crokePark

Tipperary Stop Kilkenny’s 3 In A Row

Going out onto the pitch in Croke Park Tipperary knew they were going to have a tough task at hand to beat Kilkenny who were All-Ireland champions two years running, and were hoping to make this their third consecutive year. But it was not to be, Tipperary put a halt to the Cats winning streak in what was to be another epic game of hurling.
Tipperary were first to find themselves sending the sliotar flying between the two posts of Kilkenny’s goals after two minutes. It was a great start for Tipp, Kilkenny were quick to respond, however, with Kevin Kelly scoring a point from 50 yards. Kilkenny scored three points in a row before Tipperary got a point from John Bubbles O’Dwyer from a side-line puck. This was to set the tone for the rest of the first half; it was going to be a point for a point for the teams.
Tipperary were blocked down by Cillian Buckley, from what should have been an easy free to convert. Kilkenny were getting most of their scores from frees. Kilkenny almost found the back of Tipperary’s net in the 19th minute but Tipperary’s Keeper, Darren Gleeson, was having none of it and pulled off a brilliant save; things were all level at 6 points apiece at this point in the game.
Tipperary found themselves barely in the lead at half time with a score line of Kilkenny 0-12 Tipperary 0-14 , But none the less they were happy.

Kilkenny came out after half time as we would all expect, putting huge amount of pressure on the Tipperary’s defenders. They could only hold off Kilkenny’s forwards for so long before Kilkenny’s Kevin Kelly found the back of Tipperary’s net for the first time in the game. It looked like it was going to be another typical Kilkenny match where they would be behind by half time but they take things home in the second half and win the match; but this was not the case in this match. Kilkenny were only leading by two points and Tipperary responded by knocking the ball over the bar twice to level things off. One of the points was scored by Jason Ford who had just come on less than a minute. Tipperary took the lead with another point from Callanan just before John Bubbles O’Dwyer knocked the Sliotar into the back of Kilkenny’s goal for his 5th Championship goal, bringing their lead up to four points. It was at this point Tipperary really started to pull away from Kilkenny. Tipperary scored three points before Kilkenny responded. Darren Gleeson pulling off a superb save, refusing Kilkenny another goal.
In the 61st minute of the game we saw Noel McGrath punishing Kilkenny hard for not clearing the ball properly. Noel intercepted a pass from Kilkenny and spotted his younger brother, John, to his right and passes it off, John buries the ball into the back of Kilkenny’s net from a tight angle.
Kilkenny were not taking things lying down and responds straight away with another goal scored by Richie Hogan. The score was now 2-19 Kilkenny to 2-25 Tipperary. Tipperary’s John McGrath tries to get another goal for Tipperary but Kilkenny’s keeper refuses him the opportunity by pulling off a spectacular save.
Both teams were digging in deep to do whatever they could to help their team through the last few minutes of the game. Kilkenny were trying to make their way through the Tipperary’s defense to get through on goal but the defenders just forced them out wide. Kilkenny desperate to get goals were just being refused access to Tipperary’s goal by the defenders.
Final score Kilkenny 2-20 Tipperary 2-29.
Man of the match Seamus Callanan.

 

by Aoife Mangan


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