Munster Senior Hurling Championship final: Tipperary 0-21 Waterford 0-16
TIPPERARY claimed a 41st Munster senior hurling title at Semple Stadium on Sunday, showing true grit to see off the challenge of Waterford.
Manager Éamon O’Shea hailed the “patience” of his charges as they toughed this one out against the dogged Decies. In contrast to the free-flowing, samba hurling on show against Limerick at the Gaelic Grounds in the provincial semi-final, this was a much tighter affair against a well-organised Waterford.
Derek McGrath’s charges fell to a first defeat in League and Championship all year, but showed enough to suggest that they will remain a dangerous force in the All-Ireland series. The vanquished Munster finalists will play Dublin in the All-Ireland quarter-final on July 26, with Tipp through to a semi-final on August 16.
Tipp’s five-point victory, played out in front of 43,084 spectators, secured a first senior provincial title since 2012, when they also defeated Waterford. Waterford didn’t help themselves by registering eight second half wides, but Tipp found scores that little bit easier to come by in a tense, tactical encounter.
Tipp finished strongly by scoring four of the game’s final six points, as Séamus Callanan and John O’Dwyer collected 0-11 between them in ideal hurling conditions. Waterford had an eight-point haul from Maurice Shanahan, including five from placed balls, but it wasn’t enough as they turn their attentions towards the back door.
And yet Waterford can take plenty from this tussle as they managed to limit goalscoring opportunities for a potentially lethal Tipperary attack. Callanan didn’t score from play, but O’Dwyer was superb in the second half in a roving commission around the half-forward line. The Killenaule hitman finished with three of his five points from placed balls and young corner-forward Niall O’Meara also bagged three from play.
Waterford had stars of their own, including corner-back Shane Fives, scorer of two massive long-range points from play. Waterford were level at 0-11 apiece early in the second half, but once Tipp moved ahead through O’Meara in the 46th minute, they would not be caught.
At the end of an entertaining first half, Tipp held a slender 0-10 to 0-9 advantage, with Callanan hitting four of the Premier county’s first half points, all from placed balls. At the other end, Waterford ace Shanahan matched that haul with four of his own, but a couple of those were from play as the Lismore man picked off loose Tipp clearances before returning them with interest over the bar.
A Tipp team that scored 4-23 against Limerick was denied the kind of space afforded to them on that occasion, and goal chances were very much at a premium. The best opportunity of raising a green flag in the opening half came Waterford’s way in the 19th minute when Stephen Bennett’s kicked effort was kept out by Darren Gleeson. The Tipperary goalkeeper had inadvertently presented the chance to Bennett in the first place, when the Waterford forward picked off his attempted delivery to Cathal Barrett.
O’Shea said: “Patience is a good way of putting it. Sometimes, the expectation is you should go out and score a goal, but high-level sport doesn’t work like that.
We’ve been trying to learn that lesson. We are still trying to learn those lessons. I’m happy we won, but I wouldn’t be anything else. I’d say, ‘look, let’s see what happens now’.
“There’s a lot of water to go under the bridge over the next five weeks before we’re seen again. We’ll just try to keep working away.”
Waterford boss McGrath warned of the challenge facing his charges against Dublin in the last six.
He said: “Look, we played Dublin a challenge match in Nowlan Park last Thursday week and they ran through us like we weren’t even there.
“They’ll fancy playing us, coming off the back of a defeat. People may get an idea of where the overall balance is in terms of where the teams are now at this stage, but we’re very positive heading into the All-Ireland series. We’ll learn a huge amount from the experience.”
And McGrath insisted that Tipp were deserving winners, adding: “I don’t think it’s one that got away from us – I don’t think we can be as generous as to say that.
“It was obviously an extreme tactical battle. In the first ten or 15 minutes, Tipp looked a bit more fluid, I think they looked a bit more fluid than us all day.
Tipperary: D Gleeson; C Barrett, J Barry, M Breen (0-1); R Maher, Pádraic Maher, K Bergin; J Woodlock, S McGrath; J Forde (0-2), B Maher, Patrick Maher (0-2); J O’Dwyer (0-5, 0-2 frees), S Callanan (0-6, 0-4 frees, 0-2 65s), N O’Meara (0-3); Subs: L Corbett (0-1) for Breen (h-t), S Bourke (0-1) for Forde (67), C O’Brien for McGrath (70).
Waterford: S O’Keeffe; S Fives (0-2), B Coughlan, N Connors; T de Burca, A Gleeson (0-2, 1f), P Mahony; J Barron, E Barrett; J Dillon, Stephen Bennett, K Moran (0-2); M Walsh, M Shanahan (0-8, 0-3 frees, 0-2 65s), C Dunford (0-1); Subs: Shane Bennett for Barrett (44), T Devine for Stephen Bennett (44), P Curran (0-1) for Dunford (62), D Fives for Dillon (67).
Referee: J Owens (Wexford).
