Walsh, their captain, Declan Prendergast, Shane O’Sullivan, Jamie Nagle and Gary Hurney in their squad for what promises to be a lively affair on Sunday.
The Clare team for this outing will be finalised later this week but it is likely to show a few changes from that which started against Tipperary as the management team continue with their preparations for the upcoming league.
Two of the stars of Tuesday’s game, John Conlon and Domhnall O’Donovan, are due to line out with NUI Galway in a Walsh Cup tie against Dublin in Portmarnock on Saturday and with a Fitzgibbon Cup first-round game next Thursday against DIT, it remains to be seen if they will be in the team for Sunday’s game.
The summer championship meeting of these sides will, add to the interest in Sunday’s clash and should result in a good attendance. With players on both sides keen to impress their respective management teams, it should result in a very competitive tie and there should be little between the sides at the final whistle.  
The winners of Sunday’s game will play either UL or UCC in the final.
The college sides meet in their semi-final this Saturday in Buttevant.

About News Editor

Check Also

‘Everyone has a plan till they get a punch in the mouth’

Just moments after the full-time whistle the Clare Senior football manager was extremely disappointed with …