Galway's visit allows little time to bask in victory over Kilkenny
A busy hurling weekend supplies two obvious reference points for the column this week. With sunshine replacing snow the hurlers finally got to tangle with Kilkenny in that twice-deferred League tie. And it provided some welcome winter cheer for local fans, who came in their thousands to avail of a rare enough GAA freebie. The Cats were doling out no freebies, though, Tipperary having to slug it out for a hard-earned League win, one that puts our campaign back on track. There's little time to
Elsewhere that Harty final on Saturday produced a real cracker at Nenagh. Eighty minutes of bruising brilliance failed to prise apart the lads from Thurles and Ardscoil. It's back to Nenagh for act three of the drama this Thursday when they'll play 'till dark to find a winner!
Over 20,000 came in winter sunshine to the Stadium for a re-match of Tipperary and Kilkenny in that overdue League fixture. Figures like those are rare for League games unless the circumstances are somehow special. (I recall a game with Clare about a decade ago that drew a similar crowd to Ennis at the height of that particular – and at times poisoned - rivalry). The combination, I suppose, of the free entry and the topical rivalry between the counties generated Sunday's interest.
Given the background baggage to the game it was always going to be tense and tenacious, though we hardly expected the managers to bark at each other on the margins. I wonder if that little sideline set-to will have a sequel in Croke Park. It would be a pity if it did because while the game was always edgy there was nothing ugly and it was handshakes all round at the final whistle.
For Tipperary this was an essential victory. Of course it will mean nothing if they clash later in the League Final or in the Championship but for the month of March losing to a depleted Kilkenny was not an option. For self-esteem alone we needed to put one over on The Cats and I suspect Sheedy and company were more than anything else relieved on Sunday evening.
A stonewall defence and an individual moment of brilliance from Eoin Kelly were the twin pillars on which this outcome was built. In a magnificent defence Padraic Maher was majestic at full. But he wasn't alone: there was the excellence of Brendan Maher, the typical tenacity of Curran, the fetching of Shane Maher, the general defiance of Fanning and the covering of O'Mahony. Add in the alertness of Cummins and it all added up to quite a defensive shield.
Then there was that moment from Kelly that ignited the occasion. It was seconds-out to half time when Noel McGrath tried to wriggle his way in from left of goal. There seemed to be little threat to P.J. Ryan's posts until McGrath hand passed across to Kelly, who swivelled and swung in one sweet movement to send the ball flashing to the net. It was to prove the critical score of the day.
Crucially the game's only goal gave Tipperary a foothold at the end of a half where for all our defensive defiance we had shown nothing in attack. The half forward line had been wiped out by Walsh, Tyrrell and Delaney. Inside too Kilkenny's big men were mopping up any danger, with Canice Hickey especially prominent and only Kelly posing a consistent threat against John Dalton, who was treading a fine line in the fouling stakes. Mind you our cause wasn’t helped by aimless clearing from the back, where defenders brought groans of annoyance with misplaced deliveries into the grateful hands of Kilkenny men.
The second half didn’t alter course. The hurling remained scrappy and shapeless, though the tightness kept everyone on the edge. Corbett streaked through the middle but his shot shaved the top of the crossbar – it would have been a Corbett classic if a few inches lower. Our defence continued to hurl defiance at Kilkenny and Shane McGrath was typically working overtime at midfield. But the Tipperary management showed incredible tolerance with several others who were making little contribution.
On it went and the margin remained tight, though we never slipped into arrears. Untypical of Kilkenny they drove a series of uncharacteristic wides. Shane McGrath hit a rousing one for Tipperary. By now Webster was out on the forty, then eventually Hugh Maloney, Jody Brennan, Seamus Callanan and Paul Kelly all arrived as late reinforcements. Webster is hardly a half forward but he did win a few important possessions and threw out passes to useful effect.
It all came down to a hectic finish. An indiscreet swing into a ruck by J.J. Delaney enflamed passions near the sideline and was the cue for Sheedy and Cody to get up close and personal. Restraint was needed now. Kilkenny had come close to a leveller but the defence smothered the half chance and now in the final phase it was Tipperary who worked the clinchers, first from Jody Brennan and then Noel McGrath. Tipp delight greeted the final whistle as fans invaded and the planned ‘warming down’ – what an odd concept – had to be abandoned.
When the rest of us cooled down and sober analysis began there were positives and negatives to be taken from the event. The battling spirit that saw the side recover from Parnell Park and carve out such a precious win has to be acknowledged and admired. The defence takes the lion’s share of the credit, everything from that Cummins’ save to deny Aidan Fogarty to the many winning phases by a variety of defenders. Shane McGrath too shared in our praise for a right plucky contribution at midfield. Kelly and Corbett were the main men in attack, though individual items by others contributed too.
Against all that, however, there are realities that need to be faced. Midfield flew on one engine and that won’t suffice on other days. Thomas Stapleton is earnest but somehow has yet to find the zest for this tempo of game. Paddy Stapleton has still to return to defence so perhaps there’s room for someone - Shane Maher perhaps - to move to midfield. Others see Brendan Maher as an option in that regard.
Half forward was a real crisis zone on Sunday so finding an adequate formation is now a priority. The way I see it we have four forwards who’ll, hopefully, be there come Championship, namely Kelly, Corbett, McGrath and Callanan. That leaves two gaps and on recent trends there are no obvious candidates to fill those spaces. Time perhaps for some big decisions to be made. Timmy Hammersley’s Fitzgibbon Cup form with WIT will have been noted over the weekend. Some will argue that he’s not the type of ball-winning forward we’re crying out for at the moment but nonetheless his scoring exploits in a competition like the Fitzgibbon Cup cannot be ignored. We have another panellist who couldn’t make a starting spot on a Fitzgibbon Cup team so perhaps some re-evaluation is called for. I’ll be amazed if there isn’t a significant shake-up of the Tipperary panel during the League.
There’s no time to savour the Kilkenny scalp now because John McIntyre’s tribesmen come raiding this Sunday. They may be without the Portumna element but they come with two wins in the competition thus far and will surely ask serious questions of Tipperary. During phases of their last game against Waterford they looked particularly powerful and it’s going to take another huge display from Tipperary to keep this campaign on track. That defeat to Dublin leaves us no room for manoeuvre. Interesting also to see what line out emerges from the camp on Thursday night, once the evidence of the Kilkenny game has been thoroughly digested.
Thursday too is the replay date for that Harty epic after a truly stupendous exhibition last Saturday when Thurles and Ardscoil again failed to separate after 80 minutes plus of intense and intriguing effort. Roll out the superlatives, my friends, because this was classic territory, a final that ebbed and flowed spectacularly in front of an enthralled attendance. This one will linger in the memory when most others have long since faded.
Coming just six days after the initial game the sides managed to produce another thriller. As a contest it typified all that intrigues about the old game. Two sets of teenagers went about the task with fearless determination, chasing every ridge and valley of a swaying contest. You had spectacular scores, awesome individual exploits and a contest that just would not settle decisively on either side.
Thurles remodelled their team for this replay, a ploy that certainly had me worried in advance because such wholesale changes tend not to work. Denis Maher was positioned at full forward and he drew first blood with a fine goal in the opening minutes. But it was Ardscoil who steamed ahead in that opening half with some powerful running at the Thurles defence. A few efforts skimmed the crossbar, as the Tipperary lads hung on grimly before then conceding a soft goal as ‘keeper, Stakelum, dropped one to his net.
Yet before half time Thurles had recovered, Michael O’Brien frees and a pair from play by Tommy Doyle being significant lodgements in their account. They trailed by three on the turnover and then had the boost of a goal from Kevin Slattery shortly after resuming. That was the signal for a ding-dong tussle. Ardscoil lost wing back Cathal McInerney to a red card for a swing back on Michael O’Brien, but as often happens the depletion only served to steel the Limerick lads. Ardscoil points seemed to be evidence of a steadier consistency but then Thurles had their third goal when a Pat Ralph free from outfield went off the fingers of a defender. It cancelled the one they conceded earlier into the same posts. Ultimately it took an injury time free from Declan Hannon to save the day for Ardscoil and send the match to extra time.
There the dramatics continued with breathtaking intensity. A Declan Hannon goal, superbly executed, gave the initiative to Ardscoil but then a Denis Maher penalty goal saw the pendulum swing back again to Thurles. Ardscoil led by two at the end of the first half of extra time but Thurles came again when they turned over, Michael O’Brien once more the hero with three points, two from play and the lead score from a free. It was into injury time again when Declan Hannon once more levelled the match and sent the contest to a third instalment.
What a game. After much background haggling the replay is now fixed for a return to McDonagh Park this Thursday at 2.30, a timing that will leave many of last Saturday’s attendance frustrated. The urgency in the fixture stems from the requirement that the losers play an All Ireland quarter-final against Kilkenny CBS, a game that was originally fixed for this Saturday but has now been deferred until Monday. It will be a tough call on whoever loses this epic encounter.
Encouragingly Thurles will have Aidan McCormack back for the replay while Ardscoil will be without their outstanding wing back and joint-captain, Cathal McInerney. That might suggest a slight tilting towards Thurles but on evidence so far this isn’t one that fits normal expectations. My gut feeling over the two days has been that overall Ardscoil have the slightly more balanced side but Thurles just keep defying that view. It will be unforgettable for whichever side emerges - and gut-wrenching for the losers.
P.S. To Cape Town and back on a bicycle! Not for the faint-hearted or feeble-bodied but that’s been the mission of ex-Clonoulty\Rossmore hurler, Alan O’Dwyer, and colleagues, all in the interest of charity. To read in detail about the exploit just Google bikeafrica and the search engine will do the rest. His dad is understandably proud.
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Weather for Clonmel
Saturday 04 February 2012
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