Cheap goals scupper Tipperary minor hurlers in defeat to Clare

Electric Ireland Munster Minor Hurling Championship - Round 4

Tipperary 0-19

Clare 4-11

By Michael Dundon

Tipperary’s Electric Ireland Munster minor hurling championship aspirations suffered a disappointing setback at Semple Stadium last week conceding four goals to Clare who denied them a third successive win in this competition.

Coughing up four goals in any game makes victory very hard to achieve, and so the Tipp boys learned as their best efforts to undo the damage came up short in a fine contest. The defeat leaves Tipperary needing a win over Limerick (who have yet to win a game) in their final round-robin game, and hoping for a Clare win over Cork, to ensure a  re-match with Clare in the Munster final. Should Cork and Tipp win, it will leave Tipp, Cork and Clare each on six points, with scoring difference coming into play to determine the finalists in Munster.

Four teams go through to the All-Ireland series which means that Tipp are already assured of involvement at that level but the manner of this loss will rankle both with players and management. Tipperary had nineteen scores to Clare’s fifteen but the goals were crippling. 

Tipp conceded three in the first half, and having made up the lost ground in the third quarter, again succumbed and pluckily though they tried, they could not get back on terms again.

It all started well for the home side who hit the first three points in six minutes, but, an omen of things to come, Conor Ralph shook off three Tipp tackles in the 8th minute to goal for Clare. Two minutes later the Tipp defence was again exposed as Liam Murphy bagged goal number two and in the 16th minute Murphy again netted for a 3-2 to 0-4 lead for Clare. 

Clare were flying and a rout threatened, but Tipp responded well with five points before the break to be 0-9 to 3-4 adrift , a deficit that was definitely manageable facing into the second half. The sides shared four points in the five minutes after resuming but then came a purple patch for Tipperary as Eoghan Doughan reeled off five unanswered points from frees to level the game, 0-16 to 3-7 at the end of the third quarter.

Poised to push on for victory, Tipp’s lines were breached again in the 49th minute when Liam Murphy completed his hat-trick of Clare goals, reacting smartly to the rebound of a Jerry O’Connor effort which hit the woodwork to poke the ball over the line. Matthew Corbett added a point and Clare were once more in the driving seat with 10 minutes to play.

Not an unbridgeable gap but the goal was morale-sapping and though the Tipp lads kept pushing forward, they never threatened  to score the goal they so badly needed as Clare stayed comfortably clear to the finish. Points from Euan Murray, Eoghan Doughan and sub Darragh O’Hora were negatived by similar Clare scores to leave the Banner boys unbeaten after three rounds.

James Woodlock and his backroom team have some things to grapple with before the next outing. The porousness of the defence obviously needs attention and four of the forwards were replaced, another area of concern, but that said there is much to admire about this team. 

A setback certainly but with plenty of scope for redress and recovery, this squad should still have a big say in the destination of honours this year.

Durlas Og’s Euan Murray was Tipp’s top performer with four points from play. Eoghan Doughan’s nine points, eight from frees reflecting his accuracy, was also crucial to the Tipp cause. Cathal O’Reilly, Killian Cantwell, Cillian Minogue, Patrick Ryan, and Tiarnan Ryan were others to contribute handsomely to the Tipp display.

Clare are a big, strong team with lots of hurling in them. While Liam Murphy had a strand-out game with a hat-trick of goals, wing forward Harry Doherty did serious damage to Tipp, particularly in the first half where his strength in the air won a lot of possession for Clare. Conor Ralph, Matthew Corbett, James Cullinan and Sean McNamara were others to  deliver big-time for the winners.

Tipperary: Evan Sherlock (Kiladangan); Cathal O’Reilly (Holycross Bllycahill), Patrick Ryan (Borris-Ileigh), Shane Ryan (Killenaule); David Ryan (Arravale Rovers), Owen O’Dwyer (Killenaule), Jake Donnellan Houlihan (Nenagh Éire Óg); Tiarnan Ryan (Holycross Ballycahill, 0-1), Killian Cantwell (Moycarkey Borris, 0-2); Adam Ryan (Arravale Rovers), Euan Murray (Durlas Óg,  0-4), Billy O’Brien (Nenagh Éire Óg); Eoghan Doughan (Moneygall, 0-9, 0-8f), Stefan Tobin (Carrick Swans,), Cillian Minogue (Durlas Óg, 0-2).

Subs used: Aaron Cagney (St Mary’s) for Minogue (50); Darragh O’Hora (Solohead, 0-1) for Cantwell (53); Paul Cummins (Ballybacon Grange) for A Ryan (57); Jack Cahill (Ballingarry) for Doughan (57); Kieran Rossiter (Durlas Óg) for O’Brien(61mins);

Clare: Matthew Crotty; Darren Moroney, Sean McNamara, Sean Og Kilkenny; Dara Kennedy, James Cullinan (0-1), Rian Mulcahy; Graham Ball, Matthew Corbett (0-5, 0-4f); Darragh McNamara, Patrick Finneran (0-2), Harry Doherty (0-3, 0-2f); Conor Ralph (1-0), Paul Rodgers, Liam Murphy (3-0).

Subs used: Jerry O’Connor for McNamara (HT); Ryan Hayes for Mulcahy (40); Tadgh Lohan for Finneran (47); Darragh Ball for Rodgers (49); Eanna Collins for Kilkenny (53).

Referee: Seaghan Walsh (Waterford)