Tipperary minor hurlers slump to second defeat in as many games, this time in Clare

Electric Ireland Munster Minor Hurling Championship - Round 2

Tipperary 2-12

Clare 1-17

Tipperary's minor hurlers fell to their second defeat in two games - this time in Ennis - as they lost out to Clare in round two of the Electric Ireland Munster Minor Hurling Championship on Saturday evening.

Despite being played in beautifully sunny conditions, a strong wind present in Páirc Chíosog had a big bearing on the story of the game and, when Tipperary had the benefit of it in the first half, they didn't make the most of it as they only took a three-point lead in at half-time.

Tipp struggled to get sights of the goal in the second half and although they held a three-point lead thanks to a goal from Chris Dunne around the 45 mintue mark, Clare finished strongly with a goal from Evan Cleary and good shooting from John Barry - who was the main man for the Banner - at centre forward carried the home side to victory.

Nervy, tense, and attritional would be the most accurate description of the first half. 

Clare were playing in their first game of the Munster Championship and could be given some allowance for their tentative start as Tipperary started the game very strongly, taking a 1-2 to 0-1 lead after seven minutes of play; the goal coming from an emphatic finish by Tommy O’Meara after strong Kieran Rossiter running fashioned the opportunity in the fourth minute.

Dylan Hennessy and Jack Cahill (free) provided the other scores as Tipp played with the aid of the wind in Ennis in the first half and despite the early nerves from the home side, John Barry began to ease their anxiety with some well-taken points - mostly from frees - with the Inagh Kilnamona player hitting four points in Clare’s five-point scoring spree up to the 17th minute.

Clare led at that point 0-6 to 1-2 as the Tipperary players were struggling to find their groove - mimicking the first-half performance against Waterford - and they were two behind by the 20th minute as Conall Morrison’s equaliser in the 17th minute was short-lived when points from Gavin Marshall and Barry had the Banner two point to the good.

With the conditions such as they were, Tipp could ill-afford to be behind at the break and they eventually found some primary possession in their forward division in the final ten minutes with a fine first for Chris Dunne floating over after a Euan Murray feed, before a well-taken Jack Cahill free levelled the scores.

However, Tipp were dealt a major blow a minute after that Cahill equaliser with Kieran Rossiter being forced off with an injury; replaced by Jaye Cilvinas who made an immediate impact to be fair, firing over a 25th-minute point to give Tipp the lead once again as the Premier youngsters added two further points before the break from Cahill (free) and a classy second for Chris Dunne.

Tipp ahead 1-8 to 0-8 at the break, but would face into a strengthening wind for the second half.

There was plenty of work yet to be done from a Tipperary perspective with Clare ready to make use of the strong wind, and they ate into the half-time lead within a minute of the restart thanks to another well struck John Barry point from range.

Jaye Cilvinas was making a good impact in replacing the energy lost after Kieran Rossiter’s withdrawal and he slotted over one of the scores of the game in the 37th minute from an acute angle, but that was swiftly responded to by another Barry free.

Tipp were conceding far too many frees and that trend would continue throughout the half - proving critical by game’s end - and they had the reflexes of Patrick McCormack to thank for thwarting a Clare goal chance as the Moneygall man denied Barry from close range.

It was a vital intervention from McCormack as Tipperary soon rattled the net for the second time, turning over a poorly executed short puckout; Niall Doyle fumbling the ball before Chris Dunne pounced to gather the ball and overhead bat it to the back of the net. A real six-point swing for the visitors.

Despite that, Tipp were making life difficult for themselves and some really poor discipline in the tackle, at times, gave Clare’s John Barry chances to score from placed balls and three of those came in the next ten minutes as the Banner brought it back to 2-10 to 0-14 with ample time left on the clock.

Chris Dunne was proving a clinical finisher for Tipp on the day and he fired over another sublime score on 54 minutes to beef out the lead to three again, but the rest of the game would be Clare’s with Evan Cleary’s 55th minute goal the decisive moment as the midfielder was fed in behind with plenty of space to fire his effort goalward past the hurley of Patrick McCormack.

From here, Tipp floundered as the Clare wave continued to pour forward, winning most of the breaking ball and it gave them chances with a late free from John Barry sealing the win for the home side and putting Tipperary into a sticky position with Limerick and Cork to come in the next four weeks.

Scorers: Tipperary: Chris Dunne 1-3, Jack Cahill 0-3f, Tommy O’Meara 1-0, Conall Morrison, Jaye Cilvinas 0-2 each, Dylan Hennessy, Paul Cummins 0-1 each.

Clare: John Barry (0-14, 0-12f), Evan Cleary 1-0, Zak Phelan, Gavin Marshall, Graham Ball all 0-1 each.

Tipperary: Patrick McCormack (Moneygall); Fred Perry (Moyle Rovers), Kevin Fitzpatrick (Newport), Conor Collins (Galtee Rovers); Dylan Hennessy (Mullinahone), Patrick Hackett (Toomevara), Shane Cooney (Clerihan); Conor Kennedy (Clonoulty Rossmore), Kieran Rossiter (Durlas Óg); Chris Dunne (Gortnahoe Glengoole), Euan Murray (Durlas Óg), Paul Cummins (Ballybacon Grange); Jack Cahill (Ballingarry), Tommy O’Meara (Kilruane MaDonaghs), Conall Morrison (Moyle Rovers).

Subs used: Jaye Cilvinas (Arravale Rovers) for Rossiter (24, inj); Philip O’Dwyer (Upperchurch Drombane) for Cahill (54); Padraic O’Shea (JK Brackens) for Kennedy (54); Darragh Doyle (Killenaule) for Cummins (59); Senan Mackey (Knockavilla Kickhams) for O’Meara (59).

Clare: Leon Talty (St Joseph’s Doora Barefield); Darragh Murrihy (Inagh Kilnamona), Niall Doyle (Éire Óg Ennis), Cormac Gunning (Broadford); Zak Phelan (Sixmilebridge), Evan Crimmins (Newmarket on Fergus), Jack O’Halloran (Sixmilebridge); Graham Ball (St Joseph’s Doora Barefield), Evan Cleary (Ballyea); Gavin Marshall (Parteen/Meelick), John Barry (Inagh Kilnamona), Ian O’Brien (Cratloe); James O’Donnell (Broadford), Donncha Mahon (Clooney Quin), Ben Talty (St Joseph’s Doora Barefield).

Subs used: Liam Murphy (O’Callaghan’s Mills) for Mahon (38); Rory Ralph (Clarecastle) for B Talty (51); Colm Daly (St Joseph’s Doora Barefield) for Marshall (51); Jason Keane Hayes (Kilmaley) for Ball (57); Dara McInerney (Newmarket on Fergus) for O’Brien (59).

Referee: Seaghán Walsh (Waterford)