Tipperary Hurling Tipperary GAA Premierview

Tipperary 0-15 Kilkenny 3-18 (17-08-03) Match Report Knocknagow

Kilkenny advanced to the All-Ireland Hurling Final and in the process destroyed Tipperary in such an emphatic fashion that they will surely be red-hot favourites for the All-Ireland Final in early September after a 12 point drubbing of Tipp in front of 60,087 people in Croke Park today. Both teams lined out with the personal as announced in the programmes but a number of positional switches were made on both sides. Kilkenny switched John Hoyne in to centre forward and put Henry Shefflin at wing forward on Paul Kelly. Tipp had Lar at full forward, O'Meara in the corner and Conor Gleeson at centre forward. Tipp played into the Canal End in the first half.

Both sides missed chances in a nervy opening few minutes, the worst a Henry Shefflin chance before; Eoin Kelly was fouled and scored the free. Tommy Dunne failed to control the puck-out and Eddie Brennan equalised with a flick over the bar after a John Hoyne run. Tommy Dunne conceded a free, which Henry Shefflin punished and scored. Benny Dunne had a bad wide before Brian O'Meara caught a great ball, passed to Eoin Kelly who pointed. Paul Kelly let Henry slip past him, but Henry put it wide. Tipp then had one of their few goal efforts when Lar latched onto a long ball but McGarry easily saved his shot. From a high ball into the forwards Shefflin gathered and pointed to put Kilkenny ahead 3-2. Hoyne followed suit afterwards after a sideline cut.
Captain O'Meara pointed, and after John Carroll was fouled Eoin Kelly pointed to bring the sides level. Both Paul Kelly and O'Leary had bad wides before Shefflin pointed a free. The games first yellow card was produced when Peter Barry pulled across Conor Gleeson and Eoin Kelly levelled with a free 50 yards out. O'Leary had another wide before O'Meara had a great catch and pointed after a run.. Fumbling in the Tipp backs let Eddie Brennan in for a point. Then came a major point of the first half when a quick Tipp puck-out was excellently fielded by Eoin Kelly who put it in the net. However the ref had blown for Brendan Cummins to retake the puck-out and in fairness James McGarry was walking out from goals when he Kelly put the ball past him.
Tipp seemed to recover and Eoin Kelly scored two frees, the first after he was fouled and the second after Eamon Corcoran was fouled in possession after a short Tommy Dunne free. Shefflin however levelled again with a point from a free and another from play. In the 22nd minute O'Leary and Lar both had wides in good scoring positions while Shefflin did likewise after giving Kelly the slip again. A great Gleeson catch and point from a puck-out edged Tipp ahead with 5 minutes to the break. Hoyne then scored a point after Brendan Cummins stopped a shot but it went out the field as he sprinted to it a rap across the ankles from Eddie Brennan slowed him down and Hoyne nipped in to point. A run by Comerford straight through the heart of the Tipp defence was cut out by a great flick by Curran. A good passage of passing by Lar and Eoin Kelly saw Eddie point. A great long-range point from Paul Kelly saw Tipp 2 ahead as injury time approached. Brian O'Meara had a bad wide as half time approached. Half time score Tipp 11, Kilkenny 9.

Both sides stared the same. Kilkenny had a great goal chance as they ran at Tipp straight from the throw in. Brendan Cummins earned his salt with a brilliant with a double save the first from Eddie Brennan and the second from DJ, the ball eventually went out for a 65 which was pointed. Eoin Kelly pointed a free after Conor Gleeson was fouled. John Carroll then made one of his trademark runs and after a few turns he hit a weak shot which McGarry saved. Eddie Brennan shot was saved before DJ pointed and a great John Carroll point restored Tipp's 2-point lead, 13 to 11. The game was at a major stage and it was to be the team that cracked would be the ones who lost. Tipp's defence was eventually breached when Eddie Brennan blasted to the net to put Kilkenny 1-11 to 0-13 ahead, set up by a great catch and run by John Hoyne. Kilkenny got another point with a Paddy Mulally effort went over. Tipp needed a response and after good work by O'Meara Conor Gleeson pointed. Tipp however faded and added only a point.

Brendan Cummins then earned his man of the match award when Kilkenny had a series of goal efforts with first Costello then Curran blocking the ball, then Brennan's effort was blocked by Cummins, the rebound fell to Walsh whose first shot was saved but his second effort eventually found the net. This killed the game as Kilkenny now lead 2-12 to 0-14. Shefflin's shot was saved and went for a 65which was pointed. Tipp made their first change when Lar came off and was replaced Noel Morris. Eddie went wing, O'Meara corner and Morris in midfield. A Tipp 65 went wide from Kelly. Eoin Kelly fumbled a ball and ended up passing to a Kilkenny back when a goal chance was on. Tommy Costello fouled and Shefflin pointed as the game petered out.
Tipp made their second change with Paddy O'Brien replacing O'Leary. Shefflin pointed after poor Tipp back play. Eddie Brennan pointed after skinning Costello, 2-16 to 0-14. Costello again fouled Brennan and was booked and Shefflin pointed the free. Tipp made their third change with Horgan on for Eddie Enright and soon afterwards Costello was replaced by Kennedy. Brian O'Meara and Shefflin both had wides before Paddy O'Brien scored Tipp's last point with a good score, 2-16 to 0-15. Shefflin finished his day with 1-7 after being left alone behind the Tipp backs and scoring past Cummins. In injury time Eoin Brislane replaced Tommy Dunne and Kilkenny scored the last point to win 3-18 to 0-15.

Tipp team:

Cummins: Could not be faulted for any of the 3 goals and made at least a dozen top class saves as those around him dropped their heads. Deservedly won the RTE Sunday Game Man of the Match award and must be one of the favourites for an All-Star.

Full Back Line: Was under severe pressure the whole game due to the amount of ball being played into them. Costello was on Brennan and despite conceding a lot of scores did well considering the amount of ball that came between the two of them. Martin Maher had a good game on DJ helped by the fact that nearly all Kilkenny attacks came through full and the other corner. Curran had an ok game. Coped well in the first half and a great flick to stop a Kilkenny goal. Lacks the presence of Philly Maher to bring the ball out of a crowded box and clear.

Half Back Line: Paul Kelly scored a point but gave an acre of room to Shefflin who missed a number of easy score-able chances. Not one of his better games. Tommy Dunne gave away a few frees. Played good in the first half but seemed to be limping for most of the second half. Faded and possible should have been replaced sooner. Let Hoyne through a few times too easily. Corcoran had a great first half and cleared an amount of ball, not as influential in the second as Kilkenny switched wings for their attacks.

Midfield: Eddie was very quiet and actually seemed off the pace. Benny Dunne was not as influential as the previous 2 games. Midfield was bypassed due to the "tennis ball" that's being used as the new sliothar.

Half Forward Line: Half forward line was very poor throughout, (as it has been all year.) They were the main reason Tipp lost. The contributed nothing to the scoring and allowed the Kilkenny halfbacks to clear ball after ball into a highly stretched Tipp full back line. O'Leary was very poor, normally good for a few points he shot when he got the ball rather than settling down and then shooting. Gleeson scored 2 points and did a good job in keeping Barry quiet, but no one was there to pick up the breaks. John Carroll had a point and an effort for goals and did little else.

Full Forward Line: Eoin Kelly only scored a point from play (again.) He scored 7 in total although in fairness at least 2 of the frees were from fouls on himself. Destroyed Ryall in the first half but got no supply of ball in the second. O'Meara had a great game scoring a point and setting up a number of others. The fumbling and rooting of the previous games was gone and he was crisp and sharp with his striking, the second best Tipp forward. Lar was poor can only remember him getting one chance and that was the half chance for the goal which McGarry saved.

Subs:
Noel Morris for Lar Corbett: Came on midway through the second half and could not turn the game as Kilkenny were in the driving seat.

Paddy O'Brien for Mark O'Leary: Had 1 touch of the ball and took his point well.

Brian Horgan for Eddie Enright: Too late to affect the outcome of the game.

David Kennedy for Tom Costelllo: David came in at corner back but too late to change game.

Eoin Brislane for Tommy Dunne: In injury time.

Brian Cody will be very pleased with his day. In the first game his son starred at centre back as Kilkenny Minor's got to another All-Ireland Final and in the Senior he has guided Kilkenny to 3 wins over Tipp in a year. It's the first time that Kilkenny have ever beaten Tipp 2 times in a row in the Championship. His side were outstanding all over the field. They read the breaks and closed out the Tipp forwards, they also gave Tipp no serious goal scoring chances while scoring 3 goals themselves. Indeed if it was not for the exhibition of Brendan Cummins they would have surpassed the total they scored in the League Final. The half back line was immense and the half forward line broke Tipp hearts as Hoyne quieted Tommy Dunne and Shefflin outplayed Paul Kelly, even Tommy Walsh who was playing poor enough got the second goal which killed off the game. After this performance and the poor display by the Cork full back line and goalie, they should complete the 2 in a row to go with '82 and '83, '92 and '93 and '02 and '03.
And what of Tipp? Well their season started and ended with heavy defeats, 9 and 12 points. Well they can have no complaints about today as once Kilkenny asked questions midway through the second half Tipp could not up the pace and Kilkenny simply blew them away. While the full back line will ship a lot of the blame from the media for me the game was lost in the half forward line where Tipp won no ball. This had a duel effect with no ball going in to out main (and often only) threat Eoin Kelly and allowing the Kilkenny forwards easy goal and point chances. The Tipp backs will have to learn to hassle and harry their men better. For the first Kilkenny goal Brennan rounded about 3 Tipp players before scoring. Would this happen with the Kilkenny backs? Most definitely not. By either fair means or foul the man would be kept out. The midfield went AWOL for long spells when they were needed to shore up the half forward line. The 2 benches also highlighted the difference in class. Tipp had no experience forward to come on and take scores. We still are struggling majorly up front and I cannot understand why Eoin Kelly is not moved further out the filed to the half forward line of no ball is going in to him. The rest of the forwards are too easily brushed aside and not willing to get stuck in when the going gets tough.
So Tipp end for the second year in a row at the Semi-Final stage to Kilkenny. While the result last year was only a 4-point loss and a load of ifs and buts afterwards. There can be no qualms this year as Tipp were destroyed in suffering their heaviest ever-Championship loss to Kilkenny. There will be a lot of soul searching to be done between now and the League next year by both the players and the management if Tipp are to get back to All-Ireland Final stage and a chance to even compete at the same intensity and class as Kilkenny.

Knocknagow




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Tipperary V Kilkenny (17-08-2003) Preview Knocknagow


Tipperary and Kilkenny play in the second of the All-Ireland Semi-Final's on Sunday in Croke Park at 3:30. The match will be preceded by the minor Semi-Final between Cork and Kilkenny. The winners of the senior game will know on Saturday evening who they will face in the Final, as the Cork Wexford game will be replayed on Saturday. From what I have seen of the Cork Wexford game the winners of the game on Sunday should be installed as favourites to lift the Liam McCarty cup in September.
Both sides are well used to this stage of the Championship. Tipp are here for the third year in a row. In 2001 as Munster Champions they overcame Wexford after a replay to reach the All-Ireland Final. Last year Tipp lost the Munster Final before coming through the back door only to falter at this stage and surrender the Liam McCarty cup. Kilkenny on the on the other hand are in their 7th Semi Final in a row! In 1997 they came through the back door only to be beaten by Clare. In 1998 they beat Waterford, in 1999 Clare, in 2000 Galway, in 2001 they lost to Galway and last year they beat Tipp. From 1998 to this year the qualified automatically for the All-Ireland Semi-Finals as winners of the Leinster Championship.
The sides last met in the Championship at this stage last year and with roles reversed (Tipperary went in as All-Ireland Champions and favourites) this year Tipp will hope that they can over turn the 1-20 to 1-16 loss of their All-Ireland crown. The return of Dj had a major factor in the game as he set up Kilkenny's only goal for Jimmy Coogan and scored some crucial points from frees and from open play. The sides have met twice so far in the League this year and both produced good exciting hurling. The first was in April in Nowlan Park where Tipp won 2-19 to 2-16. This was Redser's day as he scored 1-6 and won Man of the Match award. It was also one of the few outings of Kilkenny captain Charlie Carter as he came on and scored a goal. The teams met in a League Final and Kilkenny won a ridiculously high scoring game by a point 5-14 to 5-13 in May. From a Tipp point of view the game was there for the taking but the loss of full back Philip Maher was a critical loss on the day as the Tipp backs, especially the half backs, were very porous and allowed Henry Shefflin, Charlie Carter, (late sub,) DJ and Martin Comerford time to waltz through and pick off goal after goal near the end as Kilkenny emerged victorious.



Kilkenny have had a pretty quiet approach to this All-Ireland Semi Final. They were able to take three weeks off after the League Final to face into the Leinster Championship whereas Tipp had to face into the Munster Championship two weeks afterwards. Despite unrest in the camp as well as injuries to James McGarry and Richie Mulally (still not returned with a broken ankle) and speculation over the future of a number of other players they easily overcame the challenge of a weak Dublin team in the Leinster Semi-Final in Nowlan Park in early June by 3-16 to 0-10. Dublin started brightly but a Kilkenny goal near the break put them in the driving seat and they powered away in the second half to record a comprehensive 15-point victory. Best for Kilkenny were Tommy Walsh who had a great game at wing forward scoring 5 points and Henry Shefflin who scored 1-4. Following this game and the non-participation of McEvoy and, team captain; Charlie Carter both left the panel sighting lack of decent first team chances. Despite a lot of media speculating this was all that left the Kilkenny camp and neither have returned to the fold.
Kilkenny then faced into a Leinster Final against Wexford in early July and duly won their record sixth title in a row, 2-23 to 2-13. The first half was fairly even as Kilkenny only lead by a point at the break 8-7. Yet the game turned in Kilkenny's favour only a minute into the second half when an Eddie Brennan goal and a string of points put Kilkenny into a 7-point at the half way mark. Wexford made a late comeback and scored 2 goals but a great-poached goal by Henry Shefflin 6 minutes from the end ended the game as a contest as Kilkenny piled on the points into injury time to win their 61st title.
Both teams have had injury worries going into this game. On the Kilkenny side James McGarry returned for the Leinster Final and although a little unsteady will be ok for Sunday. Both DJ and Henry Shefflin are after suffering leg injuries in recent club games. Kilkenny will also be strengthened with the return of former captain Andy Comerford to the panel after a spell out injured. Definitely out is Richie Mulally with a broken ankle. Tipp picked up injuries in the Offaly game with Tommy Dunne and John Carroll having to come off injured while Brendan Cummins picked up a leg injury, and Lar Corbett had to sit out a recent club game due to injury. Of the Tipp injuries John Carroll is the most serious and despite the team that's named it will only be at 3:30 that the full extent of the injuries to both teams will be known.
The Tipp team was picked tonight (Tuesday) and is as follows:
Brendan Cummins.
Thomas Costello, Paul Curran and Martin Maher.
Eamon Corcoran, AN Other and Paul Kelly.
Eddie Enright and Benny Dunne.
Mark O Leary, Conor Gleeson and John Carroll.
Eoin Kelly, Lar Corbett and Brian O'Meara.
The Kilkenny team will not be officially announced until later in the week due to knocks to Dj, Henry Shefflin and Jimmy Coogan.
The Tipp team shows no changes from the one that overcame Offaly 2 weeks ago. The centre back position is left vacant for Tommy Dunne who is expected to line out despite suffering ankle ligament damage in limping off after the Offaly game. There will probably be a few positional switches with John Carroll going full as the experiment of putting O'Meara centre forward and Gleeson full did not work against Offaly. The Tipp backs will have to play for 70+ minutes and not drift off like they did against Offaly and Galway for the last 5 minutes. They need to hunt in packs and close their men down through lack of possession and give them time on the ball. They could take a note out of the U21's book who totally snuffed out the Cork attack by closing down their men and getting rid of the ball without any fuss.
The Tipp backs need to remember that their first task is to stop their men from scoring and not big clearances. Curran will take a while to settle although he did fine on his last outing in headquarters. Thomas Costello has solidified the Tipp full back line since his reintroduction half way through the Clare debacle. He will probably be on Dj and again will have to be on his toes and not even give Dj a sniff of the goals. Brendan Cummins will have to be his game and put aside any thoughts of the Paddy Power sponsorship controversy (as will Tommy Dunne) behind him and not concede 5 goals to the Cats as he did in the League Final. Although the ineptitude of the Tipp backs on that day (especially the half backs,) had a lot to do with that particular fiasco. His puck outs will have to be to Tipp players and hopefully can find Tipp men like he did with his short puck outs in the last two games. He will have to marshal his full back line and keep them on their toes.
Martin Maher has been outstanding in the two recent U21 tussles with Cork, as well as most of his Senior outings to date, and will need his wits about him to keep and eye on Eddie Brennan. Again if he does the simple things well and keeps the ball away from Brennan it will be a job well done. The Tipp half back line will be critical. They had a stormer last year and yet Tipp lost. If Tommy Dunne can snuff out Henry Shefflin for the game and Corcoran and Paul Kelly sweep up the ball then Tipp could be in with a shout. All Tipp followers welcomed Eamon Corcoran's return from suspension as he is a great reader of the game but will need to concentrate full on Tommy Walsh on Sunday. Tommy Walsh although young and light is well able to find the posts from half forward or midfield. Paul Kelly also will have to watch out for Martin Comerford being moved onto him at some stage like the League Final in an effort to win puck outs. The backs will also have to put good quality ball into the likes of Lar and Eoin Kelly.
Benny and Eddie will have to win their own ball and most importantly stop Kilkenny running at the Tipp goals. Of this means them not getting forward them so be it. Not too sure of what Kilkenny players will line out at midfield but according to reports Andy Comerford is challenging Conor Phelan for the right to partner Derek Lyng. The Tipp half forward line will have to up their performance 100%, any display like the last day will see Tipp blown out of it. Peter Barry will have to be well marshalled and Gleeson stay on him for the full game. O'Leary will need not only to take his own scores but also stop JJ Delaney from clearing ball down the field. Hopefully he will be more accurate than the last day.
Eoin Kelly will probably he marked by Kavanagh who will stick like glue to him. If Kilkenny leave James Ryall on him (which I doubt) then I can see Kelly profiting as I am not convinced by Ryall in what I have seen of him so far this year. Lar hopefully will bring his shooting hurley and the open spaces of Croke Park should suit him. Both Lar and Kelly need low ball in front of them and plenty of it. The halfbacks should supply this ball and not be trying for their own scores from 90 yards out and putting the ball wide.
The Tipp subs bench looks fairly strong. With some of the younger players like John Devane, Diarmaid Fitzgerald and Eamon Ryan got valuable experience and a major confidence boost over the last few weeks with the U21's Tipp also have the likes of Noel Morris and Paul Ormonde returning from injury and Eoin Brislane Paddy O'Brien, and Redser ready to up the tempo if introduced. Former cat Denis Byrne will also have a point to prove if introduced.
For Tipp to win the need to get rid of the massive inconsistencies in their play. The Good, (30 minutes of the second half against Galway), the Bad, (the last 5 against Offaly and Galway) and the downright Ugly, (the whole game against Clare) will have to be got rid of and Tipp play a high intensity, "in your face game" for the full 70 minutes. Also the Tipp forwards will have to take all their scoring chances. Kilkenny will be coming into this game on a high as All-Ireland champions and wanting to put two titles back to back. Since the game last year Tipp are the ones with all the changes. Nicky is gone. They are not as settled and have lost Philip Maher, the midfield and half forward line are in consistent and finding a full forward is impossible at the moment.
There are a lot of questions about the ability of this team to take and maintain a lead and also to finish teams off when in the position to do so. Kilkenny on the other hand have rode out their rough patch of feuding and seem to have strengthened their team with Tommy Walsh and Richie Mullally (unfortunately not recovered from injury in time for Sunday.) They have the more settled outfit and more importantly players who are playing in their rightful positions. They also have the more lethal and scoring forwards. Dj, Shefflin and Eddie Brennan will not be found wanting when it comes to standing up and making the hard yards to get the scores. So while I sincerely wish for a Tipp victory Tipp have to play too much above what we have seen so far this year to be able to topple Kilkenny.
So unfortunately Kilkenny to sneak home by 3 points.


Knocknagow




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Tipperary 2-16 Offaly 2-11 (27-07-03) Match Report Knocknagow



Tipperary advanced to the All-Ireland Semi-Finals and a meeting with the reigning All-Ireland Champions after a poor and unconvincing victory over Offaly in Croke Park today. Played in front of 46,000 it formed part of a double bill with Antrim v Wexford making up the other paring. Tipp played into the Canal End in the first half. Offaly lined out with Conor Gath at wing forward. Tipp started with Conor Gleeson on Ger Oakley at the edge of the square and Brian O'Meara at centre forward.
Offaly got the first score a point after a mistake by Conor Gleeson. Tipp then had their first chance when they won a close in free, Eoin Kelly opted to go for goal but Brian Mullins saved his goal effort. Benny Dunne got Tipp on the scoreboard with a point after a short sideline. Brendan Cummins then pulled off a point blank save before Tipp wasted 3 good chances with Lar and Brian O'Meara both having wides and then Eoin Kelly pulled up for catching the ball 3 times. Colm Cassidy scored a good long-range point and Michael Cordial did like wise, to put Offaly 3-1 ahead. Brian O'Meara, Eamon Corcoran (sideline) and Gary Hannify all had wides. Paul Kelly then intercepted an Offaly attack and pointed from a long way out. In the 17th minute Brendan Murphy restored Offaly's 2-point lead. Mark O'Leary then pointed before Conor Gleeson's shot was saved and Tommy Dunne pointed the 65. Eoin Kelly was pulled up for over carrying before a Lar effort went out for a 65 and Tommy Dunne pointed to put Tipp ahead.



Eoin Kelly in action... photo taken from Irish Independent.


Offaly made their first change with Barry Whelehan coming off for Stephen Browne. In the 25th minute Lar scored a great point from a tight angle, before O'Leary then had another wide. Eddie Enright made a great interception but Martin Maher fouled and Rory Hannify pointed the free. With 5 minutes to the break Brian O'Meara Brian O'Meara picked up the ball near the Hogan Stand and ran towards goal. With no Tipp player free he kicked the ball to the net to put Tipp 1-7 to 0-5 ahead. Straight away Brendan Cummins pulled off a good save and won a free. Mark O'Leary then had 2 bad wides before Lar was fouled and Eoin Kelly pointed the free. After 2 minutes injury time Ger Harrington blew up a very poor half of hurling with Tipp ahead 1-8 to 0-5.
At the start of the second half Simon Whelehan replaced the ineffective Joe Errity at full forward. Tipp got down to business straight away with a run by O'Leary who passed to John Carroll who turned and buried the ball to the net to put Tipp comfortably ahead 2-8 to 0-5. Offaly had a wide before Gleeson was fouled and Eoin Kelly pointed the free. He then missed a free after Lar was fouled. Offaly made another change with Murray replacing Gath. Eoin Kelly then missed a goal effort before Brendan made a save from Cassidy. Gary Hannify then scored a point to bring it back to single figures. The same player scored again after Benny Dunne lost possession. Jon Carroll, Mark O'Leary and Eoin Kelly all missed chances before Paul Curran made a great interception to break down an Offaly attack. Stephen Browne was replaced by Neville Coughlan. Eamon Corcoran scored a good point to put Tipp 2-10 to 0-7. Brian O'Meara had a wide before Tommy Dunne scored a long-range point after a block down. Tom Costello blocked an Offaly goal effort.


Tommy Dunne then went off injured after taking a heavy knock to his ankle, with David Kennedy replacing him, Brian Carroll put the free over the bar. Eoin Kelly scored 2 points the first from a free after John Carroll was fouled. Redser replaced Lar and Teehan replaced Joe Brady for Offaly. Brian Carroll pointed another free and Simon Whelehan got one from play to put it 2-13 to 0-10. John Carroll passed to O'Meara and Mullins saved. Denis Byrne replaced Mark O'Leary. After Corcoran was fouled Paul Kelly pointed. Paul Curran won a free out after a great catch. Colin Morrissey came on as Tipp's last sub. Paul Kelly had another point to put it 2-15 to 0-10 as the game seemed to be petering out. Offaly had other ideas and after a poor clearance by David Kennedy Gary Hannify blasted to the net. Eoin Kelly had a bad wide before Conor Gleeson pointed after a pass from Morrissey. As the game approached injury time the Tipp backs stood off and looked on as sub Neville Coughlan scored a goal and a point to leave the final score 2-16 to Tipp with Offaly getting 2-11.
Mike Mac will be disappointed with this performance. Despite all his blowing in the media during the week they never really looked like winning this game. They play good for the first 20 minutes but once Tipp got the goal the heads dropped and only because of Tipp going to sleep they scored 2-1 in the last 5 minutes. They can thank Brendan Mullins who pulled off 2 top class saves and David Franks who kept very tight tabs on Eoin Kelly only scoring a point from play. Their forwards were poor and Gary Hannify was the only threat up front. The rest of the forwards were well bottled up by the tight marking Tipp backs.
Mick Doyle will be pleased that Tipp won but will be disappointed with the performance. All in all the win was the most important thing. He will have been very pleased with the backs for 65 minutes as they totally shut out the Offaly players. Tipp never seemed to get out of third gear and a lot of the play was sluggish with the half forward line being totally blocked out and very poor ball going in to the inside line. Also a lot of the Tipp attacks were broken up to easy and also why did Tipp spend the first 10 minutes going for goals when they should have taken their points?

Tipp team:

Cummins: Was badly caught with the second goal but made 2 brilliant saves to deny Offaly. His puck outs were good and caught Offaly out a few times.

Full Back Line: Paul Curran had a very good game. Made a few good interceptions and totally dominated Joe Errity and then Simon Whelehan. Costello went in to this game injured but had another accomplished performance. Martin Maher had good game and is settling well into inter-county hurling.

Half Back Line: Paul Kelly was the Sunday Game Man of the Match. Scored 2 points from play and another from a free. Tommy Dunne had another good game. Although Hannify caught a few balls over his head he did not use it much. It was significant that Offlay came back once he went off injured. Corcoran had another good game. Was part of a very solid half backline that dominated and set up most Tipp scores.

Midfield: Both midfielders did their job well. Benny Dunne scored a point and cleared up a lot of loose ball. Eddie Enright had a quiet game but did his job well.

Half Forward Line: Half forward line was very poor throughout. O'Leary although scored a point and set up one of the goals was very poor in general play. He put at least 5 chances wide and had a lot of shots from impossible angles. O'Meara lined out at centre forward and despite scoring a goal fumbled a lot of ball and wasted a lot of possession. John Carroll lined out at wing forward and took his goal well. Was the pick of the half forward line. Did a lot of carrying the ball and took a lot of punishment but the rest of the forwards did not use the ball well.

Full Forward Line: Eoin Kelly only scored a point from play and that was very late in the game. Scored 4 frees but also missed a few. Had at least 3-point efforts blocked down and fouled the ball twice. Worryingly his second game in a row to be held. when had a scoring chance as well. Lar Corbett scored a point and had a few more chances blocked. Did not set the world alight and was replaced late on. In a late switch Gleeson started at full forward. Did not impress although scored a point. A centre back at heart and Oakley had him tied up for most of the game.

Subs:
David Kennedy for Tommy Dunne: David came in at halfback but did not impress. Did not have much time to settle in to the pace of the game.

Redser for Lar Corbett: Only in for the last few minutes did not get much to do. Should have been introduced sooner.

Denis Byrne: Missed a few efforts but was not on for long.

Colin Morrissey: Set up the last effort but also had a wide.

So Tipperary advance to the All-Ireland Semi final and a meeting with the old enemy Kilkenny. Tipp should be rightly worried. They conceded 2-1 with the game dead and the amount of games they have lost/nearly lost due to losing large leads is very worrying. They also had over 20 wides with O'Leary being the largest culprit. Tipp did not use the pitch well. The forwards drifted too far out from goals and all the half backs went for their own scores rather than passing the ball into the inside line. The Tipp inside line will come in for a lot of criticism in the papers today due to lack of scoring but they actually did well when you consider the lack of quality ball they received. Still 10 different scorers is a good sign for Tipp and also there will be absolutely no complacency going in to the Kilkenny game. Tipp will need to up their performance and need ALL of the forwards to play for 70 minutes if we are to have a chance of winning.


Knocknagow

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Offaly V Tipperary (27-07-2003) Preview Knocknagow

Tipperary and Offaly play in the All-Ireland Quarter Final on Sunday in Croke Park. The other Quarter Final being played on is between Wexford and Antrim. The two winners will progress to meet Kilkenny and Cork in the All-Ireland Semi Finals in August. If Tipperary win they will meet Kilkenny and if Wexford win they will meet Cork.
Offaly had a very uneven league they got well beaten by Tipp in the League in Nenagh but without their Birr contingent they beat both Cork and Limerick. They then had the Birr contingent back for the Championship. Offaly have played 3 games in the Championship; the first was the Leinster semi final where they fell to Wexford in Nowlan Park in early June. Offaly dominated the first half and a great gaol by Rory Hannify set Offaly into a 1-4 to 0-4 lead after 10 minutes. Offaly continued to take their scores and lead at the break 1-10 to 0-6 with Damien Fitzhenry missing a penalty just before half time. Despite a Brian Whelehan point Wexford pointed their way back into the game with a number of excellent points. Offaly can thank Birr's Brian Mullins who pulled off a lot of great saves to keep them in the game. With 5 minutes to go Offaly still lead by a point but 2 points by Rory Jacob and Mick Jacob sent Offaly packing into the qualifiers.
Offaly's first game in the qualifiers was against Dublin in Croke Park. Offaly failed to impress but held on to a 1-20 to 1-14 win. Dublin were depending on Thomas McGrane and the sides were level at the break 9 points each. Dublin went 2 points ahead and another great save by Mullins killed their chances of winning the game. They pointed through Murray and Damien Carroll and although Dublin got a late goal to pull it back to 3 points but Neville Coughlan's late goal killed the game.
Offaly's last game was last Thursday were they overcame a dispirited Limerick in Thurles 1-18 to 0-14. Offaly were in control most of the game with the crucial score coming early in the first half with a Brian Murphy goal after a 50 yard solo run untouched through the heart of the Limerick backs. Limerick had only Niall Moran and Clement Smith fighting for the ball. But Offaly with Brian Whelehan and David Franks impressive in the backs and Murphy and Hannify doing the business in the forwards led 1-9 to 0-10 at the break. Despite the introduction of Ciaran Carey Limerick wilted when 2 scoreable frees went wide. Offaly had no such problems and a classy score from Barry Whelehan lifted Offaly. Offaly dominated the last 15 minutes with Limerick not scoring. Further points from Simon Whelahan, Rory Hannify and Conor Gath all scored point s to ease to a 7 point win.
Tipp have a lot to fear from this game. Offaly have Mike MacNamara a man who as Clare trainer is well used to training teams to beat Tipp. Offaly have some good performances against Clare. While Brian Whelehan is not the fastest he is a great reader of the game. After being switched David Franks had a great game on "wunderkid" O'Shaughnessy, winning the Man of the Match award. Joe Brady and Colm Cassidy were strong and gave good clearances from wing back. The Offaly midfield struggled against Limerick. Gary Hannify will trouble Tommy Dunne. He is strong tall and powerful in the air. As captain most of the Offaly attacks go through him. They have good scoring forwards in Brian Murphy, Brian Carroll and Rory Hannify while they have Stephen Brown and Simon Whelehan to come off the bench to boost their attack.
Tipp have played 3 games so far in the Championship. After the poor game against Clare Tipp settled down and dispatched Laois before struggling to get past a poor Galway team. The main aspect of the Galway game was the way Tipp drifted in and out of the game. Very poor play in the first half yet still were only a point down at the break. Tipp dominated 30 minutes of the second half and after a bad slip by Brendan Cummins Galway came back and nearly nicked it in injury time.
The Tipp team will be picked later in the week. It will probably show a few changes, as Tom Costello is doubtful with broken ribs. The back 6 were solid enough against Galway with Paul Kelly being the weakest as he was skinned a few times by Rory Gantley. If Costello does not start Kennedy will probably start here. Tipp should have the advantage here especially in the full backline but I would be worried about Gary Hannify on Tommy Dunne. Hannify has the height advantage on him and Tommy is unused to playing centre back at this level. In midfield Benny Dunne had a good game it allows him the opportunity to drift forward and pick off vital scores. Eddie Enright will do his job without fuss. Tipp should have the advantage here. Tipp should take advantage of the Offaly backs. Although a good hurler Ger Oakley is not a full back and is badly missed from the midfield. I presume Lar will be at the edge of the square after his performance their against Galway where although with the No. 15 jersey he scored 4 points from full forward. He can hopefully take advantage of Oakley. Another area that Tipp can prosper is centre forward. Brain Whelehan while a great hurler does not have the pace to last a full 70 minutes at this level and if Conor Gleeson can exploit this then Tipp will advance.
John Carroll will have to start in the half forward line with O'Leary and Gleeson. His bulk, ability to win puck outs and set up scores won the game for Tipp in the second half against Galway. It is unlikely that Denis Byrne will start although he got injured early against Galway he struggled due to the tight marking of the Galway defence. The inside line will probably be Eoin Kelly, Lar and O'Meara. Both O'Meara and Eoin Kelly were poor last day out. Kelly was taken off after not scoring from play and while O'Meara scored 2 points but missed a load more chances. I don't think he should start but Mick Doyle has enough to be worrying about without dropping his captain. I expect Eoin Kelly to get back on track again. The Tipp bench is looking a bit thin on quality players to introduce, if Carroll and Kennedy start. Redser will do a job if he comes on and will relish another run at Croke Park especially after Noel Hickey holding him for the entire League final.
How do I see this game going? Well the open spaces of Croke Park should suit the Tipp forwards but Tipp are vulnerable at the back, conceded 5 goals in League Final, 2 against Clare and a very soft one against Galway. Still Paul Curran has settled in well at the edge of the square and should be able to cope on Sunday. The Tipp forwards should have the legs on the Offaly backs and if they give good quality ball into the Lar and Eoin Kelly then Tipp should win by 4-5 points.

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Tipperary 1-18 Galway 1-17 (13-07-03) Match Report Knocknagow


Tipperary advanced from Round 3 of the All-Ireland Qualifiers yesterday to
the All-Ireland Quarter Finals on Sunday week with a hard fought win over
Galway in Pearse Stadium Salthill in front of a crowd of over 29,000. Both
teams had positional changes and switches from the starting lineout. Galway
had Fergal Healy at wingback and Kevin Broderick at corner forward. Tipp had
Eamon Corcoran at wingback, Tommy Dunne centre back, Benny Dunne midfield,
Eoin Kelly full forward and Denis Byrne in the corner. Ollie Canning stayed
on Eoin Kelly the whole game. There was no real wind advantage to either
team.





Galway got the first score of the game when Martin Maher fouled Damien
Hayes and Gantley pointed the free. Tipp got their first point after a high
ball into the Galway square was only half cleared and O'Leary pounced to
solo and point. Paul Kelly's loose marking of Gantley allowed him to sneak
in for another point. The 2 Dunnes teamed up to clear a Galway attack and
the ball was collected by O'Leary who pointed. Galway then scored 2 points
in quick succession the first from Broderick and the second from Ollie Fahy
after a poor puck out. Tipp struck back in the 11th minute when a ruckus in
the square saw Eoin Kelly get the ball who gave it to Brian O'Meara whose
shot went over the bar. Broderick then pointed despite a clear push of
Costello to leave it 5-3 in Galway's favour. An Eddie Enright sideline cut
was played back to him by O'Meara and Enright pointed. Paul Kelly again gave
Gantley too much room and he pointed. Galway added 2 more points the first
from David Tierney who scored a great point on the sideline despite the
close attentions of Corcoran. The second a Gantley free after Eddie Enright
touched the ball on the ground following a great Tommy Dunne block.
Galway now lead 8-4 after 20 minutes and Tipp needed scores to keep in
touch they won a lucky free after O'Leary was fouled and Eoin Kelly pointed.
Tipp then wasted a 65 when Tommy Dunne passed to Paul Kelly whose effort
went wide. Corbett, now at full forward, came to life and nearly had a goal
when he blocked Donoghue's effort but the ball went wide. Conor Gleeson they
won a ball and played it straight to Lar who pointed. Gantley made it 9-6
with another free. Richie Murray stretched Galway's lead with another point.



A Mark O'Leary sideline was expertly caught and pointed from a tight angle
by Lar. Great play by O'Leary disposed Broderick who was in a scoring
position. With half time approaching Tommy Dunne pointed a free after
O'Meara was fouled. A great catch under pressure saw Paul Curran fouled and
from the resulting free Lar caught the ball and from a difficult angle
pointed 10-9. This was followed by a good O'Leary point from near the
sideline to level the game at 10 each but in injury time Mark Kerins was
fouled and Gantley point to leave Galway taking a slender point lead in at
the break.




Tipp made 2 changes at the resumption. David Kennedy replaced the injured
Tom Costello and John Carroll replaced Denis Byrne. Carroll lined out on the
wing with O'Meara going into the corner. Galway started off at a high pace
with a David Tierney point when a goal was on. Lar again destroyed Damien
Joyce and scored his fourth point of the day. Ollie Canning then scored a
massive long-range point and instead of lifting Galway it inspired Tipp.
Eoin Kelly's bad day continued when after seeing his man score he missed a
50-yard free. In the 39th minute a long-range point by Conor Gleeson brought
Tipp to within a point 13-12. Broderick and a few other Galway forwards had
a great goal chance but brilliant play by all the Tipp backs forced them
away from goals and the chance was cleared. John Carroll saw his effort come
back off the post but after a poor Galway clearance the ball fell to Paul
Kelly who scored a great long range point to level the game. Conroy then had
a bad wide before the turning point of the game arrived in the 45th minute
when John Carroll won a puck out and gave the ball to the in rushing Benny
Dunne who goaled from a tight angle to put Tipp ahead for the first time
1-13 to 0-13. Galway made their first change bringing off Conroy and putting
on Alan Kerins. Tipp then failed to take advantage of their possession and
had 3 bad wides in as many minutes with the 2 Kelly's and O'Leary.
Paul Kelly passed to John Carroll who unmarked who pointed. David Forde
replaced Mark Kerins. Brian O'Meara stretched Tipp's lead with a point after
a Brendan Cummins free, 1-15 to 0-13. John Carroll had a wide before Galway
missed a goal chance after great work by Tommy Dunne. Benny Dunne then
pointed after a short 65 from his big brother. Tipp were now rampant and a
great pass to John Carroll from Lar could have finished the game but his
kicked effort went over the bar, 1-17 to 0-13. Brian O Meara got the only
yellow card of the game with a high tackle to Tony Og Regan. Gantley had a
wide but added a free after Broderick skinned past Kennedy but was hauled
down. Tipp brought on Redser for Eoin Kelly and Galway put on Eugene Cloonan
for Richie Murray. Brian O'Meara and Paul Kelly had wides before Eamon
Corcoran shipped a high tackle and the game was stopped. Redser then scored
a good point after a Brian O'Meara pass to put Tipp 1-18 to 0-14 ahead. The
game seemed to be drifting to an end but Galway got a free and after a
Damien Hayes touch the ball was fumbled by Brendan Cummins and went in to
leave Galway only 4 behind. With the game entering injury time Tipp looked
in shock as first Damien Hayes, then Alan Kerins pointed twice to only leave
a point in it but in the fourth minute of injury time Dickie Murphy blew the
game up and Tipp held on for a point win 1-18 to 1-17.



Paul Curran contests


Galway will be very disappointed with this game. They totally dominated the
first half and yet it was only an injury time point that left them ahead at
the break. They scored 2 points at the start of the second half and then
failed to score for the next 25 minutes! They then registered 1-3 in injury
time to nearly sneak the game. Ollie Canning was masterful at cornerback
totally snuffing out Eoin Kelly he also contributed 1 great point. They
struggled further up the file with the full forward line very poor. Once
Tipp got back level at 13 points each Galway panicked making 3 subs in the
space of 7 minutes. They also went for goals at the start of the second half
when they should have taken their points and then in injury time when they
required a goal they went for points and ran out of time.
Mick Doyle will be delighted with this win. Tipp were under severe pressure
going into this game and a win was essential. Tipp were poor in the first
half and while Galway dominated Tipp struggled to get to grips with the
game, fumbling the ball and passes going astray, also the forwards were
struggling with the exception of O'Leary and Lar Corbett. Still despite
Galway's domination they were only a point ahead at the break. When Tipp
started to play at the start of the second half they outscored Galway 1-6 to
0-2. The introduction of John Carroll was the main turning point. He is an
ideal candidate for puck outs and the Tipp goal came direct from one in the
second half. His presence caused consternation in the Galway defence and it
gave a lot of space for O'Meara and Lar to exploit in the second half. The
backs will be pleased at holding Galway scoreless for 25 minutes in the
second half although the Galway forwards were very poor in the second half.

Tipp team:

Cummins: Was badly caught with the goal and if that had been kept out Tipp
would have run out handy winners. 2 quick outs lead to Benny Dunne's goal
and also a Conor Gleeson point, but 1 was intercepted by a Galway player who
scored a point.

Full Back Line: Paul Curran had a very good game. Not the same physical
presence as Philip Maher but was very good. Made 1 crucial catch when a
Galway player was through on goals, also cover for his 2 corner backs well.
Costello went in to this game with a back injury and had to be replaced with
a broken rib at the break. Had a good first half on Broderick. Martin Maher
had another good game caught a few times but this along with the U21 game
will improve his game no end.

Half Back Line: Paul Kelly scored a great point but was caught twice for
pace by Gantley in the first half. Also had 3 bad wides when he went for
points from long-range when a pass could have been the better option. Tommy
Dunne was my man of the match. As always a great reader of the ball. Won a
lot of ball in the air and was always in the right place at the right time.
Made a critical block in the first half to stop a Galway attack. Corcoran
played as if he had never been away. He slotted in well at wing back and
cleared a lot of ball. Was at fault near the end when a poor clearance went
straight to a Galway player who pointed.

Midfield: Benny Dunne had a great game scoring 1-1. His goal was the main
turning point of the game as it put Tipp a goal ahead after Tipp trailed for
all of the game before that. Collected a lot of lose ball and while some of
his passes went astray he will be pleased with his contribution. Eddie
Enright had a good game scored a point and did the basics well teamed up
well with Benny.

Half Forward Line: Half forward line was poor until Carroll arrived. Mark
O'Leary scored 3 points and was good in general play. Conor Gleeson scored a
good point but was quiet for long spells. Brian O'Meara lined out at wing
forward in the first half and corner forward in the second half. He scored a
point in both halves but fumbled a lot of ball in the first half, improved
slightly in the second half.

Full Forward Line: Eoin Kelly scored 2 points from frees but nothing from
play. He was kept totally under wraps by canning and his day was summed up
when he missed fairly handy free and than his man ran 3o yards to score a
long-range point. He was replaced with 10 minutes to go. Denis Byrne lined
at corner forward and was replaced at the break. Was well marshalled by Liam
Hodgins. Got very little ball as he his jersey was held for most of the
game. He looked off the pace and unfit at times. He would be better suited
playing on the wing. Lar Corbett won the RTE Man of the Match award for
scoring 4 points. Was well marshalled for the first 20 minutes but then
scored 3 excellent points from full forward before the break when Tipp were
struggling for scores. Scored a good point in the second half and nearly had
a goal. Will probably start at the edge of eth square the next day.

Subs:
David Kennedy for Tom Costello: Costello went off injured and Kennedy
slotted in at corner back. He lacked the pace for Broderick but only
conceded a free off him. Could start here the next day if Costello is still
injured.

John Carroll: Unlucky not to start but was on fire when he came on. Laid on
the pass for Benny Dunne's goal, scored a point and had another effort off
the post. Caused massive damage to the Galway half back line and should
start the next day as he gives added bulk and threat to the Tipp half
forward line.

Redser for Eoin Kelly: Scored Tipp's last point which turned out to be
crucial. Was still celebrating his point when Donoghue sent the puck out to
his man who launched it down the field.

So Tipperary advance to the All-Ireland Qualifiers and can relax while
Offaly, Wexford, Limerick and Waterford do battle over the coming week. Tipp
can be very pleased with a good few aspects of their game. The full back
line especially Curran was outstanding. Curran is a great reader of the game
and snuffed out a lot of Galway attacks. Tommy Dunne is settling in well at
centre back. Both Lar and O'Leary had their best championship games since
the Galway All-Ireland Final of 2001. Lar especially pulled Tipp out of hole
in the first half from full forward. Hopefully he can give a similar display
the next day. On the negative side O'Meara and Byrne wasted a lot of
possession and I can never remember Eoin Kelly being held scoreless in a
Championship game before. Still he can rest assured that he will not meet as
good as Ollie Canning again in the rest of the Championship. Another concern
and one that was also shown in the League was Tipp's lack of ability in
finishing a team off. With 2 minutes of the game left Tipp were 7 points
ahead yet 5 minutes later were relieved to hear the refs whistle. So Tipp
march on and the bandwagon is very much back on track. While Tipp may lack
the fluidity and ruthlessness of Kilkenny they are still there and if they
keep up this improvement will have a major say in the destination of the
Liam McCarthy.

Knocknagow





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Galway V Tipperary (13-07-2003) Preview Knocknagow

Galway play Tipperary in the Third Round of the Guinness
Hurling Qualifiers on Sunday at 3.30 in Pearse Stadium in Salthill on
Sunday. The teams tossed for venue and Galway won. Luckily for Tipp the GAA
Games Committee fixed the game for Sunday as Eamon Corcoran's three-month
suspension is up on Saturday midnight. The game will not be live on RTE but
there will be deferred coverage of the game starting at 6:15 on. While a few
of the Tipp players might have played in Ballinasloe none would have played
in Pearse Stadium. Tipp trained there on Thursday night to get a feel for
the ground.
The last Championship meeting between these two sides was the
2001 All-Ireland Final, which Tipp won 2-18 to 2-15. Tipp lead from start to
finish and captain Tommy Dunne lead the way with a man of the match
performance scoring 5 points, Mark O'Leary with 2-1 and Eoin Kelly (0-7)
were the main scorers for Tipp with Kevin Broderick, Eugene Cloonan and
Fergal Healy contributed the bulk of the scores for the Tribesmen. The
previous meeting to that was the 2000 All-Ireland Quarter Final, which
Galway won.
The last League meeting between these sides was the controversial
in April with the sides finishing level. Tipp got off to a cracking start
with goals for Conor Gleeson, Lar and Redser. Tipp were cruising in this
game and were 9 points ahead before Galway levelled with a gaol 5 minutes
into injury time. This was also Leahy's last game before he did his second
cruciate in training the next week and also Eamon Corcoran's last game as he
was reported for striking by the ref even though neither he, nor the other
match officials, or the TV caught the incident. Despite a public plea of
clemency by the Galway player Corcoran received 3 months.
Galway's sole Championship meeting was a hard fought win over
Clare in Ennis 2-11 to 1-15. Although scrappy and poor quality Galway fought
there way out of a very tricky game. Despite Clare goaling first Galway lead
at the break, 0-10 to 1-06. The main turning point came with a great Ollie
Fahy goal and despite a similar score by Clare a few minutes later Galway
had the bit between their teeth and the sides were level with 10 left at
2-10 to 1-13. A long range Rory Gantley free with time nearly up was the
clinching score as Galway advanced to meet Tipp by a point.
One thing that is forgotten is that the winners next Sunday
have an advantage as the All-Ireland Quarter Finals are on the 27th of July.
The winners of Sunday will have a 2-week break while the Offaly v Limerick
winners will have 10 days and the Waterford Wexford winners will have only a
week break.
The Galway team was announced on Tuesday night and is as follows
Liam Donoghue.
Damien Joyce, Liam Hodgins, Ollie Canning.
AN Other, Tony Óg Regan, Damien O'Brien.
John Conroy and Richie Murray.
Rory Gantley, Mark Kerins, David Tierney.
Damien Hayes, Ollie Fahy, AN Other.
The AN Other at wing back is for Feargal Healy with the other spot is for
Kevin Broderick who is struggling with a leg injury and if he is not fit to
play then the talk is that Eugene Cloonan who is just back in the squad
after a serious back injury could start. Ollie Canning I presume will do a
man-marking job on Eoin Kelly irrespective of where Eoin Kelly ends up. Tony
Og Regan impressed during the League game against Tipp at centre back. While
the Galway midfield struggled against Clare they will have to up their
performance for Sunday. Damien Hayes will test the Tipp corner backs and on
his day he along with Broderick are both potential match winners. Ollie Fahy
and Mark Kerins while both being good targets man also know where the posts
are.
Tipp are playing their third game of the year a bad loss to Clare as well
as a facile win over Laois the last day. On the injury front Martin Maher
was carrying and injury for the past few weeks but came through the U21 game
against Clare last night with a fine display. Noel Morris and Eugene O'Neill
were both not considered for selection due to a hip and calf injury
respectively. Niggling injuries to Paul Kelly, Tom Costello and Brendan
Cummins have all cleared up and they have been cleared to play.
The Tipp team was picked tonight and is as follows:
Brendan Cummins.
Thomas Costello, Paul Curran and Martin Maher.
Benny Dunne, Eamon Corcoran and Paul Kelly.
Eddie Enright and Tommy Dunne.
Mark O Leary, Conor Gleeson and Brian O'Meara
Eoin Kelly, Denis Byrne and Lar Corbett.

This is a team with 2 changes from the Laois game and 5 positional
switches. Out go Eoin Brislane from midfield and John Carroll from wing
forward. Tommy Dunne returns to midfield with Eamon Corcoran resuming in a
position that he did well against Henry Shefflin last year. Mark O'Leary
switches wings, while captain Brian O'Meara moves out to the wing. Lar
Corbett gets a start after being dropped for the last game. Sunday is a big
test for Eamon Corcoran with no hurling for 3 months he is sure to be rusty
and you may be sure that a load of balls will be in to Mark Kerins to test
him.
The Tipp full backline while not tested 100% against Laois held firm and
the display of Maher against Clare will ease concerns over his ability at
this level. There will be concerns over Costello and how fit he is
especially if it's a hot day and he is marking a sped merchant like Hayes or
Broderick. Still he has proved time and time again that he is invaluable to
Tipp at this level. Eamon Corcoran is the man I believe who is Tipp's
long-term centre back and once hopefully gets over his rustiness should be
ok. Hopefully Paul Kelly and Benny will concentrate on marking and not going
up the field.
Midfield sees a return to the 2001 All-Star partnership and also the pair
that played a large part in the winning of the 2001 All-Ireland Final. Brian
O'Meara gets another chance after a poor performance against Laois. The full
forward line has a very dangerous look to it and if they get enough supply
of ball (good quality ball) then they could do serious damage to Galway. The
one disadvantage that it has is its size and Lar could be easily muscled out
of it. Lar especially needs a good start and as we saw in the game against
Clare if he misses the first few balls then he will struggle.
Again the main thing from Tipp is that the backs need to do
the simple things well. That means they are their Number 1 to stop their men
from scoring and not any fancy clearances. The half back line's main job
will be to stop the ball going in to Cloonan/Broderick or Hayes as if these
boys get the ball then Tipp are in trouble. While Brislane's presence will
be missing Eddie will do the simple things well and score a point or 2.
While John Carroll's big physical presence will be missing he was poor
against Laois and he will be a massive boost when sprung from the bench to
go to the edge of the square with 15 minutes to go. Given the right supply
of ball Eoin Kelly will prosper and Denis Byrne showed against Laois that he
knows where the posts are also is prepared to pass to a better-placed
colleague.
How do I see this game going? Well the forecast is for a scorcher of a
game and with the pitch by the sea there will be a stiff breeze. This will
be a 20-man game and the Tipp bench will need to be ready, I expect to see
Brislane, Redser and John Carroll all to see action before the game is out.
Galway will be massively fired up for this; playing a Tipp team riddles with
doubts after the Clare drubbing at home they will fancy their chances of a
win. But with Galway it all depends on which on turns up. They always have
one good performance a year hopefully from a Tipp point of view that was the
game against Clare in Ennis! I expect Tipp to win this as both the players
and the management that a loss to Galway will result in serious
repercussions. So Tipp to win a high scoring game by 2 points.

Knocknagow




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Tipperary 3-28 Laois 0-13 (14-06-03) Match Report Knocknagow



Tipperary advanced to Round 3 of the All-Ireland Qualifiers yesterday with a comprehensive win over a poor Laois side in a sun drenched Portlaois before a crowd of about 8,000. Tipp started as per the official programme, (yet due to injuries, suspensions and retirements only 8 of the team that started the 2001 All-Ireland Final,) but Laois had 2 changes with Paul Drennan lining out at corner back and Tommy Fitzgerald at corner forward. There was no real wind advantage to either team.
Tipp started off as they meant business and within a minute Eoin Kelly pointed a free after he was fouled. Conor Gleeson followed with appoint a minute after. Tipp then missed a few goal chances. The first was Mark O'Leary who was straight through on goals but choose to pass to Gleeson but the pass went astray. John Carroll's goal effort went astray, before a good pass by Byrne saw an O'Leary shot superbly saved. Full forward Byrne got his first score after 6 minutes with a point. Moments later a Laois penalty shot by James Young was tipped over the bar by Paul Kelly. A Mark O'Leary shot was saved and Tommy Dunne sent the 65 wide. Paul Kelly got a great point from way out the field. Denis Byrne passed to O Leary whose shot was saved but Eoin Kelly was on hand to bury the rebound. Tipp then finished off the game with a Conor Gleeson point and another goal from Eoin Kelly in the 15th minute, to leave the score 2-6 to 0-1.


Laois got a point back before Eoin Kelly pointed a free. David Cuddy and Brian O'Meara swapped points before Benny Dunne and Fionan Sullivan were yellow carded for an off the ball incident. Eoin Kelly scored a 65, before a Tommy Dunne clearance fell to O'Meara whose gaol effort was saved but Denis Byrne pointed. Byrne then scored a great point out near the sideline to leave it 2-11 to 0-4. Paul Kelly's long clearance fell to O'Meara who passed to Eoin Kelly who pointed. David Cuddy was fouled but Brendan Cummins saved Young's goal effort. Paul Kelly long range free was pointed. Tommy Dunne fouled Paul Cuddy and Young pointed the free. Tipp added 3 points before half time. Mark O'Leary with the first after O'Meara missed a goal and Eoin Kelly pointed from play and then a free after John Carroll was fouled. Tipp lead at the break 2-16 to 0-5.
Straight after the resumption Tipp finished the game off totally, a good Paul Curran clearance was fielded by Byrne who set up O'Meara and his effort found the net. Young pointed another free to reduce the margin 3-16 to 0-6. Tipp then had a number of bad wides as first Byrne then O'Leary missed good chances. Curran then caught a great ball under severe pressure and cleared. Conor Gleeson last action was a point before Redser replaced him. The atmosphere was totally gone out of the game at this stage as the players were just going through the motions. David Cuddy, O'Sullivan and Young pointed for Laois with O Leary replying with a Tipp point, (3-18 to 0-9). Curran had another great catch before Paul Kelly had a wide. Benny Dunne pointed before Eoin Kelly got a 65 then a point after a Redser pass.


Tipp then made their second change with Lar Corbett on for O'Meara. Brian McCormack pointed for Laois 3-21 to 0-10. Aidan Butler replaced Tommy Dunne at centre back. Laois pointed before John Devane replaced Brislane at midfield, with about 20 minutes gone. Redser scored his first championship point before Liam Cahill replaced Eoin Kelly. The game was held up after a Laois forward had to be stretchered off after his goal run was stopped by Martin Maher. Byrne pointed twice, the second a free before Cummins saved and the Laois and the ball went over the bar, (3-24 to 0-12.) Enda Maher got Laois's last score before Tipp scored the last 4 points, from a Denis Byrne free, a Lar point, a Mark O'Leary point and the last score went to Redser. The final score was 3-28 to 0-13.
Laois manager Paudie Butler will not be pleased with either the performance or the heart shown by his team. He probably knew he was up against it when Darren Rooney opted to play with the footballers instead of the hurlers. Young and Jones had a certain amount of success at midfield in the first half and David Cuddy won some ball off Curran at full forward, goalkeeper John Lyons also saved a few goal efforts. But in all honesty after Tipp scored the second goal in the 15th minute to lead 2-6 to 0-1 the game was over and Laois threw in the towel. For a team that had played 4 Championship matches this year they seemed to lack any bit of a game plan.


Mick Doyle will be relatively pleased with this game. With Laois throwing in the towel so early it was only the first 15 minutes of this game, which was remotely competitive. However he will be pleased that Tipp played more like a unit and the concentration levels by the players were to notch right until the very end. He will be worried about the amount of wides that Tipp had and also the vast number of goals that Tipp missed in the first half, which in another game could be crucial. He will be pleased with Denis Byrnes first full game for Tipp, he won a lot of ball, scored some good points and laid off a lot of ball to better placed colleagues, as emphasised by his great pass to Eoin Kelly for Tipp's second goal of the game. He will be pleased that the tightness of the defence although it did take them about 10-15 minutes to get to grips with the Laois attack.

Tipp team:

Cummins: Had very little to do. Made a few good saves but will see more action the next day.

Full Back Line: Paul Curran had a good second half made at least 5 great catches at the start of the second half any of which if he spilled could have resulted in a Laois goal. Cuddy caused him some trouble in the first half. Will be pleased with his performance. Costello settled up the full back line well. Did not do a whole pile but his man did even less. Martin Maher was lucky not to get booked for a high tackle on a Laois man near the end. Did ok in general play.

Half Back Line: Paul Kelly scored 2 points and made a lot of good quality clearances into the full forward line. Will need to be more defensive the next day. Tommy Dunne had a good game. Cool, calm and great positioning meant that he delivered some good ball into the Tipp attack. Benny shows that he is more suited to wing back line. This line played a lot better as a unit than the last day.

Midfield: Was very quiet. Eddie Enright did a lot of spadework in midfield. His first full game for Tipp in a long time. Eoin Brislane started off very well. Won a lot of ball and delivered it low and hard into Kelly and Byrne. Faded out of the game as it went on, but will be pleased with his first Championship start.

Half Forward Line: Conor Gleeson had a good game scored 4 points and also let a lot of good ball into the inside line. John Carroll was the only forward not to score. Had a lot of possession in the first half but choose to pass it rather than go for his own score. The debate continues as to whether if he better suited at the edge of the square. O'Leary scored a couple of good points but missed a few goals chances. Also a lot more involved in stopping his man from clearing the ball.

Full Forward Line: Eoin Kelly was Tipp's main scorer, by my reckoning he scored 2-3 from play, 3 frees and 2 65's before he was subbed, despite very little ball coming his direction. Utterly destroyed his man and set up a good few scores for O'Meara. Denis Byrne although not a natural full forward scored 4 points from play and 2 frees, (when Eoin Kelly went off.) Looked a lot more at home when running out towards the wing and turning back to shot at the goals. Should start the next day. O'Meara scored a point in the first half and got the first score of the second half, with a goal. Missed a lot of goal chances in the first half, fumbled and failed to raise a lot of ball and wasted a lot of good possession. He limped off which will be a worry for the management.

Subs:
Redser O'Grady for Conor Gleeson: Came on midway through the second half when the game was effectively over. Slotted in at centre forward and the loose open play suited him scored 2 good points but also put 2 good chances wide.

Lar Corbett for Brian O'Meara: Lar came on soon after Redser. The loose play suited him and he scored a good point near the end.

Aidan Butler for Tommy Dunne: Again the game was over when he came on. Will not dislodge Tommy Dunne from centre back.

John Devane for Eoin Brislane: Got a couple of touches but midfield did not seem to suit him.

Liam Cahill for Eoin Kelly: Came on for the last 10 minutes and was not on long enough to make an impression.

So Tipperary advance comfortable to Round 3 of the Qualifiers. There is no Round 2 as Galway won last night beating Clare. Tipp will now be joined by Galway, Offaly, and the winners of Limerick v Derry and Kerry and the losers of both the Munster and the Leinster Finals in the next round. So some cracking games in prospect. Tipp will have been glad to get this game out of the way, away from the media spotlight and now have a few weeks to concentrate on the next game. The management will now have a few headaches with regard to Morris coming back the next day. It is unlikely that he will regain his place, as neither Eddie nor Brislane did enough to be replaced the next day. So onwards and upwards the next day for Tipp and with the other teams in the draw a much tougher game is in prospect.

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Tipp V Laois (14-06-2003) Knocknagow


Tipperary play Laois in the first round of the All-Ireland Qualifiers in Portlaois on Saturday nest at 7:30. Due to fact that Laois are designated a "weaker county" by the GAA they get home venue. The Munster camoige Final between Tipp and Cork will precede this game.
Tipperary's last and only Championship meeting with Laois was in the All-Ireland Final of 1949. Tipp, with John Doyle at corner back in his first year, were captained by Holycross's Pat Stakelum while Paddy Rustchizko captained Laois. Tipp won the game comfortably enough 3-11 to 0-3 and begin the start of the famous 3 in a row All-Ireland wins. The last League meeting was in the April 2001 in the final round of the League in Portlaois. Tipp fielded a fairly weakened team but yet still won 1-16 to 0-13. Tipp lead 11 points to 4 at the break and a Declan Ryan goal soon after the break killed off the tie. Interestingly enough John Carroll played at half back in that game.
Laois will have an advantage in that they have played four Championship matches so far this year in Leinster. There first game was a preliminary round game against Wicklow on the 5th of May with Laois recording an easy win 2-22 to 0-10. Best for Laois were Joe Young who scored 7 points from midfield and Liam Tynan at full forward who scored 1-3. In the next game against Carlow on the 10th of May they had another handy win 5-15 to Carlow's 1-10. Joe Young had another good game from midfield and it was Damien Culleton who did the damage up front scoring 2-1.
Their next game was in the Leinster Quarter Final against Dublin on the 24th of May. It ended in a draw Dublin 1-18 Laois 2-15. James Young and Dublin's Thomas McGrane were the chief marksmen scoring 11 and 13 points respectively. The sides were level at the break and Dublin goaled early in the second half but a similar response from Laois's Tommy Fitzgerald seemed to put Laois in the driving seat. Despite being a man down Dublin pulled back into the game and it took a long range free from McGrane to equalise. The replay took place the next week and it was Dublin who this time prevailed winning 3-11 to 0-15. It was Thomas McGrane with 2-3 and Shane Martin with 5 points that did the damage to Laois. The game was pretty close until Martin moved out to centre forward. With a quarter of an hour remaining Dublin trailed by a point but a Ger Ennis goal and a burst of points by Martin put Dublin out of sight.
One man involved with Laois who will of course know a lot about Tipp is their manager Paudie Butler from Drom-Inch. He will know a lot of the players from his time as coach of the Tipp All-Ireland winning Minor team of 1996 containing Eugene, Tom Costello, John Carroll and Michael Ryan. He also was involved with the U21 over the last few years and will be well aware of Eoin Kelly, Martin Maher, Eoin Brislane and Eoin Kelly. He is also a very well respected club coach in Tipp taking his own club with a limited number of players to back-to-back County U21 A hurling titles. He also has trained a good few club sides with a lot of success and is well liked by the hurling fraternity within the Tipp. With such a good hurling CV he will be delighted to have a good chance to put one over on his native county. As an outsider he seems to have solved the bitter infighting that affects most inter-county teams and has them playing good hurling.
Tipp have of course only played one game in the Munster Championship this year and it was drubbing 2-17 to 0-14. a month ago by Clare. Mick Doyle has had a good while to pick up the pieces and the first positive thing was giving the players a week off. Also three of the divisions played some rounds of the County Championship, (the south being the exception.) The report on the county players was not too good. In the west both Eugene and Tom Costello had good game in beating Clonoulty, but Eugene went off injured. In the mid both Lar and Redser impressed against Drom-Inch. In the south shield Denis Byrne went over on his ankle but scored 4 points from full forward. In the north both Richie Flannery and Benny Dunne played full backs for their clubs. For Toomevara the O'Brien's were poor and it was not until Tommy Dunne went centre back that managed to turn the game around. Eoin Brislane did ok when switched to midfield. John Carroll was poor for Roscrea at wing forward against Liam Sheedy's Portroe but improved slightly when he went full forward.
Mick Doyle must not have been pleased when he reviewed the League after the Clare game. Tipp were one of the few teams who fielded their strongest teams and tried to win all their games. As a new manager and wanting to see his players this was to be expected but his honesty was not matched as Waterford, Limerick Clare and Cork to a certain extent Cork not taking the League seriously. As a result in the latter stages of the League Tipp lost Philip Maher and John Leahy (both cruciates), and the ridiculous suspension of Eamon Corcoran (especially in light of Frank Lohan's pull on Setanta last Sunday which will more than likely not be investigated) for 3 months. This combined with the long-term injury to Paul Ormonde meant that Tipp went into the crunch Clare game with a totally reformed defence from the ones that had played against Kilkenny in 2002. Of course these injuries were not the cause of defeat as Tipp were totally outplayed by a far more hungry and better Clare team.
I am not going to dwell on the wrongs of the Clare game only that major lessons need to be taken from it. The main job of the backs is to defend and not letting their men through. There is no point I leaning into your man if he is racing onto the gaols, he has to be stopped full stop. The half back line escaped a lot of criticism as it was here that players went AWOL and allowed the Clare midfield to run roughshod through our inexperienced full back line. The midfield was also marked absent and the forwards got little if no supply of the ball to do very little.

The Tipp team was announced last night and is as follows:
Brendan Cummins.
Thomas Costello, Paul Curran and Martin Maher.
Benny Dunne, Tommy Dunne and Paul Kelly.
Eddie Enright and Eoin Brislane.
John Carroll, Conor Gleeson and Mark O Leary.
Eoin Kelly, Denis Byrne and Brian O'Meara.

This is a team with 5 changes from the Clare game and only 5 players remain in same positions. Out go David Kennedy, Brain Horgan, Noel Morris (leg injury), Lar Corbett and Liam Cahill. The are replaced by Tom Costello Eddie Enright, Eoin Brislane, Mark O'Leary (all of whom came on as subs against Clare.) and Kilkenny native Denis Byrne. It is a first start for both Eoin Brislane and Denis Byrne. It is good to see Tom Costello in his corner and not alone his experience but ability to stop the play will help this Tipp full back line. Paul Curran, who had an ok debut, (something forgotten in the aftermath by many Tipp supporters) remains at no.3. Martin Maher switches corners and hopefully will have a quieter afternoon than the last day.
The half back line is totally restructured with the two Dunne's taking up unusual positions in the half backline. Benny plays as a wing back regularly at club level and underage for Tipp. This should suit him more than the corner where he is way too loose to be relied upon. The open spaces should suit him. Tommy is playing at centre back for Tipp for the first ever time. A bit unusual as this was not tried during the League. But if there is one man who will not be phased by this its Tommy. He has the hurling ability and reading of the game to make this position his own. This position could suit him down to the ground although his point scoring ability will be missed further up the field.
Midfield sees a new partnership with Eddie recovered from injury to partner Eoin Brislane. This is Brislane's first start and hopefully will be able to keep his temperament in check and go on to have a good game. After the forwards poor showing the last day Lar and Cahill get the chop. Mark O'Leary is always worth a few points on the wing. Not the greatest worker but knows where the posts are. Interesting to see where Byrne starts and I would not be surprised to see him switch with Carroll. We need more threat in our half forward line and hopefully Byrne can produce it. If its John Carroll then we need him to make those types of runs that were very effective in the League Final. Surprised to see O'Meara in the corner as most of his game against Clare was solo runs.
How do I see this game going? Unfortunately the only bit I have seen of Laois this year is about 5 minutes of the drawn Dublin game on the Sunday Game so I cannot really judge them. They will have an advantage in that with Paudie Butler they have the inside track on this Tipp team and home venue will also help their cause. However if Tipp are serious about this game (and possible I tilt at an All-Ireland) then a win with a convincing performance is required. The Tipp team looks a lot better balanced with a good mixture of blockers, Costello and Curran and hurlers Tommy Dunne and Paul Kelly in the backs to No 1 stop Laois from scoring and No. 2 deliver good quality, first time ball, low into the forwards to use it well. We know that in Eoin Kelly we have a match winner but the other forwards, (O'Meara and O'Leary) must step up to the base and be counted in the scoring stakes. So in summing up a 5 point Tipp win in a low scoring game with Tipp coming out on top late in the game.


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Clare 2-17 Tipperary 0-14 (18-05-03) Knocknagow

Tipperary ended their interest in the Guinness Munster Championship with a big loss to last year's All-Irelands finalists in the Munster Quarter Final in Cork today. The weather and the appalling conditions, (the covered stand sideline was a swamp and a disgrace at this level,) and the game live on RTE meant that just over 20,000 people showed up. Clare played with a strong wind in the first half and used it to their full advantage. Clare lined out with Andrew Quinn as the A.N. Other, but started at full forward with Niall Gilligan moving to corner forward. Tony Griffin started at centre forward.
Clare dominated from the start and had the first score after a foul gave Jamsie a simple free. Giligan added a second point. Liam Cahill then had a bad wide for Tipp. Brian Lohan in his attempt to disposes Cahill ended up injury David Hoey who went off with an injured ankle. He was replaced by Conor Plunkett. Clare then tested and broke the Tipp full backline but Griffin ended up hand passing the ball into the net, which was disallowed. Colin Lynch scored a good point after poor work by Horgan. On 12 minutes Tipp got their first score after O'Meara was fouled and Eoin Kelly pointed. He followed that up with a bad wide soon afterwards.
The major turning point of the game came on 13 minutes when numerous Clare players waltzed unopposed past David Kennedy and Jamsie (with Maher no where to be seen) crashed to the net to give Clare a 1-3 to 0-1 lead. His last goal in the Championship was also against Tipp in 1999. The next score was a long range Seanie McMahon free after a stupid foul by O'Meara. Clare put the game beyond Tipp when in the 19th minute a Colin Lynch run and pass to an unmarked Andrew Quinn resulted in Clare's second goal. Score 2-4 to 0-1 in Clare's favour.
Clare were dominating all sectors and Tipp could not get the ball past midfield with Colin Lynch dominated. Eoin Kelly scored a good point from play after a good Noel Morris pass. Giligan again pointing after poor marking by Benny Dunne. Carmody and Giligan scored points in between which Martin Maher was booked for a pull across Giligan. On 32 minutes Liam Cahill pointed for Tipp to bring it back to 2-7 to 0-3. Tipp then made their first sub with Noel Morris making way for Eoin Brislane. This was an effort to curb the rampant Colin Lynch. Nearly immediately after arriving on he got booked for pulling wildly. Lar won a free that Eoin Kelly pointed. Then in injury time Clare scored 3 points, (Andrew Quinn, Tony Griffin and Giligan) again done to very poor Tipp marking. Tipp made their second change with Horgan coming off for Tommy Costello. Costello went left half back, and Benny wing back. Tipp had the last score of the half when Conor Gleeson was fouled and Eoin Kelly pointed. Half time score 2-10 to 0-5.
Tipp got down to business straight at the start of the second half with 2 points, the first a free from Eoin Kelly and then a John Carroll point. Giligan then settled Clare with a point after Jamsie was fouled. In the 42nd minutes Tommy Dunne pointed after a good Gleeson pass, to bring Tipp within striking distance 2-11 to 0-8. Tommy Dunne had a very bad wide from a free which was crucial and then Colin Lynch showed how it was supposed to be done with a point on the run. Conor Gleeson pointed after a free came off the post. Giligan and O Meara swapped points. Eddie Enright replaced a clearly out of sorts Lar. Eoin Kelly put an effort wide before scoring off a Tommy Dunne sideline, 2-13 to 0-11.
A major talking happened in the 60th minute. David Kennedy was frontal charged and in the resulting row, Seanie McMahon pulled across Gleeson face and was shown a straight red. In the aftermath John Carroll also walked. Two minutes later Giligan pointed a free. Tipp now had Tommy Dunne at full forward but to no avail. Brendan Cummins then showed why he is the best in the business with a point blank save from Tony Griffin. With 5 minutes left O'Meara pointed to leave it 2-14 to 0-12. Mark O'Leary came on for Liam Cahill to try and rescue the sinking ship. Diarmuid McMahon scored a long-range point before Brian O'Meara's weak goal effort was cleared. The next two efforts showed the difference when Andrew Quinn got a good point but Mark O'Leary in open space shot wide. Eoin Kelly pointed as did Markham, (both from play) before Davy made a good save from an Eoin Brislane effort. The 65 was dropped in and Brian O'Meara pointed. After 2 minutes of injury time the ref McSuibhne stopped the agony for Tipp. The final score Clare 2-17 Tipp 0-14.
So Clare advance to the Munster Semi Final and a date with Cork on 8th of June. When the dust settles on this game Cyril Lyons will be delighted with a good few aspects of this game. They totally dominated Tipp from start to finish and in truth after the first goal there was only going to be one winner of this game. Midfield was absolutely outstanding for Clare with Colin Lynch the best player in view setting up the first goal and had a hand in most scores. He was ably assisted by Diarmuid McMahon was had a good game. All the Clare forwards scored and they all took their scores well. The half back line pulled back and indeed the most we saw of Alan Markham was when he was in his own half back line. Such was Clare dominance that Frank Lohan was the only Clare back who was in any sort of trouble. Tipp got no ball into the full forward line mainly due to Lynch's excellent work outside. However the number of bad wides that Clare had and the dismissal of Seanie McMahon will cause him worry before the Cork game.
This was not the start that Mick Doyle wanted to his managerial career. In truth Clare were first to every ball, they had two men under every dropping ball and were first to every breaking ball. The whole Eamon Corcoran issue seemed to get to the players and they did not seem focused for the game. In truth this was the worst Tipp performance in years and what galls fans the most was the way Tipp gave up 10 minutes into the second half.
Tipp did not dominate any sector of the field and m,ost of the new young players were badly exposed. The warning signs were there from the League Final but still the Tipp backs persisted with trying to play the ball and big clearances when the first job of a back is to stop his man from scoring. Tipp forwards were appalling and it was O'Meara, Gleeson and Eoin Kelly who were above par. It was a measure of how bad they were that it was not until injury time that Tipp had a goal effort despite needing goals for all of the game to have any contention of coming into the game. It was only that changes were needed further back meant that Lar and Cahill stayed on for so long.

Tipp team:

Cummins: Made two good saves in the second half when Clare could have routed Tipp. Could do nothing about the 2 Clare goals that beat him and was unlucky for the second as he got a touch. Was unlucky to have such a poor full back line in front of him.

Full Back Line: Paul Curran had a decent game considering that how poor the two boys in the corner were. Did not do too bad for a fellow who's last game was the Fitzgibbon Final. Will have more days in the Tipp jersey. Needing more experience beside him. Both Martin Maher and Benny Dunne were way too loose and let their men in way too easy. The difference between League and Championship was shown clearly. Benny did better when he went out on the wing.

Half Back Line: Paul Kelly was quiet, a lot of his clearances were blocked and did not impress. Kennedy did ok. Did not show to be a leader when he was badly needed. He was the most experienced of the backs but lacked the leadership qualities when the chips were down. Brain Horgan was very poor lucky to last as long as he did.

Midfield: Totally outclassed. Morris was not helped coming back from injury up against Lynch who was on fire. Disappointed to come off. The quietest game I can remember Tommy Dunne ever having. Went full forward near the end. He disappeared when Tipp wanted him badly, also was poor from frees.

Half Forward Line: Conor Gleeson had an ok game took a lot of punishment, most of which went unpunished. Did not allow Seanie McMahon to dominate. Went on the wing for a spell as well. Captain Brian O'Meara had an ok game as well. Tended to run into a lot of cul de sacs and a lot of aimless running. Yet he still picked off a few good points. Liam Cahill was very bad.

Full Forward Line: Eoin Kelly was Tipp's only really scoring threat. Gave Frank Lohan a torrid time. Went full forward for a spell as well. Had to work on his own up front and got very little ball in the second half. John Carroll tried and tried but to no avail will probably miss the nest game due to the sending off. Got no ball to test Brian Lohan in the second half. Lar was poor, but in fairness got very little ball. Was well shackled by Brain Quinn but the lack of ball into him only emphasised the Clare supremacy.

Subs:
Eoin Brislane for Noel Morris: Came on at the end of the second half. Tried valiantly on Lynch and quietened him to an extent. But Lynch had built up such a head of steam that no body could have stopped him. Had a good goal effort near the end.

Tom Costello for Brian Horgan: Went in corner back and settled the inside line down. Again the damage was done before he came on. Should start the next day.

Eddie Enright on for Lar Corbett: Again came on when the damage was done. Slotted in to midfield and got little ball.

Mark O'Leary on for Liam Cahill: Had one shocking wide but was only on for the last 5 minutes.

So Tipp another defeat in a major game under Mick Doyle. Comparisons can be drawn with 1994 and the injuries that Tipp had in the lead up to that game. Also the game was reminisant of the 1999 replay when Tipp put it up to Clare the first day but were blown out of it in the second day. Clare wanted it more and fought tooth and nail for every ball. The Tipp players must have read the press leading up to this game. The Clare forwards much maligned in previous years delivered, (they all scored) but in fairness the marking by Tipp was poor, and most occasions when a Clare forward got the ball he was able to look up and place the ball over the bar. There was no Tipp player on his shoulder jostling him. Both Philip Maher and Corcoran were missing badly. Maher's presence and organising skills in keeping his 2 corner tight was badly missed as Paul Curran in his debut was more worried about his own man. Corcoran's ability to read the game, and stop attacks was badly missed. Saying all that Tipp had enough leaders on the field, (Tommy Dunne, David Kennedy, Brian O'Meara and John Carroll) who did not show for most of the game.
While Mick Doyle will be disgusted that Clare scored so much, 2-17, in truth it could have been much more as they missed at least another 6 handy scores. Yet he will very angry with the Tipp forwards that had wracked up 5-13 against Kilkenny 13 days ago now only scored 12 points and only had one worthwhile attempt on goals, (and that in injury time). Now Tipp are not due out until the middle or end of June. There will be much work to do in the mean time. He will possible have to plan without John Carroll and also have to make a major number of switches in most areas of the field. I am not confident of any sort of run in the Qualifiers after today's game and most importantly performance.



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Tipp V Clare (18-05-2003) Knocknagow Preview



Tipp and Clare play the second game of the Munster Championship with the Munster Quarter Final in Pairc Ui Chaiomh Cork on Sunday at 4.20. The game is live on RTE. This will have an effect on the attendance and a crowd of more than 20,000 will be very good. These teams have met regularly over the last 10 years. Since the Munster Final of 1993, the teams have met 9 times with it being 4 wins each and a draw. Tipp have the advantage winning the last three meetings. The most recent Championship meeting was this time last year with Tipp winning 1-18 to 2-13. Tipp lost the Munster Final to Waterford and the All-Ireland Semi-Final to Kilkenny while Clare went on through the back door and lost the All-Ireland Final to Kilkenny.
Both teams had contrasting League fortunes. Clare were impressive in winning their first three games beating Laois, Dublin, and Galway. But then the wheels came off as they lost the next five games including their last game to Tipp in Ennis. How this losing sequence will effect Clare is hard to know. Tipp had a better League campaign winning their first four games before losing to Cork, beating Kilkenny drawing with Galway and beating Clare. In the League Final Tipp dominated for long spells but a series of changes and switches and the introduction of Charlie Carter saw Tipp lose by a single point 5-14 to 5-13 after a high scoring thrilling last 20 minutes.
Clare named their team on Tuesday night and it is as follows:
Davy Fitzgearld
Brian Quinn, Brian Lohan and Frank Lohan.
David Hoey, Seanie McMahon and Gerry Quinn.
Colin Lynch and Diarmuid Mc Mahon.
Tony Griffin, Alan Markham, Jamsie O' Connor.
Niall Gilligan, Tony Carmody, A.N Other.
The A.N. Other spot is between three players Andrew Quinn, Barry Murphy and Daithi O'Connell. As always with Clare the defence is very formidable with all six well used to the sight of Tipp at this level. Diarmuid McMahon, a first cousin of both Alan Markham and Seanie McMahon, is the only debutant (depending on the A.N. Other) and this must be a worrying sign from a Clare point of view. While at the start of the League some of the younger players were given a chance at the end of the day it is still the old reliables. Clare's main problem even during their golden spell. 1995-1998, was the lack of reliable quality forwards. Tipp will be very relieved that David Forde left the panel as he caused Tipp all sorts of trouble last year. In the recent Tipp v Clare League game these problem were further highlighted when Niall Gilligan missed at least 2-5 in the space of 5 minutes. The two new forwards who have impressed are Andrew Quinn who caused Philly Maher all sorts of trouble in Ennis, and Daithi O'Connell who was on fire at the start of the League. Andrew Quinn has a slight injury and if shakes that off he will start. Expect a lot of swapping with the Clare forwards as the try to exploit the new Tipp backs.
Tipp under new management spent the early parts of the year experimenting and this seemed to work as the cruised through the early parts of the League building up big scores. Despite being under different management team the only new players who featured regularly were Redser at full forward, Martin Maher and John Devane in the full back line, Brain Horgan and Richie Flannery in the half back line and Eoin Brislane who impressed greatly at midfield in the League Final. Tipp have also suffered greatly in the past month with suspensions and injuries. Brian O'Meara missed the latter stages of the League with broken toes. Paul Ormonde is a long-term injury. Paul Kelly returned only for the last two games. The worst news has come in the last 2 weeks with the news that Philip Maher did his cruciate in the League Final and is out for the year. Also Eamon Corcoran was very harshly suspended for 3 months resulting from the Galway v Tipp League game. Noel Morris, John Devane and Martin Maher also are struggling since the League Final with injuries, although Martin Maher played with his club Borrisileigh at the weekend. To counter all these injuries Tom Costello, (who had been dropped temporarily) Paul Curran, (who had not joined the panel due to exams), and Diarmaid Fitzgerald (Roscrea wing back) have been added to the panel in recent weeks.
The League threw up a lot of different pointers. Two of them were the form of both Philip Maher and Eamon Corcoran. Both of them were superb and Corcoran was Tipp most consistent player throughout the League. Maher's loss will be especially felt, as both of the corner backs were new to their positions in the latter stages of the League. Corcoran's loss will be felt, as not alone is he a good reader of the game, good clearances, the quality of ball into the forwards will be sorely missed.
The good points that came out of the League was the big scores that the Tipp forwards put up in the last few weeks. Eoin Kelly was magnificent throughout the League and was top scorer in most games. The return to form of Lar Corbett is welcome as he performed very poor in the corresponding fixture last year. The Tipp half forward line was the weakest during the League with a vast number of players being tried, with Conor Gleeson being the most consistent. The return to form of Tommy Dunne in the latter stages of the League was a welcome boost to Tipp and if he can dominate midfield then Tipp will reap the benefits.
The Tipp team was picked tonight and is as follows:
Brendan Cummins.
Martin Maher, Paul Curran, Benny Dunne.
Brian Horgan, David Kennedy, Paul Kelly.
Tommy Dunne, Noel Morris.
Brian O'Meara, Conor Gleeson, Liam Cahill.
Eoin Kelly, John Carroll, Lar Corbett.
The Tipp team shows two changes from the team that lost the League Final to Kilkenny. Paul Curran comes in for Philip Maher. Curran was very impressive as Mullinahone full back last year and also was outstanding in the Fitzgibbon Final for WIT. The second choice full back John Devane got an ankle injury in the League Final and could not start. The forwards are along expected lines with captain Brian O'Meara returning at wing forward with John Carroll going to the edge of the square. The logic behind this is that John Carroll is not the most natural of forwards and the closer to goals he is the better. Also he will not be muscled out of the way by Brian Lohan. His surging runs from deep will be missed but if he can keep Lohan busy, break the ball to the other 2 lads then it's a job well done.
Tipp have taken a major risk in the full back line. When was the last time such a young and inexperienced line when tout for Tipp. This will be Paul Curran's first Championship game for Tipp and he has not played for club since last year. Martin Maher is just gone 21 and this is his first Championship start. Benny Dunne played last year but in the forwards. Brendan Cummins will have his work cut out shouting at Dunne to mark his man. This line needs to settle quick if Tipp are to have any chance of a victory.
Theweakest area of the Tipp team, (the injury hit defence) will be marking Clare's weakest, their forwards while Tipp strongest area (their free scoring forwards) is being marked by a Clare defence lead by captain Seanie McMahon. While Tipp will have their confidence shaken by the recent loss to Kilkenny, and twin loss of Philip Maher and Eamon Corcoran, hopefully it can be used as galvanising force to unite the team also the players coming in will be doing their utmost to prove their ability. The main focus of the Tipp attack will be getting the ball into Eoin Kelly low and often. He is one of the few players who has scored freely of Frank Lohan in the past few weeks. Tipp also should try and isolate Brian and Frank Lohan and try and exploit their lack of pace. Tipp will have to stop Lohans booming clearances. Midfield will be crucial. Colin Lynch has been one of Clare's most consistent players in this area over the past few years and he will need to be closely marked. The fact that Noel Morris has been passed fit is a good sign for Tipp, as he will be needed to nullify Lynch and leave Tommy Dunne to deliver the ball. Tipp also have a good few forward options on the bench with Eoin Brislane, and Reder willing and able.
So how do I see the game going? If Tipp can weather the early storm that will be thrown at their makeshift full back line and avoid conceding too many scores then they can win the game. But of Clare take control in midfield and in their half back line then it will cut off the supply of ball into the Tipp inside line. For Clare's forwards to win they will have to take their chances both goals and points and cut down on the massive number of wides they accumulate every game. I am not convinced about the Tipp half back and forward lines. Cahill and O'Meara are both average players and can be easily blown out of the game. Kennedy is not back to 2001 form yet, while Brian Horgan is totally unproven at this level. So I give a very hesitant vote to Tipp to sneak it. But as a Tipp man I am not even remotely confident about this game.

Knocknagow