TIPPERARY 3-25 KILKENNY 0-20
Kilkenny charged out of the blocks like men possessed but Tipperary responded like champions and left their old rivals far in the distance.
After 21 minutes of the 2019 All-Ireland final, Tipperary were trailing Kilkenny 0-8 to 0-3. By the time Jason Forde lapped over a fine score, 30 minutes later, it was Tipperary leading 3-16 to 0-16.
There were many stars for Tipp on a rain-soaked day at Croke Park but Seamus Callanan, with 1-2, two assists for points and an unbelievable pass to set up the killer goal. He finished his summer with a scoring contribution of 8-18 and another All-Ireland winners’ medal to bring back to Drom.
Despite the brilliance of TJ Reid, and a blitzing start for Kilkenny, Tipperary roared back with a Niall O’Meara goal and had Jason Forde’s free-taking see they them head to the dressing rooms, at half-time, one point clear.
Kilkenny ended the half wondering how they were not in the lead and how they only had 14 men remaining. Richie Hogan was shown a straight red card for a shoulder charge on Cathal Barrett.
The Kilkenny forward had earlier been cut open by a high stick across the face, from Barrett, and that clash may have rushed through his mind as he flew in on the Tipperary defender.
Tipperary all but ended the contest, and sealed their 28th All-Ireland final victory, by blazing 2-7 in the first 16 minutes of the second half.
Forde, John ‘Bubbles’ O’Dwyer, Séamus Kennedy and Callanan tallied points for Liam Sheedy’s men before Callanan scored his eighth goal of the championship, after he was the first to react to a rebound.
The killer blow was administered by O’Dwyer as Callanan showed great vision to find him with a pass. Bubbles did the rest, despite the best efforts of Eoin Murphy.
The closing stages saw Kilkenny unable to respond with any goals and, once again this summer, the Tipperary bench came on with some important scoring contributions.
STARTING TEAMS
TIPPERARY: Brian Hogan; Cathal Barrett, Barry Heffernan, Ronan Maher; Brendan Maher, Padraic Maher, Seamus Kennedy; Noel McGrath, Michael Breen; Dan McCormack, John O’Dwyer, Niall O’Meara; Jason Forde, Seamus Callanan (c), John McGrath.
KILKENNY: Eoin Murphy; Paul Murphy, Huw Lawlor, Joey Holden; Conor Fogarty, Padraig Walsh, Paddy Deegan; Conor Browne, Cillian Buckley; John Donnelly, TJ Reid (c), Walter Walsh; Adrian Mullen, Colin Fennelly, Richie Hogan.
OUR MAN OF THE MATCH: Seamus Callanan (Tipperary)
