Minors advance to Munster final

Clare   3-13   Tipperary  1-13
TITLE-holders, Clare moved to within one game of retaining the Munster minor hurling title when they deservedly defeated Tipperary in the first of the 2011 semi-finals, which was played at Semple Stadium in Thurles on Friday evening.
A powerful final 20 minutes from the midfield pairing of Colm Galvin and team captain, Tony Kelly sealed victory.
Having led by a goal at the halfway point, 1-8 to 0-8, there was some concern when the home side hit the first three scores of the second half to draw level. Then Galvin struck for a truly superb goal, which will surely be in contention in any goal of the year competition and from here to the finish, the holders held the upperhand.
Martin Duggan won a high ball on the right wing and delivered a crossfield pass to Shane O’Donnell in the left corner. The Éire Óg man quickly handpassed to Galvin, who had made a run from his own half-back line and the Clonlara man gave the Tipperary defence no chance with a powerful strike.
The goal ignited the Clare challenge and, in particular, team captain, Tony Kelly, who was particularly outstanding from here to the final whistle. The Ballyea teenager hit two points, one from a free, to give his side a five-point cushion at the three-quarter stage. He then provided the pass from which Aaron Cunningham pointed from the left wing, before striking two more for Clare to go eight clear with seven minutes to play.
Two Liam McGrath frees kept Tipperary hopes alive, before a defensive blunder by the home side presented Clare with their third goal two minutes from the end. Goalkeeper, Shane Hassett failed to hold a high delivery from Gearóid O’Connell and substitute, Alan Mulready had the simple task of tapping the ball into an empty net.
After a day of torrential rain, the pitch was in excellent condition and both sets of players handled the slippery surface well. The rain eased off for the duration of the game, which helped play.
Clare started well and had early points from Peter Duggan and Colm Galvin before the home side opened their account through Liam McGrath. Cathal O’Connell (free) and Dan McCormack swapped points before Peter Duggan restored Clare’s two-point cushion with a superb effort from a 50m line ball. Points from Liam McGrath (free) and Pat Ralph brought the teams level after 11 minutes but Clare quickly regained the lead.
A foul on Aaron Cunningham led to a penalty for the winners and when Tony Kelly’s effort was stopped, Eoin Enright was following up and he got the ball over the goal line. Clare experienced a little difficulty in the full-back line and this resulted in the concession of frees, which Liam McGrath punished. The sides were level at 1-4 to 0-7 after 24 minutes but Clare finished the half strongly and points from Peter Duggan and Cathal O’Connell (3) helped them to lead by a goal at half-time.
Tipperary made the better start to the second half and three excellent points from play from Liam McGrath (2) and Pat Ralph tied up the game for the third and final time. Galvin’s goal in the eighth minute saw Clare regain the initiative and McGrath had a goal chance two minutes later but he delayed his effort and the Clare defence cleared the danger. From here on, the visitors had the better of matters.
They were nine points clear as the game entered injury time and two minutes had elapsed before Tipperary captain, Jason Forde scored their goal when he blasted a 25m free to the net.
Full-back Niall O’Connor struggled against Pat Ralph in the opening quarter but the switch of Seadna Morey to this position benefitted Clare, with both Morey and O’Connor going on to do well on an evening when Jack Browne had an excellent game at corner-back.
His Ballyea clubmate, Gearóid O’Connell did well throughout at wing-back. Galvin and Kelly had the better of the midfield exchanges while, up front, Cathal O’Connell and Peter Duggan impressed.

Clare: Eibhear Quilligan (Feakle); Jack Browne (Ballyea), Niall O’Connor (Newmarket), Seadna Morey (Sixmilebridge); Jarlath Colleran (Doora-Barefield), Jamie Shanahan (Sixmilebridge), Gearóid O’Connell (Ballyea); Colm Galvin (Clonlara), Tony Kelly (Ballyea, capt); Peter Duggan (Clooney-Quin), Cathal O’Connell (Clonlara), Eoin Enright (Kilmaley); Aaron Cunningham (Wolfe Tones), Oisín Hickey (Meelick), Shane O’Donnell (Éire Óg).
Subs: Alan Mulready (Sixmilebridge) for Enright (48 minutes), Martin Moroney (Parteen) for Kelly (inj, 58 minutes) and Damian Moloney (Meelick) for G O’Connell (61 minutes).
Scorers: Cathal O’Connell (0-4, 2f, 1 65), Tony Kelly (0-4, 2f), Colm Galvin (1-1), Eoin Enright and Alan Mulready (1-0) each, Peter Duggan (0-3, 1 line ball) and Aaron Cunningham (0-1).
Frees for: 13; wides: 8; 65s: 1
Bookings: Niall O’Connor (18 minutes), Peter Duggan (29 minutes), Cathal O’Connell (59 minutes) and Colm Galvin (60 minutes).
Tipperary: Shane Hassett; James Bourke, John Meagher, Jack Peters; Thomas Hamill, Jason Forde, Cathal Barrett; Eoin Fennelly, Bill Maher; John McGrath, Dan McCormack, Pat Ralph; Cathal Horan, Liam McGrath, Stephen Cahill.
Subs: Barry Heffernan for Horan (44 minutes) and Seamus Kennedy for Fennelly (53 minutes).
Scorers: Liam McGrath (0-9, 7f), Jason Forde (1-0f), Pat Ralph (0-2), Dan McCormack and Stephen Cahill (0-1) each.
Frees for: 19; wides: 4
Bookings: Eoin Fennelly (4 minutes), Jack Peters (13 minutes), Cathal Barrett (16 minutes), James Burke (37 minutes), Bill Maher  (45 minutes) and Liam McGrath (62 minutes).
Referee: Jer O’Connell, Cork.

Goals secure win for Clare
CLARE’S ability to get through for three goals proved to be decisive at Semple Stadium on Friday evening. That’s the view of the Banner side’s joint manager, Donal Moloney, who said, “We made a pact this year that we were going to score goals and while they mightn’t have come the classic way, they still came and that was the difference”.
According to the Scariff man, it was a good performance.
“We are proud of the players because this is essentially the first round of the championship for us and Tipperary have played two hard games and this is their backyard. It took us a long time to shake them off.”
He admitted to being a little bit worried. “Tipperary dominated the first four or five minutes of the second half and they looked really good. But with Colm Galvin and Tony Kelly in your team anything is possible. The run Galvin made from his own 45 yard line to the other 21 to collect that pass in the lead-up to his goal was phenomenal.”
Referring to the fact that Tipperary went into the semi-final having had games against Waterford and Cork, whereas Clare had an easy first-round tie against Kerry, Moloney said, “We tried to close the gap, to minimise the impact their games might have had by virtue of the training we did. Parents are glad that the lads managed to survive and get the training done. The training was more intense during the Leaving Cert than earlier in the year.
“We really had no choice. It’s unfortunate from a Munster Council perspective that this is the way it is set up. If you want to compete and we had 19 Leaving Certificate students in the panel, this is what you have to do. We have got away with it now but it’s a big risk.”
Looking ahead to the final against Waterford at Pairc Uí Caoimh on Sunday, July 10, he observed, “Waterford beat Tipperary easily. They are a really strong team. They will be gunning for us to pay us back for last year and that’s great. Tipperary came gunning for us and we got over it.”
He is not unduly worried about the fact that the game will be played in Pairc Uí Caoimh.
“We have played there. We have a great relationship with Cork and they have really helped us in the last couple of years with challenges and a lot of advice. I know they will help us again,” he said.
The manager went on to say, “Clare want to win this. Remember, 70% of these guys have no Munster medal and they want one. We want to win it for them. It’s an incentive that Clare have never won back-to-back titles at this level. It’s a challenge. We don’t win too many. It’s back to work immediately,” he concluded.