Nicky English: Tipperary show some fight but Waterford may come to regret dropped point

Walsh Park on Saturday was a fantastic contest. There were periods of the game with lots of mistakes and too many wides but it went down to the wire. It was hard to believe when Waterford went four up in injury time that there was any comeback left in Tipp.

They managed an injury-time goal, well taken by the alert Seán Keneally before James Owens, who had an inconsistent match, eventually awarded the free to Alan Tynan and whereas Tipp did well to earn it, holding on to the ball and putting pressure on the defence, I am not convinced it would have been awarded at any other time in that game.

On the balance of play they were probably lucky to get a draw. Waterford looked to have won the match a couple of times and with their ability to get goals were always capable of opening and maintaining a three-point gap.

It was noticeable how little goal threat Tipperary posed until that crucial injury-time intervention – apart from a Darragh Stakelum effort in the first half.

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But after last week’s insipid display, Tipp showed impressive fight and nowhere more evident than in the energy and effort required to keep generating points to stay in the game against goalscoring opposition.

For that alone, it would be hard to begrudge them a draw. Ronan Maher was immense, particularly in the second half even if Mikey Kiely had his moments. There was a great battle around the middle and Waterford probably won it and that was the platform for what they created.

Tipperary conceded a penalty almost immediately and by half-time, would have been unhappy with the consistency of decisions, as Mark Kehoe had a similar penalty shout to Kiely’s but didn’t get it.

Then there was the strange sight of the referee running across the eye line of Barry Hogan in the Tipp goal during the penalty. Now, with the form Stephen Bennett was in, I’m not sure a retake would have made much difference but it was a fairly unusual incident – if Bennett had gone to the other side, he’d probably have hit James Owens!

After big showings against Cork, Tadhg De Búrca and Calum Lyons were again outstanding in the worrying circumstances of the early injury to Conor Prunty, who departed after seven minutes. He has been one of the reasons Waterford have recaptured their best form because of the solidity he gives them at the back.

They may regret the lost point here with trips to Ennis and Limerick to come.

It was Waterford’s league match against Wexford that first suggested the Leinster side were improving. I remember talking to Wexford people around Cheltenham time and saying there seemed to be something about them – some new players and looking in great physical shape.

They had two endured two disastrous championship outings leading up to the weekend, dropping big leads against Dublin and Antrim; edge of the plank stuff, so Saturday in Wexford was real knockout for them and they produced a marvellous response.

By the end of the match, Galway had Jonathan Glynn and Jason Flynn in the full forwards. It had a touch of Back to the Future and smacked of desperation.

It’s increasingly hard to see where the team is going but they don’t look All-Ireland contenders and even the Leinster final is no longer an inevitability.

All day their puckouts were under pressure with a lack of showing for the ball and you could see the frustration building for Henry Shefflin. The final nail was Adrian Tuohey collecting a puckout on the stand side and then getting hooked by the outstanding Rory O’Connor, who put it over the bar.

All through the game, O’Connor and Lee Chin were head and shoulders above Galway and showed real leadership. Damien Reck was also commanding in defence and they had a few seasoned players back, like Liam Ryan and Jack O’Connor.

They also hounded the opposition under every ball and rarely looked under threat by the end.

Galway had the wind in the second half but the Wexford breakthrough came quickly. Good play by Richie Lawlor set up Rory O’Connor for the goal and they stretched out the lead and comfortably maintained it even in the last quarter even after Cian Byrne had been red carded for a reckless head high challenge. It was hard to tell who had the extra man.

Early on, Galway had looked quite dangerous, especially Conor Whelan and Brian Concannon but as the game went on, Concannon was replaced and Whelan became more marginalised, a couple of nice points apart as opposed to the dominant influence he is at his and the team’s best.

It’s a big shake-up in Leinster and Wexford will be confident about finishing out the round robin and, given their record against Kilkenny, making a serious bid for the final and if not, getting to the All-Ireland stages.