Tipperary 2-11 Clare 1-8
Tipperary rekindled their promotion hopes with a comfortable six-point victory over Clare at Semple Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The Premier County claimed a second victory from four outings in Division Three of the Allianz Football League to draw level in the standings with visitors Clare.
And on a weekend when pace-setters Armagh and Fermanagh will meet, these could yet turn out to be two very valuable points for Peter Creedon’s men.
Both sides were wasteful on the day, registering 22 wides between them, and luckless Clare missed a penalty in stoppage time.
David Tubridy saw his effort saved by Evan Comerford, before the Clare forward slammed the rebound over the crossbar on the volley from point-blank range.
In front of 437 spectators, Tipperary were four points clear at half-time, 1-5 to 0-4, as Conor Sweeney accounted for 1-2 of the home side's tally in the first half.
But Clare, who played against the breeze from the start, were still just about in touch, despite going 24 minutes without a score.
Clare’s best player, Shane McGrath, popped over their opening point in the eighth minute, as the teams exchanged early scores, but they didn’t trouble the scoreboard operator again until Tubridy converted a free three minutes before half-time.
Tubridy added another free and McGrath struck again before the break to leave the Banner County in contention at the midway point.
But Clare were eight points down, 0-5 to 1-10, when substitute Shane Brennan netted in the 60th minute.
And Tipp reasserted complete control when Philip Austin bagged their second goal two minutes from time, finishing off Brian Mulvihill’s excellent approach work.
Sweeney’s goal arrived in the eleventh minute of the first half, as the Ballyporeen forward palmed home Liam Casey’s effort that dropped short.
Tipperary went on to lead by seven points – 1-5 to 0-1 – before Clare launched a mini-revival before the break with the last three points of the first half.
TIPPERARY: E Comerford; R Kiely, P Codd, A Campbell; G Hannigan, P Acheson, S Kennedy (0-1); C O'Riordan, S O'Brien (0-2); I Fahey (0-1), P Austin (1-2), L Casey; C Sweeney (1-2, 0-2f), M Quinlivan (0-1), B Grogan (0-2, 1 45).
Subs: S Flynn for Quinlivan (inj, 22), B Mulvihill for Flynn (50), G Mulhair for Grogan (60).
CLARE: J Hayes; D Ryan, K Hartnett, G Kelly; C Russell, M McMahon, J Malone; G Brennan, C O'Connor; S Collins, S Hickey, S McGrath (0-4); D Tubridy (0-4, 3f), P Collins, P Burke.
Subs: S Brennan (1-0) for S Collins (46), S Haugh for Malone (50), M O’Leary for Burke (62), C Dunning for Hickey (66).
Referee: G McCormack (Dublin).
