Tipperary 1-17
Galway 1-15
An hour after the action had ceased at Pearse Stadium the Tipperary hurlers carried their weary bodies into the NUIG Kingfisher Sports centre. Another little battle conquered meant that they were content, and Galway were left to reflect on what might have been following a complex game.
It initially failed to ignite, but following the restart both teams had pockets of supremacy with Tipperary clambering over the line. Ultimately it was a merited triumph. Nuggets of Galwegian hope were taken from how Eugene McEntee and substitute Kevin Hynes performed, and with top flight status already preserved the defeat wasn’t too costly.
With more blue in the sky, and a touch of spring in the air league hurling usually becomes that bit edgier. Galway versus Tipperary is rarely short on incident and intrigue, and with six Portumna players in the maroon fold another pre-match layer of curiosity was added.
Surprisingly, though, the fare wasn’t too stimulating until a melee finally stirred players and audience.
By that stage Tipp had accumulated a 0-5 to 0-3 advantage, and it could have been more, but for the excellence of an over worked Galway full back line. Tipp were lofting high deliveries down on top of the Galway rearguard, but McEntee coped diligently with the aerial threat of Micheal Webster.
Then the brawl made matters mildly interesting and Tipp eventually trotted off with a merited two point interval lead.
Having failed to seriously examine Tipp in the opening period Galway suddenly started to hurl in the third quarter. Andy Smith and Aonghus Callanan became more prominent as Galway hit 1-4 on the spin. Niall Healy’s smooth opportunism to flick in a 44th minute goal gave Galway a four point cushion, and the outstanding Hynes stretched that to five, but Tipp plugged away.
Eleven minutes remained, and the margin had been whittled down to two when Lar Corbett bundled a Tipp major to inject momentum into their assault. A Joe Canning free restored parity, but the visitors were more enterprising in the dying embers as Seamus Callanan finished with a flourish. Galway’s league campaign concludes with a short hop to Ennis on Sunday week, but maroon minds are firmly focused on summer rather than spring.
Tipperary: D Gleeson; E Buckley, P Curran, C O’Brien; P Stapelton, Padraig Maher, S Maher; J Woodlock (0-1 ), S McGrath; P Maher, S Callanan (0-11, 7fs, 165 ), L Corbett (1-2 ); T Scroope (0-1 ), M Webster, J O’Brien. Subs: D Fanning for Curran (25 mins ), N McGrath (0-1 ) for Webster (36 mins ), S Hennessy (0-1 ) for Patrick Maher (43 mins ), B Dunne for J O’Brien (50 mins ), G Ryan for Woodlock (63 mins ), B Maher for Scroope (68 mins ).
Galway: C Callanan (0-1, f ); D Joyce, E McEntee, O Canning; R Murray, M Ryan, F Moore; A Cullinane, E Lynch; A Smith (0-1 ), C Donnellan, A Callanan (0-1 ); N Hayes, J Canning (0-6, 4fs, 165 ), N Healy (1-1 ). Subs: K Hynes (0-5 ) for Lynch (25 mins ), F Healy for Hayes (63 mins ), J Gantley for N Healy (67 mins ).
Referee: B Kelly (Westmeath ).
