Waterford sign off with a win over flat Tipperary side

 WATERFORD WIN: Waterford signed off their championship with a win over Tipperary. Pic: ©INPHO/Bryan Keane

Waterford 1-24 Tipperary 0-21 

When the final whistle sounded on a first Waterford Munster championship victory in 13 months, those in the old stand press box immediately turned to the television behind us to watch the last two minutes from the Gaelic Grounds.

Cork had narrowed the deficit to the minimum. Could they find an equaliser? If they did, Tipperary were eliminated on the basis of an inferior score difference to both Cork and Limerick.

Limerick held on at home, Tipp held on in the championship.

A few moments later, the announcer cleared his throat and began reading out the Limerick-Cork result over the Thurles tannoy. There were Tipp backroom team members standing out on the field with hands over their heads dreading what they might hear.

What they heard left them drenched in relief.

There’ll be no Munster championship final for Liam Cahill’s side. But given how close they came to exiting the championship, they were extremely thankful for their third-place finish in the Munster round-robin. It's a round-robin they finish with just one win from four outings.

For Waterford, they went loudly. They signed off with a performance that shows the up-to-now untapped potential of this team.

Ahead by 0-17 to 0-8 at the break, a five-in-a-row from their opponents closed the gap to five - 0-18 to 0-13 - on 46 minutes. Waterford needed to catch a second wind. They were gifted that second wind by their opponents on 52 minutes.

Goalkeeper Rhys Shelly dropped a long delivery. Then Bryan O’Mara fumbled possession. Dessie Hutchinson stole in, snapped up the sliotar, and shook the net. Waterford’s first competitive goal since February 26 put them 1-19 to 0-13 clear.

Tipp went in search of their own green flag from there to the finish. Goalkeeper Shaun O’Brien and last-ditch defending from forward Stephen Bennett kept the green flag buried in the Thurles sod.

The victory is only Waterford’s second in four seasons of the round-robin.

Davy’s troops had averaged just shy of 18 points across their opening three games in Munster. Here, they had 0-17 got by half-time. And, in truth, they should have surpassed their full-time 17.7 average in the opening 35 minutes. Their half-time card showed eight wides.

The energy Waterford tabled in the early furlongs, we hadn’t seen since their comeback efforts against Limerick in Round 1 five weeks ago.

The already eliminated Déise were so full of running. So full of purpose.

Half-back Jack Fagan had three from play hit by the 12th minute. His third represented Waterford’s 11th point attempt of the game. Seven went between the posts, three went wide, and one more dropped short.

Tipperary, by contrast, hadn’t managed a single shot from open play by this juncture. 0-7 to 0-1 read the scoreboard.

Tipperary were way off the pace in the opening half. We wondered was it the endeavours of the weekend previous against Limerick that had left them lifeless, or had they allowed themselves to believe that all they had to do was show up here and the two points would fall into their lap.

So many of the Tipp figures you typically associate with bringing the vigour and spark to the party - the likes of Seamus Kennedy, Alan Tynan, and Mark Kehoe - were nowhere to be seen. Mind you, they certainly weren’t the only ones.

Calum Lyons and Jack Prendergast combined to hook and hassle Gearoid O’Connor out over the old stand sideline. Mark Fitzgerald was miles out in front of Seamus Callanan to collect an incoming Tipp delivery.

The latter play ended with a Stephen Bennett converted free. It represented a fifth consecutive Waterford point. 0-17 to 0-7 they led. Inside forwards Dessie Hutchinson and Patrick Fitzgerald - and inside they played - both had three ticks from play beside their name.

Summing up the inability of the Tipp forwards to pose any sort of similar threat at the far end was the stat showing no Tipp score from play in the opening 13 minutes and the closing 18 minutes of the half.

Their graph rose only slightly in the second period. The closest they got was five. In the end, it was Limerick, down the road in TUS Gaelic Grounds, who gave them a big helping hand into the All-Ireland series.

From a Waterford perspective, one has to question where was this display when they were still alive in the championship.

Scorers for Waterford: S Bennett (0-9, 0-7 frees); D Hutchinson (1-3); J Fagan, P Fitzgerald (0-3 each); N Montgomery (0-2); C Lyons, B Nolan, P Hogan, P Curran (0-1 each).

Scorers for Tipperary: N McGrath (0-7, 0-4 frees, 0-3 65s); G O’Connor (0-4, 0-3 frees); S Callanan (0-3); R Maher (0-2, 0-1 free); E Connolly, A Tynan, M Kehoe, B McGrath, C Bowe (0-1 each).

Waterford: S O’Brien; M Fitzgerald, C Gleeson, I Daly; J Fagan, C Lyons, D Lyons; P Leavey, N Montgomery; P Hogan, S Bennett, J Prendergast; B Nolan, Patrick Fitzgerald, D Hutchinson.

Subs: P Curran for Hutchinson (temporary, 8-10 mins); C Ryan for C Gleeson (blood, 26-30 mins); P Curran for Montgomery (56); C Dunford for Prendergast, K Mahony for Hogan (both 61); DJ Foran for Patrick Fitzgerald (66); C Ryan for C Gleeson (74).

Tipperary: R Shelly; B O’Mara, M Breen, R Maher; E Connolly, D McCormack, B McGrath; S Kennedy, C Stakelum; A Tynan, N McGrath, G O’Connor; P Maher, S Callanan, M Kehoe.

Subs: C Bowe for O’Connor (25 mins, inj); J Ryan for B McGrath (blood, 43-50); J Ryan for B McGrath (53); S Ryan for Stakelum (54); J McGrath for P Maher (61); J Fogarty for Kehoe (67).

Referee: J Keenan (Wicklow).