Those who suggest that the National Hurling League final will prove meaningless when Tipperary and Clare meet again on June 3 are talking rubbish, asserts An Moltóir …

Both sets of mentors and discerning supporters on both sides will have taken lots of pointers from events in the Gaelic Grounds. The first of these, clearly, is that Clare should have won the game. They missed eight clear goal chances, while Tipp got maximum value from their one shot on goal in the entire 70 minutes. The Banner will undoubtedly take heart from the ease with which they unhinged their opponent's inner line of defence and will look forward to a little more sharpness and luck with their finishing the next time round.

Speaking of sharpness, despite prior talk about Clare's superior levels of fitness, it was obvious that they were some way behind Tipp on this score, as evidenced by the Premier's late burst of scores. One could see that Ollie Baker - a dominant figure for much of the game - had completely lost his touch in the closing ten minutes. Tipp clearly are close to peak fitness, but one wonders whether this is a wise situation to be in with four weeks still to go to the championship showdown. Nicky English will have it all to do to keep his well-oiled machine ticking over, while Clare now have an extra incentive to make up the fitness/sharpness gap in the intervening period.

English will also have plenty more to ponder over in the run-up to the big clash in June. Once again, Liam Cahill failed utterly to deliver on a big occasion, while Declan Ryan's lack of pace was cruelly exposed by the ultra-dynamic Brian Lohan. Ryan did help himself to a goal and a point, which is a good return for any forward, but English will be wondering whether this was adequate recompense for the continuous sequence of morale-boosting mega-clearances which Lohan rained down on the Tipperary backline.

An Moltóir was particularly anxious to see how the young Turks in the Tipperary forward line would fare against the no-nonsense Clare defence. For the first twenty minutes or so, one was left wondering what all the fuss was about, as Frank Lohan and Liam Doyle effortlessly cleared their lines virtually without opposition. However, once the flow into the Tipperary forward line improved, the young ones did show plenty of temperament in setting up and taking scoring chances. There is no doubt that these guys will hurt any defence if they get the right kind of supply from further back. In this respect, Cyril Lyons will no doubt be greatly troubled by the poor input of his own new wing forwards, Considine and Griffin, who allowed Ryan and Leahy to send a stream of quality ball into the Tipp forwards (although the arrival of Alan Markham and possibly lack of match fitness put a stop to Leahy's gallop in the second half). Eamon
Corcoran also contributed his fair share of clearances, despite the constant threat presented by Jamesie O'Connor.

Perhaps, in the light of this display, and with Seanie McMahon on the way back to full fitness, Cyril Lyons will be tempted to repeat the Sixmilebridge experiment of playing John Reddan at centre forward. Reddan was in devastating form in this position during the Bridge's march to the Munster club title, with his ability to gain possession and link up with Niall Gilligan the main contributory factor to the club's provincial success. By the same token, Sixmilebridge's subsequent demise can largely be ascribed to a loss of form by Reddan. Nevertheless, his considerable presence could help to deny the Tipperary halfback line the kind of clean possession which they need to set up their speedy but lightweight forwards. One wonders if the same forwards had to scrap for possession from poorly delivered balls, how they would fare in hand-to-hand physical combat with the battle-hardened Clare defence.

For his part, Cyril Lyons will no doubt be thrilled by the form shown by the Lohan brothers and Liam Doyle and, while relative newcomers Colm Forde, Gerry Quinn and John Reddan will have to tighten up, they all still hurled a fair bit of ball in this game. Ollie Baker is also obviously on the way back to the lofty heights reached in the late 1990s, although Colin Lynch is still a long way off his own established standards, and had to give second best on this occasion to a hardworking performance by Conor Gleeson. Up front, apart from the aforementioned failure of the new wing forwards, a key problem on this occasion was the ineffectual display of full forward Niall Gilligan. One wonders if Sixmilebridge's exertions over the winter period are taking their toll of both Gilligan and Reddan, as they clearly did previously on the St. Josephs-Doora Barefield trio (Baker, McMahon and O'Connor).

An Moltóir was also on the lookout for signs of any changes in Clare's style of play under Lyons's tutelage. There did seem to be a greater emphasis on ground hurling, particularly when playing with the wind in the first half. There was also a lot of the one-handed flicks one associates with Offaly/Kilkenny. An Moltóir was also impressed with the efficacy of Davy Fitzgerald's low and well-directed puckouts when playing with the wind in the first half, although this is by no means a new facet of the Banner style of play.

Overall, An Moltóir came away from the game with the view that Clare still have substantial room for improvement between now and June 3, whereas Tipperary may already have reached a level of performance which could be difficult to move up from. Assuming similar levels of fitness on both sides on the big day, an ability on the part of the Clare half forwards to sufficiently disrupt the supply of good ball into the Tipperary front line, and a performance on the part of Niall Gilligan somewhere near his potential ability, An Moltóir reckons the Banner will prevail on the day.

Indeed, based on an expectation that Gilligan will emerge as the summer's outstanding forward, An Moltóir sees Clare as favourites for both the Munster and All-Ireland titles…