Noel McGrath goes to ground with disappointment while Clare celebrate after the Final Whistle. Photograph: Bridget Delaney

Change needed to halt regression

Tipperary have been manfully protecting the banks of a flooding river over the past two weeks, but against Clare they finally burst to devastating consequences.

What had been our most accomplished overall performance, moving against the tide of a gruelling championship sequence, had turned from tranquil to stormy in the space of eighteen seconds. The width of a post was the difference in the end, but this small margin will only serve to highlight some big areas that will need to be addressed going forward.

The game itself started really well with everything going for us. Our forwards were keeping a tighter unit and feeding off each other’s aggression. The three half forwards, and indeed Noel McGrath when he came on, kept the Clare half backline very quiet, with notable work-rate from the inside forwards resulting in very little precise ball going inside to O'Donnell and Conlon. Clare were also handed the initiative to us with some wayward shooting from Tony Kelly. My only concern at that stage was that Kelly was getting too many shooting chances and Conlon looked a real handful to Seamus Kennedy who would eventually be moved off of him.  

If you told me before the game on Sunday that John Conlon (2 points), Tony Kelly (2 points), Colm Galvin and Conor McGrath (0 points, taken off before half-time) would only score four points between them I would say that Clare would surely not have the firepower to win this game.

 

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