All-Ireland champions Tipperary made a winning start to their Munster MHC campaign when they enjoyed a comfortable victory over a wasteful Clare at the Gaelic Grounds on Wednesday evening. Tipperary 3-12 Clare 1-11 A goal in each half from corner forward John O'Neill helped Tipp to secure a semi-final berth. Clare were made to pay for 10 first half wides - six in the opening 10 minutes - as O'Neill's first major put Tipp on their way to a 1-6 to 0-4 half-time lead. A second Tipp goal from Patrick Maher six minutes after the restart effectively ended the game as a contest and O'Neill bagged a third goal before full forward John Conlon scored a Clare consolation deep in injury-time. Tipperary - J Logue; S O'Brien, P Maher, J Coughlan; M Cahill, B Maher, D O'Connor; N McGrath 0-3, J Gallagher; S Hennessy 0-6, K Lorrigan 0-2, M Heffernan 0-1; J O'Neill 2-0, P Maher 1-0, D O'Brien. Subs - J Barry for Gallagher, S Carey for O'Brien, P O'Brien for B Maher, L Dwan for McGrath, T Tracey for Barry. Clare - D Touhy; D Nash, J Fennessy, J Gunning; N O'Connell 0-1, C Duggan, C Morey 0-1; E Madden, K Heagney 0-1; S Collins 0-2, D Malone 0-1, K Moynihan; D Honan, J Conlon 1-3, P Vaughan 0-1. Subs - E Hayes for Moynihan, B Flynn for Fennessy, I White 0-1 for Madden, M Barry for Hannon. Tweet

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