Paul Flynn: Small things make the difference in the end

A point a piece it was after a late Tipperary rally in Walsh Park on Saturday night.

52 scores over the course of the game that gave great entertainment in many ways. It’s the one result that keeps each county still alive in the Munster Championship for now, but after what Wexford produced against Galway in the Leinster championship, we simply cannot assume that Cork are done.

This league style knockout hurling is still finding its rhythm even after a couple of seasons so expect the unexpected. Score difference or deficit in some cases could ultimately decide the fate of teams when it comes to settling the top three positions in Munster.

For the second game in a row a Stephen Bennett goal was the tonic for the home support and the home players. After a foul on Michael Kiely, despite the best efforts of referee James Owens to stop the shot, Bennett calmly dispatched the penalty in style.

The home team brought the same intensity to the opening of the game as they did against Cork. The middle third was very crowded for the best part of the 70 minutes with both teams having a holding centre back and a two man inside forward line.

Tipperary had manufactured the space in front of our fullback line and this gave Kehoe the latitude to influence proceedings. Losing Conor Prunty early wasn’t ideal but Mark Fitzgerald stood tall and brave at full-back in his absence. Prunty may miss a couple of weeks with a reoccurring quad injury. Jack Fagan came on at half back to fill the void.

Kieran Bennett was Waterford’s stand out player for me in the opening half. He was magnificent, firstly in his primary duty of defending but his ability to marry that with winning possession and surging up field was superb.

Tipperary finished the half strongly gaining more possession around their own half backline. Ronan Maher landed a memorable point and Tipp were finding it easier to manufacture shooting chances than Waterford. A slight bit of overplaying of the ball in midfield at times caused our space inside to be neutralised before the delivery. Jack Prendergast’s goal came a vital stage to keep us in touch following a superb spot by Dessie Hutchinson.

Both Darragh and Calum Lyons have become an important part of the Déise scoring and again they contributed five points between them.

Darragh found himself on a lot of ball in the second-half and covered acres of ground but it’s that split second of delay on delivery that closes down everything inside. Calum and Tynan had a great battle throughout.

The quality of Barry Hogan’s pin point puck outs finding his players was top notch, compared to the two or three puck outs were offered up to Tipperary who gladly returned with interest. The small things make the difference in the end.

Shaun O’Brien had a fine game in goal for Waterford and he looked very secure and confident in everything he was asked to do.

Liam Cahill will be very upset at the concession of Waterford’s third goal. 100% give the credit to Dessie and Stephen, as I saw Stephen shout to Dessie but I couldn’t believe that no Tipperary defender had bothered to stand beside their opponent’s biggest and best goal threat. There was only one intention in Bennett’s mind once Dessie flicked it over to him and a class low finish to the net set Waterford up again for a strong finish.

Both sides brought in fresh legs. It was great to see Patrick Curran in and he notched two points but I felt replacing Stepen Bennett was odd at a time where scores were needed. Shane Bennett was sharp and driven when he came in what an addition to any team he is. The winning surge (or so it seemed) came from the home team and in the 71st minute when Jack Prendergast put Waterford four points ahead the man behind me starting talking about All-Ireland semi-finals.

Tipperary to their credit never gave up the ghost. A good save from a Jake Morris shot fell kindly to Kenneally who tapped home. Square ball? I haven’t seen it back but asking umpires now to call a certain square ball is hard enough but to call a marginal one, it just won’t happen, and please don’t start listening now to folks who’ll want VAR involved. The inevitable free then was given by Owens so Gearoid O’Connor could level the game. The GAA still love a draw.

Tipperary did deserve the draw and some would say maybe more than that. The argument could be made that the goals kept Waterford alive at times, but isn’t that what goals are do? Losing a central figure like Prunty so early can derail teams and I thought Waterford handled that quite well. At times in the second-half having nullified the danger the reluctance to strike first time out of the zone really did cost us.

It was like two passes first before we deliver, our forwards were never going to be allowed run with the ball as easy as they did against Cork, and surely it wasn’t a surprise then to find a Tipp defender there to block and hook.

At times we still tried to shoot under severe pressure and had the ball turned over, Limerick don’t do that. Three points on the board after our two home games I’m sure we would all have been happy with a few weeks back but now it may feel like we left a point behind, time will tell. When all is said and done it is the small things that make the difference.

Elsewhere, it’s great to see the Waterford camogie team make back-to-back Munster Finals!!