Munster MHCTipperary 1-6 Clare 0-8 With a scoring spree of 1-7 from Darragh Hickey, Tipperary kept one hand on their Munster minor hurling championship title with an emphatic victory over Clare at the Gaelic Grounds yesterday.
They raced into a five-point lead after nine minutes but gritty Clare refused to buckle and were just two in arrears, 0-8 to 0-6, at the interval.
Clare were still in the chase, 0-10 to 0-8, after 44 minutes but Hickey's well-worked goal put an end to their challenge, despite the best efforts of Bernard Gaffney and Dave Barrett.
Shane Long, Joe Dixon, Darragh Egan and Shane O'Brien piled on the points for Tipperary.
TIPPERARY: M Ryan; I Delaney, J Heffernan, R McLoughney; S O'Brien (0-1), J McCarthy, R McGrath; J Dixon (0-1), K Bergin; S Scully (0-1), P Ivors, J Woodlock; S Long (0-3), D Egan (0-2), D Hickey (1-7). Subs: J Loughney (0-1) for Woodlock, C Larkin for Bergin.
CLARE: S Murphy; A Quilligan, I O'Halloran, A Kilmartin; P O'Hare, J McInerney, P Lynch; J Clancy (0-1), K Sheehan; D Browne, D O'Halloran (0-1), D Barrett (0-2); B Gaffney (0-2), S O'Brien (0-2), D O'Donoghue. Subs: K Kennedy for Browne, M O'Donnell for Sheehan.
Referee: D Kirwan (Cork)
