Gaelic Games

Tipperary far too strong for willing Waterford in Thurles

Liam McGrath grabs nine points in 11-pointMunster SFC win at Semple Stadium

Tipperary’s Michael Quinlivan in action against Stephen Prendergast of Waterford during the Munster SGC quarter-final game at Semple Stadium. Photograph: Tommy Dickson/Inpho

Sat May 19 2018 - 22:15

Tipperary 0-20 Waterford 0-9

Tipperary, as expected, encountered few difficulties in advancing to the semi-finals of the Munster SFC with an 11-point win over Waterford at Semple Stadium.

They were always on top against a Waterford side who, in fairness, never gave up but who were well out of their depth against Liam Kearns’s men.

Tipperary now face a quick turnaround to prepare for the clash with Cork in Thurles next Saturday.

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They were on top from the outset against Waterford and pulled away after the interval to record an easy win.

Waterford rallied in the final quarter but it was a matter of closing the gap rather than staging a comeback which would trouble the home side.

Tipperary led by 0-6 to 0-0 before Gavin Crotty finally opened Waterford’s account in the 28th minute.

That score lifted Waterford and they got some hope when Tommy Prendergast landed two excellent points from play before the break.

That left Waterford trailing by 0-7 to 0-3 at half-time but Tipperary took charge after the restart.

They upped a gear and with Liam McGrath leading the way, they struck for six points in a blistering 11-minute spell that killed the game as a contest.

Michael Quinlivan fisted two efforts, McGrath struck a free and one from play and Kevin O'Halloran got his second point of the game with another fine effort.

Points from Liam Boland and Josh Keane pushed the lead out to 0-15 to 0-3 after 50 minutes and a landslide victory looked on the cards.

A second point from Waterford's Crotty gave stopped the one-way traffic but James Lonergan and Philip Austin extended Tipperary's lead.

Jason Curry landed a sideline from the left for an excellent point and he also got a free, with Conor Murray and Hutchinson also finding the range for a battling Waterford side.

Tipperary goalkeeper Evan Comerford denied Dylan Guiry a goal opportunity and the Waterford challenge faded.

TIPPERARY: E Comerford; S O'Connell, J Meagher, A Campbell; B Maher, R Kiely, J Feehan (0-1); L Casey, J Kennedy (0-1); J Keane (0-1), K O'Halloran (0-2), B Fox; L Boland (0-1), M Quinlivan (0-3), L McGrath (0-9, seven frees).

Subs: S O'Brien for Kennedy (44 mins), P Austin (0-1) for O'Halloran (46), K Fahey for Maher (50), J Lonergan (0-1) for Quinlivan (54), P Codd for Meagher (57), G Hannigan for Casey (65).

WATERFORD: S Enright; B Looby, A Trihy, J McGrath; S Prendergast (0-2), M Curry, S Ryan; T Prendergast, K Power; D Guiry, C Murray (0-1), B O'Keefe; G Crotty (0-2), J Veale, JJ Hutchinson (0-1).

Subs: J Curry (0-3, one free, one slideline) for O'Keefe (29 mins), C Guiry for Veale (44), J Allen for McGrath (57, BC), M Kiely for Power (67), M Cummins for Trihy, E O'Brien for Hutchinson ( both 71).

Referee: Fergal Kelly (Longford).

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