Tonic victory for Tipperary hurlers in drama-filled clash in Thurles

Tipperary 1-19 Kilkenny 1-18

Forget Tralee. Tipperary's surprise defeat by Kerry in the pre-season Munster Cup paled further into insignificance at FBD Semple Stadium this afternoon, Sunday, when they recorded their second National League victory in as many games, pipping Kilkenny by a point in an exciting tussle.
A mediocre first half blossomed into something much more enticing and gripping on the turnover, as Tipp held on for a win that they just about deserved. Anything else would have been galling for the home team and their supporters, after they led from the early moments of a game witnessed by a large attendance of over 10,000.
Tipp were ahead by six points when the sides changed ends. But that lead was eradicated within 14 minutes of the restart when Kilkenny struck six points without reply.
Gradually, Tipp rediscovered their mojo. Jake Morris restored their lead when he swept up a loose ball before captain Ronan Maher, introduced as a 51st minute substitute, fired over a rousing score that had the home supporters in good voice.
Three further points from Jason Forde, two from frees, had them five ahead by the 58th minute. But they were far from out of the woods.
Jake Morris could have put them in the comfort zone but he was denied by an outstanding save by Kilkenny goalie Eoin Murphy.
Tipp, too were grateful to their netminder Brian Hogan minutes earlier when he made an acrobatic leap to deny Richie Leahy.
Typically, Kilkenny refused to lie down. They edged closer and with the help of Tadhg O'Dwyer's goal were back on level terms in the last minute of normal time when Walter Walsh scored a great point from out near the sideline, and with the game entering additional time it looked as if Tipp would have to settle for a draw, despite all their endeavour over the course of the contest.
However, what had by now developed into an absorbing tussle had one more twist. Cathal Barrett, who really came into his own in the crucial closing stages, was fouled on one of his great surges from defence, and Jason Forde did the necessary from the long-range free after 71 minutes to copperfasten the win.
These old rivals had entered each other's orbit at a fork in the road for both counties, with several unfamiliar names on both team sheets from the start. Yet it was the tried and trusted that helped Tipp close out the victory.
As well as the inspirational Cathal Barrett, recently-appointed captain Ronan Maher gave his side a real lift in the last 20 minutes, winning a handful of fifty-fifty challenges and driving his team forward. 
Jason Forde's ten points, equally divided between play and frees, were hugely significant in such a tight affair.
Elsewhere Barry Heffernan, Jake Morris, Dillon Quirke, Craig Morgan and Seamus Kennedy were forceful presences on occasion.
Kilkenny, too, looked to some of their leading campaigners such as Padraig Walsh, Paddy Deegan and Walter Walsh to rescue the game, a task that proved just beyond them.
It's too early in the season for anyone to get carried away by Tipperary's bright start to the campaign, but maximum points from their opening games has given them a foundation on which to build. 
It was fairly typical league fare in the first half, as the large attendance waited for the game to spark to life. Lots of misplaced passes and poor wides from both teams meant it was far from vintage stuff in the first 35 minutes, with one incident in particular summing up the poverty of the play in that first half, when Cathal Barrett (having made a great catch) sending an intended back pass to Brian Hogan over his own goal line for a 65.
Colm Bonnar, the tenth manager to take charge of the Tipperary hurlers since Brian Cody stepped into the manager's role in Kilkenny 23 years ago, kept faith with the same team that beat Laois in the opening game the previous weekend.
And the players repaid that faith in the first half, making all the running to open up a six-points lead at the interval.
Good harrying and chasing by Denis Maher and Mark Kehoe led to Tipp's opening score from a free in the fifth minute, and it was a lead that they maintained for all of the opening period. 
By the 28th minute the lead stood at 5 points, 0-9 to 0-4, thanks to Denis Maher's point from distance after Dan McCormack and Dillon Quirke had provided the assists. The advantage was stretched to six a minute later when Jason Forde hit the target from just inside the Kilkenny half.
However Kilkenny produced a strong response in the closing stages of the half, with unanswered scores from Tom Phelan, two John Donnelly frees and Padraig Walsh leaving the gap at just two points in additional time.
But by the time the half ended Tipp had restored their six-points lead. Barry Heffernan, a major force throughout the first half, shot his second point when he played a one-two with Michael Breen.
And then Kilkenny were hit with a sucker punch when goalie Eoin Murphy's puckout, following Heffernan's point, went astray, with Denis Maher creating a path to goal for Jake Morris. The Nenagh player still had work to do in holding off a couple of challenges but he kept his composure to shoot to the net and give his team a real tonic at the conclusion of the half, putting them in the clear by 1-11 to 0-8.      

Tipperary: Brian Hogan (0-1 free), Cathal Barrett, James Quigley, Craig Morgan, Dillon Quirke, Seamus Kennedy, Barry Heffernan (0-2), Alan Flynn, Michael Breen (0-1), Dan McCormack, Jason Forde (0-10, 5 frees), Ger Browne (0-1), Mark Kehoe, Denis Maher (0-1), Jake Morris (1-2).
Substitutes: Paddy Cadell for Michael Breen (45 minutes), Ronan Maher (0-1) for Ger Browne (51 minutes), Seamus Callanan for Denis Maher (56 minutes), Paul Flynn for Mark Kehoe (67 minutes) and Conor Stakelum for Dan McCormack (70 minutes). 
Kilkenny: Eoin Murphy, Mikey Butler, Huw Lawlor, Evan Cody, Mikey Carey (0-1), Niall Brassil (0-1), David Blanchfield (0-1), Cian Kenny (0-1), Paddy Deegan (0-1), Richie Leahy, Padraig Walsh (captain 0-4), Tom Phelan (0-1), Billy Ryan, Martin Keoghan (0-1), John Donnelly (0-5, 4 frees).
Substitutes: Tommy Walsh for Evan Cody (4 minutes), Walter Walsh (0-2) for Tom Phelan (46 minutes), Tadhg O'Dwyer (1-0) for Richie Leahy 56 minutes), John Walsh for John Donnelly (59 minutes). 
Referee: Liam Gordon (Galway).