English young guns earn big-game licence

Maybe in Clare they'll never get over the thought that Nicky English perhaps laughed at them in 1993, but in mitigation they might consider the valedictions he pours their way after an honest game. His young side won yesterday as they had done last summer, but in the war of the families that is the Munster championship, respect is always due.

"Just remember," said Nicky, "that some of the greatest players that ever played the game are playing on that Clare team. It might be a few years since they won the All-Ireland but they are very proud men and very great hurlers. They weren't going to come down to Cork and lie down for younger Tipperary players. And they didn't do that. The two Lohans in particular were magnificent, Seanie MacMahon was magnificent, Jamesie O'Connor was back to his best. That was as good as Clare can play right now."

He probably had the measure of it. All the reliability in Clare is built into the older models. If parts are going to malfunction it is likely that they have been welded on since 1997. The preponderance of Clare's talent is in defence.

"I wouldn't have liked to be a forward out there," said Nicky. "It was serious hurling."

Serious it was and for no one more than the talismanic John Leahy. The Tipp dressing-room waited on news but didn't expect it to be good.

"No news yet on John Leahy yet. Unfortunate. Whatever up we were getting from bringing on Johnny didn't last too long. When something like that happens you think are those gremlins happening again? But we have developed some character in the team. Today it was that more than skill.

"It's hard for us to play without David Kennedy. I wouldn't rest easy if we'd been beaten narrowly in a game and David Kennedy hadn't played. He's the real heart of a Tipperary player. He shores up the middle, he mightn't be the best hurler but to me there's only one." And Tipp people.

"There's always debate. They worry about our backs. We conceded no goal in four games last year, just a free to Eugene Cloonan. In Tipp we are a bit impatient. We don't want to win the league and we don't want to lose any game in it either. I haven't figured that one out yet."

Eoin Kelly had a billboard of a grin on his face. He'd earned his big-game licence. "It was a big game to be starting both myself and Larry in the two corners, but we had no better man than Declan Ryan at full forward beside us. We were all focused, in fairness to Nicky he had us that way. It was a team effort. There was no space but there's not going to be in championship. Any chance you get you have to take it. I don't think you enjoy it when you're out there but I enjoyed afterwards."

Tommy Dunne had held Tipp together in the centre during those periods when the game looked as if it might slant away from them. He scored a series of heartbreaker frees as well.

"It's easy to call that my best game of the year so far considering the game I've played. It's similar to 12 months ago. The Munster final means everything to us. We have to approach the Munster final as we did today. That's where we fell down last year. Overall it was a team performance. You can't win games like that with one or two players. We just dug out a result. Clare had a few wides in the middle of the second half. If they'd got them it would have put them out of our reach."

Cyril Lyons, meanwhile, stood outside Clare's dressing-room, quiet and dignified as ever. Missed chances cost it?

"Ah, I wouldn't be critical of our lads. Everything was good today apart from the result. We had a few clear-cut chances for scores. Both defences played tremendous hurling. It's a cruel game sometimes."

Like many in the Clare party, Lyons was slightly critical of some of the decisions taken by referee Dickie Murphy in the second half, especially frees given against Brian Lohan for a tackle on Declan Ryan and one given against Ollie Baker for flicking the ball off a Tipp hurl.

He finishes on a positive.

"All I would say after last year people said we were finished. Ger retired and Clare were gone. Clare aren't gone, they won't go away. They are proud lads and they have a lot to live up to now, they'll carry that. We'll go on and come back better next year. Losing is cruel. You improve by 20 per cent from winning a championship game alone. We'll get back to that."