Tipperary beat Kerry in a dour Munster Hurling League game in Nenagh

Munster Hurling League - Group B - Round 2

Tipperary 1-28

Kerry 1-14

On a freezing cold January afternoon in MacDonagh Park, Nenagh, the clash of Tipperary and Kerry did little to raise the temperature as the Premier county easily found their way to victory in a flat and lacklustre contest in the final round of the 2024 Munster Hurling League.

A dominant second half won the day for Tipperary as Kerry struggled to stay in a contest in which they were very much in at the half-time interval as they trailed by just three points and had scored the only goal of the half through Dan Goggin in the 25th minute.

However, the Kingdom only managed a paltry three points in the second half as Tipperary took control mainly through Gearoid O’Connor’s proficiency from placed balls, and also goaled a 48th-minute penalty with aplomb to essentially secure the result as the points rolled in the final quarter for Liam Cahill’s experimental outfit to claim a first competitive win of 2024.

Five debutants were starting their first games for Tipperary on the starting team heading into this one, with Cathal Quinn, Enda Dunphy, Killian O’Dwyer, Josh Keller, and Sean Kenneally all getting their chance to impress. 

But the first half was anything but impressive as Tipp struggled to get any meaningful patches of play together, Kerry looking like the more dangerous team in the opening quarter with Shane Conway (four frees) and a point each from Dan Goggin and Luke Crowley had them 0-6 to 0-5 in front.

Sean Kenneally was one of the five debutants and he started very brightly and had Tipp’s first two points on the board in the first five minutes - two well-taken efforts - while Conor Bowe, Cian O’Dwyer and Gearoid O’Connor (free) made up the rest of the scores in the first 15 minutes.

The stop-start nature of the game made this game difficult to watch, to say the least, with the bulk of scores being traded between Gearoid O’Connor and Shane Conway but Tipp did half a fine brace of scores coming from the half-back line; Bryan O’Mara and Conor Bowe with the efforts as the Premier opened a 0-10 to 0-7 lead after 24 minutes.

Kerry injected some sort of adrenaline into the contest soon after though as they struck for the opening goal of the game, as Dan Goggin finished off Michael Leane’s industry - the former executing a cute hand pass over the shoulder - with the corner forward lashing past Enda Dunphy to tie proceedings.

Barry Heffernan made a welcome return to the fold off the bench against Waterford in Fraher Field, and he was busy early on in the game but burst into life in terms of scores in the final ten minutes, hitting three fine efforts from range as the link up play between the players started to become sharper, and with three O’Connor frees around those scores it was Tipp just keeping their noses in front at half-time, leading 0-17 to 1-11.

There was some potential of another upset akin to the 2022 game in Tralee where Kerry ended a huge wait for a win over Tipperary, and they were hurling some good stuff, frustrating Tipp, and had forwards causing issues in Shane Conway, Dan Goggin, and Luke Crowley.

However, their effort started to fade early in the second half despite trading the first four points of the half as Mark Kehoe found the target for his opening point of the game, while Sean Kenneally fired over his third after a lovely dummy out near the stand sideline.

Indeed, after the lively Luke Crowley hit his third of the game after 37 minutes, Kerry would have to wait 28 minutes to score again as Tipp took control of the game thereafter, with Gearoid O’Connor bagging his penalty after substitute Andrew Ormond was flattened near goal, and with three more frees from the Moyne Templetuohy man along with a first Ballina man David Kelly off the bench, the game was only going one direction as Tipp led 1-23 to 1-13 at the hour mark.

Cahill unloaded the bench in the final quarter in an effort to get a look at all of his wares but the remainder was more than processionary as more substitutes hit the target with Conor Whelan (one free, one 65), Max Hackett, and John Campion all finding their range as Tipp ended their Munster Hurling League fare for 2024 in winning fashion.

This was far from a classic for the supporters in situ in Nenagh on Sunday, but the likes of Sean Kenneally looked a cut above many on blue and gold throughout the game, while Barry Heffernan, Conor Bowe, and Bryan O’Mara impressed in patches.

Tipperary will play Clare in a challenge match next weekend, then entertain Limerick in Thurles on the 26th in aid of the Dillon Quirke Foundation before they get their 2024 Allianz Hurling League campaign up and running against Dublin in Parnell Park on February 3rd.

Scorers: Tipperary: Gearoid O’Connor (1-10, 0-9f, 0-1 65, 1-0 pen), Sean Kenneally (0-4, 0-1f), Barry Heffernan 0-3, Conor Bowe, Cian O’Dywer 0-2 each, Conor Whelan (0-2, 0-1f, 0-1 65), Mark Kehoe, Bryan O’Mara, John Campion, Max Hackett, David Kelly all 0-1 each.

Kerry: Shane Conway (0-8f), Dan Goggin 1-2, Luke Crowley 0-3, Brandon Barrett 0-1.

Tipperary: Enda Dunphy; Cathal Quinn, Brian McGrath, Killian O’Dwyer; Conor Bowe, Bryan O’Mara, Enda Heffernan; Johnny Ryan, Barry Heffernan; Cian O’Dwyer, Gearoid O’Connor, Josh Keller; Mark Kehoe, Mikey O’Shea, Sean Kenneally.

Subs used: Danny Slattery for K O’Dwyer (21, inj); Andrew Ormond for O’Shea (HT); Darragh Stakelum for B Heffernan (50); Gavin O’Halloran for C O’Dywer (50); David Kelly for Quinn (50); Pairic Campion for E Heffernan (57); John Campion for Ryan (57); Joe Fogarty for Keller (61); Conor Whelan for O’Mara (61).

Kerry: Louis Dee; Kyle O’Connor, Ronan Walsh, Darragh Shanahan; Evan Murphy, Daithi Griffin, Tomas O’Connor; Morgan Madden, Brandon Barrett; Killian Hayes, Michael Leane, Tom Doyle; Dan Goggin, Shane Conway, Luke Crowley.

Subs used: Flor McCarthy for Madden (HT); Gavin Dooley for Doyle (48); Maurice O’Connor for Shanahan (48); Feilim O’Sullivan for O’Connor (59); Niall Mulcahy for Crowley (59); Seanie Brosnan for Leane (69); Tom Doyle for Walsh (72).

Referee: Joe Mullins (Clare)