Tipperary minor hurlers get Munster championship campaign off to a flying start

Tipperary 1-22

Waterford 0-23

A dominant second half display enabled Tipperary minor hurlers to get their Munster championship campaign off to the best possible start with a two point victory over Waterford in Fraher  Field, Dungarvan on Tuesday night.

In a tight and highly entertaining game Tipperary secured a hard fought triumph over a Waterford team that had held the upper hand at half time thanks to playing  with a stiff wind advantage in the opening half.

With that wind advantage now with Tipperary in the second half they set about dismantling the three point lead Waterford held at the break,drawing level eight minutes into the half.

A feature of the strong second half display from Tipperary was the impact the twin pronged   attack of Damien Corbett and Tom Delaney had on the outcome.

The diminutive pair terrorised the Waterford defence. Their movement, workrate, skill and link up play with one another unsettled the Waterford defence.

The short puck out strategy deployed by Waterford fell apart as a result of their industry  and Tipperary picked off the crucial scores to seal the victory as the Waterford defensive errors mounted up.

With the teams level with three minutes to go Damien Corbett guided a sideline ball, won after the Waterford goalie and half back Darragh Walsh made a mess of a short puck out, straight between the posts from a difficult angle. It was the pick of his 1-8 tally he registered on the night.

In a strong finish Tipp went on to score two more points, one from corner forward Paddy McCormack  and a free from Damien Corbett, with Waterford restricted to just one score in those dramatic closing minutes, a free from their impressive full forward Jack Twomey.

It was enough  to secure a two point victory and the perfect start to their group with Clare their next opponents.

In the frantic closing minutes Waterford did come close to getting the goal they needed but a deflection of a ‘65 into the danger area just went narrowly wide before the final whistle was blown.

While the front two played their part, and Damien Corbetts goal eleven minutes into the start of the game was crucial with Tipperary already six points to one down and in danger of being swept away by a powerful start by Waterford, Tipperary had many players that excelled.

Among them was Ciaran Foley in midfield, ably assisted by Adam Daly, who between them  took control of the game in the second half and ensured a plentiful supply for the inside forward  line.

Midfielder Foley deserves a mention for his wonderful opportunism midway through the second half when he ran onto an audacious back hand blind pass from Cathal English to fire between the posts to give Tipperary a two point lead and the Tipperary supporters in the large attendance were beginning to be heard.

In defence Tadhg Sheehan, Chris O’Donnell and Jack Quinlan,who was given a red card with seconds left on the clock to reduce Tipperary to  fourteen men,  were excellent  throughout working very hard to cope with Waterford when they had the wind advantage and contributing significantly in the second half winning possession and setting up attacks.

Waterford, as they did throughout the half responded and their outstanding full forward Jack Twomey  scored two points to bring them level again.

And that was how the second half unfolded for the last quarter with very little between the teams with Tipperary just edging it outscoring Waterford by three points to one in the closing minutes to secure a deserved victory.

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