With the first half of the senior hurling championship played, Wexford have established themselves as the team to beat with a win over Tipperary. Wexford opened an eight point lead in the first half, but Tipp pulled it back to less than a score late in the second only for Wexford to finish the game with three points on the trot.
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| Wexford scored an impressive win over Tipperary on Sunday. |
Wexford took the break with an eight point lead. Playing at center forward, Andrew Shore played a big part in Wexford’s advantage while Tony Murphy and Cathal Kenny put some tidy scores over the bar. Tipp hung with Wexford for most of the half, but then came the goals, two in the final five minutes. Both came from the stick of Tony Murphy. The first came after Murphy was played through by Brian Dowling and Murphy put the ball into the far corner. Murphy was through in an almost identical situation a few minutes beforehand, and Sean Delaney saved well on the near post. The second came from a 21-yard free. Murphy stepped up and powered a rocket into the back of the net. The second goal made it 2-9 to 0-7 with the half time whistle approaching. Paddy Fanning and Peter Dowling swapped scores to end the half. 2-10 to 0-8 for Wexford after 30 minutes.
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| Tipp came close but fell just short of a great comeback in the second half. |
Tipp staged somewhat of a comeback in the second half and reined in the lead. The half opened with the sides matching each other for a goal and two points. Tipp hit first with a goal from Stephen Lambert, but Wexford got it right back less then a minute later after Brian Dowling was played through excellently. The final 15 minutes saw Tipp eat into the Wexford lead. Tipp managed to gain the upper hand for a period and scored seven points to Wexford’s one to narrow the gap to 2 points. Darragh O’Connell was on the mark with frees while substitutes Odhran Kealy and Ian Duggan Tipp now had the advantage in the back line as Wexford’s foray’s forward ended up coming right back downfield. Odhran Kealy put a rousing point over the bar and with Wexford on the ropes what a few minutes beforehand looked like a win was in serious jeopardy. A goal would now win it for Tipp, but with extreme anxiety creeping into the Wexford ranks Tony Murphy came to the rescue with a point and set up Brian Dowling with a score to restore the lead to four points. Wexford now join Tom’s atop the table and look like they will be hard to beat.
Wexford: G. Griffey, D. Redmond, G. Dunphy, B. Dalton, D. Magill, S. White, P. Dowling (0-1), M. Molloy (0-1), B. Dowling (1-2), A. Shore (0-3), C. Kenny (0-2), T. Murphy (2-4), J. Hetherington (0-2). Tipp: S. Delaney, J. Kindregan, B. Flaherty, A. McRedmond, C. Leahy, B. Howley, E. Hayes (0-1), J. Fitzpatrick, W. Walsh (0-2), P. Fanning (0-2), P. McGrath, S. Lambert (1-1), D. O’Connell (0-7). Subs: J. Roach (0-1), Odhran Kealy (0-1), I. Duggan (0-2).
In Saturday’s senior hurling match between Fr. Tom Burke’s and Galway, Tom’s prevailed by a single point in what was a cracking game. The final score was 2-15 to 0-20 for Tom’s. The result gives Tom’s 5 points and sitting joint top of the table with Wexford, and leaves Galway still looking for a win with the first half of the championship completed.
By Rory O'Donnell
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