Tipperary reach U20 Munster final despite Clare defeat

Clare 0-18 Tipperary 1-14

Conor Whelan crowned a masterclass of score-taking for Clare with an injury-time point to give his side a narrow win over Tipperary in a thrilling Munster Under-20 hurling championship round five clash at Semple Stadium.

Whelan registered a whopping sixteen points of his side's tally, with a man of the match performance but the win was not enough to secure a place in the final for The Banner boys. Tipperary, Cork and Clare all finished the round-robin series on six points, three wins out of four, but Tipperary’s better scoring record ensured them of a place in the final with Clare and Cork to meet in the semi-final.

Tipp opened impressively to go 0-04 to 0-01 ahead after eight minutes but then Clare took over, and with Whelan unerring from placed balls and play they outscored the home side ten points to three in the period to half-time, going in 0-11 to 0-07 at the break.

Tipp’s case was not helped by the loss through a thumb injury of Patrick McCormack after 19 minutes, the Borrisoleigh man having scored three points from play in that spell.

Tipp got a great boost four minutes after resuming when Oisin O Donoghue netted and goalkeeper Eoin Horgan’s long-range pointed free brought them level 1-10 to 0-13 at the three-quarter stage. They were two ahead with ten minutes to play and one ahead as the game moved to injury time but Clare finished with a flourish, Whelan levelling on the hour and then, two minutes into injury time, flashing over the winner.

Whelan stood out head and shoulders over everyone on the field and Clare’s concern will be that they relied so heavily on his scoring. However, they also had good displays from goalie Mark Sheedy, who twice denied Tipp possible goals, James Hegarty,