Fortune doesn't favour Tipp

Tailteann Cup SF Round 2, Group 2

Down 2-18; Tipperary 0-6

Two second half goals were the icing on the cake for Down as the Ulster men brushed aside a feeble Tipperary challenge in round two of group 2 of the Tailteann Cup All-Ireland senior football championship at Semple Stadium on Sunday.

After shipping an 11-points defeat at the hands of Meath in round one, Tipperary needed a big performance here to overcome a Down side who were equally emphatic winners over Waterford in their opening game. Tipp’s poorest display of the year however never threatened to better the Mourne men though it must be said that fortune certainly did not favour the Tipp boys.

Down’s pace and movement had Tipperary on the back foot from the word go. Though Sean O Connor scored the first point of the game for Tipp, the home county were finding it hard to get out of their own half and Down went in at half-time leading 0-9 to 0-4 and full value for that advantage.

Things did not improve on the restart as Down extended their lead to 0-11 to 0-5, Teddy Doyle pointing for Tipp but in the 40th minute Tipp were awarded a penalty when Sean O Connor was fouled. Kevin Fahey sent the penalty wide and from the resumption, Mark Russell looked to have made a mark after fielding a high ball. Referee Thomas Murphy disagreed and instead penalised the Tippman for holding on too long. From the delivery Shealan Johnston got possession and finished to the Tipp net to put them 1-11 to 0-5 clear.

The missed penalty and that goal knocked the hearts out of the Tipp boys whose heads dropped in the closing stages as Down attacked in waves. They shot five points to Tipp’s one before Eamon Browne marked a significant entry from their bench with a goal in the 58th minute followed by two points, to which Jack Kennedy’s 57th minute point was Tipp’s only answer.

The final whistle couldn’t come soon enough for a dispirited Tipp contingent whose interest in this competition is, barring a miracle, at an end. Three qualify for the groups for the knock-out stages but one group will not have three representatives because of the entry of New York. Tipp have to beat Waterford in their last game to figure in the shake-up but with a minus 29 points scoring difference, and scoring difference possibly being a factor, Tipp’s chances are indeed slim.

This was surely Tipp’s poorest display of a disappointing year and no reputations were enhanced though the efforts of such as Willie Eviston, Mark Russell, Emmet Moloney, and Jack Kennedy, were commendable while goalie Michael O Reilly was also doing his utmost to get things moving from the back.

Down were by far the superior team and though flattered by the winning margin, should figure in the shake up for honours in the competition. Their key players were Pat Havern, Shealan Johnston, Danny Magill, Gerard Collins, Patrick Brannagan, and Pierce Laverty

MATCH DIGEST

Tipperary – Michael O Reilly (7); Shane O Connell (6), Jimmy Feehan (6), Willie Eviston (7); Kevin Fahey (6), Colm O Shaughnessy (6), Colman Kennedy (6); Paudie Feehan (6), Conall Kennedy (6); Emmet Moloney (7), Jack Kennedy (0-4,2fs, 7), Luke Boland (6); Mark Russell (7), Stephen Quirke (6), Sean O Connor (0-1, 6). Subs – Teddy Doyle (0-1,6) for P Feehan(h/t), James Morris (6) for Conall Kennedy (49mins), Mikey O Shea (5) for Quirke (54mins), Dean Carew (5) for Moloney (59mins); Donough Leahy (5) for O Shaughnessy(61mins)

Down – John O Hare (6); Finn McElroy (6), Pierce Laverty (6), Anthony Doherty (6); Conor Francis (6), Gerard Collins (7), Patrick Brannagan (7); Daniel MGuinness (6), Pat Havern (0-7,4fs,7); Michael Rooney (6), Ryan Johnson (0-1, 6), Odhran Murdock (6); Andrew Gilmore (0-1,6), Ruairi O Hare (6), Celium Doherty (0-1, 6). Subs – Shealan Johnston (1-2, 7) for O Hare (32mins), Donagh McAleenan (6) for Gilmore(32mins), Danny Magill (0-3, 7) for C Doherty(39mins), Ross Carr (0-1, 5) for McMcElroy (47 mins), Eamon Browne (1-2, 7) for Havern (52mins)

Ref - Thomas Murphy, Galway

Man of the Match - Mark Russell, Tipp