Tipperary 3-9 Clare 0-14
ALTHOUGH they battled bravely and were still in the game half way through the second half, the concession of three goals handed the result to Tipperary. Clare played some decent attacking football and put over some outstanding points from play.
The games crucial score was Tipperary’s third goal, 19 minutes into the second half. Barry Grogan netted his second penalty, the first had been well saved by Pierce Deloughrey.
Clare made a very shaky start to the opening half when Tipperary corner forward Conor Sweeny goaled after a mere 19 seconds. They also had a Barry Grogan penalty saved by Pierce Deloughrey, while Grogan later buried Tipperary’s second first half goal.
To Clare’s credit though they held their composure for much of that first half with Shane McGrath kicking three marvellous points from play. David Tubridy knocked over four first half points, including two from play and a ’45, which was the last score of the opening half.
The home county led 2-5 to 0-9 at half time. The flood lights were switched on for the second 35 minutes in Semple Stadium.
One of the plus points,f or Clare, was the excellent attacking displays of David Tubridy and Martin O’Leary, who scored 0-9 between them.
Before Clare play Carlow on Sunday fortnight in Ennis, they will have to work on their defensive strategy. Tipperary repeatedly open them up and could have scored five goals.
Clare: Pierce Deloughrey; Dean Ryan, Gordon Kelly, Martin McMahon; Shane Hickey, Enda Coughlan, Oige Murphy; Gary Brennan (captain), Cathal O’Connor; Shane McGrath, Seán Collins, Shane Brennan; Martin O’Leary. David Tubridy, Jamie Malone.
Subs: Kevin Hartnett for Oige Murphy, Podge McMahon for Cathal O’Connor, Rory Donnelly for Shane McGrath.
Scorers: David Tubridy (0-6, 0-2f, 0-1 45), Martin O’Leary (0-3, 0-2f), Shane McGrath (0-3), Jamie Malone, Rory Donnelly (0-1 each).
Tipperary: Paul Fitzgerald; Ger Mulhair, John Coghlan, Paul Codd; Robbie Kiely (captain), Peter Acheson, Donagh Leahy; Steven O’Brien, George Hannigan; Brian Fox, Ian Fahey, Philip Austin; Michael Quinlivan, Conor Sweeney.
Subs: Alan Moloney for Ian Fahey, Conal McCullagh for Alan Moloney, Cathal Dillon for Philip Austin, Alan Campbell for Paul Codd.
Scorers: Barry Grogan (2-3, 1-0 pen, Conor Sweeney (1-2), Michael Quinlivan (0-3), Philip Austin (0-1),
A native of Ennis, Colin McGann has been editor of The Clare Champion since August 2020. Former editor of The Clare People, he is a journalism and communications graduate of Dublin Institute of Technology.