FORDE TIPPS BALANCE FOR PREMIER FOR PREMIER
Masterclass in scoring as Jason gives Tipperary a valuable win
NO fear of the rule-book being rewritten after this one.
Davy Fitzgerald’s unauthorised pitch incursion in last year’s League semi-final has officialdom still chewing over the exact definition of a ‘melee’ at the upcoming Annual Congress, Tipperary noses still out of joint over the suspension that landed on Jason Forde after the player happened to clash with the Wexford manager.
Little surprise, Fitzgerald was on his best behaviour while the Silvermines player took the opportunity to gain his own sort of revenge, clocking up 2-9 in what could easily be interpreted as his own personal response.
Forde’s haul was a masterclass, not only in deadball striking — he hit eight frees and a beautifully-judged sideline cut — but in terms of goal-poaching instincts, which Wexford lacked on the night.
His first half score was one of the scores of the year while his second half performance was pure opportunism. That level of clinical finishing separated the sides as Wexford poured their heart and soul into it, Lee Chin again a driving force.
Next up, Tipperary travel to Nowlan Park to take on a Kilkenny side fighting for survival while Wexford host Clare.
Wexford were buzzing early on, Tipperary bamboozled by their setup as they failed to pick up the runners. Kevin Foley pinged over two points from midfield and Lee Chin was to the fore once more. 12 minutes in, he showed remarkable pace and athleticism to leave a vapour trail behind him as he pointed at full-pelt from the left wing. Clearly, this full-time hurling thing is working out well for him.
Tipperary showed real maturity to figure things out on the field, Donagh Maher gradually getting to grips with a sweeping role at the back that mirrored his opposite number Shaun Murphy — an old hand at it at this stage.
A superb economy of effort in terms of scoring helped them back into the game, Forde adding to his sweet deadball striking with a goal of pure class.
It came just after Chin’s score and stemmed from a touch by Sean Curran into space, who then had the vision to play a lovely strike across the 20 metre line from the left for Jason Forde to run on to. He flicked it up in full stride and flashed a shot to the net.
The scores kept flowing in that frantic early period, Kevin Foley this time playing a clever ball in to Lee Chin, galloping into space. Just to make the point that hurling might just need the black card, Tipperary’s last defender Barry Heffernan cynically pulled the attacker down as he prepared to pull the trigger.
Up stepped Aidan Nolan to skid a low shot to the corner and when Paul Morris pointed, they lead 1-7 to 1-4.
Then Tipp took over. A staccato burst of points saw their attack hit six on the bounce to completely change the rhythm of the game.
Patrick ‘Bonner’ Maher swung over a beauty from distance, John McGrath made a quality catch and score while Noel McGrath afforded himself a little fist pump after getting off the mark himself.
How well Tipperary had come to grips with Wexford’s set-up was again obvious from the way in which Barry Heffernan plucked a ball from the clouds and thundered forward to score while Donagh Maher stole forward as the extra man and split the posts.
When Michael Breen pointed to leave Tipperary 1-15 to 1-8 ahead at the break after another run of five scores, it meant all six forwards had scored from play.
No doubt fired up by a Fitzgerald pep-talk, Wexford picked up the slack immediately. Chin hit a 65, Paul Morris a free and after Ronan Maher thumped one over from halfway, David Dunne jinked into space to cut the gap again.
Tipperary’s second goal came as John McGrath reacted quickest to a dropping ball to lay off to Forde whose shot deceived an unsighted Mark Fanning.
It was turning into one of those nights for Wexford. Chin, otherwise putting in a serious shift from general play, hit four frees wide in the second half— all difficult attempts, mind — to go with a short range one that went abegging in the first half.
Instead of being right in touch, Tipp still had a six-point cushion at the hour mark. Conor McDonald came closest to making proper inroads into that, pulling one-handed to force a smart save from Daragh
Mooney as Wexford kept plugging away.
A cracking over-the-shoulder shot from Chin was the highlight of the visitors’ own run of five unanswered scores and they were still chipping away as the clock ticked into injury time, the same player playing in Conor McDonald who hesitated long enough to see Mooney make another fine save.
But just to highlight the difference in finishing on the night, Bonner Maher raced through from the right wing and billowed the net late on. TIPPERARY: D Mooney; S O’Brien, J Barry; D Maher; B Heffernan (B McCarthy 53), Padraic Maher, P Feehan; B Maher, R Maher; S Curran (G Browne 60), N McGrath, Patrick ‘Bonner’ Maher; M Breen (M Russell 65), J Forde, J McGrath. scorers: J Forde 2-9 (8fs, 1 s-l), P ‘Bonner’ Maher 1-2, J McGrath 0-2, M Breen, S Curran, N McGrath, B Heffernan, D Maher, R Maher, B McCarthy, Padraig Maher 0-1 each Yellow cards: J Forde 8, B Heffernan 17, J McGrath 54 WEXFORD: M Fanning; C Firman, L Ryan, D Reck; S Murphy (H Kehoe 62); D O’Keeffe (E Martin 70), M O’Hanlon, P Foley; K Foley, A Nolan; Jack O’Connor, D Dunne (C Dunbar 59), L Chin; P Morris (R O’Connor 48), C McDonald. scorers: L Chin 0-10 (4fs, 2 65s), A Nolan 1-0 (pen), P Morris 0-3 (3fs), K Foley, Jack O’Connor 0-2 each, C McDonald, S Murphy, D Dunne, R O’Connor 0-1 each Yellow card: J O’Connor 36 referee: J McGrath (Westmeath) attendance: 8,358.