Tipperary defeat Kilkenny as red cards rain down
A bizarre Allianz Hurling League contest saw 14-man Tipperary earn a 2-25 to 1-19 victory over 12-man Kilkenny to consolidate their position on top of Division 1A.
A game played in good spirits in front of 9,563 fans at Nowlan Park was transformed, with four players sent off between the 43rd and 53rd minutes.
The first three were all given by Seán Stack as straight red cards for contact with the head.
Alan Tynan received the first for his tackle on Cian Kenny, which looked similar to Richie Hogan's infamous red in this fixture during the 2019 All-Ireland final.
The next three were for the Cats. From the puck-out, David Blanchfield saw red for swinging back at Andrew Ormond.
Centre-back Mikey Carey followed him off in the 49th minute for pushing out at Darragh McCarthy, although the contact was far lighter.
Both half-backs had already been booked but Stack didn’t reach for a second yellow.
He did in the case of Jordan Molloy, who came in with a late tackle on Eoghan Connolly.
Darragh McCarthy won man-of-the-match honours for striking 12 points (11 frees), while Craig Morgan and full debutant Oisín O’Donoghue buried first-half goals.
After his Cork cameo, TJ Reid made his first start of 2025 in an entirely new full-forward line between Billy Drennan and Gearóid Dunne. The Ballyhale star ended with 0-13 from placed balls but they had just two scorers from play.
His clubmate Eoin Cody was marked absent despite being named on the programme while Huw Lawlor was another late withdrawal, with Pádraic Moylan drafted in.
Liam Cahill rewarded under-20 graduate O’Donoghue with a full debut while John McGrath got his first start in exactly 12 months alongside him at full-forward.
The hosts won the toss and took the wind but they never got their noses in front.
Tipperary forward Darragh McCarthy tormented the Kilkenny defence at Nowlan Park
Their hard-working defence got in a couple of early blocks but Tipp recovered possession both times for Sam O’Farrell and McCarthy points.
However, the Premier overcarried the sliotar twice to hand back scores to Reid and Blanchfield.
It took 15 minutes to register their first point from play via Martin Keoghan and even that was initially waved wide before the linesman intervened.
Keoghan levelled the scores at 0-07 apiece but Tipp then lashed 1-04 without reply.
The 25th-minute goal came from an innocuous position as Gearóid O’Connor rolled a sideline to Morgan, who skinned Tommy Walsh and bounced an acute effort to the net.
O’Farrell nailed an audacious attempt before Barry Hogan was called into action to deny Keoghan after a silky first touch created the opening.
Tipp didn’t hit a wide until the 31st minute and they added their second goal by the 33rd.
Joe Caesar won possession for a move that ended with McCarthy beating Walsh and laying off for fellow teenager O’Donoghue to finish.
Caesar added his first senior score for an eight-point lead but Kilkenny closed with a Dunne goal created by Billy Ryan from a speculative ball in.
Trailing 2-13 to 1-10 at half-time, Derek Lyng didn’t hold back, making a triple substitution. Walsh, Peter McDonald and Drennan were pulled, with Shane Murphy, Richie Reid and John Donnelly introduced. The latter pair were on for their first involvement of this campaign.
A tussle during that 10 minute spell when four players were sent off
There was still a six-point difference when Tynan saw red and Kilkenny were five behind as they were reduced to 14, 13, and then 12 men.
Tipp substitute Dylan Walsh rattled the Kilkenny net, but Stack’s whistle had already blown to give a free for overcarrying.
They outscored the Cats by 0-08 to 0-04 in the 20 minutes played at 14 versus 12, with Noel McGrath slotting a stoppage-time brace.
Kilkenny: E Murphy; T Walsh, M Butler, P Moylan; D Blanchfield (0-01f), M Carey, P Deegan; P McDonald, J Molloy; M Keoghan (0-04), C Kenny, B Ryan; B Drennan, G Dunne (1-01), TJ Reid (0-13, 11f, 2 65s).
Subs: J Donnelly for Drennan (h-t), S Murphy for Walsh (h-t), R Reid for McDonald (h-t), F Mackessy for Dunne (58), Z Bay Hammond for Kenny (66).
Tipperary: B Hogan; M Breen, R Doyle, E Connolly; J Caesar (0-01), R Maher (0-02), B O'Mara (0-01); C Morgan (1-00), S O'Farrell (0-03); O O'Donoghue (1-00), A Tynan (0-01), G O'Connor; J McGrath (0-02), J Morris, D McCarthy (0-12, 11f).
Subs: A Ormond for O’Donoghue (h-t), D Walsh for J McGrath (51), W Connors (0-01) for Caesar (57), N McGrath (0-02) for O’Connor (64), S Kennedy for Morris (70).
Referee: S Stack (Dublin).
Comments (0)