Allianz HL Division 1 Group B: Tipperary 4-23 Waterford 0-25
Jake Morris became the first player to strike a League hat-trick for Tipperary against Waterford since 1965 as his side sealed top spot in Division 1B and a place in the League semi-finals.
The Nenagh star completed his first inter-county hat-trick as Tipp outscored the Déise by 3-8 to 0-6 in the final 15 minutes plus stoppages in which time Waterford had Jamie Barron sent off.
Liam Cahill, who led Waterford to four League and Championship wins in a row against Tipperary, will be happy to have overseen his countymen in ending that streak in a game played with plenty of bite.
Austin Gleeson had more than earned his starting place with 15 points off the bench in three games but he didn’t get many more minutes from the start. He was closely tagged by Dan McCormack and hauled off after 30 minutes with one wide and no score to his name.
McCormack also advanced forward to set up Morris’s first goal in the eighth minute to bring the sides level at 1-1 to 0-4 Back-to-back Calum Lyons points edged Waterford ahead but they went without a score between the 14th and 34th minutes.
The Tipp half-back line was dominant under the puck-out while Johnny Ryan and Michael Breen kept Dessie Hutchinson and Stephen Bennett under close surveillance. Breen may count himself lucky to have stayed on the field, though, after a sideline incident with Bennett which saw the full-back yellow-carded.
Tipp strung eight points together in that spell, seven from Gearóid O’Connor who was having a flawless day on placed balls, to make it 1-11 to 0-7.
Tipp had no wide until O’Connor missed from play in the 35th minute and their other misses all came when eyeing goal. Séamus Callanan, who came off injured midway through the half, and Morris were denied by Billy Nolan while Patrick Maher was denied by Barron’s flying block.
Waterford had seven wides by the half but Barron broke their scoreless streak with a pair, added to by two Bennett frees to narrow the gap to four. 1-12 to 0-11 at the interval.
They returned determined to trouble Rhys Shelly more in the Tipp goal. Within four minutes, Jack Prendergast, switched into full-forward, whizzed shots wide and just over the bar while Neil Montgomery had another angled effort wide.
By the time Cahill called Jason Forde off the bench, Tipp had fallen behind. Tadhg de Búrca, in his first game of 2023, was growing in influence at centre-back as Lyons, Iarlaith Daly, and Prendergast struck points. 0-17 to 1-13 now.
But the game turned between the 55th and 58th minutes, in which time Tipp rattled two goals and Waterford were reduced to 14 men.
A Kehoe flick forced the turnover for Morris to bury his second goal before Barron saw red for an off-the-ball clash with Conor Stakelum.
Then Bryan O’Mara and Ronan Maher combined from the puck-out to send Conor Bowe into space and with his first touch, he rattled the net. Forde points either side of the goals made it 2-2 without reply for a seven-point lead.
Patrick Fitzgerald came off the bench to slot two quick-fire points but Tipp ended any hopes of a comeback with Morris’s third goal, set up by a wonderful reverse pass from Forde, who ended with 0-6.
Scorers for Tipperary: J Morris (3-0); G O’Connor (0-9, 8 frees); J Forde (0-6, 1 free); C Bowe (1-0); C Stakelum, M Kehoe (0-2 each); A Tynan, N McGrath, P Maher (0-1 each).
Scorers for Waterford: S Bennett (0-8 frees); C Lyons (0-4); J Prendergast, Patrick Fitzgerald (2 frees) (0-3 each); J Barron (0-2), I Daly, N Montgomery, D Hutchinson, C Dunford, Paudie Fitzgerald (0-1 each).
TIPPERARY: R Shelly; Johnny Ryan, M Breen, E Connolly; D McCormack, B O’Mara, R Maher; C Stakelum, A Tynan; G O’Connor, N McGrath, S Kennedy; J Morris, P Maher, S Callanan.
Subs: M Kehoe for Callanan (20 inj), J Forde for Tynan (48), C Bowe for O’Connor (57), J McGrath for Bowe (67 inj), J Campion for N McGrath (69).
WATERFORD: B Nolan; C Prunty, I Daly, M Fitzgerald; C Lyons, T de Búrca, S McNulty; A Gleeson, J Barron; N Montgomery, J Prendergast, P Curran; D Hutchinson, S Bennett, C Dunford.
Subs: C Daly for McNulty (16-24 blood), K Mahony for Gleeson (30), C Daly for Curran (h-t), C Ryan for Prunty (h-t), Patrick Fitzgerald for Bennett (59), Paudie Fitzgerald for Dunford (64).
Red card: J Barron (56).
Referee: J Owens (Wexford).
