Five Jason Forde points from play and five from frees, including a late winner, meant that Tipperary got the better of a new look Kilkenny in round two of the hurling league at FBD Semple Stadium yesterday afternoon.
It finished up 1-19 to 1-18 with the Tipp goal arriving just before the half time whistle after a tennis style smash from Jake Morris flew past Eoin Murphy to send Tipp in six points up at half time.
Kilkenny fired on all cylinders after the restart and playing with the aid of a strong breeze they stormed back into the game before the introduction of new Tipp captain Ronan Maher steadied the ship and brought Tipperary back into the ascendency.
The intensity of the game went up a notch from there as Tadgh O’Dwyer raised a green flag for Kilkenny before Jason Forde assumed responsibility and fired over a late winner to seal the win for Tipperary and set them up for a tilt at Dublin on Saturday week.
After the game Tipperary manager Colm Bonnar told Tipp FM Sport that it was good to get the win as both sides played with a competitive edge and kept going until the final whistle
“Kilkenny are always going to bring the best out of Tipperary and vice versa. We kept faith with the same team against Laois and we felt it was very important that they continued in development, some of the players.
“At the end of the day, going in at six points up at half time, we were in a good position, but Kilkenny being Kilkenny came back within ten minutes and I think we were nearly back to level.
“Our lads showed great character and the rest of the game after that was a ding dong battle, we had goal chances, they had goal chances and I’m happy to be on the right side of a point game.”
Elsewhere in Group B, Waterford beat Laois 7-31 to 19 points.
In Group A, Wexford enjoyed a 2-20 to 1-20 win over Clare, while Cork were 4-25 to 1-15 winners over Offaly.
