Allianz Hurling League Division 1 Semi-Final – Tipperary 4-20 Dublin 0-17

Tipperary defeated Dublin by 4-20 to 0-17 in the Allianz Hurling League Division 1 Semi-Final on Sunday at Semple Stadium Thurles.

Classy Tipperary waltz into final

Allianz Hurling League Division I Semi-Final: Tipperary 4-20 Dublin 0-17

Report from the GAA.ie web site

Tipperary cruised into the Allianz Hurling League Division I final on Sunday with a very comfortable and fully deserved 15-point victory over Dublin at Semple Stadium. Three first-half goals formed the bedrock for the Tipperary victory, as it helped them into a 12-point half-time lead from which Dublin never looked likely to be able to recover from. The first two goals were scored within the first 12 minutes for Tipperary, with Shane Bourke and Patrick Maher raising the early green flags for Eamon O’Shea’s side. Dublin looked to be coming back into the game a little towards the end of the first half, but the third Tipperary goal, through a Seamus Callanan penalty, curtailed their progress just shy of the break.

Callanan finished with a personal tally of 1-7, and it was a very positive day for the entire Tipperary forward line, with all six of them having scored by the 18th minute. Dublin’s main problem in the game was the number of disappointing wides they had, and had Anthony Daly’s side been more clinical in front of the goal, the gap at the end might have been much smaller. The three goals helped Tipperary into a big half-time lead, 3-11 to 0-8 to the good. The first came after just two minutes, with Shane Bourke brilliantly catching a high, long delivery from Noel McGrath. Bourke caught the ball on the endline, turned his marker, and fired to the net. That score was quickly followed by points from Man of the Match Jason Forde, Noel McGrath and Callanan, and the second Tipperary goal, on 11 minutes, followed shortly afterwards. It was a fine individual score from Patrick Maher, who carved out the chance after racing onto a loose ball which had been blocked down by a Dublin defender.

He raced in directly towards goal from the centre, rounded Paul Schutte, and despite being tripped by the Dublin full back, Maher managed to fire to the net as he was falling to the ground. That made it 2-3 to 0-1, and with Dublin guilty of many bad wides, Tipperary’s continued scoring increased their already significant lead. Points from Lar Corbett and Pa Bourke meant all six Tipperary forwards had scored by the midway point of the first half, and following a couple of Callanan placed balls, Tipp’s lead was 2-8 to 0-2 after 24 minutes. Anthony Daly tried to change things by bringing in Ryan O’Dwyer and Paul Ryan, and they made a difference as Dublin improved for the final 10 minutes of the first half.

Points from Ryan, Sutcliffe and a brace from David O’Callaghan before half-time finally got Dublin moving, on the scoreboard at least, but the third Tipperary goal, from the impressive Callanan from the penalty spot on 34 minutes, was a really fatal blow. The penalty came about following a foul by Ruairí Trainor on Shane Bourke, and Callanan made no mistake with the placed ball, firing high and hard to the net.

The second half started with a flurry of scores, the two sides sharing six fine points between them in the space of a couple of minutes. However, the key moment in that period was a brilliant save by Tipperary goal Brendan Cummins, diving low to his right to deny Sutcliffe what could have been an important goal at that stage. Dublin kept plugging away, and got to within 10 following points from Shane Durkin and Conal Keaney, but just when it looked like they might muster some kind of comeback in the final 20 minutes, Tipperary went on a scoring burst again.

Callanan ended a run of three successive Dublin points with two fine scores, and that brace was followed by a double from Pa Bourke, and a classy score from young Forde. That flurry left Tipperary in total control, if they hadn’t been already, leading 3-20 to 0-15 with just over 10 minutes to go. The game fizzled out in the closing stages, but Tipperary were gifted a fourth goal right at the end when Dublin goalkeeper Alan Nolan failed to deal with a high ball, and under pressure, turned the ball into his own net.

Scorers for Tipperary: S Callanan 1-7 (1 pen, 2f, 1 65′), S Bourke 1-1, J Forde 0-4 (1 sl), Patrick Maher 1-0, N McGrath 0-3, Pa Bourke 0-3, L Corbett 0-1, S McGrath 0-1, A Nolan 1-0 (own goal).

Scorers for Dublin: D Sutcliffe 0-4, P Ryan 0-4 (3f, 1 65′), D Treacy 0-3 (1f), D O’Callaghan 0-2, S Durkin 0-2, J Boland 0-1, C Keaney 0-1

Tipperary: B Cummins; P Stapleton, Pádraic Maher, M Cahill; B Maher, C O’Mahony, D Maher; N McGrath, S McGrath; S Callanan, L Corbett, Patrick Maher; S Bourke, P Bourke, J Forde.
Subs for Tipperary: C O’Brien for M Cahill (51), J Woodlock for S McGrath (58), M Heffernan for L Corbett (59), T Hammersley for S Bourke (64), T Hamill for Pádraic Maher (64).

Dublin: A Nolan; P Kelly, P Schutte, R Trainor; M Carton, L Rushe, S Durkin; J Boland, S Lambert; C Keaney, K McCaffrey, D Sutcliffe; C McCormack, D O’Callaghan, D Treacy.
Subs for Dublin: R O’Dwyer for S Lambert (21), P Ryan for C McCormack (24), N Corcoran for R Traynor (47), N McMorrow for J McCaffrey (53), E Dillon for D Treacy (61).

Referee: Brian Gavin (Offaly)

Team News

Dublin (v Tipperary): Alan Nolan; Peter Kelly, Paul Schutte, Ruairi Treanor; Michael Carton, Liam Rushe, Shane Durkin; Joey Boland, Simon Lambert; Conal Keaney, John McCaffrey, Danny Sutcliffe; Conor McCormack, David O’Callaghan, David Treacy.
Subs: Gary Maguire, Kevin Byrne, Niall Corcoran, Eamon Dillon, Jack Doughan, Oisin Gough, Stephen Hiney, Sean McGrath, Niall McMorrow, Ryan O’Dwyer, Paul Ryan