Denying Kilkenny that five-in-a-row would prove Tipperary's sweetest title of all
Time for potential to be turned into trophies.
The ancient rivalry between Tipperary and Kilkenny, two of the game's aristocrats, will be resurrected for the second year running on the game's biggest stage, the All-Ireland Hurling Final, at Croke Park on Sunday (3.30 pm).
Before last year the teams hadn't met in a final for 18 years. Another meeting on the first Sunday in September confirms that both counties, temporarily at least, have pulled away from the rest of the pack in hurling's pecking order.
It will be an occasion laden with history. Kilkenny are trying to win five All-Ireland titles in-a-row, a feat that has never been achieved in either the hurling or football championship, while Tipp will be attempting to win their 26th crown and the first in nine years.
It will be the 15th All-Ireland final meeting between the counties, with Tipperary having won nine to Kilkenny's five. Yet Kilkenny's recent dominance looms large over this latest meeting.
They are preparing for their 11th final in 13 years. They have won the last four All-Irelands, and 32 in total. This year they have been untroubled by Dublin, Galway and Cork, easing to victory in each game. They could field another team that would probably compete well in the championship. They're that good.
The bookies have installed them as 11/4-on favourites, with Tipp at 5/2. If you fancy a draw – a replay would be played on September 26 - that's available at 12/1.
So the odds are stacked heavily in their favour and the stage is set for Kilkenny to resolve any argument about the greatest hurling team of all time.
Because of all that a Tipperary success would rank as one of, if not their sweetest All-Ireland victories ever. In time it would also reduce the significance of what Kilkenny have achieved over the past four years – Seamus Darby's goal for Offaly in 1982, which prevented the Kerry footballers from winning five-in-a-row, is spoken of more frequently than The Kingdom's four All-Irelands from 1978-81.
Tipperary and another All-Ireland final appearance, let alone lifting the McCarthy Cup, weren't in the same vicinity on May 30 when they were humbled by Cork by 10 points in the Munster Championship. But the 14 weeks since then have witnessed a massive change in their fortunes.
The road to redemption started with a qualifier against Wexford at Semple Stadium at the beginning of July and since then they've beaten Offaly, Galway and Waterford.
They re-aligned their forces impressively since that defeat at Pairc Ui Chaoimh. The half-forward line has been re-shaped to accommodate the less silken and more combative talents of Patrick 'Bonnar' Maher and Gearoid Ryan while Paul Curran, Michael Cahill and Padraic Maher have switched positions in a re-shuffled defence.
There have been other changes too. There was a suggestion that the team's pre-match workout before they took on Cork was too vigorous, and it was noticeable before the semi-final against Waterford that the warm-up has been scaled back.
Liam Sheedy and his backroom team, now in the third year of their reign, have influenced matches more this season than in any of the previous campaigns. As well as the changes to the starting line-up their substitutions in the quarter-final worked a treat, with Pa Bourke and John O'Brien providing the impetus for the late surge that beat Galway, a match in which another sub, Seamus Callanan, also made his presence felt with a goal.The panel is a tightly-knit group, one that their manager sometimes refers to as family. As well as the newcomers the spine of the team, including players such as Paul Curran, Conor O'Mahony, Shane McGrath, Noel McGrath, Eoin Kelly and Lar Corbett, has returned to form as the campaign evolved.
The tactics adopted in the semi-final also paid handsome dividends, especially the positioning of Noel McGrath at centre forward. Formation-wise, however, they know they'll have to pull another rabbit out of the hat on Sunday if they're to outsmart a Kilkenny team forewarned by Tipp's outstanding display 12 months ago.
Tipp suffered a late injury scare when Brendan Maher, another top player this season, hurt his wrist during last weekend's training session at Carton House in Kildare, but reports suggest he'll be fit for Sunday.
Kilkenny's injury concerns, especially Henry Shefflin's, have attracted many more headlines. Either Shefflin has made a miraculous recovery from the torn cruciate knee ligament suffered against Cork, or Kilkenny are playing silly-beggars, but one thing is clear – all the talk of his injury in particular has helped deflect attention from their pursuit of the five-in-a-row.
The long term future for Tipp hurling looks bright, especially if they can avoid the crushing defeats inflicted on Limerick and Waterford in the 2007 and 2008 finals. They have five U-21s on the senior team, and eight on the panel, and on the following Saturday evening (11) at 7pm the U-21s play Galway in the All-Ireland Final in Thurles.
The long term future is all well and good, but what about their prospects in the short term? In last year's gripping affair Tipp didn't allow Kilkenny to dance away with the title as they had done the previous two years, but honour in defeat won't suffice this year. The time for a breakthrough is now.
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Weather for Clonmel
Wednesday 08 February 2012
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