One of the great Tipperary victories
Heroic...Gutsy...Resilient!
There aren't enough of superlatives to describe Tipperary's second half performance as they overcame numerous obstacles, including a fine Wexford side, to progress to another All Ireland Final showdown with Kilkenny.
Should Tipperary go onto win their 28th All Ireland on the third Sunday in August, when reflecting on the 2019 campaign in years to come, this semi-final will live long in the memory.
It wasn't just the situation Tipperary found themselves in after 50 minutes, five points down and a man short following the sending off of John McGrath five minutes earlier. They were in a worse situation last year when eleven down to Waterford after 53 minutes but this was an altogether different scenario.
Outnumbered in the stands and it seemed on the field such was Wexford's running game that opened up Tipp at will and with an extra man, they'd surely create the chances to keep the scoreboard ticking over and win the game.
However, what Wexford had in terms of pace and skill, they lacked in experience and that is what stood to Tipperary in that closing period as they chipped away at the Leinster champions lead, not once, but twice after Conor McDonald's 60th minute goal which should have got Wexford back on track with a three point lead.
The remarkable aspect of the Tipperary recovery in the last 25 minutes of game-time was their coolness under pressure. Even with the frantic nature of the game and some big refereeing calls that went against them, they never lost the rag, well apart from John McGrath whose frustration got the better of him in flicking out at Damien Reck, picking up a second yellow card, and landing his team-mates in a right mess.
Well, John owes them one in the final, and a big one at that as the remaining fourteen players, plus all five subs sprang from the bench almost went into auto-pilot for the rest of the game. As the drama increased, Tipperary actually became more composed on the ball, working the ball cleverly coming out of defense, taking Wexford's spare man in Kevin Foley virtually out of play. Seamus Kennedy's pass for Noel McGrath's third point, Jason Forde's dinked pass to Willie Connors for his point, scores of immense quality under the severest of pressure.
Already in adversity down to fourteen men, the players also had to cope with three goals being ruled out while Wexford's third goal could have been classed as a square ball. It won't go down as Sean Cleere's best refereeing performance but in looking at each incident, they have got to be looked at coolly.
To read more, pick up a copy of this weeks Nenagh Guardian locally or subscribe to our e-paper to access it online each Wednesday.