Brilliant Tipperary record deserved win over Deise to qualify from Munster round robin

Munster Senior Hurling Championship - Round 4

Tipperary 1-30

Waterford 1-21

Tipperary banished the demons of 2023 with a commanding win in FBD Semple Stadium in Thurles to register back-to-back Munster Senior Hurling Championship wins for the first time since 2019 and, in the process, secure safe passage from the Munster round robin.

A slow start for Tipp in which Waterford lashed home 1-1 inside the first 60 seconds of the contest made for a very nervous start for the huge Tipperary contingent in situ in Thurles, but thereafter, there was no denying who the better team was, despite Waterford equalising in the middle of the second half.

However, the response to adversity in games this year has been the standout feature of Liam Cahill’s Tipperary as they outscored the visitors by 1-10 to 0-4 in the final 20 minutes to secure a massive win for the Premier.

In the build-up to this game, many pundits felt that the week turnaround, coupled with the pace of the rested Waterford team, would cause Tipperary problems and when the game started the way it did, there would have been a degree of nervousness circulating in the stands that it might be ringing through early on.

That goal came early on when the Deise won the throw-in and delivered a long ball into the square. Michael Breen misjudged the flight of the ball with Stephen Bennett beside him, and the Ballysaggart man fielded the dropping ball and finished with ease to the net from close range.

Indeed, the resulting puckout was turned over quickly with Waterford recycling the ball to Michael Kiely, who flashed over his first of the day and that was an early, early wake up call for Tipperary to awaken amidst the white heat on the hallowed Thurles surface.

Jake Morris settled Tipp somewhat with a first score for his team in the second minute but Waterford were all over Tipp in the first six minutes or so, with the Premier far too standoff-ish as Waterford - Jamie Barron in particular - finding acres of space in the half forward line as Barron and Kevin Mahony added scores to push them out to an early 1-3 to 0-1 lead.

Tipp needed to get their hands on the ball because they were devoid of possession in that early period, but a Darragh McCarthy free in the eighth minute, followed by a well-taken Andrew Ormond score a minute later, settled Tipp well.

Further scores followed with a classy Jason Forde sideline cut and a superb Sam O’Farrell strike from under the new stand had Tipp back to within a point by the 11th minute, but it was still looking sketchy for Tipp within that flurry of scores.

Waterford were still finding too much space for Liam Cahill’s liking, and they would be guilty of some poor wides in the first half; wides that would allow Tipp to keep in touch while trying to find their shape in a period that the Deise were dominating the play.

Jamie Barron was running the show for them, and he landed a second point in the 12th minute, and they had restored a three-point lead with a first from play from Shane Bennett two minutes later.

However, while Jamie Barron was dropping from half forward to good effect on the Warterford side, Andrew Ormond did so for Tipperary in the first half - and beyond - and the JK Brackens player started to heavily influence to forthcoming Tipp revival in the second quarter.

Ormond won a mountain of possession in that time, setting up John McGrath for an easy score, winning a converted free for Darragh McCarthy before firing over his second of the game and that had Tipp level by the 20th minute.

Waterford were having huge issues with Ormond, and his influence only grew thereafter, and he had a third of the game a minute later to before two Jake Morris points - one set up by Ormond - put Tipperary into a scarcely deserved lead at 0-11 to 1-6 after 23 minutes.

At that stage, Tipp had effectively weathered the early Waterford storm, and they had the better of the remainder of the half with Eoghan Connolly, Jake Morris, John McGrath and another sublime sideline cut from Jason Forde putting Tipperary ahead at the break by three points, leading 0-16 to 1-10.

There was yellow fever for the teams at the start of the second half when Robert Doyle and Tadhg De Burca received yellow cards from Sean Stack. But aside from that, Tipp needed a good start to the half - often Tipp’s achilles heel - and that did come with the first two points coming for Tipp through Darragh McCarthy (free) and the unstoppable Andrew Ormond.

A Shane Bennett free was the response, but the authoritative start from Tipp continued in the next few minutes with frees from McCarthy and Eoghan Connolly beefing out the advantage further to six points as the Premier were winning all the battles now around the pitch.

It was never going to remain this comfortable for Tipperary, though, and the expected Waterford backlash would soon come, but there was as a significant contribution to that purple patch through errors from the home side.

Waterford would hit the next six points between the 46th and 51st minute, with four from  Stephen Bennett (3 frees) and scores from Paddy Leavey and Jamie Barron had the game back in the melting pot at 0-20 to 1-17.

Mistakes were made, but again, the response from Tipperary when the tide was turning was emphatic with echoes of Ennis a week ago. Tipp hit the next six scores in response to that Waterford flurry with Darragh McCarthy and Andrew Ormond winning vital frees in that time and with the former in deadly form from placed balls, and the introduction of Noel McGrath steadying the ship somewhat, they were in control again at 0-26 to 1-17.

There was a controversial black card penalty ignored by Sean Stack at that time when Darragh McCarthy was manhandled when in on goal in the 53rd minute, and with just the goalie in front of him, Ian Kenny cynically pulled down the Toomevara man.

However, Stack somehow adjudged it not to be a clear goalscoring opportunity, dishing out a yellow instead, much to the annoyance of the Tipperary players and management.

Luckily, it would not be a factor come the game’s end, and despite Waterford pulling it back to a three-point game with ten minutes of normal time remaining, Tipp would finish in style with the subs bench making the desired impact.

Darragh McCarthy came up trumps two minutes from time when he gathered a breaking ball inside the 21 and, after a strong run, fed U20 teammate Oisin O’Donoghue to fire home from close range; the Cashel player was only on the field a matter of seconds as a substitute.

Stephen Bennett had a 21-yard penalty repelled late on, and an ambitious long-range shot at goal by Rhys Shelly late on as Waterford came in search of goals to find a route back into the game, but the blood was up on the pitch and sideline as Tipp were defiant in that period.

From here, it was there to be enjoyed by the phenomenal home support in the stadium as Sean Kenneally, Eoghan Connolly, Darragh McCarthy (free) and Oisin O’Donoghue all fired over points late on to put a deserved sheen on a fantastic victory to that secures championship hurling into June for Liam Cahill’s team.

This was a quality performance to back up the Ennis victory and with so many players questioning the character of the group over the last two seasons in not being able to string back-to-back performances together, it will feel very satisfying indeed for all the setup involved.

Performances from Darragh McCarthy, Craig Morgan, Willie Connors, Michael Breen, Eoghan Connolly and Jake Morris were key, but it was the outstanding performance of Andrew Ormond that really caught the eye as the Templemore man lead the team in challenging periods, winning at least five scoreable frees on contributing three points himself from play.

Tipperary must now await the results in the final round of group games next weekend to determine whether they will appear in a Munster final or an All-Ireland preliminary quarter-final in June.

Scorers: Tipperary: Darragh McCarthy 0-11f, Jake Morris 0-4, Oisin O’Donoghue 1-1, Andrew Ormond 0-3, Jason Forde (0-3, 0-2 sl-cuts), Eoghan Connolly (0-3, 0-2f), John McGrath 0-2, Sam O’Farrell, Noel McGrath, Sean Kenneally all 0-1 each.

Waterford: Stephen Bennett (1-9, 0-7f), Jamie Barron 0-4, Michael Kiely 0-2, Kevin Mahony, Dessie Hutchinson, Darragh Lyons, Paddy Leavey, Sean Walsh, Patrick Fitzgerald all 0-1 each.

Tipperary: Rhys Shelly; Robert Doyle, Eoghan Connolly, Michael Breen; Sam O’Farrell, Ronan Maher, Bryan O’Mara; Craig Morgan, Willie Connors; Conor Stakelum, Jake Morris, Andrew Ormond; Darragh McCarthy, John McGrath, Jason Forde.

Subs used: Darragh Stakelum for Connors (48, temp); Noel McGrath for C Stakelum (51); Darragh Stakelum for O’Farrell (52); Sean Kenneally for J McGrath (56); Oisin O’Donoghue for Forde (68); Seamus Kennedy for Morgan (69).

Waterford: Billy Nolan; Ian Kenny, Conor Prunty, Iarlaith Daly; Mark Fitzgerald, Tadhg De Burca, Gavin Fives; Paddy Leavey, Darragh Lyons; Stephen Bennett, Kevin Mahony, Jamie Barron; Jack Prendergast, Michael Kiely, Dessie Hutchinson.

Subs used: Patrick Fitzgerald for Mahony (45); Shane Bennett for Fives (55); Patrick Curran for Kiely (61); Sean Walsh for Hutchinson (65); Tom Barron for Daly (72).

Referee: Sean Stack (Dublin)