CLARE may not be reaching for the panic button just yet, but they will surely undertake a major review of their security arrangements after being relieved of two more Division One points in Semple Stadium yesterday.
Losing by a point in Thurles to an improving Tipperary team is, in itself, not a bad result, but coming just two weeks after a home defeat by Kilkenny it has a worrying significance for the All-Ireland champions, who never expected to be marking the arrival of spring with a grim struggle against the forces of relegation.
Two wins and a draw from six games have left them in a perilous League position. Indeed, they must take something from their final match away to Cork on March 24th to avoid beginning their championship preparations with the psychological hangover of a League wipeout.
Clare didn't do a whole lot wrong yesterday; it was just that Tipperary were that bit more eager and alert. This manifested itself in a steady pace which Tipperary maintained right through, while Clare responded in fits and starts.
Two goals by full-forward Barry Murphy early in either half injected real pace into Clare's effort, but they were followed by very slow periods, certainly in terms of scoring. Meantime, Tipperary's more even pace kept them plugging along nicely.
Claire should surely have made more of the first-half hesitancy in the Tipperary full-back line. Murphy exploited it in the 10th minute with a fine goal, and while there were times when Ger O'Loughlin threatened to destroy Tipperary, the finishing cut just wasn't there.
It took Tipperary until half-time to sort out the full-back line problem by taking off Brian Flannery, moving Paul Shelley to right corner and bringing in veteran Noel Sheehy at number three. Earlier, though, they had made an astute half-forward adjustment, with Declan Ryan and the Tucker brothers switching positions.
It yielded profitable dividends. Ryan thrived in the centre, Eddie Tucker improved on the left and Kevin Tucker was far more comfortable on the right. Suffice to say that Clare's vaunted half-back line of Liam Doyle, Sean McMahon and Anthony Daly had far more on their minds than attacking surges from there on.
Those switches were of enormous help to Tipperary as they turned a 13th-minute deficit of 1-3 to 0-2 into half-time parity, 1-5 to 0-8. So, too, were the constant industry of mid-fielder Ramie Ryan; the organisational cunning of centre-back Colm Bonnar, the free-taking expertise of Michael Cleary and the general enterprise of George Frend and Brendan Carroll.
Barry Murphy's second goal just 90 seconds into the second-half hinted at more full-back line problems for Tipperary, but Sheehy did bring subsequent stability to the area while Michael Ryan was also very prominent when the pressure was at its highest.
The sides were level five times in the second-half before Tipperary struck for the match-winning scores in injury time. Ramie Ryan pointed a free, followed by a Tommy Dunne point, and while Seanie McMahon cut the deficit to a point with a free, time ran out on Clare.
Individually, Clare had some excellent performances, notably Brian and Frank Lohan and Barry Murphy, while Anthony Daly, Liam Doyle, Ger O'Loughlin and Ollie Baker (late on) also had some moments of enterprise. Overall though, Clare came to depend too much on Murphy's two goals. This time, they weren't enough to prevent another defeat.
The paying attendance was 9,430.
