Clare have been beaten in today’s Munster Senior Hurling Championship semi-final but there was just a score in it as Tipperary eventually came through by 3-18 to 1-22.
Brendan Cummins was forced to pull off a top class save to prevent a replay as Clare produced a storming finish to lose out by just 2 points.
Clare looked down out at a number of stages in this game as Tipperary’s speed and movement threatened to blow Clare out of the water.
The Banner trailed by 11 at one stage as goals from Seamus Callinan and Lar Corbett cancelled out Clare’s first half purple patch which yieldded scores for Colin Ryan, Johnathan Clancy and Tony Griffin but 1-1 from Diarmuid McMahon in the last 90 seconds of the half gave Clare hope of a comeback after the break.
Those hopes looked dashed as Tipperary pushed the gap back out to 9 with a John O’Brien goal and Noel McGrath in rampant form but Clare grew into this game and successive points from Colin Ryan and John Conlan had Tipperary on the rack and the gap down to 3.
Brendan Cummins had pulled off a remarkable save to deny Niall Gilligan on the hour mark but bettered it when Colin Ryan, who scored 12 points over the 70, went for goal with the last action of the game and Tipperary now face a Munster final against Waterford, rather than a replay against a resurgent Clare.
Final Score: Tipperary 3-18 Clare 1-22
Clare will now play Galway in Phase 2 of the Qualifiers with home advantage and a provisional date set for July 11th.
Elsewhere Anthony Daly’s Dublin reached a first Leinster final in 18 years with an 0-18 to 1-13 win over Wexford.