Jason Forde hit an injury time free to maintain Tipperary’s winning start to the Allianz League at the expense of old rivals Kilkenny.
The Silvermines man was the top marksman on the day with the score bringing his personal tally to 0-10, half of which came from play.
However, with the counties having served up a plethora of classic League and Championship games over the past decade, this wasn’t an encounter that will live long in the memory, though it lifted somewhat in the second half with the introduction of a number of seasoned campaigners on either side.
Even allowing for the fact that both teams are in a transitional phase and not carving up All-Irelands between them these days, the standard of the fare was surprisingly low. The striking from the two sides was very poor at times and there were 15 wides in the first half alone, 10 for Kilkenny, who dropped another three efforts short.
Indeed, Kilkenny missed two routine frees in front of the posts from John Donnelly and Cian Kenny in either half, wastefulness which ultimately proved to be their undoing.
Both teams looked to build the play with short-passing but it frequently broke down, reaching its nadir in the first half when Tipperary corner-back Cathal Barrett wildly overhit a pass back to his goalkeeper Brian Hogan, resulting in a 65 which Niall Brassil drove wide.
Even the All Star goalkeeper, Eoin Murphy, was afflicted by the mediocrity, with his errant puckout gifting Tipperary their goal.
Kilkenny won the toss and opted to play against the strong breeze in the first half but Tipperary struggled to make the most of it and were only two points clear, 0-6 to 0-4, after 20 minutes.
Four points on the trot established some daylight but then Kilkenny slotted four without reply themselves and looked to be well placed to reel Tipp in with the elements to come.
However, Barry Heffernan hit his second point of the day from distance in first half injury time and Murphy’s subsequent restart went straight to full-forward Denis Maher, who fed Jake Morris for the day’s opening goal, with referee Liam Gordon failing to penalise the Nenagh man for clearly overcarrying.
Their lead was swiftly wiped out on the restart as six Kilkenny points on the bounce restored parity in the 49th minute but with the wind having very much diminished, Tipp, helped by the introduction of Ronan Maher, found their puff and hit five of their own to march clear though sub Tadhg O’Dwyer’s 59th goal brought the Leinster champions back within two.
Padraig Walsh and his namesake Walter tagged on points to level proceedings but when the latter hauled down Barrett as he tore downfield, Forde converted the resultant free in the second minute of injury time to give Tipp a slender victory.
TIPPERARY: Brian Hogan (0-1f); Cathal Barrett, James Quigley, Craig Morgan; Dillon Quirke, Seamus Kennedy, Barry Heffernan (0-2); Alan Flynn, Michael Breen (0-1); Dan McCormack, Jason Forde (0-10, 0-5f), Ger Browne (0-1); Mark Kehoe, Denis Maher (0-1), Jake Morris (1-2).
Subs: Paddy Caddell for Breen (46), Ronan Maher (0-1) for Browne (51), Seamus Callanan for Maher (56), Paul Flynn for Kehoe (67), Conor Stakelum for McCormack (70+1).
KILKENNY: Eoin Murphy; Mikey Butler, Huw Lawlor, Evan Cody; Mikey Carey (0-1), Niall Brassil (0-1), David Blanchfield (0-1); Cian Kenny (0-1), Paddy Deegan (0-1); Richie Leahy, Padraig Walsh (0-4), Tom Phelan (0-1); Billy Ryan, Martin Keoghan (0-1), John Donnelly (0-5, 0-4f).
Subs: Tommy Walsh for Cody (4), Walter Walsh (0-2) for Phelan (46), Tadhg O’Dwyer (1-0) for Leahy (56), John Walsh for Donnelly (59).
REFEREE: Liam Gordon (Galway).
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