Tipperary reveal their true worth

Those with an eye to the past may have been intrigued to discover that on the last two occasions these two teams met on February 18th - back in 1968 and more recently in 1990 - the games ended in Wexford victories. Yesterday, at Semple Stadium, Tipperary diced with death yet again only to reveal their true selves in a nine minutes spell towards the end which was sufficient to enable them to claim a deserved win.

If Tipperary had lost, they would have had no one but themselves to blame. For large chunks of this National Hurling League Division 1B encounter, played before a rather disappointing attendance of 3,700, they were so much the dominant team: yet, when Mitch Jordan pointed Wexford ahead for the first time in the 60th minute, it looked as though the jinx of the fourth day after Valentine's would strike again.

However, in marked contrast to what had gone before when Tipperary's forwards had squandered a significant number of chances and being thwarted by some exceptional saves from Wexford goalkeeper Damien Fitzhenry, the home side shifted to a higher gear once they went into arrears (and even overcame the dismissal of Conor Gleeson) to hit five unanswered points and secure the win.

In general, however, it was a poor game. Both sides made changes before the start - Tipperary losing Donnacha Fahey to shin splints, and Eddie Enright and Brian O'Meara to 'flu while Wexford were forced to line out without Adrian Fenlon and Rory McCarthy, both laid low by a bug - and, when Paul Codd stumbled on the uneven playing surface within 30 seconds of the start, we knew it wouldn't be a day for much ground hurling.

Indeed, the highlight of the first-half was the display of Wexford 'keeper Fitzhenry. On two occasions inside the first seven minutes he pulled off spectacular saves from the stick of Eugene O'Neill, and, later on, he denied Liam Cahill with another save that belonged to summer rather than springtime. So, Wexford owed a great debt to Fitzhenry that they were still in the game at the break. Tipperary led 1-7 to 0-6 at that stage, the goal coming in the 31st minute when the impressive Liam Corbett finally found a way to break Fitzhenry's spell.

Overall, however, it was a first-half that promised more than it delivered. Both teams hit five wides, but it was Tipperary who had a definite edge throughout. Cahill had a good start, O'Neill worked his way into the game and the long-range shooting of wing-back Eamonn Corcoran was exceptional.

Even when Larry O'Gorman pulled back a goal in the 38th minute - swinging over the head of his marker Philip Maher to connect first-time and propel the ball beyond Darragh Rabitte's reach - it didn't seem to ruffle Tipperary unduly. Their response was to launch another attack which resulted in Fitzhenry pulling off another superb save, this time from Corbett. And then Corcoran, with his second 65 of the match, and Michael Ryan pointed to restore Tipperary's four points lead.

But there was menace in Wexford's intentions. And, almost from no-where, but co-incidentally at a time that Barry Goff moved from the corner to wing-forward and acted as a provider rather than marksman, they produced a productive spell that yielded five successive points.

Rory Stafford started the sequence, and Paul Codd continued with two excellent scores. The first was a quite magnificent effort from all of 70 metres, the other a fine quick-fire effort after a poor clearance from Maher, while Liam Dunne, who enjoyed a good game, and then Jordan completed Wexford's best spell of the game.

Those points from Dunne and Jordan arrived when Tipperary's full-back Maher was off the pitch receiving treatment (Wexford's Ray Keogh was booked and can consider himself lucky to have remained on the pitch for the pull which caused the injury) but, once they went behind, it was almost the signal for the real Tipperary to appear. Centre-half back David Kennedy showed by example when making a couple of outstanding catches while wingback Paul Kelly also made a number of inspirational interceptions and clearances.

Wexford lost their scoring touch almost as quickly as they had discovered it and failed to score again for the rest of the match. Within two minutes, O'Neill had levelled matters and Cahill, unafraid to take responsibility, restored Tipperary's lead. The scoring mood was catching and Corbett, the third member of that full-forward triumvirate, showed his growing confidence by claiming a great point on the run.

Gleeson was sent-off for a second bookable offence in the 68th minute, although he was entitled to feel aggrieved that he was dismissed when Keogh had managed to evade such a sanction, but even that set-back didn't hinder Tipperary's progress as Cahill and substitute John O'Brien put the finishing touches to a deserved Tipperary win.

TIPPERARY: D Rabitte; T Costelloe, P Maher, P Ormonde; E Corcoran (0-3, one free, two 65s), D Kennedy, P Kelly; M Ryan (0-1), Terry Dunne; M O'Leary, J Carroll, Tommy Dunne; L Cahill (0-4), E O'Neill (0-6, four frees), L Corbett (1-1). Subs - C Gleeson for Terry Dunne (24 mins); J O'Brien (0-1) for Carroll, E Kelly for Tommy Dunne (56 mins); N Morris for Ryan (60 mins).

WEXFORD: D Fitzhenry; C Kehoe, D Ruth, D Guiney; L Dunne (0-2, frees), D Ryan, S Flood; M Jordan (0-1), R Stafford (0-1); P Codd (0- 2), M Byrne, M Jacob; C McGrath (0-3, frees), L O'Gorman (1-1), B Goff (0-2). Subs: R Keogh for Jacob (45 mins); L Murphy for McGrath (56 mins); T Kelly for Stafford (69 mins).

Referee: P Dunphy (Kilkenny).