Clare 1-16
Tipperary 1-14

AS last evening’s Munster U-21 Hurling Championship final went into injury time with Clare trailing by a point, Clare fans in the attendance of 8,379 were bracing themselves for another disappointment.

Not for the first time in the history of the competition, Clare had gone into the provincial decider wearing the favourites’ tag – this was their 15th Munster U-21 final appearance – and on previous occasions had gone away empty handed. Prior to last evening’s final, Clare had lost to Tipperary in their seven previous final meetings.
Another loss looked to be on the cards as Clare hit 13 first-half wides but they kept battling and were rewarded in the end. Clare introduced three second-half substitutes and the three combined for the decisive score, which came in the 61st minute.
A minute of injury time – two had been signalled – had been played when Clare won a line ball 70m from goal on the seated stand side of the grounds. Peter Duggan’s effort was grabbed by Cathal McInerney, who turned inside his marker before passing to Niall Arthur and the Inagh-Kilnamona man gave rise to the biggest cheer of the night when he shot low to the back of the net.
The visitors attacked from the resumption but the Clare defence held firm and as the final whistle sounded, supporters could hardly believe the Banner men were the provincial kingpins for the second time in the county’s history.
The home side clearly had the better of the opening exchanges but they just could not find the target. They had registered eight wides after 10 minutes and added five more before the end of a low-scoring first half.
The game was 12 minutes old before the opening score arrived and this came from Tipperary captain John O’Dwyer from a free. He went on to be the game’s top scorer with 1-7 to his credit and was certainly a strong candidate for the Man of the Match award.
The game had entered the second quarter before Clare opened their account with their captain, Conor McGrath, converting a 20m free. Tipperary missed a great chance for the game’s opening goal in the 23rd minute. Goalkeeper Ronan Taaffe raced off his line to challenge for possession with full-back David McInerney and Tipperary forward Cian Hogan. The ball broke to the Tipperary man, who was guilty of a bad miss when shooting wide with the goal at his mercy.
A point separated the sides at the break with the visitors leading, 0-6 to 0-5. Scores became more regular when play resumed and 10 minutes into the new half, the teams were level for the second time in the game with the score at 0-9 each.
It was now the visitors’ turn to be guilty of some misses and Clare were fortunate not to go behind as O’Dwyer was off target from two frees. Points were swapped again before the end of the third quarter and two minutes later, Clare took the lead for the first time when Cathal O’Connell converted a 20m free.
A minute later, it was Tipperary’s turn to celebrate as they re-took the lead. Teenager Jason Forde created the opening and captain John O’Dwyer crashed an unstoppable shot to the net from 20m. Clare responded superbly to the set-back and Tony Kelly and Conor McGrath converted frees to level the game again.
With five minutes to go, Tipperary were two clear again and it looked like they were going to capture the title until Arthur’s goal finally killed the visitors’ challenge and led to Conor McGrath accepting the Munster cup.
Nineteen-year-old Tony Kelly was a key figure in this victory. He hit seven points, five in the second half and caused a lot of problems for the Tipperary defence. Team captain Conor McGrath got little space from the Tipperary defence. Clare’s tactics of withdrawing Cathal O’Connell to play around midfield didn’t help McGrath as Tipperary did not send O’Connell’s marker to follow him, which left the Clare captain with  two defenders to contend with. In defence, Paul Flanagan was excellent throughout. Conor Ryan, Seadna Morey and Podge Collins got through some good work.
For Tipperary, Stephen Maher, Willie Ryan, Cian Hogan, in the first half, and, particularly, John O’Dwyer stood out.

Clare: Ronan Taaffe (Tubber); Paul Flanagan (Ballyea), David McInerney (Tulla), Killian Ryan (Ruan); Patrick O’Connor (Tubber), Conor Ryan (Cratloe), Seadna Morey (Sixmilebridge); Colm Galvin (Clonlara), Shane Golden (Sixmilebridge); Tony Kelly (Ballyea), Paudge Collins (Cratloe), Aaron Cunningham (Wolfe Tones); Cathal O’Connell (Clonlara), Conor McGrath (Cratloe), Davy O’Halloran (Éire Óg).
Subs: Cathal McInerney (Cratloe) for O’Halloran (42 minutes), Peter Duggan (Clooney-Quin) for O’Connell (51 minutes) and Niall Arthur (Inagh-Kilnamona) for Cunningham (57 minutes).
Scorers: Tony Kelly (0-7, 2f, 1 65’), Conor McGrath (0-3f), Niall Arthur (1-0), Cathal O’Connell (0-3, 1f), Paudge Collins (0-2) and Seadna Morey (0-1).
Frees for: 14; wides: 16; 65s: 1
Bookings: Podge Collins (39 minutes).

Tipperary: Paul Ryan; Pa Ryan, Stephen Maher, Andrew Ryan; Willie Ryan, Brian Stapleton, Justin Cahill; Niall O’Meara, Dan McCormack; Liam McGrath, Sean Curran, Denis Maher; John O’Dwyer, Cian Hogan, Jason Forde.
Subs: Eanna Murray for McCormack (41 minutes), Aidan McCormack for Hogan (53 minutes) and Padraig Greene for Curran (58 minutes).
Scorers: John O’Dwyer (1-7, 3f), Cian Hogan (0-2), Denis Maher, Liam McGrath, Jason Forde, Aidan McCormack and Eanna Murray (0-1 each).
Frees for: 12; wides: 11
Bookings: Stephen Maher (46 minutes).

 

Referee: John Sexton, Cork.

 

Hero doesn’t forget his roots

by Peter O’Connell

INAGH-Kilnamona clubman Johnny O’Rourke will be stunned but the first man that Clare’s last-gasp Munster final winning goal-scorer mentioned in a post-match interview with The Clare Champion was Johnny. Niall Arthur scored his dramatic winner a minute into injury time, at the town end in Cusack Park.
“It happened fairly quick alright but I was just doing what I was coached to do by Johnny O’Rourke since I was a child,” Arthur explained in the midst of the delirious Cusack Park throng.
“He taught me everything about hurling. He always tells me ‘what do you want a long hurley for near the goal?’ I caught it down there, I flicked it and it went in. I can tell you one thing, he’ll be happy with the finish I had at that angle because I kept it low and I kept it to the other side of the goalie,” the Inagh-Kilnamona free-taker added.
Some substitutions work to spectacular effect, while others fade into immediate oblivion. In this instance, the Clare management’s substitution strategy was seamless.
A point down a minute into injury time, Clare’s three substitutes combined to set up the goal, which won the county’s second Munster U-21 championship.
“You couldn’t have written that, could you?’ Arthur laughed.
“The line ball came in and I think it was Conor McGrath that was in front of me. I went up to contest it but the two of us missed it. It broke and Cathal Mac, first off he’d no right to win the ball; there was four Tipp lads around him. I just happened to run off the shoulder of Cathal and he popped it off to me and the rest is history. The place lifted, in fairness,” Arthur marvelled.
Clare will play Ulster champions Antrim in the All-Ireland semi-final on Saturday, August 25. It will take a day or two for the players to fully focus on that but Arthur is certain their management will ensure they will park the Munster final soon enough.
“We’ll enjoy this for a night or two but Paul Kinnerk will have us back training again as hard as ever in a couple days time. We’ve an All-Ireland semi-final to prepare for and hopefully an All-Ireland final,” the ecstatic Inagh-Kilnamona club man concluded.