Tipperary slip up on Dublin banana skin in worrying display
A faltering, faulty start to the league campaign from Tipperary, who were nine-point losers to the Dubs at Parnell Park. An instant Kelly penalty-goal proved illusory for the visitors. The locals had all the vim and vigour of the day, out-hustling and out-hurling Tipperary to a worrying degree. It's an outcome that forces readjustment of our expectations ahead of Sunday's date with Kilkenny at the Stadium.
Elsewhere a robust Harty final ended in stalemate as Thurles failed to hold their minimal lead deep into added time. The refixture is for the same Nenagh venue this Saturday, an arrangement that displeases Thurles with Aidan McCormack due to miss out by a matter of hours.
In last week's column I suggested that the Parnell Park game was a potential banana skin for Tipperary. The venue, Dublin's heavy defeat the previous week to Waterford and our own lack of match practice were all elements that urged caution in approaching this fixture. Yet, even my wariness didn't extend to anticipating a trip-up to the extent of outright defeat, let alone a nine-point reversal. Yet that was our fate, beaten in all lines said Sheedy afterwards with typical frankness.
It's only our second league defeat to Dublin in over sixty years, the first since we lost by a point at Croke Park in the 1989(90 campaign. Mind you we haven't met them too often in latter years. Last March we faced them at the Stadium while still suffering the hang-over from Nowlan Park. That day we conceded four goals in a narrow two-point win,
2-19 to 4-11, further reason surely to be cautious last Sunday.
For Sheedy and company it was a rare league lapse too. Outside of Kilkenny this was their first league defeat to any other county since they took charge in late '07.
Yet, I suspect, such a statistic will hardly save the players in training this week. We're into March but this was definitely not a spring-like performance from Tipperary. The manager can't have been happy with such a flat display and the players will surely get an earful during the week.
Ironically it all began so promisingly with the TG4 cameras barely focused before Corbett raced through in the opening seconds to draw the foul that saw Kelly rattle the rigging from the penalty. Was it a foul at all? It certainly seemed harsh and was not the type of award that you'll get too often especially in the opening seconds.
If that relaxed, even lulled Tipperary into expecting an easy passage from the Dubs, they were soon disabused of such notions. An unanswered string of Dublin points gave a truer picture of the day's fate and even though Tipp recovered after a barren opening quarter they were again five in arrears at the break and it got progressively worse on the turnover.
The problems for Tipperary seemed to be widespread though like others I'm depending here on the limited perspective of the TG4 cameras. Dublin seemed the feistier side all over with the Tipperary lads well off the pace and intensity required. There was space and scope aplenty for Dublin players as we seemed to struggle in all sectors.
The pre-match loss to illness of Shane McGrath was an obvious blow. His work ethic in the middle third of the pitch was badly missed. There were some suggestions in match reports that his absence was linked to an ongoing probe into the legality of his involvement with Mary Immaculate College in the Ryan Cup competition. That issue of whether or not he’s eligible to play for the third level college in Limerick seems to be a complex one but either way the Tipperary County Board seems satisfied that it won’t affect his inter-county involvement.
On a bad day for Tipperary few players added to their reputations. We had four of our six All Ireland forwards in action but yet the Dublin defence remained intact, conceding a mere eight points from play over the seventy minutes. The entire half forward line was substituted; otherwise Corbett and Kelly were the busiest. Benny Dunne did best at midfield. Padraig Maher and Shane Maher appeared to be the most prominent in defence. Fanning did well when introduced.
Goalie, Darren Gleeson, didn’t escape blame for the Dublin goal though he atoned later with at least one fine shot-stop. Incidentally the Dublin goal came courtesy of the experimental regulations regarding the ‘square’ rule where players can now be inside before the ball arrives. It’s a senseless change to be introducing, unless you fancy a return to the old rough-and-tumble goalmouth wrestling of olden times. And then retaining the ‘square’ restriction for set-pieces like frees, 65s etc only serves to underline the silliness of this experiment.
Anyway it’s a bad start to the league with fringe players failing to avail of their opportunity to stake a claim to a starting role. The management will have much to ponder as they sit in council to select for Sunday’s date with Kilkenny. Next weekend’s Fitzgibbon games add yet another layer of difficulty with several players likely to be college-tied.
The Fitzgibbon schedule sees semi-finals on Friday with the final on Sunday. There are four Tipperary panellists – John Devane, Paddy Stapleton, Michael Heffernan and Willie Ryan – on the UL team that plays WIT in one of the semis while Seamus Hennessy assists NUIG against Seamus Callanan’s LIT in the other semi. In the circumstances it seems the Tipperary management will probably wait until Saturday to make their selection.
That defeat to Dublin has left Tipperary with very little leeway now given the structure of the league. Another defeat could effectively end their chances of qualification for the final so they’ll surely field maximum strength on Sunday against Kilkenny. That probably means a return for Brendan Cummins to the number one slot. In defence there are some options with Shane Maher perhaps pushing strongest for a place against the starting All Ireland six. Hopefully Shane McGrath will be back at midfield where on recent trends Benny Dunne would be a likely partner. There’s probably not much scope for experimentation in attack either with several of the All Ireland formation, one assumes, likely to start.
For their part Kilkenny had a modest enough edge on Offaly last Sunday. An injury to Richie Power was an immediate worry for the ‘cats’, though later word seemed to be more hopeful on that score, similar to Alan McCrabbe for Dublin a week earlier. Kilkenny fielded most of the fifteen that were originally chosen to face Tipperary so I assume it will be similar on Sunday. The defence looks particularly strong with a half line of Tommy Walsh, Jackie Tyrell and J.J. Delaney. Michael Rice at centre forward apparently was man-of-the-match last Sunday.
After the stop-go saga of the snow it will be welcome to finally see action between this pair. It’s been a long build up so hopefully it won’t be an anti-climax. So far this year the Tipperary team is living on last year’s reputation. Another day like last Sunday and the fans will really start to get uneasy.
That Harty final certainly lived up to reputation with quite a sturdy contest between the holders and the pretenders. Thurles spent a lot of the afternoon chasing the leader but got ahead with good timing in the final quarter only to be caught by a late leveller, one which was probably no less that the Limerick school deserved.
Ardscoil, with the wind at their backs, certainly blitzed Thurles in the opening ten minutes to go 1-4 to 0-1 ahead. It was a torrid time for the holders who were slow out of the blocks and paid a price. Their inside defence was being caught back-pedalling under wind-carried deliveries. Stephen Maher got back with a vital flick to rescue one situation but eventually they were breached when a shot from the right corner was unluckily turned into his own net by goalie, Aidan Stakelum.
It looked worrying for the holders at that juncture but eventually they steadied, helped by a sequence of sweetly struck frees from Michael O’Brien into the wind. It was a pattern that left the Limerick followers angry with the referee. Ardscoil pulling a forward outfield helped Thurles too and indeed the substitution of corner forward, John Fitzgibbon, seemed a hasty decision, one that was later reversed. The upshot of it all was an interval score that saw Thurles within two of Ardscoil, a scenario that hardly looked likely earlier.
The second half was an intense affair with Thurles drawing level after ten minutes when Pa Dunne whipped in their goal. Denis Maher was restricted by a rib injury going into the game and by now he was drafted into attack with John Meagher going centre back. The game hung in the balance from there on. Nine minutes from the end Thurles took the lead with a superb over-the-shoulder point from Denis Maher, one that it took the umpires some time to get right.
In the pressure of the final minutes both sides could have won or lost the title. Declan Hannon was wide on a few long-range frees for Ardscoil but the greater misses were on the Thurles side where both Denis Maher and Michael O’Brien were in turn culpable. They might have made the game safe but left it hanging for that late leveller from on-off Ardscoil corner forward, John Fitzgibbon.
Credit to both sides on a gripping contest – it’s a tough competition to win. For the replay Thurles will worry about that injury to Denis Maher and also Michael O’Brien who took a knock in the game. They’re annoyed it seems about the replay being fixed for Saturday. Aidan McCormack was sent off in the semi-final and would be eligible for a return on Sunday, so their annoyance is understandable. Munster Colleges claim the Saturday fixture is because the football equivalent is being played on Sunday though why a clash would be a problem I’m not sure. Others were hoping that it might act as curtain raiser to the Tipp\Kilkenny league game, though I’m not sure that was ever an option. There’s free entry to the league match.
Anyway it’s an attractive replay with little to choose between these sides. I think Ardscoil deserve slight favouritism at this stage, though still hoping for a Thurles win.
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Weather for Clonmel
Saturday 04 February 2012
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Heavy rain
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