Tipperary recovered from a disastrous start to topple All-Ireland champions Clare, in a thrilling Munster under 21 hurling final at Semple Stadium, Thurles last evening.
Tipperary U-21 Captain Padraic Maher lifts the Munster Cup after his side defeated Clare in the Munster Final at Semple Stadium. Picture: Bridget Delaney
The 11,450 fans were treated to a spectacular contest as Clare blitzed Tipperary in the opening four minutes hitting 1-3 without reply. Conor McGrath got the goal in the 2nd minute, punishing a slip by Tipp goalie James Logue.
Logue redeemed himself minutes later with a brilliant stop of a Darach Honan effort and then saved a John Conlon penalty as Clare threatened to run riot in the opening ten minutes.
Tipp settled and a string of points by Seamus Hennessy, Michael Heffernan and John O Dwyer saw them level after 20 minutes.
They nudged ahead through Hennessy a minute later, and got a great boost when Heffernan nettted in the 25th minute after Brian O Meara created the chance.
At the break they were 1-12 to 1-9 ahead, and with the breeze to favour them in the second half looked poised for victory.
In a cracking second half, Clare kept coming at Tipperary, but, the opening minutes apart, when Clare cut the lead to a point, Tipperary maintained a three to four point advantage.
Four points from Paddy Murphy in the closing seven minutes set the seal on a great Tipperary win and sends them through to the All-Ireland semi-final against Antrim.
This was a top-class display by Tipperary, and it had to be to stop Clare achieving back to back titles. Though he scored only one point, senior star Brian O Meara, back after injury, was an inspirational figure in the Tipperary attack, creating huge problems for Clare all through.
He was not alone as Padraig Maher, Patrick Maher, Noel McGrath, Seamus Hennessy and Paddy Murphy all had big games.
Clare will be disappointed to lose their title after such a bright start but Darach Honan, Eoin Hayes, the accurate Conor McGrath, Liam Markham and Camin Morey all tried very hard.
Tipperary - J Logue; M Cahill, J Coghlan, K O Gorman; J Barry, Padraic Maher, B Maher; S Hennessy (0-5, 4fs), N McGrath (0-2); S Carey (0-3), Patrick Maher, P Murphy (0-5); J O Dwyer (0-3), B O Meara (0-1), M Heffernan (1-3); Sub - K Morris for O Dwyer;
Clare - D Touhy; D Nash, C Chaplin, J Gunning; P O Connor, C Morey, L Markham; N O Connell, S Collins; P Vaughan, J Conlon(0-1), E Hayes (0-4); F Kennedy (0-1), D Honan (0-3), C McGrath (1-8,7fs); Subs - D O Halloran for Vaughan; S Golden for Collins;
Ref - C McAllister, Cork
