NHL Division 1A: Waterford 1-23 Tipperary 2-24
It’s been a tough league campaign for Peter Queally’s Waterford. An extensive injury-list has reduced their options and was still eating at them this weekend with the loss of their most experienced forward, former All Star Stephen Bennett.
They faced All-Ireland champions Tipperary at Walsh Park on Sunday, needing a win to stave off relegation despite some creditable performances. This was another, fired with enthusiasm and commitment in the first half at which stage they led by eight points, 1-17 to 1-9.
There was a strong wind but Waterford had been so lively and accurate that it looked quite challenging for their opponents.
But they met that challenge and won by four points. Queally declined to engage with the various media outlets afterwards but by then his team was bound for Division 1B next season, so it was a case of res ipsa loquitur.
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He had been demonstrably unhappy with some of referee Thomas Gleeson’s admittedly laissez-faire officiating but it was hard to judge that either side had been specifically disadvantaged by it.
Tipperary wouldn’t have been too happy with the first half. Manager Liam Cahill had named a strong starting 15 with 11 starters from the All-Ireland final, including a first appearance of the season for captain Ronan Maher. Maybe that contributed to the unsettled start.
By the 10th minute, they trailed 0-6 to 0-1. Even when they were gained re-entry to the contest, scoring 1-1 in a minute to reduce a 0-10 to 0-4 deficit to two, the visitors were outscored by an identical margin, 1-7 to 0-4 from then to half-time – the goal coming from a big delivery that Seán Walsh caught and directed to the net.
Waterford’s defence was able to limit the threat from an attack, boosted by the return of Hurler of the Year John McGrath, who marked his comeback from injury with 1-4 from play, including the goal that briefly suggested recovery, and their ambitious and accurate shooting saw big contributions from Club Hurler of the Year Dessie Hutchinson (0-5) and Shane Bennett, thriving at wing back, who scored 0-4.
In the absence of Stephen Bennett, Reuben Halloran was flawless on the frees. All told, it was a strong, confident opening half which, even allowing for the breeze, looked like placing them in a strong position.
That impression was contradicted on the resumption when 0-2 from Stefan Tobin, who finished with a creditable 0-4, plus scores from Jason Forde and Conor Stakelum gave Tipp an unanswered four-point start to halve the deficit.
This accurately suggested a much-improved display by the All-Ireland champions. Waterford did battle and the gap was slow to reduce completely but they didn’t manage to string together two consecutive scores throughout the half.
The decisive score, which put the winners ahead on the scoreboard for the first time, came when Jake Morris, who had been trying to drum up resistance throughout, made a driving run through the heart of the defence and placed half-time substitute Gearóid O’Connor who finished well from an acute angle to make it 2-18 to 1-20.
Halloran equalised but from then on, they were outscored 0-2 to 0-6.
There were opportunities for Waterford towards the end. Bryan O’Mara made a vital intervention to deny Walsh a shot at a second goal in the 64th minute and a ball across goal by Hutchinson required an interception by Darragh Stakelum to avert the danger.
But overall, Waterford hadn’t managed to reproduce their first-half form, scoring just six points and only one from play.
What had Cahill said in the Tipp dressingroom at half-time?
“We said if we were playing against that wind in the first half, we set a target to be within six at half-time. We were a little bit off, but having said that, the awareness was there that if we were playing against the wind, that was usually going to be the case, that we were going to be chasing the game in the second half.
“There was a number of players that knew individually they were a little bit behind where their expectations would be. Once we address that and get in among them and start making sense of what had gone on in the first half, the players themselves started to really go after and fix those areas.”
The counties meet again in the Munster Championship in six weeks’ time, as Cahill referenced. He has one match left in the league, a home staging of last year’s epic All-Ireland semi-final with Kilkenny, and even though the spectre of relegation has been removed from both, he expects it to be a valuable experience, notwithstanding the Leinster champions’ trimming by Galway a week ago.
“They’ll be the first to admit themselves that they need to start correcting a few areas that let them down, I suppose, in their previous game. So, it’ll be an intensive game again in Thurles and it’ll be great. It’ll be great preparation for both sides.”
WATERFORD: B Nolan; A O’Neill, M Fitzgerald (capt; 0-1), I Kenny; S Bennett (0-4), P Leavey, T de Búrca; D Lyons (0-1), S Mackey (0-1); P Hogan (0-1), J Barron, R Halloran (0-8, 6f, 1′65); D Hutchinson (0-5), S Walsh (1-1), J Prendergast (0-1). Subs: C Lyons for Hogan (28 mins; inj); M Kiely for Mackey (56); J Fagan for Lyons (58); B Lynch for Bennett (60).
TIPPERARY: R Shelly; R Doyle, R Maher (capt), M Breen; C Morgan, B O’Mara, E Connolly (0-2, 1f, 1′65); C Stakelum (0-1), O O’Donoghue (0-1); J Caesar, K McCarthy, J Morris (0-2); J McGrath (1-4), J Forde (0-6, 5f), S Tobin (0-4). Subs: A Ormond (0-2) for McCarthy (25 mins); G O’Connor (1-0) for Caesar (h-t); D Stakelum for Morgan (48); D McCarthy (0-2f) for Forde (65); S Kenneally for Tobin (72).
Referee: Thomas Gleeson (Dublin).
