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

Tipperary 0-15 Clare 0-07: 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.