Tipperary defeated Clare by 2-7 to 1-7 in Round 2 of the Allianz Football League Division 3 on Sunday February 7th at Sean Treacy Park Tipperary Town.
Tipperary played against the wind in the first half and after a quick Clare point, Tipperary raised a green flag through Conor Sweeney. Clare dominated possession in the first quarter but were wasteful in front of goal and it took until the 16th minute for them to draw level, 1-1 to 0-4. Tipperary’s play improved in the second quarter and unanswered points by Peter Acheson, Josh Keane and Philip Austin ensured Tipperary led at the interval by 1-4 to 0-4.
The second half was closely contested with the counties sharing six points in the opening 25 minutes, the Tipperary points coming via Brian Fox and Philip Austin (2). Clare looked to be right back in the game courtesy of a Jamie Malone goal in the 61st minutes to level the scores. However, from the kickout, Tipperary marched down the field to score their own goal via Brian Fox. Despite both sides having chances, there were no further scores in the worsening weather conditions as Tipperary held out for a hard earned three point victory.
Tipperary’s sucker punch KOs Clare challenge
Report By Jackie Cahill for the Irish Examiner newspaper
Tipperary 2-7 Clare 1-7: Tipperary emerged from a game their manager Liam Kearns aptly described as a “war of attrition” to claim their first victory of the season in Division 3 of the Allianz Football League.
Three points out of four is an acceptable return for Tipp from their first two outings but Clare boss Colm Collins lamented some poor decision-making in the first half from his players, who operated with a strong wind from the start. This tie was played in atrocious conditions at Sean Treacy Park in Tipperary Town, as heavier rain became a feature of the second half. Clare registered 10 first-half wides and were 0-4 to 1-4 behind at the break, Tipp’s goal an early one courtesy of Conor Sweeney, who picked up the pieces after the impressive Philip Austin rattled a shot off the crossbar.
Clare were betwixt and between regarding their tactics, as inspirational captain Gary Brennan started at midfield, and did well before being perched on the edge of the square. It seemed a case of robbing Peter to pay Paul but presumably the thinking was to engineer a goal and go route one to Brennan. But Tipp coped admirably with his considerable threat, and had a platform to work from in the second half.
Clare, to their credit, came out and made a real game of it, with David Tubridy kicking a couple of brilliant frees against the elements to haul the Banner men back into contention. They refused to go away and with nine minutes left, the tide appeared to have turned in their direction as Jamie Malone fired a brilliant goal, shortly after Tipp’s Jimmy Feehan was black-carded.
But the home side’s response was brilliant as new captain Peter Acheson grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck, cutting through the Clare defence before fisting across the face of goal to Brian Fox, who applied the finish. That goal was the game’s final score and Tipp held out to make it a satisfactory opening to their league campaign — with a visit to Westmeath next on the horizon in three weeks.
Kearns said: “That was a war of attrition — we came out on the right side of it. We laid the foundations in the first half but in fairness to Clare, they came out and played as well as we did in the first half, and gave us loads of it.” Clare boss Colm Collins reflected: “We had some terrible wides (in the first half). In a lot of cases, we should have been a lot more patient but you’d be very proud of their display in the second half.”
Scorers for Tipperary: B Fox 1-1, P Austin 0-4 (2f), C Sweeney 1-0, P Acheson & J Keane 0-1.
Scorers for Clare: J Malone 1-0, D Tubridy 0-3f, G Brennan & E Cleary (1f) 0-2.
TIPPERARY: C Kenrick; C McDonald, A Campbell, C O’Shaughnessy; J Feehan, R Kiely, D Leahy; A Moloney, M Dunne; J Keane, P Acheson, B Fox; N O’Donovan, C Sweeney, P Austin
Subs: J O’Callaghan for D Leahy (53), S Leahy for Feehan (b/c 60), K O’Halloran for Sweeney (62), B Hewitt for Austin (66), D Butler for O’Donovan (68).
CLARE: J Hayes; C O’Dea, K Hartnett, M McMahon; J Malone, G Kelly, P Lillis; G Brennan, C O’Connor; S Collins, E Coughlan, S McGrath; K Sexton, E Cleary, D Tubridy.
Subs: D McMahon for Coughlan (h.t.), P Burke for Sexton (60), S Haugh for McGrath (60), D Nagle for Lillis (67).
Referee: P O’Sullivan (Kerry)
Previews – Allianz Football League D3, Longford v Limerick, Sligo v Westmeath, Tipperary v Clare, Kildare v Offaly: https://t.co/3Rq9Cgk68d
— The GAA (@officialgaa) February 5, 2016
Fixture Details
Sunday February 7th
Allianz Football League Roinn 3 Round 2
Sean Treacy Park, Tipperary Town 14:00
Tiobraid Árann v An Clár
Referee: Padraig O’Sullivan (Ciarraí)
Team News
The Tipperary Senior Football team to play Clare in Sean Treacy Park, Tipperary Town at 2pm next Sunday, February 7th in round 2 of the Allianz Football League Roinn 3 is as follows –
Evan Comerford – Kilsheelan Kilcash
Colm O’Shaughnessy – Ardfinnan
Jimmy Feehan – Killenaule
Ciarán McDonald – Aherlow
John O’Callaghan – Ballyporeen
Robbie Kiely – Carbery Rangers
Alan Campbell – Moyle Rovers
Alan Maloney – Rockwell Rovers
Martin Dunne – Moyle Rovers
Josh Keane – Golden Kilfeacle
Peter Acheson (Capt.) – Moyle Rovers
Brian Fox – Éire Óg Annacarty
Kevin O’Halloran – Portroe
Conor Sweeney – Ballyporeen
Philip Austin – Borrisokane
— Clare Gaa (@GaaClare) February 5, 2016
