Clare 3-23 Tipperary 5-22
Goal-hungry Tipperary proved they must be considered a major force for Championship after storming Clare’s Cusack Park fortress for five goals.
Manager Liam Cahill praised the Premier’s goal-scoring “opportunists” after capitalising on a series of Clare defensive mistakes.
Jake Morris (2-4) and Jason Forde (2-6) blasted two goals each past Éamonn Foudy who endured a nightmare first start in a defeat that puts Clare’s Championship dreams in serious doubt.
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“We have players who are good opportunists and will put away a chance when we create it,” said Cahill of Tipp’s eye for goal.
“From an entertainment point of view too, I think it’s nice that you have games with goals in them. Spectators need that. While it’s lovely to watch fellas picking off points from 70 or 80 yards, it can become a bit monotonous at times.
“For any young players aspiring to be good forwards, I think today was a good spectacle for them to see the net lifting a couple of times.”
Having topped the Munster round-robin last year, Brian Lohan’s charges must now travel to Limerick this Saturday looking to avoid consecutive defeats.
It was an entirely avoidable scoreline for the hosts in front of 17,971 fans. The first-half goal haul came from a Forde sideline cut that bounced to the net, a turnover coughed up by Foudy, and a short puck-out that broke down. The latter pair were finished by the lethal Morris.
“Sometimes these things happen. People make mistakes,” reflected Clare boss Brian Lohan. “You just get on with that. It's tough.”
Mark Rodgers netted a brace before half-time to give Clare hope as they trailed by 3-12 to 2-11.
But a Forde penalty, from which David McInerney was sin-binned, and a Seán Ryan goal with his first-ever touch at this level sealed the Premier’s first Championship victory since beating the same opponents in July 2021.
That was a game that featured an even more controversial sin-bin penalty against Clare’s Aidan McCarthy. It was an incident Lohan referenced when asked about McInerney’s foul on Morris.
“I'd have to look back on it,” he said. “There doesn't seem to be too many other teams that get hit with black-card penalties. We've been hit twice against Tipp.
“Has there been a black-card penalty in a Championship game since? There certainly hasn’t in 2021 or 2022. We seem to get them. That's tough on our guys.”
When asked about a foul by Michael Breen on Aron Shanagher as he headed for goal in stoppage time, Lohan replied: “Hard to get frees there. We found it hard to get frees.”
Clare couldn’t create so much space in the second half as Tipp shut up shop, with McCarthy’s 1-13 total all in vain. His goal came with only 30 seconds remaining as the hosts were left to count the cost of 15 wides and a couple more goal chances not taken.
Rodgers could have had four in the first half alone but for one shot taken off the line by Johnny Ryan and another blocked by Breen. Ronan Maher quietened Rodgers' influence when switched onto him for the second half while Tony Kelly was held to one point by Cathal Barrett.
“We changed up a couple of things in relation to match-ups up front that were hurting us,” said Cahill.
“I’m really happy that we came through that bit of Clare pressure today and hopefully it’ll stand us in good stead for what’s coming at us down the tracks.”
The Tipp manager chose to list his panel in alphabetical order to circumvent a new GAA rule on team announcements, with Forde, wearing no.7, doing most of the scoring from corner-forward.
He gave five players their first Championship starts in Brian McGrath, lining up alongside his brothers Noel and John for the first time, Johnny Ryan, Bryan O’Mara, Alan Tynan, and Gearóid O’Connor.
“It was a tough assignment to start off with, a great baptism for a couple of players as well,” said Cahill. “Great start, very, very happy. Delighted for the players.”
His troops stood up better to the pressure of a full house in Ennis, exploiting all of the hosts' early mistakes.
“If you play it out short from the back, there’s always a risk you could get turned over. I think teams are going after that that little bit more,” said Cahill.
“Championship hurling brings that little bit of an edge and a little bit of nervousness and we were fortunate today that we capitalised on one or two of Clare’s mistakes back there. Maybe the scoreboard wouldn’t have been as flattering if that hadn’t happened.
“We have a lot to improve on and we wouldn’t be excited... While it’s great to come to Ennis any time and win, we won’t be getting too carried away with aspects of our play today.”
Among those areas to work on were the three goals conceded.
“They seemed to be coming from a little bit of indecisiveness from a defensive perspective.
“We'll look back at it. Two of the goals, in particular, were aerial balls that should have been dealt with.”
At least they had five of their own to enjoy on the video review.
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