Brilliant Banner dethrone Tipp in shootout after epic Munster drama
It started at 7.35pm and finished at 9.52pm. It was level on 12 occasions. It required 12 penalties. It required sudden death in the shootout. It was settled by Clare goalkeeper Mark Sheedy saving Stefan Tobin's strike. It was a Munster U20 final that concluded in captivating and cruel fashion.
For only the fifth time in their history, Clare are Munster U20 champions. No three-in-a-row for Tipperary.
Their goalkeeper Paddy McCormack had rescued a seemingly lost penalty situation. Trailing 3-1, his saving of Seán Arthur and Ronan Kilroy’s attempts, allied to successful strikes from Jamie Ormond and Eoghan Doughan, forced sudden death.
Fred Hegarty nailed his second penalty of the shootout and third of a marathon final. All three - into the same City End goal - were dispatched into the same bottom left corner. Sheedy’s subsequent denial of Tobin delivered Banner delirium amid the crowd of 6,442.
Clare’s bigger picture reality is that a rebuild is coming in the next two or so years. The stellar servants of the 2013 and 2024 all-conquering classes will be departing centre stage. It is this class of Terence Fahy’s who’ll be looked upon to step up and eventually fill the gaps.
Their short-term picture is an All-Ireland final appearance on the weekend of May 30/31, an opportunity to add to the minor success of three years ago.
Extra-time was required when Tipp corner-forward Cormac Fitzpatrick levelled matters in the second of three second-half injury-time minutes. It was a most dubious call against Clare corner-back Matthew O’Halloran.
A Fred Hegarty free in the third and final minute of injury-time, from inside his own 45-metre line, dropped short. Michael Collins’ attempted winner was blocked. Referee Nicky O’Toole didn’t allow any Clare follow-up.
Clare’s second-half was turbo-charged by goals at either end of the bookshelf. Graham Ball was introduced at half-time. His first involvement was to supply the delivery for a whipped Marco Cleary goal seven seconds upon the restart.
Ball was responsible for their opening wide - after 40 minutes. It arrived within a five-minute period where Fahy’s young charges outgunned Tipp by 0-5 to 0-1 for a 1-16 to 1-14 lead.
Jamie Ormond broke Banner momentum. The Tipp full-forward delivered a massively impactful third quarter, amassing 0-3.
Cummins’ side returned in front on 43 minutes. Tobin knifed through the centre before unleashing a superb finish. The celebrating Tipp supporters had not yet returned to their seats when the announcement came of Tipp senior Oisín O’Donoghue’s introduction. His 53rd-minute point stretched their lead out to three, 2-17 to 1-17. No further it stretched. Fitzpatrick’s levelling free was their sole flag in the 10 minutes still to be played.
Clare, same as the semi-final against Cork, unpackaged another roaring finish. Thomas O’Connor, who’d been fouled for a first-half 0-2, was fouled for a 55th minute penalty. Fred converted. He pointed in the ensuing play for a Clare lead. The last seven minutes would pass without growth to their tally.
Clare pushed ahead on three separate occasions in extra-time. Four wides in the second period hurt them. Doughan sent the game to penalties. The same teenager sent the shootout to sudden-death.
Last word, though, was to the saffron and blue. Sheedy repelled three penalties as well as nailing the one he himself was asked to take.
Tipp hurled with the wind in the opening half. Tipp held a four-point advantage at the end of said half. Tipp could not have been a happy crowd at half-time.
The 1-11 to 0-10 scoreline was a most deceptive and fraudulent scoreline.
Brendan Cummins’ charges took 30 shots in the opening half. 13 went wide. Two more were short. Two more were blocked and half-blocked, another was half-hooked.
We’ll do the math for you. That’s a conversion rate of just 40%.
The story couldn’t have been more contrasting at the far end of the Gaelic Grounds. Aside from Paul Rodgers’ second-minute goal drive blocked by Cathal O’Reilly, Clare were flawless in their shot-to-score conversion. They finished the half with not a single wide.
Clare’s problem was not their accuracy. Their problem in the second quarter became an inability to get hands on ball. After Daniel Costello nudged them 0-7 to 0-5 in front on the quarter-hour, they’d manage only three further strikes at Paddy McCormack’s posts across the 17 remaining minutes.
Tipp’s half-back line soaked up pressure and possession. Euan Murray’s reading of matters as the spare Premier defender was superb.
Tipp’s waywardness and wastefulness reached a moaning peak midway through the second quarter. Cormac Fitzpatrick, Stefan Tobin, Shane Cleary, Charlie Ryan, and David Costigan registered six wides in succession.
Tobin eventually stopped the rot on 26 minutes to deliver 0-8 stalemate. Costigan subsequently sent them ahead for only the second time. Their lead jumped to four in first-half stoppages. It stemmed from a foiled delivery into the Clare full-forward line. Robbie Ryan squared to Jamie Ormond for an emphatic finish.
We were only getting going. What an enthralling evening. First blood on this week of Tipp-Clare contests to the Banner.
F Hegarty (1-14, 1-0 pen, 0-11 frees); M Collins (0-3); M Cleary (1-0); D Costello, R Kilroy (0-2 each); T O’Connor, P Rodgers, S Arthur (0-1 each).
J Ormond (1-5); C Fitzpatrick (0-6, 0-5 frees); S Tobin (1-3); D Costigan (0-3); C Ryan, R Ryan (0-2 each); S Cleary, O O’Donoghue, E Doughan (0-1 each).
M Sheedy (Sixmilebridge); E Gunning (Broadford), R Loftus (Éire Óg Ennis), M O’Halloran (Sixmilebridge); R Hayes (Tulla), J Hegarty (Inagh-Kilnamona), J Moylan (Cratloe); D Costello (Ballyea), R Keane (Killanena); R Kilroy (Banner), M Collins (Clonlara), F Hegarty (Inagh-Kilnamona); M Cleary (Éire Óg Ennis), T O’Connor (St Joseph’s Doora-Barefield), P Rodgers (Scariff).
G Ball (St Joseph’s Doora-Barefield) for Keane (HT); S Arthur (Newmarket-on-Fergus) for Rodgers (49); H Doherty (Clarecastle) for Costelloe (56); D Moroney (Éire Óg Ennis) for Hayes (60); J Mescall (Inagh-Kilnamona) for Collins (69); D Neville (Cratloe) for Gunning (74); S Boyce (O’Callaghan’s Mills) for Cleary (78).
P McCormack (Moneygall); C O’Reilly (Holycross Ballycahill), E Morris (Holycross Ballycahill), D Ryan (Arravale Rovers); A Ryan (Arravale), E Murray (Thurles Sarsfields), S Cleary (Kilruane MacDonaghs); C Ryan (Boherlahan Dualla), S Rowan (CJ Kickhams Mullinahone); D Costigan (Moycarkey Borris), T Ryan (Holycross Ballycahill), S Tobin (Carrick Swan); R Ryan (Holycross Ballycahill), J Ormond (JK Brackens), C Fitzpatrick (Drom Inch).
P Ryan (Borris-Ileigh) for T Ryan (21); O O’Donoghue (Cashel King Cormacs) for Rowan (46); E Doughan (Moneygall) for R Ryan (60); J Donelan-Houlihan (Nenagh Éire Óg) for Cleary (66); S Rowan for Murray (70, inj); J Hayes (Moycarkey Borris) for C Ryan (73) REFEREE: N O’Toole (Waterford).
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