EirGrid Munster U21 Football S-Final – Tipperary 0-15 Clare 0-7

Tipperary defeated Clare by 0-15 to 0-7 in the EirGrid GAA Football Under 21 Munster Championship Semi-Final on Wednesday March 18th at Semple Stadium Thurles.

Report: @TipperaryGAA advance to third successive @MunsterGAA U21 final after victory over @GaaClare: http://t.co/VX3TFmJXfK

— The GAA (@officialgaa) March 18, 2015

EirGrid Munster U21 Football Championship Semi-Finals: Tipperary 0-15 Clare 0-7

Report from GAA.ie

Tipperary are through to a third successive EirGrid Munster U21 Championship final against Cork. The Premier County beat Clare by eight points in this evening’s semi-final at Semple Stadium to set up another joust with the Rebels on April 8.

Jason Lonergan scored 0-5 for Tipp as they came good late on to get past the dogged challenge of the visitors. Tipp were 0-7 to 0-4 clear at half-time, as Clare failed to register from play until four minutes after the break. Tipp had nine different scorers on the night as senior panellist Jamie Malone was the only Clare player to score from play.
***
Scorers for Tipperary: J Lonergan 0-5, L Casey & S O’Brien 0-2 each, C O’Riordan, B Maher, I Fahey, P Maher, J McGrath & J Keane (f) 0-1 each.

Scorers for Clare: K Sexton 0-4f, J Malone 0-2, P O’Malley 0-1f.

TIPPERARY: E Comerford; K Fahey, J Feehan, C O’Shaughnessy; C O’Riordan, R Mulcahy, B Maher; L Casey, S O’Brien; J Lonergan, I Fahey, P Shanahan; P Maher, J McGrath, J Keane. Subs: D McEnroe for Keane (44), G Cronin for Shanahan (50), T Sweeney for P Maher (57).

CLARE: K Normoyle; C O’Mahoney, J O’Dea, C Brennan; D Nagle, C O’Brien, C O’Dea; E Hanrahan, J Malone; L Corry, P O’Malley, D Masterson; M O’Leary, K Sexton, E Courtney. Subs: D Burke for Hanrahan (28), C Cleary for Masterson (h.t.), M Byrne for Corry (h.t.), J Downes for O’Malley (41), N Bonfil for Courtney (58), C MacNelis for O’Mahoney (60+1).

Referee: J Bermingham (Cork)

Jason Lonergan points way as Tipperary struggle to find top gear against Clare

By Jackie Cahill for the Irish Examiner newspaper

Tipperary 0-15 Clare 0-7: Tommy Toomey conceded his Tipperary U21 footballers will have to improve considerably to shock Cork in the EirGrid provincial decider.

Tipp stuttered to an eight-point win over Clare at Semple Stadium last night as Jason Lonergan struck five points from play. Tipp did have nine different scorers on a chilly night, but much of their play was disjointed and only in the closing minutes did they really look like clicking into top gear.

Clare brought a dogged challenge to Thurles and travelled with a quarter-final win over Waterford under their belts. But the Banner boys failed to score from play in the first-half as Tipp led 0-7 to 0-4 at the break in front of 640 spectators.

Tipp had seven scorers in the first-half but were lucky not to concede a goal in the 20th minute when Martin O’Leary rattled the town end crossbar. It was a night when both goalkeepers preserved clean sheets and Clare’s Killian Normoyle can be pleased with his efforts. The Lissycasey man denied John McGrath in the first half and kept out sub Gerry Cronin with a blinding save at the death.

Otherwise, this was a low-key affair as Tipp did enough to get over the line and set up a third successive final meeting with Cork, chasing five-in-a-row in the province. Senior men Liam Casey, Steven O’Brien, Colin O’Riordan and Ian Fahey all got on the scoresheet, with O’Riordan on target after just 31 seconds, and Tipp will need this quartet firing on all cylinders in under three weeks.

But it was Lonergan who grabbed the headlines with five classy scores to cap a hard-running display. Toomey reflected: “We saw them (Clare) playing Waterford and we knew it was going to be a war of attrition – and it was. And it took us a long time to get on top of them.”

Tipp were 0-3 to 0-0 clear within four minutes and 0-5 to 0-1 up with less than 18 minutes on the watch. And while Clare didn’t score from play until Jamie Malone registered in the 34th minute, Tipp couldn’t afford to breathe easily until the final minutes when a flurry of scores arrived.

Toomey admitted: “Not everything went right but we’re in a final and that helps. Cork won’t be too worried about our display today but the final will be a different game.”

Toomey added: “It was our full forward line’s first time to play together and a number of lads haven’t been with us. You have to take those circumstances into account. Sometimes when you have a game under your belt, your next game will be better. Our game will have to be better to be competitive in the final – there’s no doubt about that.”

Scorers for Tipperary: J Lonergan 0-5, L Casey & S O’Brien 0-2 each, C O’Riordan, B Maher, I Fahey, P Maher, J McGrath & J Keane (f) 0-1 each.

Scorers for Clare: K Sexton 0-4f, J Malone 0-2, P O’Malley 0-1f .

TIPPERARY: E Comerford; K Fahey, J Feehan, C O’Shaughnessy; C O’Riordan, R Mulcahy, B Maher; L Casey, S O’Brien; J Lonergan, I Fahey, P Shanahan; P Maher, J McGrath, J Keane.
Subs: D McEnroe for Keane (44), G Cronin for Shanahan (50), T Sweeney for P Maher (57).

CLARE: K Normoyle; C O’Mahoney, J O’Dea, C Brennan; D Nagle, C O’Brien, C O’Dea; E Hanrahan, J Malone; L Corry, P O’Malley, D Masterson; M O’Leary, K Sexton, E Courtney.
Subs: D Burke for Hanrahan (28), C Cleary for Masterson (h.t.), M Byrne for Corry (h.t.), J Downes for O’Malley (41), N Bonfil for Courtney (58), C MacNelis for O’Mahoney (60+1).

Referee: J Bermingham (Cork)

Ticket Information

Adults: €10.00
Students/OAP’s: €5 tickets on the gate or receive a €5 concession on Adult €10 tickets bought at designated turnstile prior to entry.
Under 16s are free and not required to have a ticket to attend this game.

This fixture is unreserved. Tickets are available to purchase in advance at selected Centra & Supervalu stores.

Click to buy tickets online

There's @EirGrid U21 Championship action in all four provinces tonight. Previews here: http://t.co/T5zfx62meS #gaa pic.twitter.com/IEM0nBuFd8

— The GAA (@officialgaa) March 18, 2015

Fixture Details

WEDNESDAY MARCH 18TH
EIRGRID MUNSTER UNDER 21 FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SEMI-FINAL
Clare v Tipperary
An Clár v Tiobraid Árann
Venue: Semple Stadium, Thurles, 7.30pm
Referee: James Bermingham (Corcaigh)
Extra time if necessary

Team News

The Tipperary U21 Football team to play Clare this Wednesday night in Semple Stadium at 7.30pm, in the Eirgrid Munster Under 21 Football Championship semi-final includes 5 of the starting line up that defeated Louth in the Allianz Football League on Sunday last, March 15th, in Drogheda plus John McGrath and Bill Maher from the Senior Hurling panel. The team is managed by Tommy Toomey of Arravale Rovers and he is assisted by the other selectors from the Tipperary Senior Football management team.

Evan Comerford (Kilsheelan Kilcash), Kevin Fahey (Clonmel Commercials), Jimmy Feehan (Killenaule), Colm O’Shaughnessy (Ardfinnan), Colin O’Riordan Capt. (JK Brackens), Ross Mulcahy (Moyle Rovers), Bill Maher (Kilsheelan Kilcash), Liam Casey (Cahir), Steven O’Brien (Ballina), Paul Shanahan (Upperchurch Drombane), Ian Fahey (Clonmel Commercials), Jason Lonergan (Clonmel Commercials), Paul Maher (Kilsheelan Kilcash), John McGrath (Loughmore Castleiney), Josh Keane (Golden Kilfeacle).

For the Record

2015 Eirgrid Munster Under 21 Football Championship Fixtures / Results

Quarter Finals

Wednesday March 11^th  

@ Gaelic Grounds Limerick               Cork 5-8          Limerick 2-12

@ Miltown Malbay                              Clare 2-11       Waterford 0-3
Semi-Finals

Wednesday March 18^th  

@ Pairc Ui Rinn, Cork                                                Cork v Kerry

@ Semple Stadium, Thurles                          Clare v Tipperary
Final

Wednesday April 8^th

Munster Under 21 Football Championship Roll of Honour

Kerry (25) – 1962, 1964, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1983, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2008

Cork (25) – 1963, 1965, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1974, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1989, 1994, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015

Limerick (1) – 2000

Waterford (1) – 2003 

Tipperary (1) – 2010

Munster Under 21 Football Championship – Useful Information

• Cork are seeking their fifth Munster Under 21 Football title in a row. Cork have never won 5 Munster titles in a row. Kerry won 5 in a row once between 1995 and 1999.
• At the turn of the millennium, only Cork and Kerry had won Munster Under 21 Football titles with Kerry out in front in the roll of honour by 23 titles to 15. Since then, Limerick, Waterford and Tipperary have captured 1 title each while Cork have dominated to the extent that a victory in the 2015 Munster Under 21 Football Championship will see the Rebel County pass Kerry out in the roll of honour.
• Kerry’s last victory over Cork in the Munster Under 21 football championship was in 2010 in the Quarter final at Austin Stack Park on a scoreline of 0-19 to 1-8. In the four years since, Kerry lost the finals of 2011 and 2012 and the quarter finals of 2013 and 2014 to Cork.
• Cork and Kerry remain the only 2 Munster counties to win the All Ireland under 21 football championship. Cork top the roll of honour with 11 titles having last won in 2009 while Kerry are second with 10 titles have last won in 2009. The last five titles have been shared by Dublin (2010, 12 and 14) and Galway (2011 and 13).
• This is the third year in a row that Tipperary and Clare have met at Munster semi-final stage with Tipperary looking to secure 3 victories in a row having won the 2013 and 14 encounters by 1-12 to 0-7 and 2-22 to 0-9. Their previous meeting to that was in 2009 when Tipperary won another semi-final encounter by 2-5 to 0-9 at Cooraclare.
• The Tipperary management team, albeit with Tommy Toomey as under 21 manager taking the managerial mantle from senior manager, Peter Creedon, comprise the same personnel as the senior football management team. The other management team members are Michael O’Loughlin and Eoghan Cooney.
• Clare were drawn in a quarter-final this year for the first time since 2012 when they defeated Limerick by 2-7 to 0-10 before losing in the semi-final to Cork by 3-15 to 1-6.

Munster Under 21 Football Cup

Corn na Cásca presented by the Football Council in 1966 to commemorate the jubilee of the 1916 Rising.