Last year, An Moltóir tipped Clare to win the All-Ireland hurling championship. They were beaten by a single point in their first round game against the eventual winners, Tipperary. It was a game that Clare should have won. They were the dominant team on the field of play and carved out enough openings to have finished comfortably ahead. In the end, the greater economy of the Tipperary forwards and some very dubious calls by referee Dicky Murphy carried the day for the Premier County.

In many ways, history repeated itself in the Bog by the Lee last Sunday. Once again, over the 70 minutes, Clare had a slight territorial advantage in overall play. Apart from free pucks, they played the ball 166 times compared with Tipp’s 154. And, once again, they were guilty of some dreadful shooting. An Moltóir counted eleven bad misses for the Banner against just three for Tipp.

Yet, while this was a game that Clare could have won, unlike last year it was not a game that they should have won. On this occasion, Tipperary were always the more convincing side, once they had shaken off their early lethargy. Clare’s territorial domination was confined to the first twenty minutes, during which period they played the ball almost twice as often as their opponents. But once they settled into the game, Tipp’s play was generally more assured and focused, whereas Clare became increasingly frantic and disorganised as the game progressed. Clearly, the self-confidence which comes from being champions and from surviving so many tight finishes last year stood to the Premier county. By contrast, Clare’s self-belief cannot have been helped by the large-scale no-show of their fickle fans.

The crucial element of last Sunday’s game was the super performance of the Tipp halfback line in the second half when playing against the wind. The statistics speak for themselves. In the opening half, the Tipp wingbacks played the ball just five times between them; in the second half the combined total was 19. And in between Corcoran and Kelly was the busiest man on the field. David Kennedy played the ball thirteen times in the first half and nine times in the second for an amazing overall total of 22. Much has been made of the fact that Kennedy’s opposite number, Tony Griffin, scored six times from play, but the Tipp centre back still played a crucial role in clearing ball and cutting off the supply lines to the inside forwards.

By contrast, Kennedy’s counterpart on the Clare team, Seanie McMahon, played the ball just nine times during the game, against fifteen times for his marker, Conor Gleeson. While Tipperary had many stars on the day, An Moltóir is inclined to give Gleeson the man-of-the-match award, not just because of the way he neutralised the normally talismanic McMahon, but because of the immense damage his own interventions inflicted on Clare (including the through ball which led to Tipperary’s goal). It was extraordinary that the Clare mentors only moved McMahon midway through the second half.

The decision to substitute John Reddan was even harder to fathom. While he made little impact in general play around the centre of the field, Reddan at least made a significant scoring contribution. By contrast, Alan Markham never offered a scoring threat and was completely anonymous in the second half. Surely he should have been the one to go, with Reddan being moved either to centre back (where he made his name as a minor) or to full forward where his ability to fetch high ball could have been put to better use.

The Clare management were also at fault in not seeking goals from Clare’s two late frees. The way they were playing, the chances of them hauling back the Tipp lead point by point at that stage of the game were nil. When they got that twenty metre free two minutes from full time, An Moltóir fully expected to see Davy Fitzgerald dashing up the field and having a go at the Tipp goal. Remember a couple of years ago when Clare played terribly against Tipp and Fitzie saved their bacon with his last-ditch free? In the replay the Banner played the Premier off the park. Could history have repeated itself? We will never know, because history was never given a chance by the Clare mentors.

Much has been made of Eoin Kelly’s contribution to the Tipperary cause. Amazingly, the Mullinahone youngster played the ball in open play just six times in the entire match, but four of these plays produced scores, including the vital goal. Clare’s David Forde actually generated an equal scoring return from even less possession (he scored two goals from just five plays). Clare’s busiest player was Colin Lynch (20 plays) followed by Gerry Quinn (17 plays) and Tony Griffin and Brian Lohan (16 each). Clare should derive some hope from the fact that relative newcomers Quinn and Griffin were among their most effective players. However, the no-shows of McMahon and Jamesie O’Connor were devastating blows. Clearly there is limited back-up in the Clare panel, by contrast with Tipp, who appear to have a depth of talent available. However, Clare did show last Sunday that they are still capable of competing at this level. If they can continue to play with the same level of intensity, and manage to get a better scoring return from Jamesie and Niall Gilligan, they would remain serious championship contenders.

Whether the same can be said of Waterford should become apparent in Thurles next Sunday. There has been no shortage of rumours of unrest in their camp, with key players apparently at each other’s throats and several high-profile defections from the panel. One gathers from his book that Justin McCarthy would derive a certain satisfaction from putting one over on the powers-that-be down by the Lee. He also appears to attribute Cork’s centenary All-Ireland victory in 1984 to his own motivating powers. However, expecting him to instil self-belief in the Waterford team is probably asking the impossible. Getting them to play as a coherent unit would in itself be a major contribution, as would better sideline decision-making than Gerald McCarthy was capable of.