Blistering first half sees Tipp on cusp of league final

CAMOGIE: Very National League Division 1 Round 4

Tipperary 1-20

Clare 0-7

Report: Thomas Conway at The Ragg

MATCH DIGEST

Player of the Match: Cáit Devane (Tipperary)

SCORERS – Tipperary: Cáit Devane 0-11 (5 frees, 1 ‘45), Niamh Treacy 0-4; Caoimhe Maher 1-0; Eimear McGrath 0-3 (2 frees, 1 ‘45), Grace O’Brien, Aoife McGrath 0-1 each.

Clare: Lorna McNamara, Orla Duggan 0-2 each; Chloe Morey (free), Lynda Daly, Clare Hehir 0-1 each.

It took Clare precisely 37 minutes and fifteen seconds to register a single score last Saturday in The Ragg.

That isn’t the Clare we know. What exactly happened to the Banner is, and will remain, a mystery. After all, this was the same side which recorded a shock victory over All-Ireland champions Kilkenny some weeks ago. But perhaps Tipp were just too good.

The Premier were absolutely untouchable last Saturday, so much so that they entered the half-time interval with an insurmountable fourteen-point cushion. They took the foot off the gas somewhat in the second period, but who could blame them - their work was done.

A league final now beckons, pending the outcome of next weekend’s final round fixture against Kilkenny. The sense of enthusiasm around The Ragg is palpable once again. After a stale 2022 campaign, the Premier are now back in business, and anything is possible.

Manager Denis Kelly will be eager to avoid reading too deeply into Saturday’s victory, but the Toomevara man will be wholly satisfied with Tipperary’s display. It was a masterful performance in which Tipp’s forward line operated in a manner uniquely similar to the Tipperary senior hurlers back in their All-Ireland title-winning 2010 campaign. There were creators (Roisin Howard and Grace O’Brien), scorers (Cáit Devane and Niamh Treacy) and work-horses (Casey Hennessy and Teresa Ryan), all of whom seemed to move seamlessly together, as if part of some dynamic, fluid system - where positions aren’t really positions and all that really matters is collective cohesion. In contrast, Tipp’s back line was a turgid, rigid structure. Led by the imperious Karen Kennedy, they snuffed out more or less every Clare attack, though the Banner rarely forayed beyond the half-way line, such was Tipp’s overwhelming dominance.

The trend of the game became obvious within minutes. Devane powered over a free, Eimear McGrath coolly slotted a 45, and Tipp were up and running. Minutes later, their first point from play arrived - a sublime on-the-run effort from the irresistible Grace O’Brien.

O’Brien and Roisin Howard were among Tipp’s standout performers. Both seemed to hover around on the margins of the middle third precipitating and orchestrating attacks at their will. Their style and swagger on the ball is beautiful to observe, but their intelligence off it is what sets them apart.

Niamh Treacy was another to shine. We traditionally associate Treacy with long, cascading solo-runs from the half-back line, but this year has seen Denis Kelly deploy her in a more advanced role, and there is evidence to suggest that the Drom ace has added versatility to her game. She swiped over her first in the sixth minute following a quintessential solo-run, but it was her classy effort in the 21st minute that seemed to catch the eye - she snatched a handpass from O’Brien, and rifled over from the side-line, some 35 metres out. It felt like a statement score, an illustration that she, too, is capable of being a sharpshooter.

But that mantle still belongs to Cait Devane. As usual, her free-taking last was more or less flawless, but her performance in-play was equally laudable. The Clonoulty/Rossmore clubwoman drifted around the inside line, hunting possession, and arrowing over whenever an opportunity arose. By half-time she had registered six. Tipp, meanwhile, were fourteen points up.

Needless to say, that this spectacle was over as a contest long before the interval, but Tipp still felt the need to put the game beyond doubt. They started the second-half with all guns blazing, substitute Aoife McGrath firing over a beauty from the far wing.

And then, in the 41st minute, Denis Kelly’s side found what they had been searching for, a goal, superbly finished by Caoimhe Maher - a bullet which soared past Doireann Murphy, leaving the keeper with little hope. Maher was teed up by O’Brien, who deserves ample credit for floating into position and supplying the killer ball at just the right moment.

In fairness to Clare, they improved as the half wore on, but they were always fighting a losing battle. It didn’t help that their corner-back, Ciara Grogan, was dismissed for a second yellow card in the moments before half-time. With fourteen players and fourteen points down, they were never going to mount a second-half resurgence, but at least they tried.

As expected, Tipp wheeled out the changes following half-time, introducing a suite of substitutions. Experienced heads like Ereena Fryday and Caoimhe McCarthy entered the fold. So too did promising youngsters such as Grace Moloney. Their precise impact was almost impossible to judge. Tipp were just too dominant, Clare too poor.

Cait Devane rounded off the scoring with some further placed-balls, bringing her own personal tally to eleven points, but by the time she pinged over her final 45, there was a sense that Tipp’s concentration had shifted elsewhere.

Next Saturday offers the prospect of a league final, if they can overturn All-Ireland champions Kilkenny in their own backyard, who suffered their third league defeat to Cork last Saturday in Nowlan Park. The Cats will want to make a statement before Championship. Tipp will be craving a chance to land silverware. It should be intriguing, in every sense.

TEAMS – Tipperary: Áine Slattery (Shannon Rovers 7); Julieanne Bourke (Borris-Ileigh 7), Clodagh Quirke (Clonoulty/Rossmore 7), Eimear Loughman (Clonoulty/Rossmore 7); Mairéad Eviston (Drom & Inch 7), Karen Kennedy (Thurles Sarsfields 8), Ciardha Maher (Burgess/Duharra 8); Teresa Ryan (Borris-Ileigh 7), Casey Hennessy (Clonoulty/Rossmore 8); Roisin Howard (Cahir 8), Eimear McGrath (Drom & Inch 7), Caoimhe Maher (Burgess/Duharra 7); Grace O’Brien (Nenagh Eire Og 8), Cáit Devane (Clonoulty/Rossmore 8), Niamh Treacy (Drom & Inch 8).

Subs: Aoife McGrath (Drom & Inch 8) for Quirke (20 inj); Ereena Fryday (Knockavilla Kickhams 7) for Howard (42); Caoimhe McCarthy (Knockavilla Kickhams 7) for O’Brien (42); Eimear Heffernan (Eire Og Annacarty 7) for Caoimhe Maher (42); Grace Moloney (Cashel King Cormacs 7) for Hennessy (46); Sorcha Ryan (Cashel King Cormacs 6) for Caoimhe Maher (50); Mary Ryan (Moneygall 6) for Ciardha Maher (55); Lorna Ryan (Clonoulty/Rossmore 6) for Bourke (55).

Clare: Doireann Murphy (6), Susan Daly (6), Clare Hehir (7), Ciara Grogan (5), Alannah Ryan (6), Niamh O’Dea (7), Ellen Casey (6), Caoimhe Carmody (6), Abby Walsh (6), Caoimhe Kelly (6), Rebecca Foley (6), Chloe Morey (7), Ziyan Spillane (6), Áine O’Loughlin (6), Lorna McNamara (7).

Subs: Laoise Ryan (6) for Spillane (HT); Lynda Daly (6) for Kelly (38), Jennifer Daly (6) for Morey (48).

Referee: Liz Dempsey (Kilkenny).