This article is from page 121 of the 2009-03-10 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 121 JPG
CLARE intermediates had a lot to contend with in their maiden voyage as a second string side. Not alone was it the majority of this young side’s first adult outing at inter-county lev- el but facing into driving wind and rain and then a torrential blizzard of snow in the first half, it was arguably a proposition unlike anything experi- enced before.
In the end, Tipperary’s nine point haul in that first period along with a touch more experience carried them through and while Clare per- haps needed more of a cutting edge up front, manager Bertie Sherlock should be generally satisfied with the attitude and commitment for the en- tire sixty minutes on Sunday.
More than anything else, this was a learning curve for Clare’s second string who had to dig deep to keep the home side at bay, particularly in the opening half. Aided by the gale, Tipperary threatened to run riot early on but some dogged defending from the entire full-back line, Sarah Hoey and Aine O’Brien made sure that this did not happen. Points from Eimear Shanahan, Deirdre Dunne, Jackie O’Connor and a brace from captain Siobhan Ryan opened up a O-5 to 0-1 lead by the 13th minute, with Broad- ford’s Danielle Sheedy getting Clare sole reply from a placed ball.
However, Clare made changes and with Sarah Hoey moving to centre- back and the lively Carol Kaiser switching from the supply starved position of full-forward to the right wing, they ensured it wasn’t all one way traffic until the break.
As conditions worsened and the
snow increasingly hampered vision, Clare pulled a point back through another Sheedy free after Michelle Caulfield was fouled but Tipperary added four more before the interval through Joanne Nolan (2), Jackie O’Connor and Deirdre Dunne and Clare goalkeeper Denise Lynch also had to vigilant to keep out two goal- bound efforts late on, with the high- light being a smothered block on a Brid Byrnes pull.
At0-9 to 0-2, the players re-emerged to a now snow covered field but with no illuminous sliotar in the referee’s armoury, they had to be content to soldier on regardless. Clare made two changes at the break bringing on Kilmaley’s Helen McMahon at wing-back and Ogonnelloe’s Roti- sin McMahon to the forwards and it was the latter’s early sharpness that prompted an encouraging early fight- back. Two points in as many minutes from O’Brien breathed new life into Clare’s challenge but with pockets of sun now melting the ground and the wind dying down, it never really ma- terialised into a full-blown recovery.
Eimear Shanahan opened Tipper- ary’s account in the 35th minute, sandwiched by three Clare wides but as the clock ticked down, it was Tipperary who took advantage. A Deirdre Dunne free and a point from substitute Noreen Flanagan stretched the home side’s lead to eight by the 51st minute and while the result was now realistically inevitable, Tipper- ary manager Eoin Brislane emptied Web mmolone ee
Essentially though, Clare never gave up and that honest effort almost paid dividends late on. Carol Kai- ser started the rebellion in the 57th
minute when she gathered a puck-out and bore down on goal before being fouled and while she should have perhaps been given advantage, Dan- ielle Sheedy stepped up to point the resultant free. Gaining confidence, only minutes later, Danielle Sheedy, now operating in the half-forward line played a ball inside to Roisin O’Brien but again she was taken down, this time for a penalty. Denise Lynch came up from goals to take it but her drive was saved by goalkeep- er Christine Kennelly as Tipperary clung to all the points.