Tipperary 4-19 Clare 1-19:Three goals in the space of as many minutes put paid to Clare's challenge in Munster this afternoon as Tipperary survived a stern examination to reach the provincial decider. The All-Ireland champions will now face Waterford in the decider next month.
The overwhelming favourites – Tipperary were as low as 1-12 with the bookmakers – were sluggish getting out of the blocks as Clare put 1-3 on the scoreboard before Declan Ryan’s side had even registered a point. Conor McGrath’s early goal was followed by three quickfire points and it took Tipperary over 10 minutes to find their range.
But any notion of an upset in a crowd of around 17,000 was dispelled less than 10 minutes later, as goals from Eoin Kelly, Darach Honan and Lar Corbett turned the tide in Tipperary’s favour.
Reeling, Clare dug deep until the sanctuary of half-time and emerged after the break determined to get back into the contest. That appeared a forlorn hope when Noel McGrath was fouled inside the square but Kelly missed the ensuing penalty.
However, once into their stride Tipperary were always unlikely to be reeled in and Seamus Callanan, McGrath and Kelly kept the scorers busy as all but one of the forward line made an impression. Clare, to their credit, never threw in the towel but were caught out one last time when Callanan pulled home after Corbett’s effort struck the foot of the post.
Clare now go into the qualifiers, where they will take on Galway while Limerick will meet Wexford in the other Phase I clash.