Longstanding custom demands that we describe the proceedings as finely balanced when Jake Morris cut in from the left wing for Tipp, only to be grounded by Aidan McCarthy
Take heed of the date and decide whether or not it’s accurate.
Independence Day was overcast and muggy in the Gaelic Grounds for Clare and Tipperary, and paying attention to the date casts Brian Lohan as an unlikely George Washington — and Liam Sheedy as an even more unlikely King George, maybe — but the fireworks which usually herald this date across the water came minutes into the second half of this Munster championship semi-final.
Longstanding custom demands that we describe the proceedings as finely balanced when Jake Morris cut in from the left wing for Tipp, only to be grounded by Aidan McCarthy. Referee James Owens duly sin-binned McCarthy for 10 minutes and awarded Tipperary a penalty which Jason Forde tucked away with extreme prejudice.
Before McCarthy resumed his place on the field Tipperary had plundered 2-4, and that, as they say, was the ball game.
By common consent Clare were entitled to feel hard done by — you can read Brian Lohan’s comments elsewhere in these pages, which run the gamut from “frustrated” to “disgusted” — not so much by the rule which led to the penalty but by its interpretation.
Morris is a good man to unearth a goal but to describe his position — hard by the touchline, with Clare defenders haring back to cut off his route to goal — as a clear goalscoring opportunity was either extremely generous or a ringing endorsement of the Tipperary attacker’s capabilities.
The decision also had the effect of tilting the game irreversibly Tipperary’s way. The previous evening in Thurles Cork had struggled to make their extra player work against Limerick in a similar situation — and had also missed their penalty. In the run-up to this game there had been some muttering about the age of this Tipperary team, but they showed the benefit of experience in squeezing every drop of juice they could from their advantage when it came their way.
There might have been a touch of good fortune about Seamus Callanan’s goal in that period — he seemed to mishit a point effort to beat the otherwise excellent Eibhear Quilligan — but no matter. The scoreboard operator deducts no points on the grounds of a player’s intentions.
“Just delighted to be over the line, back in a Munster final,” said Liam Sheedy after the game.
“We knew Clare were going to be a formidable challenge.
“In fairness to them, they were out of the blocks like a rocket, hit us for 1-7 and a six point cushion, but I thought the reaction our lads showed to get back in the game was very, very strong
“Then they got the goal just before half-time, again a point down and they playing with all the breeze. The character of the dressing-room was going to be tested in that second-half.
“I just couldn’t be more pleased with the reaction we got from the group. Some of our hurling I thought was as good as we’ve ever played.
“The bench came in and really delivered. Look, we were probably sucking for air in the last 10 or 15 minutes, Clare came back and got on top again and pushed us tight.
“But overall a good performance — we knew Clare were going to be formidable opposition and we’re just delighted to be over the line.”
Sheedy and his management team had surely clocked Tony Kelly’s positioning against Waterford as one of those challenges. In that game Kelly’s movement and accuracy at full-forward were not only a boon to Clare on the scoreboard, but a constant headache for Waterford as they withdrew Darragh Lyons to contain him, blunting their own attacking potential.
Forewarned, Tipperary had their plans set. Simone Weil told us years ago that attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity, and unlikely as some of those descriptors appear when applied to a Tipperary corner-back, there was no mistaking the purity of the attention focused on Kelly.
Sheedy and his management assigned Cathal Barrett, the very incarnation of touch-tight, to pick Kelly up, and for long stretches of the first half he kept the Clare talisman at bay.
Brian Lohan’s side had other totems, however. In a whirlwind start they led 1-4 to 0-4 after just six minutes, with an impressive Ian Galvin the Clare goalscorer. John Conlon resumed the sweeping and clearing which illuminated his display against Waterford, and the Banner dominated until Michael Breen golfed home a fine goal — breaking forward to support his inside line, he took on the responsibility himself.
If not for Quilligan’s reactions Tipperary would have had a second goal, from Seamus Callanan, but with Bubbles O’Dwyer coming into the game they led deep in first-half injury.
As Cork supporters could have mournfully informed their Premier counterparts, however, it’s not over until it’s over. When Aaron Shanagher’s shot was half-blocked, the ball spun off at a random angle. If you were Clare supporter the scenario declared itself invitingly; if you were in Tipp colours the split-second took on the dull glow of nightmare.
The ball sat up obligingly for David Reidy, whose bravery in flicking the ball on was rewarded by an emphatic Kelly finish: 2-11 to 1-13 at the half.
Set fair for an entertaining second half, instead we had the penalty goal, Callanan’s goal, and a prosaic enough procession to the end.
Brian Lohan wasn’t in the humour to be mollified by tributes to his side’s display afterwards: “We’re not surprised at that.
“We came down to play well and trained hard and have worked hard over the whole winter to try and get ourselves in shape and to be hit with a sucker punch like that, it’s just very frustrating.”
For Sheedy and his team there was a date with Limerick to look forward to at the final whistle: “The only thing we wanted at half five this evening was to qualify for the Munster final.
“We see the dangers that lie in the other side of the draw so it was about a Munster final and qualify for the All-Ireland series. That was the focus today.”
Limerick looked like a team which cleared a few snags out of their system in Saturday night’s win over Cork. Just as Tipp benefited from a sight of Clare against Waterford, the All-Ireland champions will draw their plans carefully over the next fortnight for the Munster final based on what they saw in the Gaelic Grounds.
And this new rule that had everyone so upset on Sunday? Weil also told us that all sins are an attempt to fill a void: Perhaps this particular void could have been left unfilled
