Waterford Crystal Cup SH Final – Tipperary 1-21 Clare 2-12

Tipperary’s Brendan Cummins lifts the Waterford Crystal Cup with Munster Vice-Chairman Robert Frost (pictured left)

Ryan pleased with Tipp’s timely tonic

Clare 2-12 Tipperary 1-21

By Michael Moynihan for the Irish Examiner newspaper

A bright start and a driving finish ensured Tipperary took the Waterford Crystal Cup home with them from Sixmilebridge yesterday, beating Clare by six points in the end thanks to their greater accuracy. “It was a good workout for us,” said Tipp boss Declan Ryan. “After the game against Kilkenny the last day we were looking for a good performance, and it was a tough battle today.” Tipperary had three points on the board before Caimin Morey got Clare’s opener, but on ten minutes Aaron Cunningham collected a loose ball and goaled well for Clare. Tipp’s response was a run of five points before powerful full-forward Brian O’Meara crashed through the Clare cover for a goal – 1-8 to 1-2 on 20 minutes.

Clare were winning plenty of ball around the middle but their shooting was often wayward. They ended the first half with 11 wides, five of those coming in a dreary sequence responding to O’Meara’s goal. Nicky O’Connell and Pat Donnellan stopped the rot with Banner points but Noel McGrath rattled off three points in three minutes – two from frees – to leave Tipp five ahead at the break, 1-12 to 1-7. Clare were better on the resumption. Donnellan and Colin Ryan (free) exchanged points with Conor O’Mahony (free), James Woodlock and John O’Neill, but then O’Connell and Ryan repeated the dose, and Daire Keane got Clare’s second goal on 48 minutes. The Clareman picked up possession deep in the opposition half, made ground and shot home coolly, giving Brendan Cummins no chance in the Tipp goal: 2-11 to 1-15 entering the final quarter.

Declan Ryan wasn’t taking any chances, however, and put on Eoin Kelly and John O’Brien. Kelly soon pointed, as did Gearoid Ryan, to give Tipp breathing space, and the Premier County reeled off four consecutive points in the last three minutes to ensure victory. “In the second half there was a strong breeze and the Clare boys were coming hard,” said Ryan. “But our boys, in fairness, they stuck it out well. “John O’Brien’s had a lot of games since the start of the year but it was good to see him coming off the bench. We’re delighted with the win particularly after last weekend – with the rest of the league hopefully that’s a kick-start for us.”

That ‘last weekend’ reference was to Kilkenny’s comprehensive Allianz HL win over Tipp. Davy Fitzgerald’s Clare had the opposite experience in the league, with a big win over Limerick, so the dynamic for him was different, and he dropped some hints that the Banner had put down a heavy week’s training coming up to yesterday. “We were a bit dead today, I accept that,” he said. “But the fact they kept fighting was unreal, we’re very happy with that. “The fact that Tipp had all their big guys on at the end… that’s a good compliment to us. They must be worried when they bring on those big names. “Do we know we made a lot of mistakes? We do. You hear the crowd getting on the guys about the passes and you hope they’re not listening to them, because they’re not at training. I was happy with them for the amount of work we did in the last week.”

Fitzgerald’s reference to the passes was a nod to Clare’s noticeable focus on support play with a lot of handpassing, a tactic which didn’t always draw the crowd’s support. As for their opponents, it was another chance for Brian O’Meara to stake a claim to the jersey vacated by Lar Corbett, and the powerful Kilruane McDonaghs player was heavily involved in most of Tipperary’s attacks. A different player to Corbett, obviously, but can he nail down the Tipp full-forward slot? Interesting choices ahead for Declan Ryan. Interesting times ahead for full-backs opposing Tipperary.

Scorers for Clare: D Keane 1-1, C Ryan 0-4fs, A Cunningham 1-0, P Donnellan, N O’Connell (3fs) 0-3 each, C Morey 0-1.

Scorers for Tipperary: J Woodlock 0-5, N McGrath (2fs) 0-4, B O’Meara 1-0, C O’Mahony (2fs, 1 65), J O’Neill 0-3 each, G Ryan, E Kelly 0-2 each, T Hammersley, A Ryan 0-1 each.

CLARE: D Tuohy; D O’Donovan, C Dillon, C Cooney; S Morey, J McInerney, E Barrett; N O’Connell, P Donnellan (c); C Morey, D Keane, F Lynch; J Clancy, C Ryan, A Cunningham.

Subs: J Conlon, EHayes for J Clancy and A Cunningham (62).

TIPPERARY: B Cummins (c); C O’Brien, J Coghlan, M Cahill; D Maher, C O’Mahony, S Maher; D Young, J Woodlock; G Ryan, N McGrath, A Ryan; J O’Neill, B O’Meara, T Hammersley.

Subs: S McGrath for A Ryan (48), E Kelly for D Young (56), J O’Brien for J O’Neill (59).

Referee: D Kirwan (Cork)

Tipp win Waterford Crystal Cup

Report from the Breakingnews.ie web site

Tipperary 1-21 Clare 2-12

Tipperary claimed their first Waterford Crystal Cup title since 2008 after a hard-earned win over Clare before 1,632 spectators at Sixmilebridge this afternoon. Declan Ryan’s charges led by 1-12 to 1-07 at half-time, but were forced to battle bravely in the second half against an eager Banner outfit. An Aaron Cunningham goal gave Clare a 1-2 to 0-3 lead early on, but Tipperary responded in perfect fashion.

The visitors added 1-5 without reply with full-forward Brian O’Meara netting their only goal of the decider after 20 minutes. The sides were evenly balanced before the break, with Tipperary taking a five-point advantage into the second half.

Wides proved costly for Clare on the restart, but the sides went point for point as the intensity increased. A Daire Keane goal cut the gap to the minimum on a 2-11 to 1-15 scoreline with 18 minutes remaining. However, Tipperary outscored the hosts by six points to one in the closing quarter, with Clare left to rue 16 wides at the full-time whistle as the Premier County inflicted a first defeat of the season on Davy Fitzgerald’s side. After the game Tipperary goalkeeper Brendan Cummins accepted the cup, on behalf of the victors, from Munster GAA Vice-Chairman Robert Frost.

For the Record

Waterford Crystal Cup Senior Hurling 2012

Preliminary Round

Sunday January 22^nd

@ Dolla                                              Tipperary 2-24 Limerick Institute of Technology 1-16

Sunday January 29^th

@ Fitzgerald Stadium Killarney       Kerry 1-20 IT Tralee 1-15

@ Sixmilebridge                               Clare 3-25 WIT 0-5

Quarter-Finals

Saturday February 4^th

@ MacDonagh Park Nenagh          Tipperary 2-11 University of Limerick 0-12

@ Pairc Ui Rinn                                Cork 5-18 Kerry 1-14

@ Sixmilebridge                               Limerick 1-15 Clare 0-18 AET

Sunday February 5^th

@ WIT Sportsgrounds                      Waterford 3-19 UCC 1-19

Quarter-Final Replay

Tuesday February 7^th

@ Gaelic Grounds Limerick            Clare 2-13 Limerick 1-15

Semi-Finals
Sunday February 12^th

@ Templemore                                 Tipperary 0-26 Cork 1-19 AET

@ Walsh Park Waterford                 Clare 3-17 Waterford 4-9

Final (Extra time)

Sunday March 4^th

@ Sixmilebridge                               Clare v Tipperary                              @ 1:00pm

Waterford Crystal Cup Senior Hurling – Odds and Ends

106 players have scored in the ten matches played to date in the 2012 Waterford Crystal Cup.

32 goals have been scored to date in the 2012 Waterford Crystal Cup competition (an average of 3.2 goals per match). This contrasts with 23 goals in the 2011 competition over 10 matches (an average of 2.3 goals per match). This trend is consistent with the McGrath Cup Football competition where despite a goalless final, the Munster teams averaged 2.2 goals per match vs. 1.4 goals per match in 2011.

Tipperary hold the record for the longest winning streak in the Waterford Crystal Cup since the competition began under that guise in 2006 when they won 10 consecutive matches between 2007 and 2009.

None of the five teams who take part in the Munster Senior Hurling Championship have a losing record in the Waterford Crystal Cup since 2006.

Since the Waterford Crystal Cup began in 2006, 66 games have been played with just 1 draw – the 2012 Limerick v Clare Quarter-Final on Saturday February 4^th.

Clare are the only team who have won at least one game each year since the Waterford Crystal Cup competition began in 2006.

Most Recent meeting in Waterford Crystal Cup

2010 Quarter-Final – Clare 0-17 Tipperary 1-12 – January 26^th at Borrisoleigh

Clare: P Brennan; P Vaughan, C Dillon, A Brigdale; D O’Donovan, B O’Connell, P Donnellan (0-1); M Ogie Murphy (0-1), J Clancy (0-2); A Markham (0-2), J Conlon (0-3), F Lynch (0-1); M Flaherty (0-6 frees), M Scanlon, A O’Brien.

Subs: D McMahon (0-1) for O’Brien (43), J Cusack for Scanlon (51), B Bugler for O’Connell (57).

Tipperary: B Cummins; C O’Brien, D Fanning, P Curran; D Young, T Stapleton, S Maher; B Dunne (0-1), G Ryan (0-1); P Kerwick (0-2), H Maloney, P Kelly; P Bourke (0-1), J O’Brien, E Kelly (0-6, 0-5 frees)

Subs: M Webster for Bourke (39), L Corbett for P Kelly (45), N McGrath (1-0) for Kerwick (48), S McGrath (0-1) for Ryan (56), P Maher for Dunne (60 + 2).

Most Recent meeting in Waterford Crystal Cup FINAL

2009 – Clare 1-12 Tipperary 1-7 – January 25^th at Ogonnelloe

Clare — P Brennan; G O’Grady, C Dillon, CMcMahon; P Donnellan, G Quinn, C Plunkett; J Clancy, B Bugler (0-1); T Carmody (0-1), T Griffin (0-1), C Ryan (0-6, 0-4 frees); N Gilligan (0-1), A Markham (1-0), B Nugent (0-1). Subs: D McMahon (0-1) for Nugent (35), P Vaughan for Bugler (39), M Hawes for O’Grady (60), J Conlon for Markham (63).

Tipperary — B Cummins; C O’Brien, D Fanning, P Curran; B Dunne, C O’Mahony, D Fitzgerald; J Woodlock, S Hennessy (0-3, 0-1 free); P Kerwick, H Maloney (0-2), L Corbett; N McGrath (0-1), P Maher (1-0), P Kelly. Subs: J O’Brien (0-1) for Corbett (36), S Maher for Hennessy (49), W Ryan for Kerwick (49), P Bourke for Maloney (54).

Waterford Crystal Cup

Waterford Crystal began their sponsorship of the Munster pre-season hurling competition in 2006. Prior to this, the competition was played in different formats dating back to the early 1990’s and was most popularly known as the South Eastern Hurling League which also included county teams from Leinster.

Waterford Crystal Cup – 2012 Scorers

Waterford Crystal Cup Senior Hurling Roll Of Honour

Waterford (2) – 2010, 2011

Tipperary (2) – 2007, 2008

Clare (1) – 2009

Limerick (1) – 2006