Tipperary footballers survive late Waterford surge to reach Munster semi-final

Tipperary 1-22 Waterford 1-19

Mission accomplished, albeit with some anxiety.

Leading by ten points after 55 minutes, Tipperary were on the back foot in the closing stages of their Munster Senior Football Championship quarter-final at FBD Semple Stadium on Saturday evening before eventually seeing off the challenge of Waterford and claiming their place in the semi-final away to Clare on April 19.

Having lost to Waterford in the championship last year, and with manager Philly Ryan in the process of building a new side, Tipp football enthusiasts approached this encounter with some caution. A win over the Decies in the league was cause for optimism but with Steven O’Brien and Luke Boland just returning from injury, and ace marksman Sean O’Connor still sidelined, it was never going to be easy.

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And so it transpired. An early injury that forced the withdrawal of Luke Boland after 14 minutes was an upset and management wisely withdrew Steven O’Brien after 49 minutes as a precaution, at which stage they were leading 1-18 to 0-11.

It looked then as though Waterford had shot their bolt but it was the visitors, trailing by 1-21 to 0-13 with 10 minutes to go, who produced a late surge that nearly caught a flagging home side.

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The importance of Steven O’Brien to this Tipp team cannot be overstated. Hampered by injury in recent years, the Ballina man, captain of the side, was the big difference between these teams, turning in a storming first half that yielded a goal after six minutes and three two-pointers subsequently, as Tipp established an interval lead of 1-13 to 0-8.

Waterford simply could not handle him and it is no coincidence that the Waterford late surge came after the withdrawal of the team captain.

Waterford had opened impressively, with two points in as many minutes. But O’Brien’s sixth minute goal, after a slick inter-change between Tipp players, was a beauty and settled the team. By the 15th minute, he had added two two-pointers and a point from play as Tipp pushed 1-6 to 0-4 clear after15 minutes.

It got better as the half progressed. Micheal Freaney was getting through a huge amount of work in attack, chipping in with a point and then a two-pointer. Mikey O’Shea had a goal chance turned out for a 45, as Tipp pulled steadily clear to lead at the beak by 1-13 to 0-8.

They had a narrow escape in the 28th minute when Jason Madigan took a goal-bound Waterford shot off the line but at the break Philly Ryan had to be happy with how his side were handling the Waterford challenge.

Tipp had the favour of the elements in the first half and points by Waterford’s Conor Murray and Jason Curry inside three minutes of resuming suggested that the semi-final spot was by no means decided. Tipp were up for the challenge and, playing some attractive football, moved steadily clear to lead 1-18 to 0-11 by the 52nd minute.

It could have been even more but Kieran Costello’s goal effort in the 47th minute cannoned off a Waterford defender, and Cathal Deely suffered a similar fate after 54 minutes. Conor Fahey also had a goal chance from a poor Waterford kickout in the 57th minute but was off-target.

Any of those three chances would surely have put the game to bed but still Tipp led 1-21 to 0-13 on the hour mark, Darragh Brennan shooting two neat points to supplement the efforts of Cian Smith, who had taken over the free-taking, with the departure of Steven O’Brien.

The last ten minutes plus stoppage time saw Waterford throw caution to the wind. Inspired by an Alan Dunwoody goal after 63 minutes, they piled on the pressure to get to within seven points of Tipp with five of the 70 minutes left.

Goalie Shane Ryan came to Tipp’s rescue with a smart save from Jason Curry and with the late Waterford surge yielding further points from Conor Murray and James Walsh, Tipperary were very relieved to hear the long whistle from referee Fergal Kelly.

Tipperary management wanted this game played in Clonmel but were overruled by Munster Council. The venue had nothing to do with the outcome, though. Tipp deserved to win but an improvement will be needed if Clare are to be defeated. Hopefully by then Sean O’ Connor will be fit to play and Luke Boland will have recovered from the injury that forced him off so early in the game.

The reality is that Tipperary’s young squad cannot afford to be without their seasoned campaigners, as they begin to find their feet at this level of competition.

Steven O’Brien’s first half performance tipped the scales in Tipp’s favour but the performances of the Feehan brothers, Jimmy and Paudie, at the heart of the defence were also vital. Kieran Costello did a lot of grafting at midfield while Micheal Freaney, Darragh Brennan and Cian Smith had their moments in attack.

Waterford did their best work at the finish and now look to the Tailteann Cup competition for further action. Their resolve, when facing a drubbing, was commendable with the displays of Brian Everard, James Power, Jason Curry, Tholom Guiry and Liam Fennell particularly impressive.

Tipperary: Shane Ryan; Jason Madigan, Jimmy Feehan, Emmet Moloney; Mark Stokes, Paudie Feehan (0-1), Luke Boland; Mark Russell, Kieran Costello; Ben Comerford (0-1), Mikey O’Shea, Micheal Freaney (0-4, 1x2pts); Cian Smith (0-5, 2fs), Steven O’ Brien (1-8, 3x2pts, 1’45), Darragh Brennan (0-3).

Subs: Jack Harney for Boland (14 mins), Cathal Deely for O’ Brien (49 mins), Conor Fahey for O’ Shea (53 mins), Billy O’Connor for Freaney (66 mins), Micheal Lowry for P Feehan (71 mins).

Waterford: Paudie Hunt; Caoimhin Walsh, Darach Ó Cathasaigh, Liam Fennell (0-1); William Beresford, Brian Everard, Dermot Ryan; Tholom Guiry, Rory Furlong; Conor Murray (0-5), James Power (0-3), Donie Fitzgerald; Michael O’Brien, Jason Curry (0-6,5fs), Alan Dunwoody (1-2).

Subs: James Walsh (0-2) for O’ Brien (h/t), Colin Foley for C Walsh (h/t), Dylan Guiry for Fitzgerald (41 mins), Jamie Power for Beresford (44 mins), Adam Crawford for Furlong (59 mins).

Referee: Fergal Kelly, Longford.