Spoils shared in U20 opener

GAA: o’neills.com Munster Under 20 Hurling Championship Round 1

Clare 0-20

Tipperary 0-20

Report: Liam Hogan in Ennis

MATCH DIGEST

Player of the Match: Eddie Ryan (Tipperary)

SCORERS – Clare: Keith Smyth 0-5 (4 frees); Patrick Crotty, Niall O’Farrell 0-4 each; Conor Whelan 0-2; Sean Rynne, David Kennedy, Daithi Lohan, Oisin O’Donnell, Ja Collins 0-1 each.

Tipperary: Stephen Ferncombe 0-10 (9 frees); Eddie Ryan 0-3; Sean Kenneally, Luke Shanahan, Ciaran McCormack, Darragh Stakelum, Peter McGarry, Jack Leamy, Darragh McCarthy 0-1 each.

We thought Eddie Ryan’s point in the third minute of added time would be the match winner for Tipperary, but Patrick Crotty’s equaliser ensured there was a share of the points in the opening game of the Munster Under 20 Hurling Championship on Saturday.

Tipperary manager Brendan Cummins was happy with the draw after the game admitting that coming to Cusack Park is always a difficult assignment.

With eight of the team that lost last year’s Munster final on hand, the Tipp manager would have liked to have seen more from established players Luke Shanahan, Danny Slattery, Michael Corcoran, and Cathal Quinn. That quartet were steady but newcomers Robert Doyle at full back plus James Morris at wing back caught the eye with Morris in particular displaying a lot of eagerness to get on the ball.

The midfield pairing of Joe Caesar and Darragh Stakelum never really caught fire either. Neither did the attack but in a way there was no need because Tipp won so many frees that Stephen Ferncombe was a busy man with his ten a perfect match as he finished the game’s top scorer. From play there was much to admire from Sean Kenneally in the first half and Eddie Ryan in the second.

Clare had many good players in Patrick Crotty, Niall O’Farrell, and Keith Smyth in attack while Oran Cahill and Daithi Lohan were prominent at half back.

Scores were level seven times with both sides having their share of dominance with Clare enjoying a six-point lead in the opening eleven minutes but Tipp recovered sufficiently to outscore the hosts 0-14 to 0-5 between the 13th & 47th minutes before the final quarter saw a Clare revival and both sides went home relatively happy.

The Cusack Park surface looked in good shape despite the vast amount of rain that fell in the previous few days as Stephen Ferncombe’s point had Tipp in front after a minute. Further pressure saw Peter McGarry cut through the Clare defence but his attempted handpass to an unmarked Jack Leamy failed to materialise.

Niall O’Farrell levelled matters in the fourth minute with Sean Kenneally replying thirty seconds later before Patrick Crotty had it level at 0-2 each. Crotty’s point was the first of a seven point run for Clare with Keith Smyth adding a free, quickly followed by scores from play through O’Farrell, Sean Rynne as Smyth added two more, while David Kennedy made it 0-8 to 0-2 after twelve minutes.

Tipp looked to be in trouble but some alterations and a change in puckout strategy saw them score four unanswered points in as many minutes, the first two from frees by Ferncombe, followed from play by Luke Shanahan before Ferncombe was on target with another free.

Sean Kenneally was Tipp’s best forward in terms of winning puckouts while wing back Jamie Morris did the lion’s share of defensive work along with Cathal Quinn.

As a result, the supply towards the Clare half was plenty and their defence, led by Oran Cahill and Daithi Lohan at wing back, cut off many avenues as the latter became Clare’s sixth player to score with midfielder Conor Whelan increasing their lead to four in the nineteenth minute.

But with scores coming frequent it didn’t take long for Tipp to recovered lost ground as Ciaran McCormack scored from play followed by two Ferncombe frees either side of a Darragh Stakelum score from play to make it 0-10 each after 23 minutes.

The scoring rate slowed down as the wides increased as Clare hit six to Tipp’s two while both goalkeepers saw some action, firstly with Aaron Shanahan denying Stephen Ferncombe who could have moved closer in on goal before shooting. Eoin Horgan was also brave in denying Jack O’Neill from close range but Ferncombe converted two accurate frees before Conor Whelan replied with a free to cut the margin to one, Tipp in front 0-12 to 0-11 at half time.

Nothing changed for Ferncombe as he increased Tipp’s lead with a free, but Kevin Smyth replied before Niall O’Farrell had the teams level again after 35 minutes.

But another Tipp flurry led by a Ferncombe free, a McGarry point from play, thanks to a well-placed pass by Eddie Ryan, plus a point by Ryan himself had Tipp three in front by the 47th minute.

Clare responded from the puckout with Crotty fielding high and scoring before he added another in the 49th minute. Eddie Ryan hit back with his second but half time substitute Ja Collins (an excellent defender) scored for Clare to leave the minimum between the teams.

Two minutes later scores were level for the fourth time after Niall O’Farrell scored for Clare and it looked as if the tide was turning when Oisin O’Donnell gave Clare the lead.

With Stephen Ferncombe replaced, the free-taking duties fell to Jack Leamy whose first attempt came back off the upright but sub Darragh McCarthy levelled in the 58th minute. Kevin Smyth edged Clare in front with his fifth point as five minutes of added time was signalled, and in the 62nd minute Jack Leamy had Tipp level from play.

Tipp won the restart before play fell to Eddie Ryan who found the target with what we hoped was the winner but Patrick Crotty had other ideas and levelled.

TEAMS - Clare: Aaron Shanahan (7); Ronan O’Connor (6), Adam Hogan (7), Ian McNamara (7); Oran Cahill (7), John Conneally (7), Daithi Lohan (7); Sean Rynne (7), Conor Whelan (6); Oisin O’Donnell (7), Patrick Crotty (7), Niall O’Farrell (7); David Kennedy (6), Keith Smyth (7), Jack O’Neill (6).

Subs: Ja Collins (7) for O’Connor (HT); Keelin Hartigan (6) for Whelan (45); Colm Cleary (6) for O’Donnell (54).

Tipperary: Eoin Horgan (Knockavilla Kickhams 6); Luke Shanahan (Upperchurch/Drombane 7), Robert Doyle (Clonoulty/Rossmore 7), Danny Slattery (Clonoulty/Rossmore 7); Michael Corcoran (Silvermines 6), Cathal Quinn (Cashel King Cormacs 7), James Morris (St. Mary’s 7); Joe Caesar (Holycross/Ballycahill 6), Darragh Stakelum (Thurles Sarsfields, capt, 6); Eddie Ryan (Borris-Ileigh 8); Stephen Ferncombe (Clonoulty/Rossmore 7), Sean Kenneally (Moneygall 7); Ciaran McCormack (Loughmore/Castleiney 6); Jack Leamy (Golden Kilfeacle 6), Peter McGarry (St. Mary’s 6).

Subs: Paddy McCormack (Borris-Ileigh 6) for McCormack (46); Maidhc Fitzpatrick (Drom & Inch 6) for Corcoran (50); Darragh McCarthy (Toomevara 7) for Ferncombe (54); Conor O’Brien (Mullinahone NR) for Caesar (58); Jock Fogarty (Thurles Sarsfields NR) for Kenneally (60).

Referee: Eamon Stapleton (Limerick).