FORDE FIESTA
Jason goes through the gears to end Wexford’s winning run
Tipperary 3-21 Wexford 1-21
JASON FORDE shot 2-9 to bring Wexford’s winning start to the league to an end.
The Tipp full-forward, suspended after an altercation with Wexford manager Davy Fitzgerald when these two sides last met, was outstanding at Semple Stadium.
There was little between the teams in the opening quarter but Tipperary then pulled away to open up a 1-15 to 1-8 interval lead.
Wexford were out of the blocks quickly and led by 0-4 to 0-1 after seven minutes, but only managed 1-4 for the remainder of the half.
Kevin Foley landed two of those early points from distance but Sean Curran, Jason Forde and John Mcgrath settled the Premier County.
Tipperary hit the front for the first time after 13 minutes when Curran flicked the ball across and Forde lifted it and struck it superbly to the back of the net.
That lifted the Tipperary supporters in the crowd of 8,358 and Forde quickly followed with a free to lead by 1-4 to 0-5 after 15 minutes.
Paul Morris pulled back a point for Wexford and Aidan Nolan slotted an 18th minute penalty after Lee Chin was pulled down by Barry Heffernan.
Morris followed with a free but Wexford only managed one point in the remaining 15 minutes of the opening half.
Tipperary took over and went on a scoring spree which yielded 0-11 in 15 minutes as all six forwards found the target before the break, with Forde going in at the break with 1-7 in the bag.
Lee Chin and Morris pulled back points in the opening four minutes of the second-half for Wexford, but Tipperary responded with an excellent point from distance by Ronan Maher.
David Dunne hit back for Wexford before John Mcgrath set Forde up for his second goal and found the net with a bouncing shot to make it 2-16 to 1-11 after 43 minutes.
There were still eight points between them on 56 minutes after both sides landed three points each, before Forde hit a superb sideline for Tipp to lead by 2-20 to 1-14 with ten minutes left.
Both sides missed good chances but Wexford rallied and hit four points in a row from Chin (two), Shaun Murphy and Rory O’connor to leave five between the sides with five minutes remaining.
Another free from distance from Chin cut the gap further but Padraic Maher steadied Tipp nerves with a fine point from out the field.
His goalkeeper Daragh Mooney produced a stunning save to deny Conor Mcdonald and then Tipperary broke back down the field for ‘Bonner’ Maher to wrap up the issue with a fine goal.