Magnificent fourteen man Tipp see off Wexford in dramatic fashion

Tipperary 1-28

Wexford 3-20

A superb performance of guts and determination helped fourteen man Tipperary through to the All-Ireland senior hurling final when they downed Leinster champions Wexford in a dramatic and pulsating clash at Croke Park this afternoon.

The Tipp lads lost John McGrath to a second yellow card 11 minutes into the second half and had to show huge courage to come from behind to claim the magnificent victory which sets up a seventh All-Ireland Final clash with Kilkenny since 2009.

Croke Park was in splendid condition for this clash, especially considering the first of the semi-finals had been staged in the same venue less than twenty four hours earlier, resulting in Kilkenny advancing to meet the winners of today's clash in the All-Ireland Final in two weeks time.

And, there was a magnificent atmosphere about the city ahead of the game with the Wexford and Tipperary supporters mixing and mingling amid a sea of colour as an air of anticipation prevailed amongst the 61,852 in attendance.

Wexford had a four week layoff since their superb Leinster Final victory over Kilkenny, whereas Tipperary had a quarter final clash with Laois to contend with two weeks ago - a game which saw Tipperary under par, but doing enough to get over the line nonetheless. 

Tipp were two in arrears at the break 1-14 to 1-12 after what had been an intriguing battle of tactics, skill and score taking. It was tough and tense, and Tipperary needed their goal which came courtesy of a Seamus Callanan blasted ground stroke in the 10th minute after a Niall O'Meara pass. 

Wexford though had the better of the first half exchanges and when Conor McDonald goalled for them in the 26th minute, the roof almost lifted off Croke Park. That score gave Wexford a four point lead but Tipp battled back and found their range to set up an enthralling second half. Indeed, Tipperary had the ball in the Wexford net on two further occasions in the first half, but both were disallowed by referee Sean Cleere - the first a very strange decision after Michael Breen goalled in the 8th minutes, and the second after John McGrath netted in the 31st. The goal was called back and a point awarded to Wexford's Lee Chin from a long range free which had been caught and cleared by Tipp keeper Brian Hogan - Hawkeye showed that he had caught the ball above the crossbar and across the line.

Tipp were far better in the second half and a flurry of points from the wonderful Noel McGrath and John O'Dwyer kept them in the game  even after Lee Chin had bagged a second Wexford goal in the 14th minute - just moments after John McGrath had received his marching orders.

Wexford goalled again through Conor McDonald in the 26th minute and Tipp had to dig in once more with Jsson Forde and subs Willie Connors, Mark Kehoe and Jake Morris finding the scores to record a superb victory.