Munster Hurling Final - Clare V Tipp

Keano

Who is going to take it?

I am going with Clare but I am biased.

Nickibaby*

Going Clare but am biased too

Pigletlover

^^Only one of you voted^^

I'm going with Tipp, but I'm biased too :P

hawker

I'm a neutral as such. I've always following Clare hurling but don't come from the county.

I think Tipperary should win it by 3/4 point. They will know they've been in a game though.

premierstone

Biased aswell but i think Tipp should win by 4 or 5 points if they can handle the phsyical (but perfectly legal btw) nature of Clare, should be a good test of the younger, newer lads.

blackbelt

Going with Tipperary here and I'm definitely a neutral.:D

I think Tipp are more experienced and formidable to beat than Waterford and Limerick and this should show on Sunday in my opinion.

Evil_Clown

I'm going for Clare, but again am biased
also I want to be able to sing 'the banner roar' drunk on Sunday night

It was in the year of '95 in the middle of July,
All Munster suffered sunstroke and the grass was all burnt dry .............

GalwayDub2

I'm going with Clare.....and I'm neutral

Orizio

Nuetral, fancy Tipp by a point.

Just hope its a good game.

Nalced_irl

neutral and Clare by 2. Very even at the moment 4 v 4 biased and 5 v 5 neutral

DDC1990

Neutral, but fancy Tip for this one. Class outfit, and should be skilled enough to beat this Clare side by 4-5 points, if they hope to worry Killkenny for the Liam McCarthy

Clareman

Evil_Clown wrote: »

I'm going for Clare, but again am biased
also I want to be able to sing 'the banner roar' drunk on Sunday night

It was in the year of '95 in the middle of July,
All Munster suffered sunstroke and the grass was all burnt dry .............

I have the mp3 put on my ipod for the drive down on Sunday

Clare of course

Nalced_irl

and are you biased or neutral?

Pride Fighter

Clare, they have the tools to beat Tipp.

Keano

Pride Fighter wrote: »

Clare, they have the tools to beat Tipp.

They all have hurleys! He he

Kojak

I think Tipp will win this with a few points to spare.

Limerick gave away some very soft goals to Clare in the semi-final, and I cannot see the Tipp defence being so generous this Sunday. Clare have found a good mid-field partnership in O'Connell and Lynch. However, Shane McGrath has been one of the best players in League and Championship this year and it is mid-field where I believe that the winning and loosing of this game lies.

It will suit Clare if the conditions are wet, windy etc. but I believe that even with the conditions favouring them, Clare will have it all on to defeat the Premier...

RichTea

Clareman wrote: »

I have the mp3 put on my ipod for the drive down on Sunday

Clare of course

Where on earth did you find such a magnificent tune!?! I must have it! :pac:

grenache

I will be very surprised if Tipp don't win this one. The Banner have a bit of momentum going and have the added advantage of having played two tough matches, where as Tipp have been idle for 5 weeks. But in the heat of battle, with a Munster title at stake, Tipp should have too much for Clare, they certainly have the better forwards, although i expect Clare to shade it at midfield. Tipp by 5.

Keano

grenache wrote: »

I will be very surprised if Tipp don't win this one. The Banner have a bit of momentum going and have the added advantage of having played two tough matches, where as Tipp have been idle for 5 weeks. But in the heat of battle, with a Munster title at stake, Tipp should have too much for Clare, they certainly have the better forwards, although i expect Clare to shade it at midfield. Tipp by 5.

5 points :eek: Give us a bit more credit

Mushy

Tipp & biased:D

Agree with what Kojak said bout the midfield battle, think the game can be won there. Heres hoping now!

CyberDave

Kilkenny and Tipp in the All-Ireland semi finals. But will it be an disadvantage for them later on in the championship when the qualifiers come through after two hard games.

Akrasia

Clare threw the game away with their wasted chances. Not at all unexpected, I think the Biddy Early Curse is still having an effect.

Tipp won a good match fair and square. I'm delighted that the ref allowed the game to flow. he had a good game.

My one thought for the day is bewilderment that football has more of a fanbase than hurling. Match for match, on a day with two provincial finals, the hurling was overwhelming more exciting than the football, even though the score line wasn't as close.

CyberDave

Akrasia wrote: »

Clare threw the game away with their wasted chances. Not at all unexpected, I think the Biddy Early Curse is still having an effect.

Clare beat themselves today with the six forwards displaying high levels of greediness. Any time one of the players got a chance within 90 yards from the goal they were looking to land the big 'hero score' in stead of using their heads an picking out a better placed forward inside, a lack of experience I suppose. They had something like 14 wides if they got even a third of them they would have had a better chance at the end. However, they will still be a major challenge for who ever they meet in the quarter finals.

Daysha

I think Clare have been made to look better then they actually are. Tipp were awesome at times today yeah, but 10 wides to 2 in the first half tells its own story.

CyberDave

deise59 wrote: »

I think Clare have been made to look better then they actually are. Tipp were awesome at times today yeah, but 10 wides to 2 in the first half tells its own story.

One thing I have noticed about Tipp in their two championship matches is they have a tendency to fall asleep for periods of the game. They were asleep up until Kellys goal in the Cork match and today in the second half they let Clare get seven unanswered points. They can't afford to do this against better opposition. I do think Clare have improved but they still lack a forward with the killer instinct for goal like Kelly or Corbett for Tipp.

Deedsie

Only delighted, Gwan Tipp... Get back to the burren to play yere hurling....:)

Tipp will have to be alot more focused for the full seventy if the are to attempt to challenge Kilkenny.

Daysha

CyberDave wrote: »

One thing I have noticed about Tipp in their two championship matches is they have a tendency to fall asleep for periods of the game. They were asleep up until Kellys goal in the Cork match and today in the second half they let Clare get seven unanswered points. They can't afford to do this against better opposition. I do think Clare have improved but they still lack a forward with the killer instinct for goal like Kelly or Corbett for Tipp.

Good point. If it weren't for Clare's constant wides in the first half that mini-comeback they made in the 2nd half would've brought them a lot closer to Tipp and who knows what would've happened then.

If their aim is to now win the All Ireland they're more than likely have to get through Kilkenny to do that, and they'll punish Tipp more so during those periods than any other team in the country.

CyberDave

Deedsie wrote: »

Only delighted, Gwan Tipp... Get back to the burren to play yere hurling....:)

Tipp will have to be alot more focused for the full seventy if the are to attempt to challenge Kilkenny.

Remember what happened the last time Tipp people 'laughed' at Clare!! Clare are not gone just yet. There could be a rematch later on in the championship.

blackbelt

It was a good game of hurling and was free flowing and clean.I thought Clare threw it away in the first half though.When a team is down by 8 points at half time against Tipperary,it is nearly impossible to make a comeback but credit to Clare who made a game of it in that comeback period by scoring 7 points.

Clares comeback was very exciting to watch but it seems that Tipp had taken their foot off the pedal and had got complacent instead of falling asleep and when it seemed that Clare were back in touch,they killed the game off with a splendid goal.

I think it is fair to say from the standard of hurling seen thus far that Galway,Tipp and Kilkenny are still the top three contenders.

I wouldn't give Offaly or Cork much chance against Tipp,Galway or Kilkenny.

As for next week,I'm expecting Waterford to take Offaly and Cork to be beaten by Galway.

Keano

Still very disappointed by Clare's performance yesterday. Always hard to take a defeat but yesterday was tough as I felt Clare had the potential to win the game. Once again the poor shooting was the main factor. The management will have to look at their own performance. Tactical changes should have happened sooner.

Oh well its onto even tougher challeneges ahead.

One gripe I do have though is that the quarter finals are to be played in Croke Park. Why bring Clare or Galway/Cork to Dublin makes no sense.

Nalced_irl

The CCCC have rescinded my prediction

grenache

No real surprise, Tipp comfortable enough in the end, although the Banner did make them sweat for the first 15 in the second half. Clare beat themselves really with those woeful wides in the first period - Gilligan's effort was as bad a wide i have ever seen, i was right behind it in the terrace so i had a good view of it.
The thing that differentiates this Tipp team for those of previous years is the spread of scoring forwards they possess. There is no longer the over-reliance on Eoin Kelly to get the scores. Corbett, Callinan and John O'Brien were immense yesterday, a lot more hurling in Callinan at centre forward than Ryan O'Dwyer in the same position. The second goal came at a crucial time for Tipp, Lynch and O'Connell were starting to gain control at midfield and Griffin and McMahon were hitting some nice scores for the Banner. But then the second goal just killed them off, where Gerry O'Grady was partially at fault for it, he should have gone out to meet John O'Brien, instead of backing off him.

All the Tipp backs were excellent, O'Mahony and Corcoran gave a masterclass in the art of defending, and Declan Fanning's goalmouth block from Tony Carmody when only just on the field five minutes, tells you why this guy was an All Star last year. For Clare, i though Pat Vaughan gave an assured performance at corner back, the midfield more than matched Tipp although the younger legs of McGrath and Woodlock probably told in the end. Half forward line decent enough, but the full line misfired badly, i thought Mark Flaherty should have been taken off long before he was.

Clare will learn alot from this game, and will certainly be no soft touch, they are still capable of making the semi's and perhaps even the final. Tipp for me are a maturer wiser team this year, they are playing highly intelligent hurling - an example of that would be Websters pass to Hugh Moloney for Tipp's second last point, it was simple, effective, common sense hurling, and its great to see. They will have to learn not to fall asleep during games though, Kilkenny and Galway will punish them if they do. Tipp are good enough to dethrone Kilkenny, but they still have some work to do.

Keano

I see The Clare People used some of our comments in this thread in their paper this week.

Deedsie

Keano A Legend wrote: »

I see The Clare People used some of our comments in this thread in their paper this week.

Which ones?

My Burren comment per chance?