Tipperary driven by desire

Tipperary: 2-19 - O'Neill 0-7 (three frees); D Ryan 1-1, goal a penalty; Shelly 1-0; Leahy (two frees), O'Meara, O'Leary 0-3 each; Dunne, O'Brien 0-1 each.

Clare: 1-14 - Forde 1-1; O'Connor 0-3 (all frees); Gilligan, McMahon (two 65s), 0-2 each; G Quinn, B Quinn, Daly, Flannery, Ralph, Murphy 0-1 each.

Referee: P O'Connor (Limerick)

Booked: Tipperary - None; Clare - F Lohan (40 mins). Sent off: None.

Time came calling for Clare at Pairc Ui Chaoimh yesterday. It may have been wearing a Tipperary jersey rather than a black cowl and carrying hurls rather than a scythe and hourglass, but the message was just as clear. Despite some of their more disappointed reactions, Clare didn't die easily in this Guinness Munster hurling semi-final. They struggled as best they could but their dimming passion was no match for the incandescent desire shown by Tipperary.

All great teams arrive at such junctions but inevitably don't recognise them. There were good chances for Clare during the match and it is possible to compile an inventory of opportunities denied by bad luck and weigh it against Tipperary's questionable second goal and slightly fortunate first. But the reality was accepted by Ger Loughnane afterwards. Clare lost to a better, more motivated team.

Tipperary led after 15 seconds and never trailed. Clare came back at them but they steadied themselves and retaliated. After last year's disappointment at losing a three-point lead in injury-time against the same opponents - and bearing in mind that this Clare team had come to occupy much the same place in Tipperary hurling's folk memory as the Khmer Rouge in Kampuchea's - jubilation was predictable. But English can also take credit for a well-prepared team which came into form at the right time.

Nicky English's selection policy was vindicated down the line. Eugene O'Neill came in at right corner forward and took over the short free-taking duties and ended a flawless afternoon with 0-7, including four from play. Elsewhere, everything fell into place. John Leahy reproduced his form of the Waterford game, playing behind the half backs and if this gave Colin Lynch rather too much freedom in the first half, it made for a huge contribution after the interval as Clare tried to step it up. Leahy also scored a couple of long-range frees at the end of the first half which allowed Tipperary go in on level terms and his one point from play was perhaps his most critical.

Just after David Forde's goal - a well-taken strike in the left corner four minutes after he had replaced Eamonn Taaffe - had drawn the teams level, Leahy won the break from the puck-out and pounded down the field to rifle over a defiant point which immediately restored his team's lead. Most impressive was his demeanour and the whitehot focus of his game. There were a couple of occasions when he might have been ensnared in narky outbreaks but - sometimes with the help of team-mates - he always walked away.

Beside him Tommy Dunne demonstrated sheer class. Involved at all stages of the narrative, he helped stoke the fiery opening, kept going to enable Tipperary gain a grip at centrefield and was coolness personified in the last quarter.

Once again the defence was marvellous. Philip Maher showed the extent to which he has seized his opportunity after the early minutes of the Waterford match when a fit Ken McGrath threatened him with perdition. His hook on Alan Markham when the Clareman had the goal at his mercy in the 55th minute was stunning.

Paul Ormonde was another who gave the best performance of his brief career to date, marking well, tidying and clearing with a minimum of fuss. Eamonn Corcoran restrained the industrious James O'Connor and cleared with lengthy precision.

Yet the one thing which distinguished this display from the last was the finishing. Tipperary might have ended up with more wides than Clare (14/12) but when the match was at its tightest and they needed scores, the forwards delivered. In this category, special mention has to be made of Brian O'Meara, who despite a career short on decisive scoring contributions, nailed three points from play in the opening 15 minutes.

Clare made one change before the start. Gerry Quinn came in instead of Barry Murphy and the 19-year-old played as a third centrefielder. This didn't faze Tipperary who stuck to their formation and went to work. The cracks showed early.

An out-of-sorts Ollie Baker was switched with Enda Flannery, Taaffe was called off only 20 minutes into the resumption of his championship career and - most poignantly - Liam Doyle of the once invincible defence followed him six minutes later in recognition of O'Meara's display.

In fairness to the defence, once Richard Woods came on it gave a good account of itself, with Anthony Daly and Brian Quinn - ironically as Loughnane pointed out, the two hot tips for demotion in the weeks leading up to the game - in excellent form.

Level at the interval, 0-11 to 1-8, Tipp had wind advantage to follow and started the second half in a blaze. Having added a point to the total, they struck for their first goal. O'Meara fed Shelly, who was taken down for a penalty. Declan Ryan appeared to rise the ball too high, but his eventual shot beat the defenders and found the net. Four minutes later Forde took a point when he was one-on-one with Cummins.

The match effectively ended in the 52nd minute when a fine ball from the excellent Corcoran broke between Shelly and O'Neill and the Clare defence. As the players tumbled after the ball, Shelly got a touch and the ball rolled towards the goal. Brian Quinn appeared to clear, but the umpire emphatically signalled the goal. Brian Lohan argued long but the goal stood. Television pictures didn't immediately clarify the situation.

For Clare, however, the game was up.