Kelly hits 1-8 as Tipp take time
Tipperary 2-16 Kerry 0-8
By Murt Murphy for the Irish Examiner newspaper
Waterford Crystal Cup: As expected Tipperary overcame a youthful Kerry side in this Waterford Crystal Cup quarter-final at Austin Stack Park, Tralee. However, the scoreline was far closer than most of the 357 supporters anticipated. It was only in the final 15 minutes that Tipperary’s class told, albeit in horrific conditions, with Noel McGrath and Padraic Maher coming off the bench. The game was played in a downpour but Kerry’s tactics were working early on with corner-forward Paul McGrathplaying as a third midfielder andDaniel Collins dropping back to provide cover.
Tipperary assistant manager Mick Ryan praised Kerry: “Delighted to come out of here with a win. It was very difficult out there and we were under no illusions but that it was going to be difficult. “I thought Kerry were very game and I thought they had a very good game plan in the first half.” Ryan was pleased that star forward Eoin Kelly was back, top scoring with 1-8. “It’s great to have Eoin back, really great but several of the lads did well, because those were very tough conditions on both sets of players.”
For new Kerry boss Eamonn Kelly, a Tipperary native, there was much to admire about the way his inexperienced side battled: “It was a good start, a lot of young lads who made their debuts today played well today. “Our two corner backs, Dougie Fitzell and Kevin Orpen, were very strong while wing back Seán Weir never stopped attacking and working.”
Tipperary led 0-4 to 0-3 after 21 minutes and while they were never to lose that lead, they required a brace of Michael Cahill points to move 0-9 to 0-3 clear by half-time. Kerry took the game to Tipperary on the resumption with three unanswered points, one from Philip Lucid, and two Nolan frees, to close the gap to just three points. That prompted Tipp to introduce the big guns with the likes of Noel McGrath and Padraic Maher coming off the bench, then Michael Cahill goaled in the 50th minute — after which Tipp kicked on to win by 16.
Scorers for Tipperary: E Kelly (1-8, 0-4f), M Cahill (1-2), D Collins (0-2), D Maher, N McGrath, R Maher, C O’Riordan (0-1).
Kerry scorers: S Nolan (0-5f), P Lucid, M Boyle and P Boyle (0-1).
TIPPERARY: D Egan; C Bartlett, C O’Mahony, J Peters; S McGrath, B Maher, C O’Brien; M Cahill, J Woodlock; D Maher, D Collins, Patrick B Maher; E Kelly, P Murphy, C Kenny.
Subs: N McGrath for P Murphy (h/t), Padraic Maher for J Woodlock (48), R Maher for P B Maher (52, C O’Riordan for D Collins (69).
KERRY: T Flynn; D Fitzell, T Casey, K Orpen; S Weir, J Leahy, Brendan O’Leary; P Lucid , D Collins; M Boyle, S Nolan, C O Brien; PJ Connolly, P Boyle, P McGrath.
Subs: D Dineen for T Casey (29 inj), R Heffernan for P McGrath (35), P O’Connor for C O’Brien (48), K Dineen for R Heffernan (50), Brian O’Leary for P Lucid (65).
Referee: D O’Driscoll (Limerick)
For the Record
| Tipperary | Kerry | |
| 2013 Waterford Crystal Cup Performance | Defeated Limerick and LIT before losing to Clare by 1-21 to 1-13 in the Final. | Defeated IT Tralee before losing to LIT by 1-25 to 3-7 in the Quarter-Final |
| Number of Waterford Crystal Cup Senior Hurling titles | 3 | 0 |
| Last Waterford Crystal Cup Senior Hurling Title | 2012 | N/A |
| Waterford Crystal Cup Senior Hurling Record since 2006 | Played – 21 Won – 16 Lost – 5 Drawn – 0 |
Played – 10 Won – 2 Lost – 8 Drawn – 0 |
Waterford Crystal Cup Senior Hurling 2014
Preliminary Round
Friday January 10th
@ Mick Neville Park Rathkeale Limerick 10-17 IT Tralee 0-9
Sunday January 12th
@ WIT GAA Grounds Carriganore University of Limerick 1-11 Waterford 0-10
@ MacDonagh Park Nenagh Tipperary 3-20 LIT 0-5
Quarter-Finals (Extra Time)
Sunday January 19th
@ Austin Stack Park Tralee Kerry v Tipperary @ 1:00pm
@ WIT GAA Grounds Carriganore WIT v UL @ 2:00pm
@ Sixmilebridge Clare v Limerick @ 2:00pm
@ Mardyke UCC v Mary I @ 2:00pm
Semi-Finals (Extra Time)
Sunday January 26th
Kerry or Tipperary v WIT or UL
Clare or Limerick v UCC or Mary I
Final (Extra Time)
Sunday February 2nd
Waterford Crystal Cup Senior Hurling – Odds and Ends
Since the Waterford Crystal Cup began in 2006, Clare (18 wins), Tipperary (16 wins) and Waterford (13 wins) have accounted for 47 of the 84 victories in the competition (56%).
Tipperary hold the record for the longest winning streak in the Waterford Crystal Cup since the competition began under that guise in 2006 when they won 10 consecutive matches between 2007 and 2009.
Limerick have not defeated an inter-county team in the Waterford Crystal Cup since the 2006 semi-final when they defeated Clare by 1-14 to 0-13 at the Gaelic Grounds Limerick.
Clare are the only team who have won at least one game each year since the Waterford Crystal Cup competition began in 2006. Clare also have the best won / lost record in the competition, winning 18 and drawing 1 of their 25 matches played while winning 2 titles.
35 goals were scored in the 2013 Waterford Crystal Cup competition over 11 matches (an average of 3.2 goals per match). This is the exact same number of goals scored in the 2012 competition while only 23 goals were scored in the 2011 competition over 10 matches (an average of 2.3 goals per match).
None of the five teams who take part in the Munster Senior Hurling Championship have a losing record in the Waterford Crystal Cup since 2006.
Since the Waterford Crystal Cup began in 2006, 69 games have been played with just 1 draw – the 2012 Limerick v Clare Quarter-Final after two periods of extra time.
The record of the Third Level Colleges in the Waterford Crystal Cup since 2006 is Won 22, Lost 47, a 32% success rate.
Waterford have lost their last 3 matches in the Waterford Crystal Cup having won 8 in a row from 2010 to 2012.
IT Tralee is the only team not to win a game in the Waterford Crystal Cup since 2006, losing their first match in the last 7 seasons.
Waterford Crystal Cup Senior Hurling Roll Of Honour
Tipperary (3) – 2007, 2008, 2012
Waterford (2) – 2010, 2011
Clare (2) – 2009, 2013
Limerick (1) – 2006
By Jonathan Cullen Sun 19th Jan
