Tipp face tough task at Walsh Park on Sunday
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Captain Ronan Maher will lead the Tipperary team into Sunday’s Munster senior hurling championship game against Waterford at Walsh Park. Picture: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile
Eamonn Wynne
14 Apr 2022 7:00 PM
Email:
ewynne@nationalist.ie
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When was the last time Waterford were such hot favourites going into a Munster senior hurling championship game against Tipperary?
Come to think of it, were they ever so strongly fancied to defeat their neighbours in the championship?
The fact that Waterford, fresh from dismantling Cork’s challenge in the national league final, look such a serious proposition to go all the way this year, and have a really decent stab at lifting what would only be their third All-Ireland senior hurling title, makes Tipperary’s task in Sunday’s opening game of the Munster championship at Walsh Park (2pm) all the more daunting.
Right now, the counties seem to be operating on different levels. While Tipperary huffed and puffed their way through the league, failing to reach the knockout stages, Waterford went about their business in the latter stages with ruthless efficiency, easing their way past Wexford and Cork in the semi-final and final, and scoring nine goals in the process.
The highpoint of Tipp’s league campaign was a one-point win over Kilkenny. They led from the early moments and showed sufficient resolve and determination to withstand a late fightback from an albeit understrength Kilkenny to secure their first league win over The Cats in seven years. It was a day when their standout players included Jake Morris, who scored 1-2 from play; Jason Forde, who struck 10 points, five from frees; and captain Ronan Maher, whose introduction in the second half provided a major tonic as the team kicked for home.
They also hit Antrim for seven goals in the last game, although that match was a virtual dead rubber, and the poverty of Antrim’s performance must be factored into the equation.
Most instructive of all, perhaps, was the meeting of Tipperary and Waterford at Walsh Park at the beginning of March, a game that was closely contested in the opening half but developed into something not too unlike a cakewalk for Waterford as the second half unfolded.
