Sheehan Cup First Round - Wexford v Tipperary

Sheehan Cup First Round: Wexford 2-14 Tipperary 0-1

Wexford showed some great early season form in their first outing of the year.

The Sheehan Cup opened Sunday with the meeting of the top two Boston hurling teams of the last few years. It was Wexford, however, that looked shockingly the more impressive of the two in a one-sided victory

Wexford laid down a marker for the rest of the season with this game. Assisted by a stiff breeze the Boys of Wexford established a substantial early lead. Tipperary forwards in contrast were trying to survive on scraps and what few chances fell their way were sent adrift of the posts. Wexford had too many weapons in their arsenal for Tipp to deal with. Tom Maloney, Gearoid O’Connor, and Shane Murphy were in fine form. Gags O’Connor put the first point of the 2011 hurling season over the bar with a fine effort from play and traffic was mostly headed in one direction from then on. More points followed from Colm Kearns, Jason Foley, Peter Ryan, and free taking of Shane Murphy was spot on. Before the game was 10 minutes old Wexford held a 7-point lead. Tipp managed to generate some scores but the wind in their faces accuracy suffered. With the back line under pressure and the forwards unable to make much of what fell their way, a comeback seemed unlikely in the second half. At the break Wexford held a handsome 11 points to no score for Wexford.

Peter Ryan and Cronan Dempsey Challenge for the ball.

The wind did not do much to assist Tipp in the second half. Brian Howley got the Tipp men on the scoreboard with an early free, and briefly it looked as though a revival could be on the cards, but it was back to business as usual as the minutes ticked by. Tipp had chances to make the scoreboard look a little better, but opted for going for goal early on and the Wexford men manning the goal line were up to the challenge. Murphy pointed a pair for Wexford, and then the inevitable happened as Wexford hit the back of the net twice. Gearoid O’Connor was played through the Tipp defence, and made no mistake with just the keeper to beat. Tom Maloney netted the second and that was all she wrote. Impressive stuff from Wexford. Back to the drawing board for Tipp.

Wexford: E. Spruhan, D. Redmond, B. Dalton, J. Kenny, D. Magill, G. Dunphy, J. Foley, T. Moloney, C. Kearns, P. Ryan, G. O’Connor, S. Murphy, E. Kavanagh. Tipp: M. Daly, K. Kindericks, J. Kindregan, J. Roache, B. Howley, A. McAnespie, J. Duane, C. Dempsey, A. McRedmond, D. Kealy, J. Howard, P. McGrath, J. McGrath.


By Rory O'Donnell