NOTHING too spectacular but Tipperary continue to look real contenders for the All-Ireland Senior Hurling crown following their 2-17 to 0-16 Munster final victory over Waterford at Pairc Ui Chaoimh on Sunday.
Predictably, Waterford provided much tougher opposition than in last year’s final. They were right in the mix until the final quarter of a match watched by a crowd of 26,438.
It was around then that Tipperary’s extra bit of class and superior replacements bench began to have an impact. Shane Bourke, one of those substitutes, scored the crucial second Tipperary goal in the 54rd minute.
His opportunist effort gave Tipperary a five point cushion they never likely to lose. As a matter of fact, they extended that advantage to seven points by the final whistle.
That was probably a bit unkind to Waterford, given that they had made a game of it for so long. With the memory of last year’s humiliation still fresh in ther minds, they took the game to Tipperary from an early stage.
They started much the better, leading by 0-4 to 0-1 after eight minutes. John Mullane and Shane Walsh were both causing the Tipperary defence real problems.
But when the going gets tough, there is usually someone in the Tippeary attack who delivers. On this occasion, it was John O’Brien who rattled home a superbly taken goal and point to keep his side in touch.
At half-time the sides were level (0-11 to 1-8) and Waterford were undoubtedly in with a chance of causing an upset. There wasn’t much in it for the opening period of the second half but then the Tipperary bench really began to have an impact.
Substitutes Eoin Kelly and Shane Bourke were to contribute 1-4 between them. Waterford may, however, feel that the free just prior to Bourke’s goal was a bit harsh.
Either way, the Waterford goalkeeper Stephen O’Keeffe failed to deal with Kelly’s long range free and Bourke was on hand to sweep the ball into the net.
His effort put Tipperary 2-13 to 0-14 ahead. Sadly for the big Waterford following, their team subsequently lost their way a bit, shooting some bad wides and Tippeary saw the game out reasonably comfortably.
O’Brien gave an outstanding performance to contribute 1-3 from play. Surprisingly, Lar Corbett did not figure on the scoresheet after being named in the starting line-up.
At times, he should have taken the scoring opportunity instead of looking for a colleague to pass too. But the man whose goals demolished Waterford last year is getting there, some of his distribution and positional play was excellent.
Manager Declan Ryan was reasonably satisfied, stating: “Lar ghosts around the place and he got some lovely ball. He uses it very well.
“I suppose he could have taken a couple of his own scores, but that him, he’s always been a team player.”
Overall, Ryan felt that his team did well enough, although there was some criticism that they went for goals too often when they should have taken points.
Mullane (0-3), Walsh (0-2) and free-taker Maurice Shanahan (0-8) showed up well for Waterford but defender Kevin Moran was undoubtedly their star man. Thirty-nine-year-old Tony Browne also did a lot of good work in defence before being substituted late on.
Manager Michael Ryan was proud of the way his team performed. He said: “Tipperary deserved their victory, they took their chances.
“But I’m proud of our lads. Last year, the crowd was leaving 10 minutes into the second half, but we have come on a long way since then.”
Cork and Limerick came through the two Phase Three qualifiers. Unsurprisingly, Cork had too much class for Wexford, winning the first Semple Stadium encounter 3-24 to 2-17.
But the meeting of Limerick and Clare was every bit as close and exciting as pundits had predicted. Previously this year, Clare have held an edge, winning their three meetings, but Limerick came good last Saturday night to get home by 3-18 to 1-20.
They did so because of their ability to get goals. It was a cracking game played between two talented young sides.
Davy Fitzgerald’s Clare had the better of the first half, scoring some magnificent points. But they went in at half-time 2-9 to 0-14 behind.
Importantly, Limerick secured two goals from Wayne McNamara and Seanie Tobin, the second of which was just before the break. Declan Hannon subsequently got a third goal as Limerick picked up the tempo in the second half.
Surprisingly, manager John Allen had opted to name Hannon and Kevin Downes in the replacements but Hannon, in particular, was to make a big impression after he was brought on as a 29th minute substitute. The accurate free-taking of Shane Dowling (0-8) was another important factor in Limerick’s success.
But the excellent Niall Moran was deservedly named man of the match after scoring 0-5 from play. Undoubtedly, Clare’s tough battle against Dublin the previous weekend didn’t help them as they ran out of steam in the second half.
Manager Fitzgerald made that point but agreed that Limerick deserved their success because of their second half effort.
Full-forward Luke O’Farrell (2-2) was the star for Cork as they beat Wexford by 10 points in the opening game. Cork’s ability to get three goals in a total of 3-24 was one of the most pleased features for manager Jimmy Barry-Murphy.
“We failed to score goals against Tipperary and paid the penalty. So it was pleasing that we should nail those chances in the first half.” he stressed.
Limerick to face Cats
LIMERICK drew the short straw after they were
pitted against Kilkenny in the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship quarter-finals to take place on July 29.
The other quarter-final will see Cork facing Waterford. Intriguingly, should Kilkenny get the better of Limerick, they will then take on Tipperary in the All-Ireland semi-final with Galway meeting the winners of the Cork-Waterford quarter-final clash.
Some surprises in qualifiers
MAYO claimed another Connacht Championship on a weekend which saw plenty of surprises in Round Two of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship qualifiers.
Leitrim, Limerick, Tipperary and Antrim were all shock winners but the biggest surprise of all very nearly came at Cusack Park in Mullingar.
Unbelievably, Westmeath led Kerry by 0-8 to 1-3 at half-time and then extended that advantage to six points early in the second half.
A goal from Darran O’Sullivan, however, brought Kerry back into the game and at they went on to edge a 2-10 to 1-12 victory. Hardly the form of potential All-Ireland winners.
They now face a tough Round Three qualifier at home to Tyrone. Mayo, meanwhile, are straight though to the quarter-finals having defeated Sligo 0-12 to 0-10 in a tough Connacht SFC final at Dr Hyde Park.
It wasn’t exactly pretty with both teams adopting a defensive approach but Mayo manager James Horan feels that his side will improve. Presumably, their preparations weren’t helped by the decision of a disgruntled Conor Mortimer to withdraw from their squad earlier in the week.
Horan argued that the saga didn’t affect his team. Whatever about that, Mayo missed a lot of chances and only managed to get the better of a dogged Sligo outfit very late on.
“It was a dog fight and a horrible match to watch from the sidelines but we showed a lot of fighting character. Our substitutes made a huge difference for us,” Horan emphasized.
Sligo will feel disappointed that some crucial decisions went against them. With the score a 0-9 apiece, Colm O’Boyle gave Mayo the lead with a shot which many observers felt had drifted wide.
That said, Mayo just about deserved their victory. Barry Moran had a huge game in midfield while substitute Aidan O’Shea was also very prominent.
Sligo led 0-5 to 0-3 at half-time but that was never likely to be enough playing into the wind in the second half. Mayo gradually wore them down in front of a crowd of 23,257 to claim a second successive Connacht title.
Elsewhere, there was plenty of action in Phase Two of the qualifiers. Besides Kerry’s narrow victory over Westmeath, there were victories for Tyrone, Limerick, Antrim, Tipperary, Leitrim, Laois and Kildare.
If only because of the Seanie Johnston transfer saga, the meeting of Cavan and Tyrone at Breffni Park probably drew most of the attention. Understandably, in the circumstances, Kilkdare manager Kieran McGeeney chose not to start Johnston against his former colleagues.
By the time he brought him on as a late substitute the match had long since finished as a contest. In the event, Johnston contributed a free as Kildare strolled to a 3-20 to 1-9 victory.
This was Kildare back to something like their best after the surprise Leinster semi-final defeat to Meath. But Cavan, it has to be said, didn’t provide a real test.
Few could have predictated that of the three Connacht sides involved in the qualifiers, Leitrim would emerge as the only winners. Galway suffered a shock 0-11 to 0-10 loss to Antrim at Casement Park, two injury-time points from Tomas McCann and Deaghlan O’Hagan giving the Ulster side victory.
Roscommon were no match for Tyrone at Dr Hyde Park on Saturday, losing by 1-16 to 0-8. Owen Mulligan was outstanding for Tyrone, contributing 0-5.
But Leitrim ended a long period of disappointment with a fine 0-13 to 0-10 home victory over a Wicklow side which hit 16 wides. In contrast, Leitrim made the most of their opportunities with Emlyn Mullingan finishing with 0-6 and James Glancy getting 0-5.
Elsewhere, Tipperary surprised Wexford 1-13 to 0-15 at Semple Stadium. It was an outstanding achievement, given that Wexford had run Dublin so close in the Leinster semi-final.
There’s no doubt Tipperary football is in good hands. Only last week their minors beat Kerry in the Munster Minor Football final to claim the title for a second successive year.
Limerick got the better of Longford by 1-21 to 1-15 after extra-time. It was a big disappointment for home side Longford after what has been a very promising season.
But they ran out of gas in extra-time. Another Leinster team Laois had no such problems as they beat Monaghan 2-12 to 0-12 at O’Moore Park. Goals from Colm Kelly and Brendan Quigley proved crucial. Afterwards Monaghan manager Eamon McEneaney announced his resignation.
