Tipp top but Déise refuse to lie down

TWO happy managers after this Allianz NHL round three game in floodlit Semple Stadium on Saturday evening with both Declan Ryan and Davy Fitzgerald lauding their players.

But — contradictory as it may seem — it was the losing boss who was feeling more satisfied, and with good reason.

First, a synopsis of the game. On a fine evening for hurling, a boisterous crowd of 4,947, Tipp went to the dressing room with a five-point half-time lead (1-12 to 0-10), helped by Paul Kelly’s one-handed close-range poacher’s goal in the 14th minute.

The All-Ireland champions were much closer to championship strength than were Waterford, the Munster champions, and though Fitzgerald’s men were strong, fit and willing, that difference in class was telling. Padraic Maher was a tower of strength at centre-back while Noel McGrath and Pa Bourke were superb up front.

Into the second half, and here, the story takes a twist. Within eight minutes, Waterford found themselves reduced to 13 players, midfielder Shane O’Sullivan (rather harshly, an accidental pull across the helmet of Gearoid Ryan) and goalkeeper Clinton Hennessey (a reckless tackle on the flying Patrick Maher) getting straight red cards from referee James Owens in two separate incidents.

Pa Bourke pointed the free from the second foul to put Tipperary six points ahead (1-14 to 0-11), which should have signalled the opening of the floodgates. Instead Waterford battening down the hatches. Youngster Eamonn Murphy (who was having a fine game) was sacrificed and sub-keeper Adrian Power introduced. With some astute positional switches (Brick Walsh, under pressure at centre-back, moved forward to the 40, Richie Foley dropped back — both thrived), and sensible substitutions, not alone did Waterford prevent further damage, they actually outscored 15-man Tipp seven points to six from there to the end. That trojan work kept the final margin to what it had been at the break, five points. Thus, the two satisfied managers.

“We came for the two points and that’s what we’re going away with,” said Declan Ryan, “We are happy enough with that. There was good scoring, 1-20, though there was only three or four points in it too for a lot of the second half when we were up two men, that is something we have to work on. Obviously it’s a work in progress but we are delighted with the way the lads battled away.”

For Davy Fitzgerald, however, the satisfaction was greater.

“I’m not going to dwell on any of those things (red cards) because I’m wicked proud of the boys,” he said; “Down 11 starters, down to 13 men, and we didn’t wilt — I’m proud of the boys. Maybe Tipp will have more questions than we’ll have after it. We were down five points at half-time, then drew the second half with 13 players against 15. Everyone showed leadership. Tipp had two extra men, they’re All-Ireland champions, they wanted to win badly and fair play to them, they got the win. They worked very hard tonight but our guys also worked very hard.

“I know we’re going to take a few beatings in the league but I don’t mind getting beaten if we show that character.”

Surprising sentiment for such a renowned competitor, but Fitzgerald has every reason to feel proud of his troops and every reason also to feel proud of his own decisions on the sideline, when all the odds were stacked against them.

Were it not for a virtuoso display by Noel McGrath, and the contribution of last year’s captain (and recently-married) Eoin Kelly when introduced at half-time, Waterford may well even have taken this game.

“Wasn’t Noel McGrath unreal tonight?” asked Davy, a rhetorical question. “Exceptional.”

The man himself, however, was simply relieved. “After they had the two men sent off, we just had to get on with what we came to do, and get two points,” said man-of-the-match McGrath. “Thankfully, we did that. It’s a funny game when you’re facing a team that has lost a player, you don’t know where to position yourself. But look, we got the win, our first win of the year and we’re happy enough. We’ll take the positives from it, work on what we need to work on. There was a lot of things said about us not winning games but we knew that once we were working well in training that it would come right at some stage. We played well in patches, other patches we didn’t play, but we got the result.

“We have to try and move on now, get a few more wins, a few more performances, in the next few weeks.”

Scorers for Tipperary: P Bourke 0-8 (0-4f); N McGrath 0-7; P Kelly 1-0; E Kelly 0-2; D Young, Padraic Maher, B Maher, 0-1 each.

Scorers for Waterford: R Foley 0-12 (0-9f); S Prendergast 0-2; S Molumphy, S Walsh, M Shanahan, T Ryan, 0-1 each.

Subs for Tipperary: S Carey for S McGrath (29); E Kelly for (Patrick Maher 35); B Dunne for Carey (64); J Woodlock for Ryan (65); S Bourke for N McGrath (69).

Subs for Waterford: A Power for Eamonn Murphy (44); S Casey for Mahony (57); T Ryan for Shanahan (62); K McGrath for Prendergast (66); Eoin Murphy for Hutchinson (67).

Referee: J Owens (Wexford).