Banner briskness overwhelms Tipperary. Eyes move briskly to next weekend

The Clare attack was like a hydra, with poisonous heads popping up everywhere - with all due respect to non-toxic heads such as Kelly, Taylor, etc

DANGER: Tipp defender Cathal Barrett tackles Shane O'Donnell of Clare

Be honest about your own expectations. How else will you achieve peace?

The thunder of the heavy cavalry had barely died away on Saturday evening in Limerick when we turned our attention to Tipp versus Clare. Could it measure up to the battle seen in the Gaelic Grounds, or were we preparing for more of a middleweight clash, with plenty of technique but less brutal force?

Turns out we have less evidence rather than more Sunday afternoon when it comes to conclusions. Clare’s briskness and pep overwhelmed Tipperary totally in a clinical first half, leading by thirteen at the break: your expectations surely didn’t include that.

No doubt the PhD thesis is underway somewhere on team performances in the second week of a round-robin (with specific reference to a fresh opponent). If so, the fare in Semple Stadium, in front of 17,260 spectators, will likely provide a chapter or two, if not a fistful of citations. Tipperary’s valour in taking Waterford to the brink last weekend left them far short of the Banner’s freshness.

Clare had three goals on the board before half-time and left at least two other goal chances behind them as they overran the home side. The Clare attack was like a hydra, with poisonous heads popping up everywhere (and with all due respect to non-toxic heads such as T. Kelly, R. Taylor, etc).

Tipperary’s backs were under such pressure that in short order their puck-out strategy blew a fuse as well: the blue and gold could only manage seven points in the opening half.

On the other hand, Clare had the optimum partnership up top in Duggan and O’Donnell. Despite sounding like a private eye firm from a Pat McCabe novel, the two men complemented each other perfectly. 

Clare's Peter Duggan: A viable long-range, one-man, puck-out target

Peter Duggan incarnated one of the rarest concepts in the modern intercounty game, being a viable long-range, one-man, puck-out target, while Shane O’Donnell, making a welcome return after long-term injury, was his usual embodiment of the old geometry saying about the shortest distance between two points.

Tipperary started the second half with a good goal by Ger Browne - but two poor wides followed, while Mark Kehoe spilled a goal chance the wrong side of the post. Tipp needed goals, and plenty of them, and they got a cheap one when Barry Heffernan’s long delivery dropped into the net: even then there were still nine points between the sides. Eibhear Quilligan did well later on to turn aside another Kehoe effort.

At that point a goal would have been interesting but hardly consequential: Clare needed only to avoid collapse to win, which they did.

Talking of ‘keepers, a thought for Brian Hogan, who twice saved Tipperary only to be undone by an unkind rebound.

Both Galvin and Duggan found the net without a glove being laid on them, a point Hogan is likely to stress at review meetings this week in Dr Morris Park. Tipperary’s defence was alarmingly open at times in Thurles, with Clare enjoying a lot of success rampaging down the left wing.

A thought for Tony Kelly as well, though with a different emphasis.

Kelly buried a penalty and his fingerprints were all over Clare’s first goal with a brilliant handpass, but he didn’t need to be all things to all men in Thurles. An ominous prospect for future opponents accustomed to focusing resources on Kelly.

What does it mean? Expectations extend now towards next weekend, when Cork take on Clare in a hugely significant game for both sides. If Clare win they’ll be in a terrific position before facing the big beasts of the Munster championship; in that scenario Cork - and Tipperary - would both be teetering on the brink of an exit from the championship with the calendar showing us the very start of May.

Of course, Clare will face the road back to Thurles on Sunday having had today’s run-out. Will that game take something out of them? Will Cork be all the fresher for a fortnight’s break since playing Limerick?

Why stop there, in fact? What did Sunday tell us about Saturday night’s contestants, about Waterford and Tipperary, for instance?

Expectations this week. Conclusions next week, peaceful or otherwise.