Allianz Football League Division Two

CLARE 0-11 TIPPERARY 0-11

By Peter O’Connell at Cusack Park, Ennis

Though conditions were very difficult in Ennis, Clare and Tipperary played out an incident packed 70 minutes of NFL division 2 football.

The main talking point was the dismissal of Clare's Jamie Malone, 11 minutes into the second half. He was red carded following an incident with a Tipperary mentor, while his attacking colleague, David Tubridy, was black carded at the same time.

Clare also lost Eoin Cleary to a late black card, while Tipperary's Josh Keane was sent off on a double yellow.

Five first half Conor Sweeney points helped Tipperary into a 0-7 to 0-5 interval lead. They had the breeze behind them in that half and shot just one wide in that period, while they kicked no wide during the second half. Keelan Sexton kicked two of Clare's first half points from play, the second following a superb Gordon Kelly run.

Clare emerged renewed after the interval and points from Malone and Pearse Lillis pulled them level, 0-7 each.

However, points from Bill Maher and Jimmy Feehan restored Tipperary to restore their advantage as they sought to protect their excellent league run against Clare, who haven't beaten the Premier County since 1992. 

Five minutes from time, Sweeney's seventh point left Tipperary 0-12 to 0-11 up, but Sexton equalised from a 40 metre free. Clare could have won the game and spurned late chances as Tipperary held on for the draw.

Scorers for Clare: Keelan Sexton 0-3 (2fs), Pearse Lillis and Eoin Cleary (2fs) 0-2 each, Ciaran Russell, Jamie Malone, Kieran Malone, and Gary Brennan 0-1 each.

Scorers for Tipperary: Conor Sweeney 0-7 (6fs), Jimmy Feehan, Bill Maher, Liam Casey, and Liam McGrath 0-1 each.

CLARE: Killian Roche; Cian O'Dea, Eoghan Collins, Gordon Kelly; Pearse Lillis, Ciaran Russell, Aaron Fitzgerald; Gary Brennan, Cathal O'Connor; Jamie Malone, Eoin Cleary, Gearóid O'Brien; Seán O'Donoghue, Keelan Sexton, David Tubridy.

Subs: Darragh Bohannon for Cathal O'Connor (36), Alan Sweeney for David Tubridy (48 BC), Kieran Malone for Gearóid O'Brien (55).

TIPPERARY: Evan Comerford; Shane O'Connell, John Meagher, Alan Campbell; Bill Maher, Robbie Kiely, Jimmy Feehan; Liam Casey, Liam Boland; Josh Keane, Jack Kennedy, Brian Fox; Conor Sweeney, Michael Quinlivan, Liam McGrath.

Subs: Ian Fahy for Michael Quinlivan (24 inj), Kevin Fahy for Jack Kennedy  (36), Emmett Moloney for Liam Boland (45), Jason Lonergan  for Liam McGrath (62), Seán Carey for Ian Fahy (69).

REFEREE: Jerome Henry (Mayo).