A five-star display from John O'Brien steered Tipperary through to the Munster semi-final when they overcame Clare in a hard game at Thurles last night.
A very tight first half left Clare ahead by one point, 0-7 to 0-6, senior corner forward Eoin Kelly getting all of Tipperary's scores, while Gearoid Considine and Tony Griffin chipped in with points for Clare.
However, the switch of O'Brien to full forward worked brilliantly for Tipperary and he struck six excellent second-half scores to blitz the Clare men.
O'Brien took the plaudits for Tipperary for his scoring exploits, but Kelly out-did him in the scoring as he grabbed 10 points, eight from frees. Others to impress for Tipperary were Colin Morrissey, Damien McGrath, Dermot Gleeson and John Devane. For Clare, Derek Quinn, Tony Griffin, Considine and Diarmuid McMahon were best.
TIPPERARY: D Rabbitte; M Maher, J Devane, C Morrissey; D McGrath, P Cullen, L Kearney; S Mason, A Kennedy; D Shelly (0-1), D Gleeson, J O'Brien (0-6); S Butler (0-2), E Kelly (0-10), L Corbett. Subs: E Brislane for Kennedy, B Dunne for Kearney, C Houlihan for Mason.
CLARE: S Hawes; D Duggan, J Brennan, C Harrison; C Earlie, D McMahon, G Quinn; G Considine (0-4), R Hogan; T Griffin (0-2), T Carmody, A O'Loughlin; D Quinn (0-5), B Culbert (0-1), P McKeogh. Subs: D Madden for McKeogh, A O'Brien for Considine.
Referee: G Harrington (Cork).
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