February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
By Pierce O’Reilly
Tipperary 3-7, Galway 1-5
Galway and Tipperary entertained the enthuastic crowd in the second game at Gaelic Park on Sunday. The junior hurlers were filling in for the seniors, who had a rest Sunday before their championship clash with Down at the weekend. While the first half of this encounter was close and evenly contested, Galway failed miserably in the fitness stages in the second half.
The Tribesmen hurled their hearts out in the opening 30 minutes, with points from Eamon Sheilds, David Dunne and Sean O’Donoghue. Tipperary were stuck to the ground in the opening half and managed to register only a point, Ronnie Quinlan hitting that score after 15 minutes. The westerners had a 6-point advantage at the interval and yet inside five minutes of the restart it was wilted away.
Tipperay were a transformed side in the second half, and with Sean Shepard outstanding at center back, they hit score after score in quick succession. Shepard drove a penalty to the Galway net after five minutes, and with an excellent goal and two points from Jack O’Donnell, who was now operating in attack, the premier county took the lead for the first time.
Galway were stunned. They got only a point from Enda Lohan in the entire second half and their fitness levels were inferior to a much more determined and committed Tipp outfit. When Tony O’Brien hit the net for Tipp’s third goal, the deal was done and the Tribesmen had being gunned down.
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Tipperary: John Carey, Jack O’Donnell 1-2, Donal Cummins, Steve Carty, Sean Shepard 1-2, Declan Burke, Keith McAdam, Willie Hackett, Paul Hogan, Ronnie Quinlan 0-1, Paul Casey, Shane Quinlan, Robert Stevenson. Subs: Andy Carr 0-2. Tony O’Brien 1-0.
Galway: Mick O’Rourke, Mick Deere, Vincent Ruane, Tony Dunne, Sean Nolan, Enda Lally, Eamon Sheilds 0-1, Dave Dunne 0-1, Mark Conway, Mark Murnell 1-0, Sean Donoghue 0-2, Rory Stankert, Enda Lohan 0-1.