Wides cost minor footballers dearly

Tipperary 1-10   Clare 0-8

ALTHOUGH Clare held two in-a-row Munster minor football champions Tipperary to just a single score in the opening 26 minutes, once the Premier boys got going, they comfortably disposed of the home county.
Aside from scoring a tally that would have reflected their possession, Clare performed admirably for much of the first half. The problem was their finishing. They kicked seven first-half wides at a stage when Tipperary did not look up to much.

 

Tipperary 1-10   Clare 0-8

ALTHOUGH Clare held two in-a-row Munster minor football champions Tipperary to just a single score in the opening 26 minutes, once the Premier boys got going, they comfortably disposed of the home county.
Aside from scoring a tally that would have reflected their possession, Clare performed admirably for much of the first half. The problem was their finishing. They kicked seven first-half wides at a stage when Tipperary did not look up to much.

Despite Clare’s first-half efforts, they trailed 1-3 to 0-4 at half-time. Michael Neylon’s team raced into a 0-3 to 0-0 lead by the eighth minute, leading the crowd of 785 people to believe a serious contest was in the offing.

Yet, Clare had the agility of goalkeeper Killian Normoyle to thank for keeping out a near certain Tipperary goal, before even a minute had elapsed. Normoyle saved superbly from Paul Maher, while the rebound was blocked by Levi Howard. After that, Clare played some good football and held possession reasonably well, as Tipperary placed most of their outfield players behind the ball.

Paddy O’Malley and Barry Keating pointed a free apiece before Keating added one from play, leaving Clare 0-3 to 0-0 up after eight minutes.

They were opened up two minutes later though, when a Josh Keane diagonal pass found Alan Tynan. The Tipperary corner-forward raced away from Levi Howard and clinically found the net. Their play didn’t deserve it at that stage but Tipperary were level.

The 16 minutes that followed were scoreless, as Paddy Casey, Conor Galvin, Joe Downes and Eoin Hanrahan kicked a succession of Clare wides.

Late first-half points from Tom Kirwan, Liam Casey and Josh Keane pushed Tipperary into a 1-3 to 0-3 lead. A minute into injury time, Barry Keating pointed Clare’s first score since the eighth minute, following an infringement on Eimhin Courtney.

Tipperary’s deployment of Tom Kirwan at centre-forward, although he was selected at full-forward, helped them to take control of the game. As the second half progressed, Clare fell away at midfield. While Eoin Hanrahan and Dara Walsh had played some excellent football for much of the first half, Colin O’Riordan took over in that sector on the resumption, while Kirwan excelled in the half-forward line.
Paul Maher, Josh Keane, Alan Tynan and Kirwan, with two points, eased Tipperary into a 1-8 to 0-4 lead, 15 minutes into the second half.

Clare outscored Tipperary 0-4 to 0-2 in the last 15 minutes but never seriously threatened to reel in the winners’ advantage. Paddy O’Malley and Barry Keating put over a free each, while late scores from Liam Madigan and Dara Walsh left five points between the teams. The last brace of scores meant Clare scored three points of their total from open play.

Tynan and Kirwan, the best forwards on the field, completed Tipperary’s tally.

Clare will now play Limerick, who lost to Waterford last weekend, in a play-off game on Saturday in Ennis.

Some of the positives they can take from last Saturday’s defeat in Cusack Park will include the performances of Killian Normoyle, Fergal Pyne, Jack Browne, Barry Keating and Eimhin Courtney, when he was moved to centre-forward. Their problems lie primarily in improving their scoring return from play and dealing with teams who run at them, rotate their forwards and pull the Clare defenders out of position.

Clare: Killian Normoyle (Lissycasey); Fergal Pyne (Killimer), Jack O’Dea (Kilfenora), Levi Howard (Lissycasey); Kieran Malone (Corofin), Eoin Clancy (Corofin), Jack Browne (Kilrush, captain); Eoin Hanrahan (Doora-Barefield), Dara Walsh (Éire Óg); Joe Downes (Cooraclare), Paddy O’Malley (Éire Óg), Conal Ó hAiniféin (Ruan); Eimhin Courtney (Éire Óg), Conor Galvin (Clarecastle), Barry Keating (Ennistymon).
Subs: Liam Madigan (Kilrush) for Conor Galvin (half-time), James Woods (Éire Óg) for Kieran Malone (half-time), Óisin Hanrahan (Lissycasey) for Joe Downes (35), Darren Nagle (Liscannor) for Eoin Clancy (51) and Cian O’Dea (Kilfenora) for Paddy O’Malley (56).
Scorers: Barry Keating (0-4, 3f), Paddy O’Malley (0-2f), Liam Madigan and Dara Walsh (0-1 each).
Wides: 9; frees won: 21; 45s: 1.
Yellow cards: Jack Browne and Jack O’Dea.
Tipperary: Jack Brady; Danny Owens, James Feehan, Willie Connors; Luke Boland, Ross Mulcahy, Kevin Fahey; Mark Russell, Colin O’Riordan (captain); Michael Meagher, Josh Keane, Liam Casey; Alan Tynan, Tom Kirwan, Paul Maher.
Subs: Paul Shanahan for Michael Meagher (25), Emmet Moloney for Liam Casey (37), Michael Connolly for James Feehan (56) and Michael O’Connor for Luke Boland (58).
Scorers: Alan Tynan (1-2), Tom Kirwan (0-4), Josh Keane (0-2, 1f), Liam Casey (0-1f) and Paul Maher (0-1).
Wides: 7; frees won: 17; 45s: 0.
Yellow cards: Luke Boland, Danny Owens, Ross Mulcahy, James Feehan and Kevin Fahey.
Referee: Brendan Stack, Limerick.