Oisin O'Donoghue nets first Munster SHC goal as Tipperary book place in All-Ireland series with win over Waterford

The Irish Sun

18-05-2025

LIAM CAHILL says Tipperary have atoned for the 'embarrassment' of last year as they progressed from the Munster Championship.
Oisín O'Donoghue's first Championship goal fired the Premier through to the All-Ireland SHC series with a nine-point win over Waterford.
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Tipperary beat Waterford in the Munster hurling championship
Credit: Ray McManus/Sportsfile
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Andrew Ormond, right, was Player of the Match
Credit: Tyler Miller/Sportsfile
Tipp had not beaten the Déise in the Championship since 2019.
They also failed to win back-to-back Championship matches since 2019 and had not won a SHC match at home since then either.
All of those items were crossed off the bucket list in front of 28,758 fans at Semple Stadium.
Cahill declared: 'We, and I say management, coaches, everybody involved, didn't represent that jersey correctly last year. It weighed very hard on us over the winter.
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'We took unbelievable inspiration from our minors last year with the way they grounded out the All-Ireland.
'Leaving Nowlan Park, I was so happy to be a Tipperary man but I was also so embarrassed that our flagship team didn't follow that and set that trend.
'We had to rely on a group of younger players in Tipperary to show us the Tipperary way.
'My players acknowledge that. We've made the necessary adjustments to the personnel in the dressing room and they've gone after everything they've been asked.
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'They've backed me to the hilt in what I had to do. Everybody has worked extremely hard and I'm just happy now that we're one of the three out of Munster.'
In the All-Ireland minor final that Cahill referenced, Tipp battled for an hour with 13 players before seeing off Kilkenny.
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And just four days on from their latest underage success at Munster Under-20 level, Cahill hailed his young stars for their contribution.
O'Donoghue was the man of the match in Wednesday's win and shone for the seniors in Thurles yesterday. He came on in the 68th minute with his side up by three and found the net with his first touch.
It was the first goal Waterford conceded in the Championship this year.
O'Donoghue then closed the victory with Tipp's 30th point in the final play.
Having served his ban, Darragh McCarthy was a late addition to the starting team in place of Noel McGrath.
The Toomevara teenager teed up O'Donoghue's goal, slotted over 11 frees and was controversially denied a black-card penalty against Ian Kenny.
Tipp Under-20 captain Sam O'Farrell also found the target from midfield.
Andrew Ormond is a couple of years older but was able to turn in a man-of- the-match display on his third Championship start.
He scored 0-3 and was fouled for five scoreable frees.
A sixth foul should have led to a penalty but Seán Stack played advantage and John McGrath batted over the crossbar.
'BIG STANDARDS'
Cahill added: 'There are big standards here in Tipperary. Always have been. When you don't adhere to them, there are consequences. We're in a transition period here in Tipperary.
'But we won't be able to play that card forever. I'll be the first to admit that.'
After a ten-minute delay due to crowd congestion, Tipp had to weather an early Waterford storm.
And it took the visitors just 12 seconds to rattle the net.
Stephen Bennett was allowed to catch the sliotar uncontested and bounced home to surpass Paul Flynn as the Déise's all-time Championship top scorer.
He finished with 1-9 to his name.
They moved 1-3 to 0-1 ahead but Bennett missed three early frees to let Tipp off the hook.
The hosts settled with four consecutive points, including Jason Forde's first of two sideline cuts, before Ormond brought the sides level.
By that juncture, Waterford had struck nine wides to Tipp's two.
There was another penalty controversy at the other end. Stack awarded Kevin Mahony a free when he appeared to have been fouled inside the box. Bennett tapped over for a 0-16 to 1-10 half-time deficit.
Tipp resumed with four of the first five points into the breeze. Waterford came back with six unanswered points to level.
Led by McCarthy, the Premier replied by slotting over six successive points.
Waterford notched the next three but O'Donoghue's green flag finished them off.
The Déise's hopes of progressing from the Munster SHC for the first time will come down to a final-round trip to Cork.
TIPPERARY
: R Shelly; R Doyle, M Breen, E Connolly 0-3, 2f; B O'Mara, C Morgan, R Maher; S O'Farrell 0-1, W Connors; C Stakelum, A Ormond 0-3, J Morris 0-4; D McCarthy 0-11f, J McGrath 0-2, J Forde 0-3, 2 s-l.
Subs
: D Stakelum for Connors 47-52 mins; N McGrath 0-1 for C Stakelum 51; D Stakelum for O'Farrell 52; S Kenneally 0-1 for J McGrath 57; O O'Donoghue 1-1 for Forde 68; S Kennedy for Morgan 70.
WATERFORD
: B Nolan; I Daly, C Prunty, I Kenny; P Leavey 0-1, T de Búrca, M Fitzgerald; G Fives, D Lyons 0-1 s-l; M Kiely 0-2, J Barron 0-4, J Prendergast; K Mahony 0-1, Stephen Bennett 1-9, 0-7f, D Hutchinson 0-1.
Subs
: Patrick Fitzgerald 0-1 for Mahony 46 mins; Shane Bennett for Fives 55; P Curran for Kiely 61; S Walsh 0-1 for Hutchinson 65; T Barron for Daly 70+2.
REFEREE
: S Stack (Dublin).