Crucial losses a worry for Tipp

Preview Clare v Tipperary: Of all the reasons for plummeting interest in tomorrow's now perennial Guinness Munster hurling championship meeting between these counties, Clare's decline has to be the most compelling.

For the past three years Tipperary have emerged with varying degrees of comfort and discomfort and that trend is taking its toll.

There are suggestions from Clare that interest is picking up in the wake of the Great Handicapper's recent handiwork. When Tipperary won the All-Ireland two years ago, it's likely the first three names scribbled down at the back were Eamonn Corcoran, Philip Maher and Paul Ormonde. None of them is available for tomorrow's match.

Maher's indestructibility has been a source of frustration for Paul Curran since he moved straight from minor onto the senior panel four years ago. Now he has his chance. To most people Michael Doyle has made the right call in picking the second-best full back in the county as understudy for the most specialist outfield position in any team.

Optimists say that Curran is a composed and experienced full back who will slot in without fuss. Sceptics point to some subdued displays for last year's under-21s. The impact on Tipp's new corner backs, Martin Maher and Benny Dunne, of difficulties at full back could be seen after Philip Maher's departure in the National League final against Kilkenny.

The principal grounds for a resilient optimism in Tipperary are that Clare's attack may lack the capacity to punish any defensive vulnerability.

Whereas few take the league as any indicator, too many of Clare's established forwards have struggled too often in recent championships for there to be any certainty that they can take advantage.

As usual we are likely to see the Clare attack reconfigured with James O'Connor moving to the corner, Andrew Quinn - replacing AN Other if he shakes off a knock - at full forward and Tony Carmody out to the wing. This would involve Tony Griffin going to centre forward. Some apprehension has been expressed in Clare that after going to town on David Kennedy a year ago, Griffin may be on the receiving end of a backlash.

But that display was the first serious symptom of a lost confidence that Kennedy has yet fully to recover.

Chances of a backlash look more likely at the other end where new Clare captain Sean McMahon will well remember his suffering at the hands of Conor Gleeson. The prospect of someone with McMahon's big-match record being even more wound-up than usual can't be comforting for Tipp.

Tipperary manager Michael Doyle's problems are exacerbated by reasonable concerns about the wings. Paul Kelly's reading of the game, sweeping up ball and releasing it in the league final was tour de force status until Martin Comerford moved out and applied some direct pressure. Brian Horgan's final was even more mixed.

There may be a need to switch Kelly and Noel Morris - or even Eoin Brislane - to inject a bit of heft into the half-back line.

Similarly on the flanks of the attack there are questions about how successfully just-returned captain Brian O'Meara and Liam Cahill can restrict their forceful opponents.

For all these reservations, Tipperary's full forwards promise better. John Carroll is restored to a central position to slug it out with Brian Lohan while the in-form Lar Corbett and Eoin Kelly provide the predatory touch.

Hard evidence only takes you so far in predicting matches, as last weekend spectacularly proved. If it can be assumed that Clare's authority figures haven't lost the knack of being ready for championship and that the attack's potency isn't greatly reduced - although David Forde's withdrawal from the panel this year is a particular setback in a fixture that has seen him score four goals in five years - then Cyril Lyons's team can maintain an equilibrium of sorts.

In that case can Tipperary live with the loss of so much defensive quality? Hard to say, but probably not.

TIPPERARY: B Cummins; M Maher, P Curran, B Dunne; B Horgan, D Kennedy, P Kelly; T Dunne, N Morris; B O'Meara (capt), C Gleeson, L Cahill; E Kelly, J Carroll, L Corbett.

CLARE: D Fitzgerald; B Quinn, B Lohan, F Lohan; D Hoey, S McMahon (capt), G Quinn; C Lynch, D McMahon; T Griffin, A Markham, J O'Connor; N Gilligan, T Carmody, AN Other.