Category: Sport

AS players endure the rigours of preseason training details have been announced of the first round of competitive fixtures in the Clare District Soccer League (CDSL) season.

The season will kick off on August 31 with a full round of matches in the premier, first, second and third division league cups. While league cup competitions have been run for lower league teams in recent seasons, the Premier Division league cup is a new addition to the season’s calendar.

The CDSL decided to run the competition after new sponsors, the Corofin based Shannon Trophies, agreed to sponsor the trophy and winner’s medals.

The FAI will provide 25 match tickets for the winners to attend an international match at the Aviva Stadium.

PK Travel have agreed to sponsor a bus to take the 25 people from the winning club to and from the Aviva Stadium.

Prior to that six teams will take part in the inaugural Hugh Kelly Memorial Tournament. A key figure in Clare soccer The Derry native passed away at his home in Sixmilebridge last April. The former Derry City player led Clare to the county’s first ever Oscar Traynor trophy in 2004. The draws for the Hugh Kelly Memorial Tournament are as follows: August 16, County Grounds; Rhine Rovers v Bridge United. August 17, County Grounds; Coole FC v Avenue United. August 20, County Grounds; Rhine Rovers or Bridge United v Shannon Olympic August 21, County Grounds; Coole FC or Avenue United v Newmarket Celtic August 27, Sixmilebridge; Final. The groups for the premier, first, second and third division league cups are below.

Premier Division Cup Group A
Avenue Utd A, Burren Utd, Rineanna Rovers, Ennis Town Rock, Hermitage A

Premier Division Cup Group B
Mountshannon Celtic, Lifford A, Newmarket Celtic A, Shannon Olympic A, Tulla Utd A

First Division Group A
Connolly Celtic Rhine Rovers Manus Celtic A Kilrush Rangers Turnpike Rovers

First Division Group B
Bridge Celtic

Bridge Utd A Bunratty Cratloe FCA Avenue Utd B Corofin Harps

Second Division Group A

CLUBS in Clare have voted in favour of reducing player registration fees despite warnings that a potential € 20,000 drop in income could halt development at the County Grounds.

Members of the Clare District Soccer League (CDSL) argued that any reduction in registration fees would affect plans to erect a new stand and floodlights at the County Grounds.

However after a lengthy debate at last Monday’s AGM, clubs voted through a motion that will see fees reduced from € 40 to € 30 next season. Kilrush Rangers, Corofin Harps and Shannon Olympic had all proposed reductions in the € 40 player registration fee.

Club representatives including Eoin Madden (Shannon Olympic) and Robert Clancy (Kilrush Rangers) claimed some clubs very existence was being threatened, as players are unable to pay the “high” fees.

“You will see clubs fall by the wayside”, said Clancy

Eoin Madden said the league should explore other means of fundraising to generate income.

In his response, league secretary Oliver Fitzpatrick warned, “Any reduction in registration will result in the league struggling to break even for the season and seriously impact our application for a loan from the bank for the planned development work at our County Grounds. Our application for a loan is based on our current income from registration. This is our only guaranteed source of income for the season”.

Fitzpatrick told the meeting that the CDSL fees compare favourably with other leagues. He said that at the start of every season the Galway league charges € 1500 per team per club; a further charge of € 500 to cover referee costs and € 20 per player registration.

Long serving league official Pa- draig McCullough strongly urged clubs to maintain the current registration fees or jeopardise plans for the County Grounds.

He added, “I know it’s hard for clubs to find that extra few bob. But of we go backwards, we go backwards”.

FAI delegate Jim Madden said it will cost the league € 50,000 to install lights at the Quin road venue.

CDSL affiliation fees in 2011 were € 48,690 but treasurer Michael McInerney warned that a 50% reduction in registration fees could result in a € 20,000 loss in income to the league.

Representatives of Avenue United and Lifford agreed that registration fees should not be reduced.

John O’Malley of Avenue United told the meeting that the County Grounds is “totally underutilised” and needs further development.

John O’Neill of Lifford said the accumulation of fines is a far greater cost concern for clubs. He urged the league to penalise players directly and not clubs.

Gearoid Mannion of Avenue United said he supported keeping current registration fees at their present levels, providing player fines are reduced. However the joint Avenue United / Lifford amendment was defeated with a majority of clubs voting 23 to 11 in favour of Shannon Olympic’s motion to reduce the registration fee to € 30.

CLUBS in Clare have rejected calls for the establishment of a reserve team league.

At last week’s Clare District Soccer League AGM, Lifford AFC put forward two motions calling for club B teams to play in separate league and cup competitions.

In a detailed presentation, Lifford delegate John O’Neill argued the case in favour of a reserve league.

He said the present system is a source of friction within clubs as teams are often competing for players and trophies. “Rivalry displaces unity of purpose”, he added. He said that B teams should be used to develop young players

O’Neill said that no other sport allows B teams, adding that the formation of a reserve league “would be healthy for clubs” and “would definitely increase participation”. He added that by tabling the motion, Lifford were not setting out to “demonise anyone involved in B teams”.

However delegates from a number of the 50 clubs represented at the meeting expressed strong opposition to the proposal.

New CDSL Chairman, Donie Garrihy said it was his opinion that “grievances” between A teams and B teams “are in-house issues for individual clubs”.

A representative of Bridge United, whose B team contested the Clare Cup finals in 2010 and 2011, said the issue of B teams should be dealt with “in-house” by club committees. “I think it would be a big disappointment to put in a reserve league. Players will drift to other clubs. That’s happening already”, he warned.

Mark Moloney of Hermitage AFC echoed these sentiments. He told the meeting that in Hermitage, the A team manager gets priority on players. “The club comes first”, he added. Lifford’s motion was seconded by Kilmaley Fern Celtic. The motion was subsequently defeated by 47 votes to 3.

A PROPOSAL to run a separate cup competition for B teams has been roundly rejected by Clare clubs.

Citing poor attendance at last year’s cup final between Avenue United A and Bridge United B (the second successive final meeting between the pair), the Clare District Soccer League (CDSL) executive argued that the Clare cup should be run as club competition with a separate cup competition for B teams.

At last Monday’s AGM, secretary Oliver Fitzpatrick explained that the decision to put forward the motion was based on the poor attendance at last season’s final.

Fitzpatrick told the meeting that the executive did not intend to “disrespect” the achievements of B teams who have enjoyed successful cup runs in recent seasons.

In the past five years alone three B teams – Avenue United B (2006), Lifford B (2009) and Bridge United B (2010 & 2011) – have all contested Clare Cup finals.

Figures contained in the annual accounts showed that the CDSL took in € 2410 in gate receipts in 2011. This represented a drop of € 2130 on the figure for 2010. Treasurer Michael McInerney said the shortfall was due to the low cup final attendance.

He added, “It was very poor, well down on the 2010 crowd”.

However clubs strongly rejected calls for a separate cup competition.

Chairman of Bridge United, Finbar Toomey, whose club’s B team has contested the past two Clare Cup finals, criticised the motion.

He said, “We’re totally against it. It discriminates against B teams”.

Toomey warned that if the motion was passed, his club would consider “pulling our A team out of the cup”.

Mark Moloney of Hermitage FC said the proposal would “knock the romance off the Cup”.

Ennis Town Rock delegate, Kevin Keenan questioned if the poor attendance had anything to do with the cup final clashing with the television coverage of the Heineken cup, which was played the same day.

Mikey Whyte of Bridge United said the league should consider making the Clare Cup a double header with either the FAI or Munster Clare area finals played before it.

THE ANNOUNCEMENT of the winners of the Clare District Soccer League (CDSL) fair play award provoked a few wry chuckles at the league’s annual general meeting on Monday night of last week.

“Now lads this isn’t a fix”, remarked league registrar Leo Murphy with a smile as he told club delegates that Treaty Celtic had won the Fair Play accolade for the 2010/11 season.

Murphy’s assurances were jokingly dismissed by delegates as bursts of laughter and cries of “fix” filled the McCarthy room at the West County Hotel.

Surely the clubs had little reason to be skeptical. After all Treaty Celtic are a team comprised of Gardaí based in Limerick and Clare, making them perhaps the team most likely to win a prize for staying on the right side of the law. In their debut season, Celtic finished in mid-table the third division.

Meanwhile, Murphy also reminded clubs of new procedures for the payment of team affiliation fees.

He said clubs must pay € 400 at the start of August while a further pay- ment of € 400 must be made by November.

Details were also announced of a new method of registering players. Murphy told the meeting that players can now be registered by email.

He said this would allow clubs to register new players at short notice prior to games. He explained that forms would only be accepted by the league registrar or secretary.

In his annual report, Murphy also urged clubs to return cheques for affiliation fees by registered post.

At last week’s Clare District Soccer League AGM, Donie Garrihy from Burren Utd was elected the new Chairman of the CDSL. Garrihy won after earning an overall majority in the first count over former Chairmen Jim Madden and Frank Healy.

Paul Tuohy the outgoing Chairman of the CDSL was elected Vice-Chairman with a comprehensive victory over Frank Healy. Michael Lydon was returned as Fixtures Secretary again with victory over Frank Healy. Frank Gormley from Turnpike Rovers was elected the new CDSL Child Protection Officer. Tom Nestor from Sporting Ennistymon and Padraig McCullough were elected onto committee positions. All other officers were returned unopposed – Oliver Fitzpatrick (secretary); Michael McInerney (treasurer); Gerry Scanlon (PRO); Jim Madden (FAI delegate); Tomas Leahy (MFA Delegate); Leo Murphy (registrar);

Clonlara 2-21 – Corofin 0-15 at Clonlara

ALL the permutations and connotations envisaged before the game were quickly put to bed as Clonlara got down to the serious business of honing in on their third semi-final in four years.

That remarkable record was made all the more impressive by the fact that they did so without the services of county seniors Darach Honan and Domhnall O’Donovan due to injury and county minors Colm Galvin and Cathal O’Connell, an absentee list that would have crippled most sides.

As expected, with their lives on the line Corofin threw everything at their opponents for 40 minutes and despite defeat and subsequent relegation, they can take some tangable positives out of Friday’s game ahead of the recommencement of the championship this weekend.

However, in terms of the result, there was always only going to be one winner as the difference on the night in relation to movement, speed of thought and decision making emphasised that this was, after all, a senior versus intermediate clash.

The home side couldn’t have asked for a better start either after first half dynamo Tommy Lynch gathered a Corofin puck-out and played it to Donal Madden who in turn picked out the unmarked John Conlon behind the last line to find the net within three minutes.

That settling score added to points from the constantly overlapping Nicky O’Connell, James Hastings and Conlon put the 2009 champions 1-3 to 0-1 in front by the seventh minute. Corofin’s resistence predominatly came by way of Stephen Heagney who grabbed the visitors first four points and was their most impressive performer on the night.

Madden had a 20 metre free stopped by goalkeeper Patrick Burke while Corofin corner-back Darren Malone was another to shine as Corofin found their feet and only trailed by 1-7 to 0-6 at the interval.

Clonlara upped their performance a gear on the restart and with John Conlon beginning to dominate, his three points along with singles from Barry Moloney and Tommy Lynch saw them stretch their advantage to six by the 40th minute as Corofin could only reply with three Stephen Heaney points.

However, it was Cormac O’Donovan’s 41st minute goal that ultimately put the result beyond doubt as essentially, Corofin failed to sufficiently threaten Ger O’Connell’s goal for the hour. It was a goal fitting of winning any game as the ball was worked from back to front, moving through Ger O’Connell to John Conlon who made a great catch and lay off to the overlapping O’Donovan who still had a lot of work to do before dispatching to the roof of the net.

After that, it was simply a matter of how much the winning margin would be as both sides emptied the bench and the game became far more fragmented. Two eyecatching points from Neilie Ryan were the highlight of the final quarter as Clonlara comfortably booked their last four place against either Crusheen or Inagh/Kilnamona and just as importantly greased the wheels ahead of their championship reintroduction.

Crusheen 0-15 – Inagh/Kilnamona 0-15 at Clarecastle

THE CROWN of county champions is one that is hard earned as can be witnessed from their latest recovery to almost snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Six points down as late as the 36th minute, Crusheen had to dig very deep in order to get themselves back into contention but their county championship winning experience earned them a third tilt at making the last four.

Inagh/Kilnamona for their part while encouraged by their overall display, will be disappointed to have let this glorious opportunity to get one over the county champions pass them by. They were unquestionably the hungrier and more efficient side for the opening two-thirds of the game but when it was needed most, they simply didn’t have enough leadership or guile to close out the win.

In the end, it was Crusheen’s substitute pairing of Paddy Vaughan and David Forde that gave them the final push to almost reverse Inagh/Kilnamona’s hard work. Between them, they had a hand in Crusheen’s last six points, scoring two apiece themselves in the late rally that saw them take an unlikely lead by the hour mark only for Ger Arthur to converted a pressurised free deep into injury time to share the spoils.

Before that, Crusheen had only led once and that in the tenth minute when Fergus Kennedy added to Ciaran O’Doherty’s accurate free a minute earlier to take a 0-2 to 0-1 lead.

However, once Cathal Lafferty levelled with a superb long range point and Ger Arthur put them ahead in the 18th minute, Inagh/Kilnamona simply grew in confidence on their way to hitting six unanswered points and take a 0-7 to 0-2 half-time lead. It was no more than they deserved either as they seemed to pick up every breaking ball while at the back, Der- mot Lynch was having the game of his life in the full-back line.

In fact, Crusheen were fortunate that they were only five points behind at that stage because they had goalkeeper Donal Tuohy to thank for keeping them in the game when smothering Tomás Kelly’s shot from close range midway through the half.

That advantage was extended to six after only nine seconds of the restart when Shane Griffin opened his account and with full-forward Dermot Gannon roaming deep for possession, it was a margin they held until the 36th minute.

Indiscipline cost Inagh/Kilnamona dearly however as Crusheen chipped away at the deficit, scoring five out of the next six points, with three of those coming from placed balls to trim it to two. Inagh/Kilnamona responded through a Niall Arthur free and one from substitute Conor Tierney to give their side some breathing space but it was Crusheen’s two substitutes that would make the decisive difference in the run-in. Forde was fouled for Paddy Vaughan to convert while the county senior captain would turn supplier for the next three inbetween replies for Tierney and Ger Arthur at 0-14 to 0-12 by the 54th minute.

A good passing move involving Cian Dillon and Tony Meaney set up David Forde for his first point a minute later while Vaughan equalised with a solo score from his own puck-out in the 59th minute. And with Inagh/Kilnamona on the backfoot, Forde actually put Crusheen in front for the first time in 50 minutes on the hour mark.

After putting so much into the game, Inagh/Kilnamona scarcely deserved to lose and sure enough they were given one final opportunity when Ger Arthur won a free on the left touchline about 50 metres from goal. And despite the weight of the club’s fortunes on his shoulders, the former county senior held his nerve to dissect the posts and hand his side another crack at the county champions.

Crusheen
Donal Tuohy, John Brigdale, Cronan Dillon,Alan Brigdale, Ciaran O’Doherty (0-1f), Cian Dillon, Shaun Dillon, Fergus Kennedy (0-1),Tony Meaney, Jamie Fitzgibbon (0-1), Joe Meaney (0-6f), Gearoid O’Donnell, Paddy Meaney (0-1), Gerry O’Grady (0-1), Conor O’Donnell Subs David Forde (0-2) for C. O’Donnell (HT), PaddyVaughan (0-2 1f) for G. O’Donnell (40 mins)

Inagh/ Kilnamona
Patrick Kelly,Thomas McConigley, Brian Glynn, Dermot Lynch, Ronan O’Looney (0-1), Cathal Lafferty (0-1), Milo Keane, Brian Foudy, Paul O’Looney, EoinVaughan (0-1), Niall Arthur (0-3 2f), Shane Griffin (0-1), Ger Arthur (0-5 3f), Dermot Gannon,Tomás Kelly (0-1) Subs Conor Tierney (0-2) for Vaughan (38 mins), ColmPilkington for P. O’Looney (44 mins), Gary Lafferty for Gannon (45 mins)

Man of the Match
Dermot Lynch (Inagh/Kilnamona)

Referee
Ambrose Heagney (Corofin)

Limerick 2-19 – Clare 1-15 at Cusack Park, Ennis

CLARE’S championship hopes evaporated into the summer sun as neighbours Limerick exacted full revenge for the previous two penultimate stage clashes on Tuesday.

In capturing their third victory of the year in Cusack Park, the Shannonsiders proved that this was no sunshine display either as without key players Graeme Mulcahy and James O’Brien, they were full value for their seven point victory.

It was, in physical terms, men against boys for much of the game as a powerful Limerick side had Clare in trouble in most areas of the field, with Clare finishing the game with a third of the side stemming from last year’s minor winning outfit.

With Limerick so dominant in the middle third, especially in the air, it is disappointing that Clare didn’t reconsider their decision to play as a straight 15 and perhaps opt for a go-for-broke Cratloe formation from early on. Essentially that would consist of putting county seniors Cathal McInerney and Conor McGrath inside as a two man full-forward line in order to create space for them to prosper and bring out the naturally roving Padraic Collins around the centre to boost the supply line. It may or may not have reaped the rewards to get Clare out of trouble but in light of how Clare’s challenge eventually petered out, at least it would have been worth a punt.

Instead, Clare were on the backfoot from Michael Ryan’s goal after only 80 seconds after a routine delivery was allowed to bypass Clare’s last line. It was the settling influence that Limerick craved and allowed them to brush off a Podge Collins reply and hit the next four points through Seanie O’Brien (2), Shane Dowling and Ryan to open up a 1-4 to 0-1 advantage by the tenth minute.

Fortunately for the home side, Limerick didn’t have it all their own way over the hour as Clare produced two significant rallies but on each occasion could only get to within two points of the winners.

The first started in the 13th minute with a purple patch of four unanswered points through Conor McGrath (2), Clare’s most impressive player on the night Tony Kelly and Cathal McInerney. There was a brief stalemate when a goal for either side could have made the difference but Kevin Downes shot for goal was ex- cellently blocked by Paul Flanagan while a Fergus Kennedy shot for a point at the other end only a minute later dropped short and was nervously spilled by goalkeeper Aaron Murphy for a ’65 that McGrath converted.

Still, once Limerick steadied the ship and reaffirmed their control around the middle, they restored a comfortable advantage by the break with five unanswered points to kill off Clare’s first half challenge at 1-10 to 0-06.

The home side rang the changes at the break, bringing on Davy O’Halloran and Aidan Lynch and it did have an immediate effect as the Éire Óg man pointed with his first touch. Still, it was Cathal McInerney’s 34th minute goal that lifted Cusack Park after good spade work by clubmate McGrath and when Clare minor captain Kelly grabbed another point immediately afterwards to cut the deficit to two, you could sense a mutiny.

It never happened though as Limerick were still the predominant ball winners from puck-outs in which three of their next five points stemmed and while Clare kept to within striking distance through Kelly, O’Halloran and McGrath, the killer blow came in the 51st minute with Limerick’s second goal. It arrived after a Cathal McNamara free dropped inside the square and after Patrick O’Connor gathered and moved along the endline, he lost possession that his marker Downes gladly took advantage off to bat past goalkeeper Kevin Brennan.

With that, the lights effectively went out on Clare’s challenge, despite being awarded a late penalty that saw Conor McGrath’s effort saved. There was an obvious tinge of sadness for the home side at the final whistle as it was the end of a memorable era at Under 21 grade. Not only because their hopes of a fourth successive final appearance had vanished into the ether but also down to the fact that with it went the management team of John Minogue, Cyril Lyons, Alan Dunne and Sean O’Halloran who brought such resplendency to Clare hurling when it needed it most.

Limerick
Aaron Murphy (Hospital/Herbertstown) (7), Alan Dempsey (Na Piarsaigh) (7), Patrick Begley

(Mungret) (8), Steve O’Reilly (Ballybrown) (7), Cathal McNamara (Doon) (7), Cian Hayes (Kildimo) (8),Thomas O’Callaghan (Monagea) (6), Conor Allis (Croom) (7) (0-3 1f, 2’65’s), Sean O’Brien (Patrickswell) (7) (0-2), Shane Dowling (Na Piarsaigh) (8) (0-4 2f), Declan Hannon (Adare) (8) (0-1), Niall Kennedy (Granagh/ Ballingarry) (7) (0-1), Michael Ryan (Murroe/ Boher) (8) (1-2), Kevin Downes (Na Piarsaigh) (8) (1-4),WilliamGriffin (Adare) (6) (0-1)

Subs
Brian Cleary (Knockainey) (6) for O’Callaghan (41 mins), Mark Carmody (Patrickswell) (6) (0-1) for Griffin (44 mins), Barry O’Connor (Kildimo) for McNamara (59 mins), Sean Madden (Ahane) for Ryan (60 mins),Timmy Fleming (Feohanagh/Castlemahon) for Downes (62 mins)

Clare
Kevin Brennan (Éire Óg) (7), Diarmaid Nash (Scariff) (7), Patrick O’Connor (Tubber) (7), Paul Flanagan (Ballyea) (6), Cillian Ryan (Ruan) (6), Cathal Chaplin (Broadford) (6), Stephen O’Halloran (Clarecastle) (7), Conor Ryan (Cratloe) (6), LiamMarkham(Cratloe) (7) (0-2), Cathal McInerney (Cratloe) (7) (1-1), Shane Golden (Sixmilebridge) (6),Tony Kelly (Ballyea) (8) (0-3), Padraic Collins (Cratloe) (6) (0-1), Conor McGrath (Cratloe) (7) (0-5 3f, 1’65), Fergus Kennedy (Crusheen) (6)

Subs
Aidan Lynch (Ruan) (6) for Ryan (HT), David O’Halloran (Éire Óg) (8) (0-3) for Kennedy (HT), John Fennessy (Sixmilebridge) (6) for Golden (41 mins)

Man of the Match
Kevin Downes (Limerick)

Referee
ColmLyons (Cork)

Tippeary 3-13 – Clare 1-6 At St Brendan’s Park, Birr

LAST year Clare were unlucky losers against Dublin in the All-Ireland quarter-final and watched enviously as the Jackies marched on to All-Ireland glory; this year it was a case of the nightmare of the 2008 All-Ireland final revisited as they were ambushed by Tipperary.

And, Clare’s meltdown from AllIreland senior contenders to be being dumped out of the championship race was every bit as comprehensive as the final scoreline suggests – they were outclassed in all departments by a rampant Tipperary side who were full value for the 13-point victory.

Where did it all go wrong?

Everywhere is the curt answer, as early dominance in the possession stakes, but a failure to take a nubmer of gilt edged scoring chances was subsequently punished in clinical mannner by a ruthless Tipperary side that had this Qualifier in the bag by half-time as they led by 1-9 to 0-4.

That was bad, but it only got worse on the turnover as the Premier County’s rampage continued – they played within themselves to out-score David O’Brien’s shell-shocked charges by 2-4 to 1-2 to inflict what can only be looked on as a hammer blow to the ladies game in Clare.

And, it would have been much worse but for the first half heroics of Emma O’Driscoll in goal. Twice she foiled Máiréad Morrissey from point blank range with brilliant saves before her goal was finally breached by Tricia Hickey in the 27th minutes.

Up until that point, Clare were still in this game, even though they were mal-functioning badly. They had opened the scoring through Niamh Keane in the first minute, while a great point by Louise Henchy in the sixth minute had them 0-2 to 0-1 ahead.

However, as Clare’s wides mounted in the half, all they could muster before the break was two Louise Henchy frees as Tipperary upped their intensity and ripped through Clare at pace and grabbed this game by the scruff.

After Ailish Considine and Mairéad Morrissey spurned gilt-edged goal chances before the tenth minute, points by Tricia Hickey (2) and Gillian O’Brien which were responded to by two Henchy frees left Tipperary 0-5 to 0-4 ahead by the 20th minute.

Things looked very different at half-time though, with Hickey’s goal, which she followed with a point and two points form Máiread Morrissey eased them into an eight point lead.

And, Clare’s nightmare got worse when Morrissey blasted home a goal a minute after the resumption. Eimear Considine hit hit back with a Clare goal two minutes later, but it was damage limitation stuff for most of that second half as Tipperary kept their composure to win as they pleased.

Morrissey’s second goal after 40 minutes stretched the lead into double figures and in the closing 20 minutes added to that as Clare’s challenge petered out – the rich promise they had shown in that game against Dublin in Banagher last year and in the Division 3 final against Fermanagh in Parnell Park ebbing away with every passing minute.

This was a disaster. Pure and simple.

And, mysteriously there was no Niamh O’Dea on the Clare team.

Clare
Emma O’Driscoll (The Banner), Claire Hester (Fergus Rovers), Sinead Eustace (Coolmeen), Laurie Ryan (The Banner), LouiseWoods (The Banner), Róisín McMahon (Newmarket-on-Fergus), Carmel Considine (Liscannor), Eimear O’Connor (Coolmeen), Louise Henchy (The Banner) (0-4, 3f), Colette Corry (Shannon Gaels), Niamh Keane (The Banner) (0-1), Marie Considine (Liscannor), Eimear Considine (Kilmihil) (1-0), Naomi Carroll (The Banner),Ailish Considine (Kilmhil) (0-1).

Subs
Sarah Bohannon (Shannon Gaels) for Corry, Fiona Lafferty (St Joseph’s Miltown) for Carroll, Carole O’Leary (Newmarket-on-Fergus) for Woods, Lorraine Kelly (Fergus Rovers) for Eustace, Naomi Caroll for Ailish Considine.

Tipperary
Nora Noonan,Treasa McGrath, Carmel Condon, Claire Carroll, Siobhan Condon, Samantha Lambert, Barbara Ryan, Gennifer Grant, Sile Carew, Gillian O’Brien, Mairead Morrissey (1-8, 7f), Siobhan Costello,Aine Staunton,Tricia Hickey, Caitriona Walsh.

Player of the Match
Mairéad Morrissey (Tipperary)

Referee
KeithTighe (Dublin)