Browne the star again as Tipp stay unbeaten

THE irrepressible Declan Browne was again the inspiration as Tipperary added to Waterford’s woes in the Allianz NFL at Clonmel yesterday.

Tipperary 0-17 Waterford 1-8

Serving up another virtuoso performance, Browne scored 12 points eight from play as Tipperary maintained their unbeaten record at the expense of a Waterford side that battled gamely to stem the tide.

The first half was very poor and boring, with both sides making mistake after mistake. Tipperary, who opened the scoring with a fine point from centre-back Damien Byrne, failed to capitalise on their early outfield supremacy. Both right corner-forward Glen Burke and wing forward Niall Fitzgerald shot wide with goals at their mercy.

Indeed, the only highlight of the first half was the kicking duel between Browne and Waterford's top marksman Niall Curran.

The Tipp sharpshooter kicked five points, while Curran replied with three, as the home side turned over leading by 0-6 to 0-5.

The tempo did rise after the change of ends as Waterford threatened to leave their mark and were unlucky not to have done so. Fielding a great ball and swivelling to his right, full-forward Shane Walsh held his head in anguish as his cracking shot came bouncing back off the crossbar.

This let-off served as a wake-up call for the home side. First, left corner-forward Damien O'Brien stretched their lead to two points and then man-of-the-match Browne knocked over four points on the trot in an electrifying spell.

Waterford looked dead and buried but they recovered in admirable style. Moving onto a long ball from Pat Fitzgerald, wing forward Liam Ó Lonain soloed through to score a peach of a goal at the end of the third quarter. Heartened by that effort, Waterford struck again with two points in rapid succession from Karl O'Keeffe and Joe Coffey to leave just the bare minimum between them with 11 minutes remaining.

But Waterford side that failed to score again. Recovering their composure, and with Browne doing untold damage, Tipperary sealed victory with five points in a telling final flourish.

Scorers: Tipperary - D. Browne 0-12 (0-4 frees), D. O'Brien 0-2, N. Fitzgerald, D. Byrne, M. Webster 0-1 each. Waterford - L. O'Lonain 1-2, N. Curran 0-3 (0-1 free), J. Coffey, K. O'Keeffe, S. Walsh (free) 0-1 each.

TIPPERARY: P. Ryan; B. Hahessy, S. Collum, L. Cronin; R. Costigan, D. Byrne, N. Sheehan; N. Fitzgerald, A. Fitzgerald; M. Webster, F. O'Callaghan, J. Williams; G. Burke, D. Browne, D. O'Brien. Sub: M. Tarrant for A. Fitzgerald (inj).

WATERFORD: P. Houlihan; M. Crotty, E. Rockett, N. Hennessy; T. Dunphy, K. O'Keeffe, C. Watt; J. Hearne, A. Hubbard; L. O'Lonain, G. Power, P. Fitzgerald; N. Curran, S. Walsh, T. Dunphy. Subs: P. Ogle for O'Keeffe, S. Barron for Power, P. Queally for Walsh (inj.), S. Kavanagh for Hubbard (inj).

Referee: S. Doyle (Wexford).