Approaching 15,000 supporters from Clare and Tipperary will converge on Ennis this evening for the Munster under-21 hurling final between the two counties. Clare are desperate to win their first ever Munster title at the grade, having been beaten 10 times in Munster finals.

They believe, however, that they can put those defeats behind them tonight and will be looking to senior players Alan Markham, Enda Flannery and John Reddin for leadership. Markham and Flannery have been very influential in Clare's campaign to date, while full back Kenneth Kennedy has also been very impressive.

Tipperary also have a number of other players of considerable experience, most notably All Star footballer Declan Browne, who also played for the senior hurlers in the National League this year. Browne scored three goals in the semi-final against Waterford.

Full back Fergal Heaney, right half back Donnacha Fahy and left-half forward Paul Kelly all played in the senior championship against Clare this year. Two of Tipperary's minor team, who play Galway in the All-Ireland final on Sunday week, are also involved. Damien Young plays in goal while Eoin Kelly, brother of Paul, is on the bench.

Clare, who in the semi-final last week beat a Cork side that had four of this year's senior All-Ireland finalists in their ranks, are favourites.

Both sides will have several players who are familiar with each other from minor days. Tipperary will field most of the minor team which won the All-Ireland title in 1996 while Clare also have several players who won All-Ireland minor honours in 1997 - Clare lost in the Munster final that year but came through the back door to take the title.

In Clare's 10 previous finals they lost four times to Cork, four times to Tipperary and twice to Waterford.

Clare county board PRO Des Crowe attributes the extraordinary interest in the match to the county's lack of a title, the home venue and the keen rivalry between the counties in recent years.

Crowe expects a huge influx of Tipperary and Galway supporters to Ennis for the match. "We have been in touch with the Tipperary county board and they tell us that we can expect between 4,000 and 5,000 from there. "Interest in Clare is also enormous and, because the winners of this match will meet Galway in the semi-final there will be an influx of Galway supporters as well," says Crowe.

The semi-final match between the winners and Galway is fixed for tomorrow-week. Kilkenny are already in the final after their easy win over Antrim at the weekend.

Tipperary: (under-21 H): D Young; T Costello, F Heaney, W Hickey; D Fahy, J Carroll, P Maher; M Ryan, R Flannery; P O'Brien, W Maher, P Kelly; M Kennedy, E O'Neill, D Browne.