Tipperary 4-12
Waterford 1-16
By Fintan O’Toole
TIPPERARY rounded off a splendid four-day period for hurling in the county with success in last night’s Bord Gáis Energy Munster U21HC quarter-final in Semple Stadium but only after withstanding a storming second-half performance by a 14-man Waterford side.
Before an attendance of 4,392 spectators Tipperary looked to have wrapped up their place in the provincial semi-final when they enjoyed an eight-point advantage, 3-11 to 0-12, with ten minutes remaining. Waterford’s prospects were damaged greatly when Owen Whelan, who had been introduced as a half-time substitute, was sent-off for a second yellow card in the 40th minute. Yet despite the bleakness of the situation, Waterford mounted a terrific rally in a pulsating finale.
They chipped away at Tipperary’s advantage courtesy of the flawless freetaking of Philip Mahony while inside attackers Brian O’Sullivan and Maurice Shanahan, who overcame injury to start, caused constant difficulties for the Premier rearguard. They had trimmed Tipperary’s advantage to six points entering injury-time before receiving a lifeline when O’Sullivan finished expertly to the net after Jake Dillon had delivered a precise pass forward.
Waterford effectively harnessed the momentum generated from that goal and nearly raised a second green flag within seconds but Pauric Mahony’s fierce whip was blocked smartly by Tipperary netminder Paul Ryan. Substitute Owen Connors flicked over a point to reduce the deficit to two but the match was then settled as a contest in the closing minute. Waterford poured forward but despite Shanahan seeming to be fouled during an attack, referee Diarmuid Kirwan waved play on and Tipperary swept downfield in clinical fashion. Paddy Murphy prised open the Waterford defence when he popped a pass through and corner-forward John O’Neill slammed home his second goal of the game.
That was the insurance score that secured Tipperary a spot in the semi-final against Cork on July 20th yet there was more relief than joy in their ranks at the final whistle after surviving that nervous finish. Ultimately Tipperary did enough in the first-half to engineer victory. They produced some spellbinding passages of play in the opening thirty minutes to lead 2-9 to 0-7 at the interval and indeed by the 24th minute they had been in the ascendancy by ten points. Tipperary, lead by their outstanding captain Noel McGrath at midfield, settled better to the rhythms of the game and dominated the key sectors of the pitch from the off.
After a feisty start to the match when a series of skirmishes developed either side of the throw-in, Tipperary grabbed the game’s opening score in the 3rd minute when Brian O’Meara was hauled to the ground after a superb catch and McGrath lashed the resultant penalty to the net. Ten minutes later Tipperary notched their second goal when Sean Curran batted home after O’Neill did the spade work. Tipperary’s hurling was sharp all around the pitch with corner-back Ciaran Haugh and wing-forward Adrian Ryan impressing most.
Waterford were guilty of poor shooting as they fired six wides in the opening twenty minutes but they managed to correct that element of their game before the break with Shanahan and O’Sullivan excelling. That duo continued to inspire the Déise after the interval and by the 39th minute Tipperary’s lead had been notably shaved to 2-9 to 0-10. However the dismissal of Whelan unsettled Waterford and Tipperary capitalised with O’Neill crashing to the net in the 44th minute after good work by O’Meara to create the chance. Tipperary should have kicked on from there but Waterford, with Jamie Barron, Philip Mahony and O’Sullivan all powering into the game, refused to wilt and came close to overhauling their opponents.
Scorers for Tipperary: J O’Neill 2-2; N McGrath 1-1 (1-0 pen); S Curran 1-0; A Ryan 0-3 each; J O’Dwyer 0-2 (0-1f); B O’Meara, B Stapleton, P Murphy, M Sheedy 0-1 each.
Scorers for Waterford: B O’Sullivan 1-4; Pauric Mahony 0-6 (0-6f); M Shanahan 0-4; J Dillon, O Connors 0-1 each.
TIPPERARY: P Ryan; C Haugh, K O’Gorman, S Maher; B Stapleton, J Barry, P Heffernan; N McGrath, J Gallagher; S Curran, P Murphy, A Ryan; J O’Neill, B O’Meara, J O’Dwyer. Subs: S O’Brien for Barry (inj) (half-time), A McCormack for Gallagher (39), M Sheedy for Curran (55).
WATERFORD: S O’Keeffe; J Barron, D Fives, N Connors; P Prendergast, Philip Mahony, S Daniels; S Roche, A Brophy; E Murphy, Pauric Mahony, M O’Neill; B O’Sullivan, M Shanahan, J Dillon. Subs: O Whelan for O’Neill (half-time), O Connors for Brophy (47), E Madigan for Murphy (55).
Referee: Diarmuid Kirwan (Cork)
