Kilkenny 1-21 Tipperary 2-24
Liam Cahill organised a successful raid on UPMC Nowlan Park on Sunday as Tipperary registered a first win at the venue for 15 years and went to the top of Allianz Hurling League Division 1B, their two wins already enough to send them clear.
A strong second quarter saw them take control on the scoreboard and, afterwards, Cahill paid tribute to his experienced campaigners, who played a key role in opening up the gap and calmly maintaining it when the pressure increased.
“They’re consistent performers, aren’t they? And have been for the last number of years with Tipperary, so they’re a big part of our set-up. Very happy with the younger fellas in and around them and they’re learning.
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“These boys create a great culture with the likes of the older fellas, Séamie [Callanan], Jason [Forde], Dan [McCormack] and Noel McGrath and all these boys to get them to aspire to what’s required to play for Tipperary.”
The clash of these great rivals for the first time in the post-Cody era at one point threatened to morph into homage. Trailing by 12 at half-time, Kilkenny set about dismantling the big deficit and the big crowd of 10,458 finally had something to cheer.
Tipperary didn’t panic and kept the home side at arm’s length, breaking their scoring sequences with points here and there. Even the 58th-minute goal by Martin Keoghan didn’t quite break open the contest. The margin never sank below four and the visitors won by six in the end.
Forde was the main implement of destruction, his 1-15 spread between placed balls of all types and 1-5 from play.
The goal felt important. A scrappy, fumbling start to the match had seen points come sluggishly. Injuries held up play with Paddy Cadell and Cathal Barrett both forced to make early departures.
Callanan, who was very lively on his return after more than a year out, set up the goal chance with a nice flick into space. Forde’s gallop through the centre of the defence and crisp finish did the rest. That was the 27th minute of a prolonged half, which stretched to seven minutes of injury-time and the 1-7 to 0-3 scoreline already had a forbidding look.
Kilkenny were struggling. Goalkeeper Aidan Tallis had prevented a worse toll, saving one-on-one to turn Conor Bowe’s shot into a point and preventing Jake Morris raising a green flag on 30 minutes.
The same two players conjured the second goal just before the break. Again, there was a save from Bowe but Morris gathered the rebound and stepped into space before putting it in the net. He added a point for the 2-13 to 0-7 half-time score.
Derek Lyng acknowledged a poor opening half when speaking afterwards.
“First half wasn’t good enough, stood off Tipp, gave them too much room, can’t do that, too good a team, they punished us. We tightened up definitely in the second half, there was more purpose to it.
“We played with a bit more pace but we had a few chances that would have brought us close but ultimately we weren’t good enough today, second best. Lots of learning from it: today is useful if we can learn from it, build on it.”
The introduction of David Blanchfield at the break helped in the tightening-up process, all the more creditable when, as his manager pointed out, he had played Fitzgibbon for DCU a couple of days previously.
Cahill’s acknowledgment of his more experienced players was well founded. As well as Callanan’s movement – necessarily limited to three quarters – Noel McGrath orchestrated things well and McCormack was energetic in the middle third. They didn’t fall back when Kilkenny began to raise the tempo.
Billy Drennan confirmed his status as the county’s latest sharpshooter, finishing with 0-10, two from play, and the former under-20 played a big role in the revival with eight of his scores coming after half-time.
Keoghan’s goal – the assist got Alan Murphy clattered and shortly afterwards replaced – cut the margin to five but within seconds Noel McGrath had swept over a point. That was typical of Tipp’s perseverance that saw them only once concede a run of scores greater than two without reply.
The margin was at its lowest after Drennan’s 62nd-minute free made it 1-19 to 2-20, but Forde’s intervention of three points in two minutes squashed any chance of a successful revolt.
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KILKENNY: Aidan Tallis; Mikey Butler, Huw Lawlor, Conor Heary; Cillian Buckley, Pádraig Walsh (0-1), Darragh Corcoran (capt); Paddy Deegan, Killian Doyle; Billy Ryan (0-1), Cian Kenny, Walter Walsh (0-1); Billy Drennan (0-10, seven frees, one 65), Martin Keoghan (1-2), Shane Walsh (0-1).
Subs: John Donnelly (0-4) for Kenny (24 mins), David Blanchfield for Heary, Conor Fogarty (0-1) for Doyle (both h-t), Alan Murphy for Butler (40), Gearóid Dunne for Murphy (inj, 61).
TIPPERARY: Barry Hogan; Cathal Barrett, Michael Breen, Johnny Ryan; Enda Hefferna, Pauric Campion, Ronan Maher; Paddy Cadell, Dan McCormack; Alan Tynan (0-1), Noel McGrath (capt; 0-2), Jake Morris (1-2); Jason Forde (1-15, seven frees, two 65s, one line-ball), Séamus Callanan, Conor Bowe (0-2).
Subs: John Campion (0-1) for Cadell (inj, 5 mins), Mark Kehoe (0-1) for Callanan (53), Bryan O’Mara for P Campion (54), Séamus Kennedy for J Campion (61), Seán Ryan for Morris (67).
Head injury replacement: Eoghan Connolly for Barrett (12 mins) – did not return.
Referee: Patrick Murphy (Carlow).
