February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
By Sean O’Reilly
Tipperary 1-22, Kilkenny 0-7
Dark clouds loomed over Gaelic Park on Sunday as these two teams took to the field. The rain didn’t come, however, though Kilkenny may wish it had.
Kilkenny took the lead for the first and only time after their best player, Vinnie Norton, fired over a free from 30 yards. But Toomevara star Ken Dunne had canceled this score by the fifth minute and from then on Tipp were in control.
The winners signaled their intent early on with scores from Jack O’Donnell, Tom Moylan and Dunne. Kilkenny’s only reply was from midfielder Norton (0-3) and a point from Damien Mason. Dunne was unstoppable in attack. He punished the opposition at every opportunity and had racked up 8 points by halftime, leaving Kilkenny trailing by 1-12 to 0-5.
Tom Moylan was also proving a handful up front, contributing three points to the halftime total.
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The goal came in the 20th minute from corner forward O’Donnell. He managed to flick the sliothar past Kevin Corbett after a mistake in defense.
The second half followed a similar pattern to the first with Dunne firing over scores from every angle. He had Tipperary 11 points ahead after 2 minutes, and while Norton replied with a fine score, from then until the final whistle, it was target practice for the winners.
The game turned scrappy in the second half with some heavy tackles going in on either side. This led to the sending off of Kilkenny’s Jerome Edge after an altercation with Mark Comerford. John Madden benefited from his free role and he chipped in with three points. Tom Moylan caused all sorts of problems also and he contributed another three points before the end.
Kilkenny managed only one other score for the entire half this came from Damien Mason in the 25th minute. When stand-in referee Jimmy Naughton blew the final whistle, he brought an end to Kilkenny’s misery after an 18-point defeat.
Kilkenny’s best on the day were Liam Burns, Kevin Corbett, Vinnie Norton and Damien Mason up front.
Tipperary were by far the better team and had exceptional performers in Ken Dunne, Owen Cummins, Tom Moylan and John Madden.
Tipperary: C. Dorian, D. Cummins, J. Lyons, S. Sheppard, O. Cummins, J. Madden (0-3), D. O’Meara, K. Dunne (0-12), M. Kennedy, J. Slattery, J. O’Donnell (1-1), T. Moylan (0-6). Subs: Eoin O’ Connor.
Kilkenny: K. Corbett, O. Mullaly, J. Doyle, L. Byrne, P. Breen, J. Edge, V. Norton (0-5), M. Kennedy, F. Hughes, M. Burke, R. Hogan, D. Mason (0-2), T. Spillane. Subs: Kieran McCormack.