Niall Carew correctly praised the three point contribution of JJ Hutchinson after a second half reprisal earned a draw in Clonmel. “JJ was a big plus up front getting three points from play and it takes the pressure off Paul Whyte.”
The full forward shot 1-5 for the second week running to climb to third position in the outright scoring charts over the four divisions. He cannot operate as a lone gunman however. Hutchinson seized his chance when Tommy Prendergast was ruled out beforehand with a hamstring knock. The Gaultier predator should get an extended run in the team to carry his prolific club form into county numbers.
Shane Ahearne seemed determined to bury the skeleton of round one. He struck the first score and proceeded to direct the first half traffic from midfield. Eight wides wasted most of that positive play. Players unaccustomed to such advanced areas took poor options. In the second half, the ball was worked to the pair of reliable shooters.
The home side hit a hot streak of five points in six minutes after half time. By that stage, all six Tipperary forwards had raised at least one white flag. Two more Waterford wides followed and that appeared to end their interest. The work rate never dropped however and the substitutes reached the pace of the game immediately. They made mistakes, suffered turnovers and conceded a high number of frees (many quite questionable) but stayed with a patient build-up. The forwards continued to track back to tackle rigorously. They overturned the deficit through a string of Hutchinson and Whyte points. Philip Austin tied the match for the seventh time. Waterford probed for a winner. They moved the ball over and back. Eventually Shane Briggs crossed the gain line and nearly won a free before transferring to Whyte. The ball waivered to the right for wide number eleven.
Despite the nagging feeling of a point that slipped away, Carew didn’t show any signs of regret afterwards. Paul Whyte is normally the right man to get the ball for that last score but in fairness a draw was probably a fair result overall. Both teams dominated the game for a certain amount of time. We came to get a result and we got it. I would have liked to get the win alright but we are still in the league going up to Casement in three weeks’ time.”
They can cling to something over that lengthy breather. The trouble is on the resumption they will meet a Saffron side desperately searching for points after two shock defeats. The manager believes that there is still some wriggle room. “We have a big game now against Antrim and I still think you can afford to drop two points. With five games left, eight or nine points might get you up. We are still aiming for that. We feel that we are a match for anyone in this division.”
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