A JAKE MORRIS hat trick fired Tipperary into the Allianz League semi-finals as 14-man Waterford suffered a second half meltdown in Thurles.
Having whittled a seven-point deficit down to four at half-time before going ahead early in the second half, a disastrous four-minute period saw Waterford concede 2-2 along with suffering a straight red card to Jamie Barron following an off the ball incident with Conor Stakelum.
Suddenly leading by seven points with 12 minutes to go and an extra man, Tipp romped to a fourth victory from as many outings to confirm a spot in the last four with a game to spare, with Morris completing his hat trick late on to ensure an emphatic victory as Liam Cahill’s dream start as manager continued against the side he managed for the last three years.
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Waterford remain in second spot in Division 1B ahead of the rest of the weekend’s matches but are likely to be overtaken and are losing their grip on the League title that Cahill steered them to last year.
How much that will bother them is debatable but after starting both halves brightly, they were eventually swamped by Tipp.
The holders were three points to the good after as many minutes, but it could have been even better but for a terrific block by Bryan O’Mara on Stephen Bennett after he dithered with a goal on as they hit Tipperary on the break.
With Seamus Callanan having already drawn a save from Billy Nolan, Tipp settled with the help of Morris’s first goal, brilliantly taken from a tight angle after taking Dan McCormack’s pass in the seventh minute and though the sides swapped points in what was a lively opening, the home side soon took charge.
Having not conceded a single free in the first quarter, Waterford’s discipline deserted them as Tipp’s hard running caused them problems.
Gearoid O’Connor converted Tipp’s first free to draw them level in the 17th minute, starting a run of seven points without reply, six of them from O’Connor and all bar one of them placed balls.
Barron ended what was a 21-minute scoring lapse for Waterford approaching half-time and they hit four of the last five points approaching the break to reduce the deficit from seven points to four, 1-12 to 0-11, at the changeover.
Again, Waterford did the early running from restart and were hungry for goals with Jack Prendergast and Neil Montgomery fizzing efforts past Rhys Shelly’s left-hand post but they found scores from elsewhere and Prendergast’s point put them back in front in the 48th minute.
They regained a one-point lead with Colin Dunford’s 54th minute effort but, with Tipp emptying the bench to good effect, Waterford were blown away coming down the stretch.
Morris got in for his second goal a minute later and sub Conor Bowe slotted after Barron’s red card to put the result beyond doubt.
With Jason Forde slotting 0-6 off the bench and fellow sub John McGrath playing Morris in for his third goal in the 68th minute, Tipp skated to victory and ensured that they’ve already won more League and Championship games in 2023 than they did in the whole of 2022.
TIPPERARY: R Shelly; J Ryan, B O’Mara, E Connolly; D McCormack, R Maher M Breen; C Stakelum (0-2), A Tynan (0-1); G O’Connor (0-9, 0-7f, 0-1 ‘65’), N McGrath (0-1), S Kennedy (0-1); J Morris (3-0), P Maher (0-1), S Callanan.
Subs: M Kehoe (0-2) for Callanan (20), J Forde (0-6, 0-1f) for Tynan (48), C Bowe (1-0) for O’Connor (57), J McGrath for Bowe (67), J Campion for N McGrath (69).
WATERFORD: B Nolan; I Daly (0-1), C Prunty, M Fitzgerald; C Lyons (0-4), T de Burca, S McNulty; N Montgomery (0-1), J Barron (0-2); J Prendergast (0-3), S Bennett (0-8f), A Gleeson; D Hutchinson (0-1), P Curran, C Dunford (0-1).
Subs: K Mahony for Gleeson (30), C Daly for Curran (HT), C Ryan for Prunty (HT), Patrick Fitzgerald (0-3, 0-2f) for Bennett (59), Paudie Fitzgerald (0-1) for Dunford (64).
REFEREE: J Owens (Wexford).
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