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A somewhat strange and surreal atmosphere filled an empty Semple Stadium on Monday night.
Here were two teams contesting a Munster U20 championship match that was in danger of becoming redundant shortly after referee Thomas Walsh’s final whistle sounded.
Full time was called around 8:50 pm, 10 minutes or so before Taoiseach Michéal Martin took the podium at the government buildings to provide official confirmation, among other items, as to which sports had survived the Level 5 crossing.
But while the sport was not mentioned in his speech, the clarity came later in the evening and was positive news for the GAA and its inter-county competitions.
With the inter-county scene managing to keep their heads above water amid a series of new restrictions, Tipperary’s U20 launchers, as a reward for their incredible second-half performance, will be on their way to Dungarvan to face Waterford in the Munster semifinal next Monday. final.
Tipperary, who seemed to be in trouble at halftime when trailing 0-10 to 0-6, clinched the second half, a half hour during which he outscored opponents 1-13 to 0-2. Included in this was an unanswered 11-point streak, as the reigning champions of Ireland assumed full control of the proceedings.
Clare’s defiance was shattered on reboot. They just had no response to the increased intensity of Tipperary. The Banner spent the first 27 minutes of the second half without adding to his account.
As you may have deduced from the above, it was all Tipperary in the second period. Three from Conor Bowe and a point from Kevin McCarthy kept the hosts tied at 0-10 each in 38 minutes. They also hit five widths during this period, a sign of their growing dominance. Bowe beat them up front in 42 minutes and they never looked back thereafter. Devon Ryan capped the victory by sending a penalty at the end.
Barring a seven-minute period at the start of the first half when Tipp slashed four unanswered points and also fired a goal kick off the post, Clare was the better team in the first half.
Their 0-10 to 0-6 lead at interval had a lot to do with the outstanding contributions of midfielder Cian Galvin and full forward Mark Rodgers, the pair making up 0-7 of Clare’s first half total. Rodgers, in particular, was in electric form and proved very difficult to tie off when it came to the Premier’s rear.
Thurles’ visitors started with the brightest, Connor Hegarty, who was a late replacement for Shane Meehan, and William Halpin shot them to an early lead.
Then came Tipperary’s most productive spell of the middle. The impressive Andrew Ormond fired a pair to level the proceedings before drilling a low shot from the butt of the post. Conor Bowe and Gearóid O’Connor (free) subsequently doubled Tipperary’s lead in the 10th minute, but would add just two more scores to their tally in the remainder of the half and went a 14-minute period without raising a flag of any description. , during which Clare ripped off five with no response to increase 0-9 to 0-5 clear.
However, that was only as good as his night. Clare’s wait for a first victory in this grade since 2015 continues.
C Bowe (0-7); D Ryan (1-4, 1-0 featherweight, 0-3 free); To Ormond (0-3); K McCarthy, S Ryan (0-2 each); G O’Connor (0-1 free).
C Galvin (0-5, 0-3 free); M Rodgers (0-4, 0-1 free); R Mounsey, W Halpin, C Hegarty (0-1 each).
A Browne (Knockavilla-Donaskeigh Kickhams); J Ryan (Arravale Rovers), C Whelan (Carrick Davins), É McBride (JK Brackens); F Purcell (Drom-Inch), E Connolly (Cashel King Cormacs), R McCormack (Borris-Ileigh); K Maher (Borris-Ileigh), K McCarthy (Toomevara); G O’Connor (Moyne-Templetuohy), D Ryan (Knockavilla-Donaskeigh Kickhams), S Hayes (Kiladangan); K O’Kelly (Kilruane MacDonaghs), A Ormond (JK Brackens), C Bowe (Moyne-Templetuohy).
S Ryan (Templederry Kenyons) for Hayes (HT); J Devanney (Borris-Ileigh) by O’Connor (46); K Ryan (Upperchurch-Drombane) from Purcell (56); M Hackett (Moycarkey-Borris) for Ormond (60, inj); D Flannery (Kiladangan) for McCarthy (64, inj).
C Broderick (Clarecastle); P Donnellan (Broadford), A Mungovan (St Joseph’s Doora Barefield), J McGrath (Clonlara); M Gough (from Smith O’Brien); D McMahon (Clonlara), D Lohan (Wolfe Tone na Sionna); A Moriarty (Clonlara), G Cahill (Corofin); C Galvin (Clarecastle), R Mounsey (Rouen), W Halpin (Tulla); D Cahill (Corofin), M Rodgers (Scariff), C Hegarty (Inagh / Kilnamona).
D Healy (Clarecastle) for Mungovan (16 minutes); C Burke (Clonlara) by D Cahill (40); E Wallace (Clarecastle) by G Cahill (44); K Keane (Corofin) by Mounsey (49); K Keane (Corofin) by Gough (52).
T Walsh (Waterford).
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