Tipperary Senior hurlers seriously upset their old rivals this afternoon, in Croke Park, inflicting a heavy defeat on their 14-man Kilkenny opposition.
It was a red card for Kilkenny forward Richie Hogan, just four minutes before the half-time break, that ensured ‘The Cats’ final demise, with Tipperary then only one point in front.
From the very start Kilkenny appeared to instantly settle, with TJ Reid rifling home two handy frees to open the Kilkenny account. However Michael Breen soon put the first point on the board for ‘The Premier County’. However, over the next 20 minutes Kilkenny appeared to govern the pitch, to lead Tipperary by 8pts to 3pts; 6pts of which came at the hands of an intent TJ Reid from frees, as they continued to menace Tipperary’s full-back line.
From the 24th minute, Tipperary appeared to have fully assessed the situation. Tipperary’s Jason Forde pointed over a 65, followed by a free and then came the Niall O’Meara goal which slid under Paul Murphy’s boot, giving Eoin Murphy in the Kilkenny goal mouth, no chance to defend. Suddenly, there was hope visible in the eyes of worried Tipperary spectators; the scores were again level, Kilkenny 0-8 (8pts) – Tipperary 1-5 (8pts). Kilkenny’s first 24 minutes of worrying mild superiority was amounting to nothing.
By the 27th minute Tipperary were in the lead for the first time, with Jason Forde converting a 65.
Then, four minutes before half-time, disaster struck the Kilkenny side, following a call made by referee James Owens and after extensive consultation with his linesman Johnny Murphy, Richie Hogan received a red card and was dismissed to the side-line for his high strong shoulder challenge on Tipperary’s Cathal Barrett.
As yet another downpour of rain drowned the pitch in Croke Park, both teams returned to their dressing rooms at half-time, with Tipperary one point to the good – Tipperary 1-9 (12pts) to Kilkenny 0-11 (11pts).
The second half saw a Tipperary side put this game out of the complete reach of the now reduced 14-man Kilkenny squad, all within just seven minutes of the restart.
Despite an early point from Kilkenny’s TJ Reid, levelling the score; in the 37th minute, Tipperary’s Seamus Callanan willed the ball to cross the Kilkenny line, his eighth goal of this championship to date. Tipperary were now 2-9 (15pts) to Kilkenny’s 0-12 (12pts).
Kilkenny, in desperation, then resorted to sending long range aimless deliveries to their full-forward line, where the ‘Premiers’ extra man was lurking, allowing Tipperary to easily defend and clear.
Now, points from Tipperary’s Callanan; O’Dwyer; Kennedy; both McGrath brothers; Forde; Connors; Kehoe and a superb goal from O’Dwyer, did little to support the retaliation points scored by a committed Kilkenny squad of Walsh; Reid; Ryan; Donnelly; Fennelly and Browne.
Final Score: Tipperary 3-25 (34pts) – Kilkenny 0-20 (20pts).
Tipperary Team: B. Hogan; C. Barrett; R. Maher; B. Heffernan; S. Kennedy; B. Maher; Padraic Maher; N. McGrath; M. Breen; D. McCormack; N. O’Meara; J. McGrath; J. O’Dwyer; S. Callanan and J. Forde.
Substitutes: M. Kehoe for N. O’Meara; W. Connors for D. McCormack; J. Morris for J. Forde; S. O’Brien for C. Barrett and G. Browne for M. Breen.
Superb performance from Tipp team! Lets hope its not one in a row keep the ship going boys.