Errant Tipp pay price as Banner brush them aside
So often in the recent past it has been this Clare team that has lost ground from inconsistent free-taking, so there must have been a degree of comfort for them to instead watch Tipperary go through those same horrors in this Division 1 semi-final at O’Moore Park, Portlaoise.
Not that it was the losing of the game for Tipperary, but when nine of their 19 wides come from placed balls struck by four different players, it represented a crisis that manager Liam Cahill must get to grips with.
First, Jason Forde, one of the most reliable strikers in the game, was off the mark with three, then Gearóid O’Connor sliced two wide coming up to half-time. Forde was back on them, then the baton passed to Willie Connors and, finally, substitute Seán Ryan. None of them could find a rhythm, symptomatic of how the team was overall.
In contrast, Mark Rodgers and then Aidan McCarthy – a temporary substitute for Rodgers, who went off with a head injury – nailed nine of the 10 opportunities that fell to them.
This was even more comfortable than the eight-point margin suggests for Clare. They have carried an air of indifference in previous league campaigns, but intent was evident on this occasion as they built up an eight-point lead without reply in the first 11 minutes. They then led by seven (1-14 to 1-7) at the break and had that clipped back to two by the 45th minute, then took off again as Tipp ran out of ideas and confidence.
One point, from a free, in the last 20 minutes is a measure of how bad Tipp – who had Jake Morris red carded near the end for a second yellow card – were.
But that shouldn’t take from another competent Clare performance. This team has been close in four Munster finals since their last league win in 2016, but maybe getting their hands on some silverware could unlock something else in this group now at a critical time in their cycle.
With Limerick beaten in the other semi-final, the path was clear to go for it and avoid back-to-back games with the champions, who they meet in a Munster round-robin game on April 21.
They were defensively solid with Conor Leen making life difficult for Forde, who, on top of four wides from frees, had three more from play too.
Adam Hogan had plenty of good moments on Jake Morris, who still got 1-2, while Conor Cleary never gave Patrick ‘Bonner’ Maher an inch.
Dominance
It was the platform for the dominance enjoyed further upfield, where David Fitzgerald put in another tour de force from half-forward, finishing with 1-3.
His goal was in swift response to a Morris goal at the other end, the Tipperary forward slipping Hogan to place a shot after a perfect Dan McCormack delivery in the 16th minute.
But straight away Fitzgerald took down the puckout and set off on one of his trademark barnstorming runs to plant a shot past Barry Hogan, cutting Tipperary open in a way that should not happen to a team with their ambitions.
Clare could have been further ahead by the break, but Rodgers shot wide from a good position after engineering an opening. Tipp’s response after halftime promised more than it delivered.
Just seconds after the restart, Conor Bowe powered forward to offload to substitute Seán Hayes, who struck for a second goal.
They made further inroads and when two more substitutes, Alan Tynan and Seán Kenneally, either side of Willie Connors, got a trio of points in succession.
It felt like Tipp had menace in them but the constant stream of wides ultimately proved costly.
“That really is the disappointing part. When you work so hard to get yourself back into the game and then silly frees kept the scoreboard ticking over for Clare and gave them that bit of oxygen to see them over the line,” said Cahill, referencing two McCarthy frees that followed to ease any Banner tension.
Clare, still without Tony Kelly, Shane O’Donnell, David McInerney and Ryan Taylor, saw it home as the standard dropped on both sides.
Cahill was keen to stress his enduring belief in the current group and urged Tipperary supporters to share that faith.
“There’s great character in that (dressing) room,” he said. “There’s a nice mix, they’re a good tight group and we love working with them.
“We love coming to the training field with them, myself and Mikey (Bevans), and we’re not going to give up on them anytime soon.
“This is a new crop of Tipperary hurlers coming (through), not maybe for this year, but in the time that we’re here, the Tipp team will have transitioned fully.
“To the Tipp supporters I would say, stick with them. They will come right. What I see in training is not what transpired here today. The day they do bring their training form to the pitch, they’ll be a match for anyone.
“They don’t become bad hurlers after one 70 minutes in the middle of March. Our goal was always the 28th of April (start of Munster championship). That’s what we’re aiming for.
“We’re not going to hide under that today and use that as an out today. We are disappointed we didn’t perform and didn’t give the big travelling Tipperary supporters a little bit more to go on.”
His opposite number Brian Lohan said there was no special emphasis on winning the league, nor did Limerick’s loss the night before impact their thinking.
“We try to wine very game. We’ re pretty good at winning games and this is an opportunity for us to take on Kilkenny in another big game. This time of year, that’s what inter-county players want. We have a big panel, they all want to play, it’s a great opportunity,” said Lohan, who revealed their absent players are close to a return. SCORERS – Clare: A McCarthy 0-8 (6f, 1 ’65); D Fitzgerald 1-3; D Reidy, M Rodgers (3f) 0-3 each; K Smyth 0-2; C Malone, D Ryan, D Lohan, A Hogan, C Galvin 0-1 each. Tipperary: J Forde 0-6 (5f); J Morris 1-2; S Hayes 1-0; D McCormack, W Connors, S Ryan (1f), S Kenneally, A Tynan 0-1 each. CLARE: E Quilligan 7; C Leen 8, C Cleary 8, A Hogan 7; D Ryan 8, C Galvin 7, J Conlon 7; C Malone 7, D Lohan 7; D Fitzgerald 8, D Reidy 7, P Duggan 6; K Smyth 6, I Galvin 6, M Rodgers 6: Subs: A McCarthy 7 for Rodgers (20-ft), S Morey for Lohan (47-54), S Meehan 5 for Smyth (52), Morey 5 for Conlon (56), S Rynne for I Galvin (63), R Hayes for Hogan (66), P Crotty for Reidy (70+2). TIPPERARY: B Hogan 7; C Morgan 6, R Maher 7, M Breen 7; D McCormack 7, R Byrne 6, B O’Mara 6; W Connors 6, C Bowe 6; C Stakelum 5, D Stakelum 5, G O’Connor 5; J Morris 7, P Maher 5, J Forde 6. Subs: S Hayes 7 for Maher (h-t), A Tynan 6 for D Stakelum (h-t), J Ryan 6 for Bowe (55), S Ryan for O’Connor (61) REF: L Gordon (Galway).