Heroic Tipperary through to All Ireland Final
GAA: All Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Semi-Final
Tipperary 1-28
Wexford 3-20
Report: Shane Brophy at Croke Park
Fourteen man Tipperary produced a heroic performance in the last twenty minutes to com from behind and defeat Wexford in an enthralling All Ireland Senior Hurling Championship semi-final at Croke Park.
With John McGrath dismissed for a second bookable offence on 45 minutes when the sides were level at 1-16 apiece, when Wexford hit 1-2 in the next five minutes with the goal from Lee Chin, it looked a long way back for the Premier County.
But they delved into their reserves of spirit and character as they outscored the Leinster champions 0-12 to 1-2 in the remainder of the game, having to recover from a sucker punch goal from Conor McDonald in the 60th minute, against the run of play.
However, Tipp had more to show and with Ger Browne, Mark Kehoe, Willie Connors and Jake Morris all scoring off the bench, it was a complete 20-man effort from Liam Sheedy’s men.
They also had to over-come having no fewer than three goals chalked off, two in the first half from Michael Breen and John McGrath, the second after Hawk-eyes late intervention at the other end of the field as a Lee Chin shot was adjudged to have gone over the bar despite Brian Hogan making a leaping catch.
Tipperary had started sluggishly as Wexford raced into a 0-4 to 0-1 lead when, who else, Seamus Callanan struck for this seventh goal of the championship, first timing a Niall O’Meara pass to the net in the tenth minute.
However, Tipperary were at sea for the first twenty minutes with Wexford’s hard running from deep causing immense problems with only a late intervention from Padraic Maher and a fine Brian Hogan save preventing a goal before it finally came on 26 minutes through Conor McDonald, although Hogan would feel he could have kept it out.
Tipp responded well and hurled their best spell after that with Ronan Maher to the fore in defence and also got forward for two points with Jason Forde unerring from frees as Tipp trailed 1-14 to 1-12 at the break.
Tipp came out strongly at the start of the second half with John O’Dwyer to the fore, winning a free which Forde converted before Bubbles levelled the game up.
The game seemed to take a massive shift in Wexford’s favour when John McGrath was sent off for a silly swipe at Damien Reck with a second yellow card issued, and with Rory & Jack O’Connor quickly following with points and Lee Chin getting through for a goal, again a shot Brian Hogan should have saved, the Slaneysiders were in the driving seat.
But this is where Tipperary’s character came to the fore and they slowly ate into the deficit through Callanan, Forde and O’Dwyer before sub Ger Browne had a great chance for a goal but blasted over the bar.
Tipp had just gotten back level when Wexford goaled again on the hour through Conor McDonald, with the referee awarding the goal after ruling it wasn’t a square ball.
However, Tipp came again with Noel McGrath to the fore late on with two points before sub Mark Kehoe levelled. Lee Chin nudged Wexford into the lead before Willie Connors levelled in the final minute of normal time.
In the six minutes of added time, Seamus Callanan was fouled with Jake Morris firing to the net from the break but no advantage was played. Jason Forde converted the free to put Tipp ahead before converting a 65 after Seamus Callanan’s goal chance was denied.
Wexford hit back through Lee Chin but Jake Morris completed a remarkable week for the Nenagh man with an outstanding score on 76 minutes as Tipp held on for a two point win, setting up an All Ireland Final with Kilkenny on August 18th.
Full analysis and reaction in this Wednesday's Nenagh Guardian
MATCH DIGEST
Man of the Match: Ronan Maher (Tipperary)
SCORERS – Tipperary: Jason Forde 0-12 (8 frees, 2 65s); Seamus Callanan 1-3; Noel McGrath 0-4; John O’Dwyer 0-3; Ronan Maher 0-2; Michael Breen, Ger Browne, Mark Kehoe, Willie Connors, Jake Morris 0-1 each.
Wexford: Lee Chin 1-7 (0-6 frees, 0-1 65); Conor McDonald 2-1; Rory O’Connor 0-3; Diarmuid O’Keeffe, Paul Morris 0-2 each; Liam Ryan, Paudie Foley, Kevin Foley, Liam Og McGovern, Jack O’Connor 0-1 each.
TEAMS – Tipperary: Brian Hogan; Cathal Barrett, Ronan Maher, Seamus Kennedy; Brendan Maher, Padraig Maher, Barry Heffernan; Noel McGrath, Michael Breen; Dan McCormack, John O’Dwyer, Niall O’Meara; Jason Forde, Seamus Callanan, John McGrath.
Subs: Willie Connors for McCormack (52); Ger Browne for Breen (54); Mark Kehoe for O’Meara (55); Alan Flynn for Heffernan (65); Jake Morris for O’Dwyer (67).
Wexford: Mark Fanning; Damien Reck, Liam Ryan, Matthew O’Hanlon; Kevin Foley; Simon Donoghue, Paudie Foley, Shaun Murphy; Diarmuid O’Keeffe, Liam Og McGovern; Rory O’Connor, Lee Chin, Jack O’Connor; Conor McDonald, Paul Morris.
Subs: Aidan Nolan for Murphy (52 inj); Joe O’Connor for D Reck (55); David Dunne for J O’Connor (58); Cathal Dunbar for R O’Connor (64).
Referee: Sean Cleere (Kilkenny)