The famous St. Joseph's Doora-Barefield club provided the opposition, however, Kilmayley still came up short and Lynch ended up on the defeated side.
He won a county intermediate championship winners' medal in 1994, however, success at senior level was slow in coming.
Liam Cahill and Eugene O'Neill scored two goals for Tipp in the last ten minutes to set up an exciting finish.
A draw looked likely, however, a classic late point from Jamesie O'Connor secured a narrow 0–20 to 2–13 victory for Clare.
In winning the 1997 All-Ireland title Clare beat Cork, Kilkenny and Tipperary (twice) – the so-called big three of hurling.
[5] It was Lynch's second Munster winners' medal, however, the game was subject to much media discussion over the following week.
An exciting contest unfolded with Cork's Joe Deane scoring a key goal after an excellent pass from Seánie McGrath.
A score line of 1–15 to 0–14 gave Cork the victory and saw Clare surrender their provincial title for the first time since 1996.
[8] The next few seasons saw Clare exit the provincial championship at an early stage, while manager Ger Loughnane also departed.
In 2002 Clare exited the Munster race at the first hurdle, however, the newly expanded qualifiers system saw Lynch's side record subsequent victories over Dublin, Wexford, Galway and Waterford to reach the All-Ireland final.
The team regrouped in the latter year and forced reigning champions Kilkenny to a draw in the All-Ireland quarter-final.
Provincial defeat was Clare's lot again in 2005, however, Lynch's side reached the All-Ireland semi-final via the qualifiers.
Cork were the opponents that day and found life difficult with a primed Clare team countering their every attack.
A huge performance by Cork turned this deficit around and Lynch's side eventually went on to lose the game by 0–16 to 0–15.
After a reasonably good performance Clare fell short again as 'the Cats' went on to win the game and later take the All-Ireland title.
[11] This defeat marked the end for Lynch as he announced his retirement from inter-county hurling just before the start of the 2009 championship.