Tipperary's championship prospects dealt fatal blow by rampant Clare
Tipp suffer heavy defeat in Thurles
Clare 1-25 Tipperary 0-17
Barring a highly unlikely turn of events, Tipperary’s grip on the MacCarthy Cup has been relinquished following this heavy defeat by Clare at FBD Semple Stadium this evening.
Going into the game with a draw and a defeat from their two games in the campaign, Tipp’s prospects of being one of the three teams to qualify from Munster were all but snuffed out by a rejuvenated Clare team, who bounced back in some style from their drubbing by Limerick.
Tipp’s hopes of securing a first win in the championship since the All-Ireland final last July looked remote all evening, as they stumbled through a very disappointing 70-plus minutes without any semblance of fluency or rhythm.
True, Clare were unrecognisable from the team that had succumbed so meekly to Limerick in their previous outing. And their task was made all the easier by a Tipperary team that was miles off the pace.
Their chances of getting back into the game at the midway stage, when they were six points in arrears, didn’t look too encouraging. The second half was only a minute old when they slipped further behind, a delivery by Clare’s Ryan Taylor breaking for Ian Galvin to bat home the only goal of the evening. Even at that relatively early stage, it looked like game over, with Clare nine points clear.
That view was reinforced with 19 minutes of normal time remaining, when Willie Connors received a second yellow card and was dismissed.
In front of an attendance of 32,327, Clare’s win was copperfastened long before the final whistle. 11 points was the difference between the teams at the end of a game in which Clare had 17 wides, compared to Tipp’s five.
On a hugely disappointing evening for the home team and their supporters, only a handful of players including Robert Doyle, Jake Morris and Eoghan Connolly showed anywhere near their true form.
By contrast, all the leading performers wore saffron and blue. Dramuid Stritch scored six points from play and he had a strong supporting cast in Sean Rynne, substitute Ian Galvin, Ryan Taylor, Cathal Malone and Peter Duggan.
Playing into the breeze, Tipp were behind by 0-14 to 0-8 at the interval. However, such was the poverty of their first half display that they were even fortunate to be in that position.
Clare were the sharper and hungrier team and had they not had nine wides in the opening half - a period of the game when Tipp had none - they could have been almost out of sight at the break.
Tipp were in poor shape all over the pitch; the forwards were struggling to win possession, while the backs had their hands full with pacy Clare forwards such as Tony Kelly, Sean Rynne and Diarmuid Stritch.
Willie Connors, Eoghan Connolly and Robert Doyle were doing their best to stem the tide, but the signs were worrying for Tipp after the opening 35 minutes, after they were outscored by 0-10 to 0-1 between the 19th and 36th minutes.
The sides were level four times in the close opening 13 minutes, before a great interception and point by Willie Connors gave Tipp the lead for the first time in the 16th minute (0-5 to 0-4). However, the scores dried up for Tipp for a prolonged spell after that, and they didn’t trouble the scoreboard for another 16 minutes, until Jason Forde pointed in the 32nd minute.
That left them five points in arrears, after Clare had steadily built a significant lead thanks to three points in quick succession in the space of two minutes from Diarmuid Stritch, as well as scores from Tony Kelly’s free, Sean Rynne, Ian Galvin and Cathal Malone.
Clare were eight clear when Ryan Taylor, Diarmuid Stritch and Sean Rynne scored as the half drew to a close. Tipp kept in touch with a pair of converted frees from Darragh McCarthy in added time.
SEE MORE: Tipperary school's First Year soccer team defeats Wicklow side to reach FAI national final
Tipperary: Rhys Shelly, Robert Doyle, Eoghan Connolly (0-3, 1 free), Michael Breen, Craig Morgan, Ronan Maher (captain), Bryan O’Mara, Willie Connors (0-1), Alan Tynan (0-1), Jake Morris (0-4), Andrew Ormond, Oisín O’Donoghue, Darragh McCarthy (0-3 frees), John McGrath, Jason Forde (0-3, 1 sideline).
Substitutes:Darragh Stakelum for Andrew Ormond (half-time), Conor Stakelum (0-1) for Michael Breen (42), Sam O’Farrell for Alan Tynan (48), Stefan Tobin (0-1) for Darragh McCarthy (51), Noel McGrath for Jason Forde (57), Keith Ryan for Oisín O’Donoghue (67).
Clare: Eibhear Quilligan, John Conlon, David McInerny, Adam Hogan, Diarmuid Ryan, Niall O’Farrell (0-1), Cathal Malone (0-2), Darragh Lohan, Ryan Taylor (0-1), Shane O’Donnell, Peter Duggan (0-4, 2 sidelines, 1 free) Sean Rynne (0-4), Diarmuid Stritch (0-6), Mark Rodgers, Tony Kelly (captain 0-5, 3 frees).
Substitutes: Ian Galvin (1-2) for Mark Rodgers (25), David Reidy for Ryan Taylor (46), David Fitzgerald for Tony Kelly (57), Conor Cleary for Sean Rynne (62), Shane Meehan for Shane O’Donnell (65).
Referee:Thomas Walsh (Waterford).