All-Ireland SHC semi-final: Tipperary 4-20 Kilkenny 0-30
Oisín O’Donoghue scored an outrageous goal in the last minute of normal time as a 14-man Tipperary set up a first ever All-Ireland SHC Final against Cork.
It was an All-Ireland semi-final in which new blue and gold heroes were created but it was also an afternoon some of the county’s old warriors stormed the Kilkenny barricades once again.
When all seemed lost, Tipp found a steely defiance from somewhere – a kind of resolve nobody was quite certain this bunch possessed. But there it was on full display in front of 60,738 spectators at Croke Park.
O’Donoghue’s wonder goal. Jason Forde’s unerring accuracy when he was needed most. Noel McGrath’s sheer bullheaded refusal to be beaten. Robert Doyle’s goal-line block. Tipp, Tipp, Tipp.
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But Kilkenny will look back on this game with huge regret. One they left behind. They led by two points in the 63rd minute – five minutes after Tipp had been reduced to 14 men when Darragh McCarthy was sent off on a second yellow card. But they simply couldn’t bury Tipp.
After McCarthy was issued his marching orders following a second yellow for clipping Eoin Murphy on the hand, Tipperary were trailing by one point. But for the remainder of the match they outscored Kilkenny 1-4 to 0-4, the Leinster champions managing just four points despite their numerical advantage coming down the home stretch.
At the other end of the field, Forde was immense during the closing stages, scoring his side’s last three points. Noel McGrath had one point to his name for a few hours too – but that was wiped out after confusion over the awarding of that late score. It was a regrettable incident as chasing a four-point gap rather than a three-point gap influenced how Kilkenny approached those final minutes of the fixture.
Still, the pivotal moment of the game was O’Donoghue’s 69th-minute goal. The Cashel King Cormacs man was only on the field six minutes when he found himself barrelling through on the Kilkenny goal. His progress was impeded and James Owens signalled for an advantage. A free was incoming, but on he went.
Somehow, with all of Kilkenny descending upon him, O’Donoghue got a shot off, the sliotar arching high over Murphy’s outstretched dive and smacking in under the roof of the net. It was a thing of beauty. For the briefest moment, Croke Park fell to a stunned silence before shaking on its foundations.
Tipp were doing to Kilkenny what Kilkenny had done to other for years – breaking their spirit with a goal in the dying seconds. The goal put Tipperary three ahead and while many were still trying to figure out what had just happened, McGrath seized the opportunity and popped over his point.
Just like that, the contest had gone from level to Tipp leading by four. With four minutes of time added on, the Cats laid siege to the Canal End goal. A point from Jordan Molloy reduced the gap to three and then in the dying embers of the game John Donnelly momentarily thought he had forced extra-time, watching as his shot blazed beyond Rhys Kelly and whizzed onward, goal-bound.
But Doyle had placed himself on the goal-line, the Tipp corner back batting the ball away to safety. There would be no way through for Kilkenny. Not on this day. The final whistle sounded seconds later. Tipp had pulled it off.
If the game was won in those frantic last few minutes, Tipperary had done plenty of the heavy lifting in the first half, claiming three goals to lead 3-11 to 0-16 at the turnaround, all three of their full-forward line raising green flags – John McGrath, Darragh McCarthy and Forde.
Eoghan Connolly and Conor Stakelum were both superb in the first half, scoring three points apiece, while Bryan O’Mara mopped up a huge amount of ball.
And that 3-11 haul before the break all came from open play, an indication of the problems Kilkenny’s defence was having. Moments after Forde’s 25th-minute one-handed goal Derek Lyng moved Paddy Deegan to the full-back line in a bid to patch up the leaks.
Lyng also made a change at half-time, introducing David Blanchfield for Shane Murphy. Adrian Mullen, who had struggled to get involved in the opening half, finally sprang to life shortly after the restart, popping over two points.
Cian Kenny fired over an inspirational score from under the Cusack Stand and with TJ Reid showing his class from placed balls, Kilkenny appeared to have steadied the ship as the second half progressed.
McCarthy had missed a couple of frees during the second half – indeed Tipp hit four wides in three erratic minutes soon after the resumption – and eventually Forde was handed the free-taking responsibilities.
Martin Keoghan was Kilkenny’s best forward and his 58th-minute point edged the Cats 0-26 to 3-16 ahead. McCarthy, who was sent off in the opening seconds of Tipp’s Munster championship game against Cork, hit Murphy moments later. With Tipp down to 14 men, few would have bet against Kilkenny pulling away.
But Tipp have been defying many of their doubters this season, and in those closing stages this team carved out an incredible victory, one they had no right to pull off.
It was Tipperary’s first time playing in Croke Park since the 2019 All-Ireland final, but the Premier County have returned themselves to the decider now. Their neighbours await in a fortnight.
Long after the final whistle, the last player off the pitch was TJ Reid. Who knows if we will see him back again next year. But on Sunday, we might just have witnessed the return of Tipperary.
TIPPERARY: R Shelly; E Connolly (0-3), R Maher, M Breen; C Morgan, B O’Mara, R Doyle; W Connors, C Stakelum (0-3); J Morris (0-4), A Ormond, S O’Farrell (0-1); D McCarthy (1-2, 0-2f), J McGrath (1-2), J Forde (1-5, 0-4f).
Subs: N McGrath for J McGrath (50 mins); A Tynan for O’Farrell (53); D Stakelum for Connors (57); O O’Donoghue (1-0) for C Stakelum (63); S Kenneally for Ormond (71).
KILKENNY: E Murphy; M Butler, H Lawlor, S Murphy; M Carey, R Reid, P Deegan; C Kenny (0-2), J Molloy (0-4); J Donnelly (0-1), E Cody (0-2), B Ryan (0-2); A Mullen (0-2), TJ Reid (0-11, 8f, 1′65), M Keoghan (0-6).
Subs: D Blanchfield for S Murphy (h-t); S Donnelly for Mullen (66 mins); K Doyle for Kenny (70).
Referee: J Owens (Wexford).
