Tipperary never found top gear but still progressed to the Munster final by virtue of a 3-18 to 1-22 defeat of Clare at the Gaelic Grounds. The holders led all the way in Limerick but needed a fabulous last-gasp save from Brendan Cummins to ensure qualification for the provincial final, after a spirited Clare side refused to wave the white flag. Noel McGrath (0-7) was the top performer for the winners, while Colin Ryan enjoyed a fantastic championship debut for Clare, claiming twelve points in total. Tipperary recorded 13 wides and could well have been pipped at the death. Tipperary bossed the first half and twice threatened to pull away but dogged Clare dug in and a late Diarmaid goal kept them in touch at the short whistle, 2-11 to 1-8. Lar Corbett and Seamus Callanan fired the first-half goals for Liam Sheedy's charges. The Premier County started purposefully with a trio of points in as many minutes. Full forward John O'Brien opened the scoring after 26 seconds and Pat Kerwick combined with Shane McGrath to pop over a second Tipp score a minute later. Eoin Kelly knocked over a free on three minutes. Jonathan Clancy notched Clare's opening score in the fourth minute but Noel McGrath cancelled that out with a lovely point off his left side 30 seconds later. Kerwick had a disappointing wide and wing back Declan Fanning followed up with an excellent score before Lar Corbett nipped in ahead of his man to score an eighth-minute goal: 1-5 to 0-1. Corbett stretched the gap to eight but the Banner replied with points from Colin Ryan and Tomny Griffin. When Ryan arrowed his second free between the posts on 18 minutes, the margin was down to five, 1-6 to 0-4. Debutant Ryan floated over the underdogs' fourth successive point - an excellent finish from distance - but Noel McGrath fashioned an instant riposte. Kerwick pointed again in the 23rd and 26th minutes as the Premier County temporarily shook off their complacency to lead by seven, 1-9 to 0-5. Noel McGrath demonstrated his precocious talent when chipping a sideline cut from the right wing straight over the bar and the 18-year-old then placed Seamus Callanan for the winners' second goal. Callanan finished emphatically with a low drive to the bottom right corner of the net, which meant that all six Tipp forwards had registered inside the opening 28 minutes. Clancy replied with a lovely point for Mike McNamara's team but Noel McGrath was on hand to add to Tipp's tally. On the stroke of half time, Diarmaid McMahon rifled a superb Clare goal to the net past the despairing dive of Brendan Cummins. The big No.11 collected a brilliant pass from Pat Donnellan and sent an unstoppable finish low and hard into the goal. It was just the score the Banner needed and McMahon followed up with a point in the second minute of first-half added time to leave six in it at the interval, 2-11 to 1-8. Clare had wind assistance in the second half and Griffin got them off to a good start with a point seconds after the restart. When Ryan popped over a 40th-minute free, there were just four points between the teams and the westerners had hit 1-3 without reply. Noel McGrath supplied the response with a fine point from an acute angle after clever play from Callanan. David Barrett traded points with James Woodlock to leave five between the teams, 2-13 to 1-11. O'Brien took a point and then tapped a 47th-minute goal past the exposed Philip Brennan. Clancy and Kelly (free) swapped points and the red-hot favourites led by nine. The impressive Ryan dispatched a good free and followed up with a point from play. McMahon took his second point to bring the margin back down to six, 3-15 to 1-15. Kelly (free) and Ryan exchanged the next two points and Clare were still within striking distance with 15 minutes left. Ryan embellished an excellent debut when he wedged a sideline cut over the bar and added a 65 to his match CV. Between those points, Tipp scored their 17th point through Noel McGrath and Cummins made an excellent save to deny Gilligan the goal Clare craved so badly. Substitute John Conlon and Ryan - his ninth of the match - hit the points that set up a grandstand finale as just three points separated the sides with four minutes remaining, 3-17 to 1-20. Tipp had a couple of wides and O'Brien struck a post as the tension mounted. Ryan's free made it a two-point game 30 seconds into injury time but this was cancelled out by a Noel McGrath free. Clare were awarded a free deep into added time and Ryan's long-range shot was goalbound until Cummins dived to divert it over the bar. Tweet

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