Waterford to meet Cork in final after edging Tipperary

Late glory for Waterford as dead-eyed free-taker Padraic Mahony put them in the NHL final with a late, late effort. Waterford now face Cork, who had an equally dramatic win in the curtain-raising semi-final in Nowlan Park.

Waterford to meet Cork in final after edging Tipperary

By Michael Moynihan, Nowlan Park

Waterford 1-19 Tipperary 2-15

Late glory for Waterford as dead-eyed free-taker Padraic Mahony put them in the NHL final with a late, late effort. Waterford now face Cork, who had an equally dramatic win in the curtain-raising semi-final in Nowlan Park.

Early Mahony frees for Waterford were answered with a Patrick ‘Bonner’ Maher goal, the Tipp man knifing through the middle onto a loose ball and finishing in the corner – making it 1-0 to 0-3 on five minutes.

Seamus Callanan (free) and Niall O’Meara nudged Tipp ahead as both teams tried to create space up front, withdrawing men from the full-forward line.

On 12 minutes Tipp had another goal, Jason Forde collecting a high ball, passing to Brendan Maher, who in turn found John O’Dwyer for a clever flicked finish.

The Premier held the upper hand for the remainder of the half, thanks to Padraic Maher dominating in the half-back area as a free man. At the other end Waterford’s Austin Gleeson gave a glimpse of his potential with one dazzling run through the middle, though he couldn’t capitalise with a score.

Tipp indiscipline gave Mahony a chance to whittle away the lead before the break with frees, and though Tipp retaliated through O’Meara and John O’Dwyer, Mahony had the last word with yet another free - 2-8 to 0-11.

Both sides swapped scores on the resumption, with Tipp keeping a couple of points ahead. Long-range Maurice Shanahan and Jamie Barron efforts cut the deficit to the minimum 45 minutes as Waterford now benefited from the wind, with Tadhg de Burca hitting a lot of ball.

A good solo Colin Dunford goal on 51minutes put Waterford ahead and when Mahony pointed two frees it meant Waterford were leading 1-18 to 2-11 with ten minutes left.

As the game wound down it seemed that extra time was on the cards, but both sides squandered chances before Mahony’s nerveless conversion put Waterford through.

Scorers for Waterford: P. Mahony 0-13 (0-11 fs, 0-1 65); C. Dunford 1-1; M. Shanahan 0-3; J. Dillon, J. Barron 0-1 each.

Scorers for Tipperary: S. Callanan 0-8 (0-5 fs, 0-1 65); J. O’Dwyer 1-1; P. Maher 1-0; N. O’Meara 0-2; Padraic Maher, J. Forde, J. Woodlock, C. Kenny 0-1.

WATERFORD: S. O’Keeffe, S. Fives, B. Coughlan, N. Connors, T. de Burca, A. Gleeson, Philip Mahony, J. Barron, S. Bennett, K. Moran (c), Paraic Mahony, J. Dillon, M. Shanahan, M. Walsh, C. Dunford.

Subs: B. O’Halloran for Bennett, 50; T. Devine for J. Dillon, 55; S. O’Sullivan for Walsh, 62; E. Barrett for Moran, 70.

TIPPERARY: D. Gleeson, P. Stapleton, C. O’Mahony, P. Curran, M. Breen, Padraic Maher, R. Maher, J. Woodlock, S. McGrath, J. O’’Dwyer, B. Maher (c), J. Forde, S. Callanan, Patrick Maher, N. O’Meara.

Subs: J. Barry for Stapleton, 42; S. Bourke for O’Dwyer, 43; C. Kenny for Forde, 53; G. Rhan for S. McGrath, 57; J. Maher for Curran, 65.

Referee: B. Kelly (Westmeath)

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