Senior Hurling Championship Final: Tipperary v Fr. Tom Burke's

Tipperary 2-25 Fr. Tom Burke’s 0-16

It was a dominant Tipperary that took the senior hurling championship trophy Sunday afternoon with a masterclass performance.  Willie Egan was unparalleled on the field, at center back Egan dictated the game and set the stage for a victory that sees Tipp capture all of the senior trophies on offer in 2015.  Tipp effectively put the game away at the end of the first half, the Premier men were quick, sharp, and deadly from any angle or range.

Tipperary put on a clinic in the first half.  There was no position where Tipperary did not impress.  From Clinton Hennessey in goal, who on a couple of occasions not only made a fine save, but also distributed the ball to the right person.  David Reidy and Alan Quirke at corner forward were quick and deadly, a scorpion like sting with every whip of the hurl.  The pair were very hard for the Tom’s corner backs to contain and between them accounted for 1-7, half of Tipperary’s score for the half.

Seanie McGarr presented with the Eddie Flaherty Cup.

Egan at center back was probably the man of the match, play flowed to and from the Kilbrin man.  John Coughlan at wing forward was also on top form.  For Tom’s frees from Paul Winters accounted for all of the scores, as there was nothing opening up from play; the Tipp defence swarmed every time Tom’s were in the attacking zone.  Tom’s had already started looking for goals before the end of the first half, which in a way suited Tipp as the space to shoot was tight close in to the goal.  Although Tipp’s lead had already ballooned, perhaps a few scores would have settled the defending champions with something to hang their hat on at half time.  Heading into the break it was a fourteen point 2-14 to 0-6 Tipperary lead.

Tom’s would need a good start to the second half if they were to make any inroads into the lead.  Tom’s brought in Dylan Costello and Kevin Flynn.  Flynn tallied a couple of well taken points, however, it seemed as though the work that Tom’s had to put in to yield a point was much harder than Tipperary, from whom the points seemed to come easy.  Tom’s had put four over to one for Tipp at one stage, but as quick as you like Reidy and Morrissey put back to back scores over to reassert the Tipperary dominance.

Tipperary celebrate the 2015 Senior Hurling Championship.

The final quarter saw Tom’s improve the complexion of the scoreboard, and did so with points from Flynn and Winters.  Joyce-Power almost netted, but his shot from inside the box was blocked by Damien Moloney.  Tipperary make it a sweep of cups with the senior championship trophy to add to the New York sevens and the Sheehan Cup. 

Tipp:  C. Hennessey, S. McGarr, D. Moloney, J. Rigney, W. Egan, T. Rigney, S. Molumphey, C. Dempsey, A. Morissey, J. Coughlan, A. Dempsey, R. Quirke, D. Reidy.  Tom’s:  A. Keating, S. Og Lyons, S. McClelland, S. Dolan, K. Kennedy, C. Burke, P. Winters, L. O’Neill, K. Dunne, N. Burke, C. Joyce-Power, S. Howley, D. O’Mahoney.

By Rory O'Donnell