Allianz Hurling League Division 1 – Tipperary 1-20 Waterford 0-18

Fitzgerald basks in moral victory after losing to Tipp

Tipperary 1-20 Waterford 0-18

Allianz Hurling League Div 1

By Jackie Cahill for the Irish Independent newspaper

Monday March 07 2011

You won’t often, if ever, see Davy Fitzgerald wearing a smile after losing a hurling match, but Waterford’s manager was positively beaming after last Saturday night’s five-point defeat at the hands of All-Ireland champions Tipperary at Semple Stadium. Taking a host of mitigating factors into account, the fact that Waterford were that close to Tipp at the final whistle speaks volumes for the spirit of the Deise camp and the underestimated depth of Fitzgerald’s squad. Waterford may have surrendered their previously unbeaten competitive record in 2011, but they did so with 13 men — and just six of the players who started last August in the All-Ireland semi-final defeat against Tipperary. The champions had 10 of the starters from last September’s classic final victory over Kilkenny. At half-time, in front of a muted 4,947 attendance, Tipperary led by 1-12 to 0-10, aided by Paul Kelly’s 14th minute goal.

That five-point interval lead was not extended at the finish, as Waterford drew the second half, despite playing with two men less. Midfielder Shane O’Sullivan and goalkeeper Clinton Hennessy were red-carded in a three-minute spell, but Waterford dug in and claimed a significant moral victory, despite losing on the night. Fitzgerald struggled to contain his satisfaction afterwards and the crafty former Clare goalkeeper refused to condemn match referee James Owens for sending off O’Sullivan and Hennessy. O’Sullivan saw red in the 40th minute for a wild pull on Gearóid Ryan, while goalkeeper Hennessy was dismissed for upending goal-bound Patrick Maher two minutes later. But Fitzgerald questioned the decision not to send off Tipp corner-back Paddy Stapleton six minutes from time when he hauled down Waterford sub Thomas Ryan as he ran through on goal.

“I asked Shane O’Sullivan — he said he went to play the ball hard and lost it in the lights,” Fitzgerald said. “That’s what he said. You have to understand in a night game like that, Clinton grabbed yer man, but wasn’t Tommy Ryan through on goal and the same thing happened? “It just didn’t look as bad. But it’s the same thing — we were bearing down on goals. “But I’m not going to dwell on any of those things because I’m wicked proud of the boys; down 11 starters, down to 13 men, and we didn’t wilt. I’m proud of the boys. Maybe Tipp will have more questions than we’ll have after it.” While Waterford selector Pauric Fanning added: “If you want to take a moral victory out of it, there’s plenty there for us to build.”

Another bright spot on Waterford’s evening was Ken McGrath’s introduction as a second half substitute. McGrath, who turned 33 last month, made his championship debut against Tipperary in 1996 and is embarking on his 16th campaign. The Premier County had match winners in Noel McGrath and Pa Bourke, while Richie Foley’s rich vein of form continued for Waterford as the 23-year-old Abbeyside star hit 0-12, a haul which included nine frees. Noel McGrath gave fellow All Star Michael ‘Brick’ Walsh a torrid time, as he did last August, opting to roam, with Walsh more content to hold his position. McGrath picked off four first-half points from play, while Bourke added three after switching on to Walsh. But Fitzgerald insisted that his centre-back will learn from this.

“Wasn’t Noel McGrath unreal tonight, he played really well, exceptional. I’m sure Brick will have that in his head again come towards the end of the year,” Fitzgerald said. “I’m not gutted anyway. I hope the referee will see a bit of sense in his report. I haven’t criticised him. I would be disappointed in a few different things, but I’m not going to criticise anybody. We’ll take our beating; a long year still to come.” Tipp’s win was far from impressive, but manager Declan Ryan will be relieved to finally get a win under his belt — having suffered a Waterford Crystal Cup loss to Waterford IT, followed by league losses against Kilkenny and Dublin. “We came for the two points and that’s what we’re going away with, so I’m happy enough with that,” Ryan said.

Man of the Match: Noel McGrath (Tipp)

Scorers — Tipperary: P Bourke 0-8 (4f), N McGrath 0-7, P Kelly 1-0, E Kelly 0-2, D Young, Padraic Maher, B Maher 0-1 each. Waterford: R Foley 0-12 (9f), S Prendergast 0-2, S Molumphy, M Shanahan, S Walsh, T Ryan 0-1 each.

TIPPERARY — B Cummins 7; P Stapleton 7, P Curran 7, M Cahill 7; D Young 7, Padraic Maher 8, J O’Keeffe 7; B Maher 7, S McGrath 5; G Ryan 6, N McGrath 9, Patrick Maher 6; P Kelly 7, B O’Meara 5, P Bourke 8.Subs: S Carey 5 for S McGrath (29), E Kelly 7 for O’Meara (h.t.), B Dunne for Carey (65), J Woodlock for Ryan (66), S Bourke for N McGrath (70).

WATERFORD — C Hennessy 5; D Fives 7, S Fives 7, J Maher 7; W Hutchinson 6, M Walsh 5, J Nagle 6; S O’Sullivan 6, S Molumphy 8; M Shanahan 7, R Foley 8, Pauric Mahony 5; S Walsh 6, S Prendergast 7, E Murphy 5. Subs: A Power 6 for Eamonn Murphy (44), S Casey 5 for Mahony (57), T Ryan 6 for Shanahan (62), K McGrath for Prendergast (66), Eoin Murphy for Hutchinson (67).

REF — J Owens (Westmeath)

Tipp top but Déise refuse to lie down

Tipperary 1-20 Waterford 0-18

By Diarmuid O’Flynn for the Irish Examiner newspaper

Monday, March 07, 2011

TWO happy managers after this Allianz NHL round three game in floodlit Semple Stadium on Saturday evening with both Declan Ryan and Davy Fitzgerald lauding their players. But — contradictory as it may seem — it was the losing boss who was feeling more satisfied, and with good reason. First, a synopsis of the game. On a fine evening for hurling, a boisterous crowd of 4,947, Tipp went to the dressing room with a five-point half-time lead (1-12 to 0-10), helped by Paul Kelly’s one-handed close-range poacher’s goal in the 14th minute. The All-Ireland champions were much closer to championship strength than were Waterford, the Munster champions, and though Fitzgerald’s men were strong, fit and willing, that difference in class was telling. Padraic Maher was a tower of strength at centre-back while Noel McGrath and Pa Bourke were superb up front.

Into the second half, and here, the story takes a twist. Within eight minutes, Waterford found themselves reduced to 13 players, midfielder Shane O’Sullivan (rather harshly, an accidental pull across the helmet of Gearoid Ryan) and goalkeeper Clinton Hennessey (a reckless tackle on the flying Patrick Maher) getting straight red cards from referee James Owens in two separate incidents. Pa Bourke pointed the free from the second foul to put Tipperary six points ahead (1-14 to 0-11), which should have signalled the opening of the floodgates. Instead Waterford battening down the hatches. Youngster Eamonn Murphy (who was having a fine game) was sacrificed and sub-keeper Adrian Power introduced. With some astute positional switches (Brick Walsh, under pressure at centre-back, moved forward to the 40, Richie Foley dropped back — both thrived), and sensible substitutions, not alone did Waterford prevent further damage, they actually outscored 15-man Tipp seven points to six from there to the end. That trojan work kept the final margin to what it had been at the break, five points. Thus, the two satisfied managers.

“We came for the two points and that’s what we’re going away with,” said Declan Ryan, “We are happy enough with that. There was good scoring, 1-20, though there was only three or four points in it too for a lot of the second half when we were up two men, that is something we have to work on. Obviously it’s a work in progress but we are delighted with the way the lads battled away.” For Davy Fitzgerald, however, the satisfaction was greater. “I’m not going to dwell on any of those things (red cards) because I’m wicked proud of the boys,” he said; “Down 11 starters, down to 13 men, and we didn’t wilt — I’m proud of the boys. Maybe Tipp will have more questions than we’ll have after it. We were down five points at half-time, then drew the second half with 13 players against 15. Everyone showed leadership. Tipp had two extra men, they’re All-Ireland champions, they wanted to win badly and fair play to them, they got the win. They worked very hard tonight but our guys also worked very hard. “I know we’re going to take a few beatings in the league but I don’t mind getting beaten if we show that character.”

Surprising sentiment for such a renowned competitor, but Fitzgerald has every reason to feel proud of his troops and every reason also to feel proud of his own decisions on the sideline, when all the odds were stacked against them. Were it not for a virtuoso display by Noel McGrath, and the contribution of last year’s captain (and recently-married) Eoin Kelly when introduced at half-time, Waterford may well even have taken this game. “Wasn’t Noel McGrath unreal tonight?” asked Davy, a rhetorical question. “Exceptional.”

The man himself, however, was simply relieved. “After they had the two men sent off, we just had to get on with what we came to do, and get two points,” said man-of-the-match McGrath. “Thankfully, we did that. It’s a funny game when you’re facing a team that has lost a player, you don’t know where to position yourself. But look, we got the win, our first win of the year and we’re happy enough. We’ll take the positives from it, work on what we need to work on. There was a lot of things said about us not winning games but we knew that once we were working well in training that it would come right at some stage. We played well in patches, other patches we didn’t play, but we got the result. “We have to try and move on now, get a few more wins, a few more performances, in the next few weeks.”

Scorers for Tipperary: P Bourke 0-8 (0-4f); N McGrath 0-7; P Kelly 1-0; E Kelly 0-2; D Young, Padraic Maher, B Maher, 0-1 each.

Scorers for Waterford: R Foley 0-12 (0-9f); S Prendergast 0-2; S Molumphy, S Walsh, M Shanahan, T Ryan, 0-1 each.

Subs for Tipperary: S Carey for S McGrath (29); E Kelly for (Patrick Maher 35); B Dunne for Carey (64); J Woodlock for Ryan (65); S Bourke for N McGrath (69).

Subs for Waterford: A Power for Eamonn Murphy (44); S Casey for Mahony (57); T Ryan for Shanahan (62); K McGrath for Prendergast (66); Eoin Murphy for Hutchinson (67).

Referee: J Owens (Wexford)

Tipperary defeated Waterford by 1-20 to 0-18 in Round 3 of the Allianz Hurling League Division 1 on Saturday at Semple Stadium Thurles.

Tipperary 1-20 Waterford 0-18

From the RTE.ie web site

Saturday, 5 March 2011 22:36

Tipperary overcame Waterford in a bad-tempered affair to gain their first victory in this season’s Allianz Hurling League. Paul Kelly’s 14th-minute goal helped the All-Ireland champions take a 1-12 to 0-10 half-time lead, with Richie Foley leading the Deise scoring. Man-of-the-match Noel McGrath landed some fine scores for Tipp, but Waterford managed to stay in the hunt despite having two players red carded. Early in the second half, Shane O’Sullivan was dismissed for a pull on Gearoid Ryan and goalkeeper Clinton Hennessy followed him for a dangerous, high challenge on Patrick Maher.

The Premier County could not put Waterford to the sword after that, but they did enough to warrant their first competitive win under manager Declan Ryan. Ryan made five changes from Tipp’s defeat to Dublin last time out, the most notable seeing McGrath and goalkeeper Brendan Cummins return to the side. Waterford boss Davy Fitzgerald also altered his line-up for this early season Munster derby. Clinton Hennessy and Maurice Shanahan got call-ups, with Jerome Maher and Eamonn Murphy late additions at corner back and corner forward respectively. Fitzgerald’s men were looking to build on their opening victory – a 1-11 to 0-12 success over Waterford – and Foley helped them take a 0-05 to 0-04 lead in an opening littered with frees.

David Young and Shanahan swapped early points from play, but free-takers Pa Bourke and Foley were the busiest players on the Semple Stadium pitch. Foley nudged the visitors ahead after a foul by Brendan Maher, but Tipp hit back with the game’s only goal. The ball broke from a sideline cut and Paul Kelly reacted with an instinctive ground shot which flew into the net. Noel McGrath won a puckout and pointed shortly afterwards to make it 1-05 to 0-05 in Tipperary’s favour, and the same player added a second from open play. Seamus Prendergast teed up Shanahan for Waterford’s first score in 11 minutes, before Foley strung together a brace – the second of which was from play – to whittle the gap down to 1-06 to 0-08.

Tipp were carrying more of a threat in attack and added points from Padraic Maher, Brendan Maher, Noel McGrath and Bourke (0-03) before the break to lead by five at the turnaround. McGrath and Bourke were particularly effective in the first 35 minutes, scoring 0-09 between them. Waterford’s top scorer Foley added to his growing tally and Stephen Molumphy put his name to the scoresheet on the stroke of half-time. Waterford’s hopes took a nosedive on the resumption when midfielder Shane O’Sullivan was sent-off by referee James Owens for striking Gearoid Ryan in the back. That was four minutes in, and Tipp substitute Eoin Kelly added to his side’s tally before Prendergast broke through for a terrific individual score at the other end.

That good work was undone when Hennessy came out from his square and caught Patrick Maher high as he bore down on goal. The punishment was another red card and Bourke tapped over the resulting free. But the accuracy of Foley kept Waterford in contention as Tipp’s discipline let them down, and Patrick Maher could not get his shot away as he looked to find the net near the hour mark. Foley had the deficit down to 1-16 to 0-15, but McGrath completed his polished display with his fifth and sixth points from play. Scores from Foley, after yellow cards for Tipp’s Paddy Stapleton and Paul Curran, and Shane Walsh increased the pressure on the hosts, and the introduction of Ken McGrath off the bench was another fillip for Waterford. However, Tipp’s Benny Dunne and Bourke tagged on two late insurance points to settle the issue.

Team News

The Tipperary senior hurling team to play Waterford in the Allianz Hurling League Round 3 game on Saturday night next has 5 changes from the team which was defeated by Dublin in Round 2. Brendan Cummins, John O’Keeffe, Noel McGrath, Paul Kelly and Brian O’Meara come into the team in place of Darren Gleeson, Michael Gleeson, John O’Neill, Paddy Fanning and Sean Carey.

1. Brendan Cummins (Ballybacon-Grange) 2. Paddy Stapleton (Borris-Ileigh) 3. Paul Curran (Mullinahone) Captain 4. Michael Cahill (Thurles Sarsfields) 5. David Young (Toomevara) 6. Padraic Maher (Thurles Sarsfields) 7. John O’Keeffe (Clonoulty Rossmore) 8. Brendan Maher (Borris–Ileigh) 9. Shane McGrath (Ballinahinch) 10. Gearóid Ryan (Templederry Kenyons) 11. Noel McGrath (Loughmore Castleiney) 12. Patrick Maher (Lorrha & Dorrha) 13. Paul Kelly (Mullinahone) 14. Brian O’Meara (Kilruane MacDonaghs) 15. Pa Bourke (Thurles Sarsfields)

Match Arrangements

Both stands at Semple Stadium will be open for Saturday evening’s Allianz Hurling League game between Tipperary and Waterford. Stiles will be open from 6pm and there will be two stiles at each stand dedicated to season ticket holders. Juvenile groups and pass holders should go to Stile 1 at the Old Stand or Stile 41 at the New Stand. The juvenile stiles at each side will be adjacent to the season tickets and adult stiles to facilitate adults bringing juveniles. There will be sufficient stiles open to accommodate everybody but arriving in time is essential. Supporters need to be at the stiles before 7.15pm to be sure of being in their seats in time for the game. We thank all our supporters in anticipation of their co-operation with these arrangements.