Tipperary 1-18
Clare 0-17

It's a case of three down and one to go for Tipperary who moved a step closer to completing their first ever Grand Slam of Munster hurling titles by beating Clare in last night's intermediate final at Nenagh.

With the senior, minor and intermediate titles safely secured, the attention now switches to Ken Hogan's U21s who will give Tipp a Munster hurling 'clean sweep' if they can beat Clare in their provincial decider on August 8.

A crowd of 2,236 watched the Premier claim their first intermediate crown in a decade thanks in no small part to the scoring heroics of Kieran Morris and David Butler who accounted for 1-12 of their tally. Fielding 10 players under the age of 21, Clare put up a serious fight, but were undermined by nine second half wides. Cathal O'Connell top-scored for the Banner with 0-7.

There was nothing to separate the sides until a minute before half-time when David Butler's scrambled goal helped Tipp - who will now face either Kilkenny or Galway in the All-Ireland final - to a 1-10 to 0-10 interval lead.

Scorers - Tipperary: K Morris 0-8f, D Butler 1-4, D O'Brien, M Heffernan 0-2 each, P White, M Gleeson 0-1 each. Clare: C O'Connell 0-7 (5f, 1 '65'), P Sheahan 0-3, C Malone, P Duggan (1f) 0-2 each, C Duggan, F Kennedy, D O'Halloran 0-1 each.

Tipperary - J Logue; C Coughlan, K O'Gorman, G Walsh; J Barry, E Connolly, R Sherlock; M Gleeson, P White; M Heffernan, J Gallagher, S Carey; K Morris, D O'Brien, D Butler. Subs: E Sweeney for J Gallagher (36), R Ruth for White (51), N Teehan for Barry (60).

Clare - N Woods; P Flanagan, D McInerney, C O'Doherty; S O'Halloran, C Duggan, C Chaplin; J Colleran, P Sheahan; C Malone, C O'Connell, P Duggan; F Kennedy, A Lynch, D O'Halloran. Subs: N Arthur for Lynch (43), C Ryan for Malone (51), M O'Neill for O'Halloran (54), B Donnellan for Colleran (58).

Ref - D Kirwan (Cork). Tweet

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