Ronan Maher named captain as Tipp labour to win over Laois
Allianz Hurling League Division 1 Group B, MW Hire O'Moore Park, Laois 5/2/2022
Tipperary began life without Padraic Maher with a hard-fought win in Portlaoise on Saturday night as they edged out Laois by four points.
It was far from straightforward as Laois dug in and made a right game of it from start to finish.
On a terrible night for hurling, both sides were wasteful but in the end, Tipp deserved the win but will know that they have plenty to improve on.
Jason Forde was a major factor in the win with 11 points a serious return on a night when driving wind and rain circled around.
Jason Forde fired the opening score of the game in the second minute but with the next attack, Enda Rowland's puckout landed down in the full-forward line and after winning the breaking ball, Stephen Maher levelled things up.
Maher then put Laois ahead but that would be short-lived as Tipp rattled off the next four scores with Jason Forde notching two while Jake Morris and Mark Kehoe also opened their account.
Leading 0-5 to 0-2, Tipp were in the driving seat but on 14 minutes, Stephen Maher landed a brilliant score from out on the sideline before slotting over a close-range free to bring the arrears back to a point.
Laois did have a few chances to draw level but their shooting let them down before a Jason Forde free on 18 minutes edged Tipp two points in front.
Forde added another free and then with 10 minutes left to half-time, Jake Morris was dragged to the ground and referee Sean Cleere had little choice but to award a penalty. Jason Forde stood over it but Enda Rowland was equal to it and managed to get his hurl to it to deflect over the bar.
Laois had a goal chance of their own three minutes later but Ben Conroy's shot was well saved by Brian Hogan with Conroy then taking a fresh-air shot when the rebound came back out to him.
Jake Morris and Stephen Maher exchanged scores and with five minutes left in the half, Tipperary led 0-9 to 0-5. Tipp pushed on to lead 0-11 to 0-5 coming into injury time in the opening half but two late Laois frees, one from Enda Rowland and the other from Stephen Maher, left the half-time score at 0-11 to 0-7.
Tipp burst out of the traps early in the second half with four points in the space of three minutes through Mark Kehoe, Forde and a beauty from Jake Morris.
Stephen Maher broke the sequence with a tricky free before adding another in the 43rd minute to leave it a six-point game with a little over 25 minutes left to play.
Matters went from bad to worse on 45 minutes when Paddy Purcell picked up what looked to be a very soft straight red card after he appeared to push Craig Morgan to the ground. He spoke with the linesman on the stand side and after originally sending Ben Conroy off, referee Sean Cleere seemed to realise he had the wrong man and sent Purcell off instead.
It was a massive blow but instead of throwing in the towel, Laois knuckled down and got a bit of luck when Enda Rowland's long-range free went all the way to the net. James Keyes was only just on the field and he fired over and suddenly it was only a three-point game with 20 minutes to go.
Laois fought hard in the closing stages to get close to Tipp but the Munster men had that buffer that they were able to maintain with the extra man no doubt helping their cause.
Enda Rowland did have a late goal chance from a 21 yard free but his effort was deflected over the bar and Tipp won out by four points.
Afterwards, Tipperary GAA confirmed that Ronan Maher will be the county's captain for the coming season.
J Forde 0-11 (0-7 frees and 0-1 pen), M Kehoe 0-4, J Morris 0-3, M Breen, C Barrett and D Quirke 0-1 each.
E Rowland 1-3 (1-0f, 0-2f and 0-1 '65'), S Maher 0-8 (0-5 frees), J Keyes 0-3.
B Hogan; C Barrett, J Quigley, C Morgan; D Quirke, S Kennedy, B Heffernan; A Flynn, M Breen; D McCormack, J Forde, G Browne; M Kehoe, D Maher, J Morris.
C Stakelum for J Morris (50), P Flynn for D Maher (59), P Cadell for A Flynn (66), R Maher for B Heffernan (67), S Callanan for M Kehoe (69)
E Rowland; C McEvoy, S Downey, D Hartnett; P Delaney, L O'Connell, R Mullaney; F C Fennell, J Kelly; P Purcell, J Lennon, R King; B Conroy, W Dunphy, S Maher.
J Keyes for J Lennon (50), J Walshe for W Dunphy (50), C Comerford for R King (55), P Dunne for C McEvoy (57), A Corby for J Kelly (69)
Sean Cleere (Kilkenny)
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