Tipperary hold off Wicklow

 

Tipperary      1-14         Wicklow 1-11

Tipperary withstood a brave late charge by Wicklow before ensuring their place in the next round of the Intermediate championship in Birr on Saturday afternoon.

Tipperary, who played with great composure in the first half, took a deserved 0-11 to 0-7 lead to the break with Gillian O’Brien and Lorraine O’Shea causing all sorts of problems for the Leinster side.

However, Wicklow did not stand back and both sides were level at 0-3 apiece after an entertaining opening ten minutes before Tipperary produced some sparking football to score the next seven points unanswered.

Wicklow with Sarah Hogan and Loretta Gilbert becoming more prominent showed real character and outscored Tipp 0-4 to 0-1 in the last 7 minutes of the half to see them trail by just four at the break.

Spurred on again by O’Shea who goaled on the 35^th minute and by O’Brien who added a brace of points, Tipperary were back in a comfortable position early in the second period but instead of kicking on, the wheels began to come off the cart as Wicklow began to press. Robert Hollingsworth saw his side spurn a number of good scoring chances as Wicklow kicked 4 wides before Laura Hogan got her sides first score in 15 minutes but Tipperary still led 1-13 to 0-9 with the Premier outfit drifting deeper to defend their lead.

Ciara Byrne’s 53^rd minute goal for Wicklow was deserved for the chances they were creating and with the dismissal of O’Brien to a yellow; it seemed that Wicklow had every chance to claw back the deficit. Further points by Lorna Fusciardi and Hogan reduced the gap to just two but John Leahy’s side through Lorraine O’Shea added a late point to see his side end a run of 3 successive defeats.

Afterwards Leahy was understandably delighted with his side’s victory “It’s wonderful for these girls to have achieved the win, we played great football at stages and we showed some incredible character to hold on at the end when we were down a player and it looked as if it was going away from us. It is a good step in the right direction, we are not the same side as we were last season and we are trying to re build a team that can contend for finals in the future. We laid down a solid foundation today and with the minors in the All Ireland final it is all positive. There is a great pool of young talent coming through and it is very early days for us. I am really proud of the players today, the efforts that they have put in over the last few months despite results going against us, they stuck with it and we’re delighted to be in the next round” He concluded

Leahy was dealt a blow before throw in with Aisling McCarthy crying off through injury but hopes to have the Cahir player back for Round 2.

In a strange, twist both sides contained members of the Foxrock/Cabinteely who had played in the Dublin Senior County final just less than 24 hours before. Sinead Delahunty of Tipperary played against her club mates Lorna Fusciardi and Laurie Ahern who lined out for Wicklow. Indeed The Dublin side had four players in total playing on the day as Westmeath Full forward Fiona Claffey playing in the Senior game directly afterwards against Clare.

 

Teams:

Tipperary: Lauren Fitzpatrick, Sinead Delahunty, Emma Buckley, Elaine Kelly, Gemma O’Dwyer, Barbara Ryan, Niamh Lonergan, Gillian O’Brien 0-6 (0-1F), Bernie Ryan, Aimee Pollard, Lorraine O’Shea 1-6, Laura Dillon 0-1, Elaine Butler 0-1, Sarah Everard, Caoimhe Boles

Subs: Louise Cadell for Caoimhe Boles (H/T), Maria Curley for Elaine Butler (49), Hazel Shanahan for Gemma O’Dwyer (56)

 

Wicklow: Emer Miley, Sorcha Doyle, Aine Byrne, Emily Mulhall, Sarah Miley, Sarah Hogan, Ciara Byrne 0-1, Jackie Kinch, Loretta Gilbert 0-1, Molly Cullen, Laurie Ahern 0-2, Laura Hogan 0-2, Rose Fagan, Sara Delahunt 0-3, Ailbhe Carney 0-1

Subs: Lorna Fusciardi for Laura Hogan (22), Claire Turner for Ailbhe Carney (40), Stephanie Martin for Ciara Byrne (46)

Referee: Colm Mc Manus