Munster title bid ends in failure for seniors

Tipperary  2-14   Clare  3-7

Clare’s bid for their second Munster senior camogie title ended in defeat on Saturday evening in Toomevara.

Clare suffered a crushing blow with the loss of captain Siobhán Lafferty from the full-back position at the end of the first quarter. Following a collision with Clare Grogan, Lafferty had to leave the field with a suspected broken wrist.
Clare opened the scoring with a point from Deirdre Murphy in the second minute. Tipperary responded quickly but Claire Grogan’s attempt to find the Clare net which was well blocked by Lafferty. Grogan converted the resulting 45 to level the sides.
Clare were taking time to settle and Tipperary capitalised by scoring four unanswered points, Grogan accounting for three of these, bringing the score to 0-5 to 0-1.
Following the loss of Lafferty, the Clare management team switched Kate Lynch to full-back and introduced Ruth Kaiser in the forwards but Clare, obviously rattled at the loss of their captain, took some time to regroup.
Grogan capitalised on Clare’s lapse in concentration by adding 1-2 to Tipperary’s tally while Clare could only manage a point from a free by Deirdre Murphy in the fourth minute of injury time, leaving the half-time score at 1-7 to 0-2 in Tipperary’s favour.
At the start of the second half it was obvious Patsy Fahy and his team had done some tough talking during the break, as Clare were more focused and determined.
They were awarded a penalty in the first minute of play when the Tipp goalie Rosie Kennelly fouled on the goal line. Kennelly saved the penalty taken by Deirdre Murphy and the resulting 45 was just wide of the mark.
Shonagh Enright put over the next point for Clare but again Grogan, a constant thorn in the Clare defence, pointed, bringing the score to Clare 0-4, Tipperary 1-8. Deirdre Murphy, who battled tirelessly for Clare throughout the match, pointed again from play but Grogan and Hennessey added two more points to Tipperary’s tally.
Clare received a timely boost when Ruth Kaiser managed to raise their first green flag of the evening. Deirdre Murphy then won possession from a puck-out and after a short run hand-passed to Fiona Lafferty, who pointed to bring Clare within four points.
Tipperary, sensing that Clare were gaining in confidence, upped the ante and won the puck-out, which was driven downfield to Grogan, who goaled. Her next two shots however, were stopped and cleared by Susan Vaughan in the Clare goal.
Hennessey pointed from play again, as did Murphy for Clare. Tipperary added on another point from play by Cait Devane in the 28th minute. However, Clare were not finished and goaled twice in the space of a minute, through Lafferty and Murphy. Hennessey and Grogan added a point each, bringing the final score to Clare 3-7 Tipperary 2-14, leaving Clare to rue their wasted chances.

Clare: Susan Vaughan; Aisling Hannon, Siobhán Lafferty (capt), Carol Kaiser; Eimear Considine, Kate Lynch, Aiveen O’Shea; Kelly McClean, Fiona Lafferty 1-1; Róisín McMahon, Sharon McMahon, Deirdre Murphy 1-5; Mairéad Scanlon, Nora Murphy, Danielle Sheedy.
Subs: Ruth Kaiser (1-0) for Siobhán Lafferty (14 mins; Naomi Carroll for Kelly McLean (20mins); Shonagh Enright 0-1 for Mairéad Scanlon (half-time); Anne Marie McMahon for Danielle Sheedy (38 mins); Sarah Sherlock for Nora Murphy (45 mins).
Tipperary: Rosie Kennelly; Geraldine Stapleton, Tish O’Halloran, Julie Kirwan; Mary Ryan, Sabrina Larkin, Julie McGrath; Jill Horan (capt), Michelle Shortt; Cora Hennessy, Mairéad Luttrell, Noreen Flanagan; Cait Devane, Claire Grogan, Nicole Walsh.
Referee: Peter Whelan