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Knocknagow
03 League
Kilkenny 5-14 Tipperary 5-13 (05-05-03) Knocknagow
Kilkenny dramatically retained their Allianz League crown with an amazing
comeback over Tipp in an unbelievable game in Croke Park this afternoon.
Played before a small crowd of 17,000 both teams lined out as selected with
no room for captain Charlie Carter on the Kilkenny team or Tipp captain
Brian O'Meara in the starting line-ups. Kilkenny played into the Hill 16 end
in the first half and had the aid of a very strong wind.
Both teams had wides before a foul by Tommy Dunne on Shefflin, who pointed
the free. In the fifth minute Redser blocked a Ryan clearance and Eoin Kelly
pointed. Eddie Brennan scored a point from a tight angle off David Kennedy
before Eoin Kelly punished a Tennyson foul on Lar with a free to draw the
game at 0-2 to 0-2. Shefflin then benefited from a long ball into the Tipp
square when he finished with a flick to the net after Cummins had smothered
his first shot. A minute later he score a free after a foul on Tommy Walsh.
Kilkenny 1-3 Tipp 0-2. Tipp refused to buckle and both Tommy Dunne and Eoin
Kelly added frees after fouls for dangerous pulls by Kilkenny players.
Tipp then scored their first goal of the game in the 17th minute, it all
started with a terrific block by Paul Kelly eventually Cahill passed to
Carroll whose great run drew the Kilkenny backs and an unmarked Lar Corbet
blasted to the net to regain the lead for Tipp, 1-4 to 1-3. Martin Maher
blocked a goal effort but Eddie Brennan put the ball over to level. Martin
Comerford opened his account after a blatant foul on Lar went unpunished at
the other end. The first piece of bad news for Tipp arrived after 19
minutes with Noel Morris going off with a hip injury his replacement Eoin
Brislane took a great pass from Eoin Kelly and scored a point to level the
game at 1-5 each. Eoin Kelly then showed his class with a point from out on
the sideline.
Further bad news for Mick Doyle soon afterwards, when Philip Maher went off
with what looked like a serious knee injury. John Devane replaced him. In
the 27th minute Paul Kelly was yellow carded for a wild pull and DJ scored
the free. Eoin Kelly scored a free and then Conor Gleeson pointed after good
work by Brislane. Liam Cahill was then fouled about 25 yards out Eoin Kelly
blasted the ball through Mick Kavanagh's legs for a great goal. Mark O'Leary
came on as a blood sub for Cahill. Eoin Kelly scored another great point
from near the sideline before a Tommy Dunne foul gave Henry Shefflin a free,
which he pointed. At the break Tipp lead 2-9 to 1-7.
Both teams lined out without any further changes for the second half, (Liam
Cahill had returned for Tipp.) Devane made a great interception after DJ
gave Benny the slip. DJ pointed after Horgan fouled. Tipp made their third
change of the day when Redser was replaced by Eugene O'Neill. Two great
hooks by Horgan foiled Tennyson. Eoin Kelly then had a great point after
turning Larkin and destroying him for pace. Cummins then made a great full
length save to deny Shefflin. Tennyson made way for Jimmy Coogan on the
Kilkenny team. Hickey should have been booked for a late pull straight
across Cahill with Tommy Dunne putting the resultant free wide. On 45
minutes Shefflin pointed to reduce the margin 2-10 to 1-09. Eoin Brislane
then set off on a great run and passed the ball across the square before
being hacked down by Hickey John Carroll thankfully appeared to flick the
ball to the net for a Tipp goal, Tipp 3-10 to 1-9 after 48 minutes.
Brain O'Meara came on as a temporary sub for the injured Brislane. DJ scored
a free before Gleeson scored a point with a Cahill pass. Devane then came to
Tipp's rescue with another interception. Another highball into the Tipp back
line again caused problems as Martin Comerford scored a goal as the Tipp
backs looked on. Game on at 3-11 to 2-10. A massive long-range point from
Paul Kelly settled the Tipp nerves. Brian Cody the made the master stoke
bringing on Charlie Carter for the ineffective John Hoyne, and also putting
Martin Comerford out at wing forward where he totally outplayed Paul Kelly.
In 58 minutes Tipp seemed to have settled the game with a great goal from
Lar after a great pass from Eoin Kelly, Tipp 4-12 Kilkenny 2-10. Straight
down the field Kilkenny went and Gorta had a shot off the crossbar before
the ball eventually went over. Cahill tried to ease Tipp nerves with a point
from a tight angle.
The deadly duo scored the next Kilkenny goal with 9 minutes left. Carter
took the initial shot, (after a lot of steps with the ball in hand) DJ
standing in the square touched the ball to the net much to the protestations
of all the Tipp backs. Straight from the puck-out the ball went back in and
after a flick on by Eddie Brennan Carter flicked the ball past the advancing
Brendan Cummins. Disaster for Tipp, elation for the Cats, Tipp 4-13 Kilkenny
4-11. Tipp were now panicking and both Cahill and Brislane had bad wides.
Eddie Brennan then scored a goal and a point as Kilkenny surged towards the
line.
With a minute to go the score was 5-12 to 4 -13 in Kilkenny's favour.
However the game had another twist when Eoin Kelly set up John Carroll who
goaled and put Tipp back in the lead, 5-13 to 5-12. In injury time a stupid
free by gave Shefflin the chance to equalise and he did. Tipp then had a
great chance as a Brislane block fell to John Carroll but his gaol effort
was saved and went out for a 65, which Tommy Dunne sent wide. On the puck
out Shefflin caught majestically and soloed to the 21 and kicked over the
bar. The ref, Pat O Connor, blew soon after to give Kilkenny victory in the
most dramatic League Finals seen in many years. Final score Kilkenny 5-14
Tipp 5-13.
Brian Cody will be elated with this result. 8 points down with 10 minutes to
go they looked dead and buried but Kilkenny surged and scored an amazing 4-6
in the second half. The turning point of the game was the introduction as he
had a hand in every Kilkenny score after his arrival. Cody will be worried
about his corner backs. Philly Larkin got absolutely roasted by Eoin Kelly
four excellent points from play and the damage was done when Kavanagh was
switched across to him. Hickey had a good game at full back and the half
back line was solid enough. Midfield was very poor for Kilkenny and both
should have been replaced sooner. Expect to see the placing of Tommy Walsh
back in midfield come the Leinster Championship. Even though the forwards
scored 5-14 it was not until the introduction of Carter that they got
motoring. Hoyne, Martin Comerford (until switched to wing forward), Tommy
Walsh and Shefflin (except for the winning point) were very poor in open
play and expect the start of Carter the next day.
Mick Doyle went through the whole range of emotions today. Joy at how well
Tipp did in the first half, disappointment at the result, despair at the
injuries to both Morris and Maher and anguish at unable to hold onto a
substantial lead with 10 minutes to go. He must also have been relived that
the game did not end in a draw, as a replay next weekend would not be
desirable. He will be pleased with a few players, Eoin Kelly, Brislane,
Tommy Dunne and David Kennedy. But there now must be question marks over
this Tipp team that has conceded 2 massive leads in recent games with the
winning post in sight. He certainly will have a lot to think about over the
next 13 days.
Tipp team:
Cummins: Made one spectacular save in the second half from Shefflin diving
full length. Also a good save at the end when tipped Shefflin's effort over
the bar. Normally when a goalie concedes 5 he is too blame but could do
little about most of them. Was unlucky with the first, which he smothered
but the rebound fell to Shefflin who buried. Could do very little about the
four in the second half.
Full Back Line: Philip Maher was starting off well, despite Gorta taking him
out the field. Seemed to twist his knee very badly hopefully he will be back
soon. Martin Maher had a good game until the last 10 minutes of madness when
every Kilkenny touch ended in a score. Benny Dunne did ok on DJ was caught
badly once in the second half but will be pleased with his performance, but
not the last 10 minutes.
Half Back Line: Paul Kelly was quiet did not do much in general play, scored
what at the time seemed like a crucial point. His man was replaced. Suffered
when Comerford was moved on to him was stuck for pace towards the end.
Horgan was on the new man Tommy Walsh; saw little of the play should keep
his place for May 18th. David Kennedy had a very good game, conceded a few
frees, but had Shefflin in his pocket until the last point. A welcome return
to 2001 performances will be delighted with his display.
Midfield: Tommy Dunne scored a point from a free in the first half and
missed a crucial 65 deep in injury time. Played well missed Morris. Morris
was settling well into the game until the hip injury after 19 minutes.
Half Forward Line: Conor Gleeson scored a point but played well on Peter
Barry. Broke up a lot of play. John Carroll scored 2 goals at crucial stages
but was out of the play at half forward. Cahill was very poor scored a point
but 3 efforts went straight into Ryan's hands.
Full Forward Line: Eoin Kelly deservedly won Man of the Match. Scored 1-7,
(0-4 from play) Ran rings around Larkin and despite Kavanagh on him for most
of the second half set up two goals. Got no service for the last 20 minutes.
Redser was very poor I can only remember him with the ball once in his hand
up until he was replaced. Lar took his two goals well. But they all got no
supply of ball in the second half.
Subs:
Eoin Brislane for Noel Morris: His first start in months. Did well, scored a
point, and was very good in general play with a lot of blocks. Thrown in at
the deep end in a League Final. However his inexperience shows with late
point effort went badly wide.
John Devane for Philip Maher: Similar to Brislane had little time to prepare
but acquitted himself well. Made a few very timely interceptions. Could do
little about the 10 minutes of madness. Went over on his ankle but should be
ok. Will start in Cork if Maher is injured.
Eugene O'Neill for Redser: Was on for most of second half but I don't think
he got one decent ball due to poor Tipp service.
Both O'Leary and O'Meara on as temporary subs but did little to impress.
So Tipp suffer defeat in the most dramatic way. They played very well in
the first half, against the wind and with little supply of ball. Tipp
dominated in most sectors of the field, up until the last 10 minutes. But
once Kilkenny ran at them in the latter stages, both the half back and full
back lines wilted. The loss of Philip Maher was massive to Tipp as although
Devane played good Maher's massive physical presence was missed. Mick Doyle
will be worried that 2 of Kilkenny's goals came from high balls into the
square the first Kennedy fumbled before Shefflin pounced, the second, saw
Martin Comerford pounce as the Tipp backs stood looking at the ball. Once
again the Tipp forwards suffered from a lack of any sort of ball in the
second half. It was amazing that Tipp actually managed to score 3-4 such was
the lack of ball into the forwards.
The first thing with Tipp when they get back training is sorting out
injuries. If both Morris and Maher are out then Tipp will struggle against
Clare. Also there is a serious lack of cover in the fullback line. Tipp
still have major trouble in the forwards, neither Cahill, Redser nor Eugene
warranted enough to start them the next day and the positioning of John
Carroll will give Mick Doyle much sleepless nights. However the win has
insured that Tipp will have their feet firmly on the ground in two weeks
time in Cork.
So a good League run of nine games, six wins, 1 draw and two losses
comes to a dramatic end in one of the best games seen in Croke Park in
years. Still roll on the Championship!
Knocknagow
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2003 National League Final Knocknagow
Kilkenny v Tipperary (05-05-2003)
Tipp and Kilkenny play their ninth and final League game in Croke Park on the May Bank Holiday Monday. The game starts at 3:45 and is live on TG4, it will be preceded by the Division 2 League Final between Antrim and Kerry. Tipp are striving for their 19th title and Kilkenny their 11th. Both sides have came out and said during the week that they would prefer the game closer to home but I am sure that the management of both teams will be delighted to play in Croke Park to give some of the more inexperienced members of their panel a chance to play in Croke Park as the experience may be invaluable come the Summer. Anyway with redevelopment works in both Thurles, Nowlan Park and Portlaois the possible venues were limited.
For the last four years both of these teams have been involved in the League Final. In 1999 Tipp beat Galway in Ennis 1-14 to 1-10, in Nicky's first year as Tipp manager. In 2000 Galway exacted revenge on Tipp with a 2-18 to 2-13 win in the Gaelic Grounds. In 2001 Tipp beat Clare in the Gaelic Grounds 1-19 to 0-17, the start of their clean sweep that year. Last year Kilkenny beat Cork in Thurles with 2 very late points 2-15 to Cork's 2-14.
Although frequent opponents in League stage of the League one has to go back to the Home League Final of 1967-68 for the last meeting between these two teams in the National League Final. It was game, which was noted for all the wrong reasons. It was at the height of the intense Tipp v Kilkenny rivalry. Tipp eventually won the game 3-09 to 1-13 and went on to win the League Final proper with a 2 leg win over New York. As a result of "incidents" in the game 2 players; Tipp's John Flanagan and Kilkenny's Ollie Walsh, both got six-month suspensions and as this was announced in July they missed most of the 1968 Championship. They had previously met in the 1965-66 League Final in which Kilkenny won a low scoring game 9 points to 7.
Both Tipp and Kilkenny finished with six wins, a draw and a loss from their eight League games. However due to better scoring in their last game against Clare Tipp finished top of the League with a points difference of + 11 to Kilkenny's +5. They last met in the League on the 13th of April (see previous report.) Since that game Tipp have drawn with Galway and beat Clare comfortably last Sunday. Kilkenny had a comfortable win over Cork before drawing with Wexford last Sunday. They beat Cork 4-17 to 3-12 in Pairc Ui Chaiomh. Top scorers for Kilkenny were Henry Shefflin with 2-5, DJ and Eddie Brennan with 1-2 each and Tommy Walsh with 0-4. They played out a thrilling draw last Sunday with Wexford in Nowlan Park; 0-23 to 2-17, indeed they were lucky to draw as Wexford had a goal disallowed with only 5 minutes left. Shefflin scored 13 points however only 2 were from play. Paul Codd caused a lot of trouble at both full and centre forward to Hickey and Peter Barry. Still the draw was good enough to guarantee their place in Mondays Final.
Both sides have an amount of injuries and suspensions going into this game. There was good news for Henry Shefflin, Philly Larkin and Redser as they were cleared to play. They had been called before the GAC committee resulting from incidents during the last meeting between the two sides. On the injury front for Kilkenny goalkeeper James McGarry and James Ryall are both out for Monday. McGarry fractured a bone in his leg against Cork and Ryall tore his hamstring against Wexford. Better news for Kilkenny is that both DJ Carey and Michael Kavanagh have been cleared to play. Also the hassle with Charlie Carter seems to have been sorted out. Tipp are definitely without Eamon Corcoran who was red carded against Galway, John Leahy who had the very bad misfortune of doing the cartiladge on his "good" knee last week, and also team captain Brian O' Meara, (who again misses another Croke Park Final) who has three toes broken in his foot. Martin Maher, John Carroll and Noel Morris are all expected to have recovered from their recent injuries to be considered for the team and panel.
The Tipp team was picked tonight and is as follows:
Brendan Cummins.
Martin Maher, Philip Maher, Benny Dunne.
Brian Horgan, David Kennedy, Paul Kelly.
Tommy Dunne, Noel Morris.
John Carroll, Conor Gleeson, Liam Cahill.
Eoin Kelly, Ger O'Grady, Lar Corbett.
There are three changes to the Tipp team. Redser is in for Eugene, Morris for Butler and John Carroll for O'Leary. This represents a pretty strong Tipp line up and presents a far better physical presence than in the last two games. It is good to see Redser back and hopefully he can do the business at full forward. The Kilkenny team will not be announced until tomorrow night.
It will be interesting to see how both teams approach this game. Tipp are into the Championship in less then two weeks time whereas Kilkenny are not playing the Leinster Semi Final until 8th of June. In the meeting in Nowlan Park Tipp appeared more fired up and it was a relief to see Tipp hunting in packs, blocking, hooking and closing the Kilkenny forwards down to such an extent that in the second half Kilkenny did not score a point from play. Despite racking up big scores in most the Kilkenny forwards has not been that impressive depending very heavily on Henry Shefflin, both from frees and play. After the impressive display against Kilkenny Tipp faltered to deceive before letting Galway back from the dead to draw. They will have learned little from the game against Clare last week other than to give the two corner backs more confidence. Tipp still have not found a partner to Tommy Dunne at midfield with both Paul Kelly and Aidan Butler not impressing in the last 2 weekends.
How do I see this game going? Well I think Kilkenny will win for a number of reasons. They will want to get revenge for defeat in Nowlan Park, their team up to the half forward line seems more settled (although I still think that Tommy Walsh would be better utilised at midfield), they will be able to concentrate fully on the game, and finally they have more proven consistent forwards. Tipp will have half an eye on the Clare game, as a loss to the Banner would render any League crown useless. Tipp still have major trouble at centre back, midfield and the half forward line. Hopefully John Carroll and Conor Gleeson will strengthen up the Tipp half forward line and win decent ball. The players chosen in these positions will be gunning to impress Mick Doyle, as good displays there on Monday will mean a Championship start. So Kilkenny by 3 points.
Knocknagow
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Clare 0-14 Tipperary 0-22 (27-04-03) Match Report Knocknagow
Tipperary advanced to the League Final with a victory against a very poor and lacklustre Clare side in Ennis this afternoon. The game was live on TG4 and this probably explained the very poor crowd. Tipp lined out with two changes form the team that started against Galway. Eugene O Neill replaced the injured Redser at full forward while Aidan Butler replaced the suspended Eamon Corcoran. Butler played in midfield with Paul Kelly at wing back. Clare played with the wind in the first half.
Clare started in determined mood and registered the first three points of the game in six minutes, from a long range Seanie McMahon free, Gillingham and Tony Griffin from midfield. Tipp settled into it with a Eugene O'Neill point. Clare then had the first of many goal misses with Barry Murphy's shot saved by Cummins and the resultant 65 was pointed by McMahon to leave the score 0-4 to 0-1. A Tommy Dunne pass to Lar gave him his first point from a tight angle. Gillingham pointed a free after a Paul Kelly foul. Gillingham pointed another free after a Eugene O'Neill point. A Mark O'Leary goal effort was stopped but Lar whipped over the point. Clare responded with a point so after 17 minutes Clare led 0-7 to 0-4.
Eoin Kelly scored 2 points the first a free after Frank Lohan fouled him. Lar's goal effort was blocked and the 65 went wide. Andrew Quinn and Lar swapped points before Tommy Dunne got a great catch and pointed to level at 8 points. Brendan Cummins then made another good save. Tommy Dunne pointed a free after Gleeson was fouled. Wadding then gave a ridiculous free against Benny Dunne who was shouldered into the face before the free was given against him, which Gilly pointed. O' Leary had a wide before Gilly missed an open goal only 6 yards out and put the ball 5 yards wide. He followed this up with bad wides from play and the other from a free. Gleeson had a bad wide before pointing after a Horgan free to leave it 0-10 to 0-9. Eoin Kelly scored a great point from play before Benny Dunne blocked a goal effort before Gilly had 2 bad wides (again!!) At the break it was 0-11 to 0-9 in Tipp's favour.
Clare made a change at the start of the second half with Jamsie on for Fergal Lynch in midfield. Cahill had a sweet point after only 10 seconds. Gilly and Markham both missed goals before Tommy Dunne scored a Tipp point. Eoin Kelly had a bad wide but made up for it straight with a point. Lar had a great run and pointed before Andrew Quinn and Eoin Kelly swapped points to leave the score after 50 minutes 0-16 to 0-10 in favour of Tipp. Tipp then made their first change of the day with Richie Flannery replacing the ineffective Butler at midfield. Conor Early replaced Barry Murphy on the Clare team. Lar saw his goal effort off the post and go wide. Eugene pointed after a Richie Flannery pass. Andrew Quinn and Eoin Kelly swapped points to leave Tipp well in control 0-18 to 0-11 with 10 minutes left. Mark O'Leary pointed after a Martin Maher pass before Tony Griffin scored a long-range effort Clare. Denis Byrne then made his second appearance for Tipp replacing Mark O'Leary. Andrew Quinn reduced the deficit with a free.
Cummins made a brilliant full length save from Markham, but the 65 was pointed to leave the score 0-19 to 0-14. Eugene nearly goaled but the ball went out for a 65, which Tommy Dunne pointed. Martin Maher went off with what looked like a back injury to be replaced by John Devane. Eugene O'Neill scored the last two points of the day with the second a flick over the advancing Davy that could have gone under the bar. After nearly 73 minutes the ref blew up and Tipp won very convincingly 0-22 to 0-14. Benny Dunne deservedly ended up with the TG4 man of the match award.
Cyril Lyons will not be pleased with this performance of his team. Although forced to line out without a lot of his regular's; Brian Lohan, Ollie Baker and Colin Lynch, they started off well with three points from play but that was as good as it got. They still only trailed by two points at the break, yet their second half performance was very weak. It was not as if Tipp powered ahead but Clare just could not get the scores on the board due to a combination of appalling shooting and going for goals when point taking would have been the better option. He will have been pleased with the performances of his half back line, especially Ger O Grady and Andrew Quinn in the forwards who caused a lot of trouble for Philip Maher and also shot a lot of points when moved to centre forward late on in the game.
Mick Doyle will have been relatively happy with this game. Tipp did not seem to pick up any more serious injuries, fingers crossed on Martin Maher. Paul Kelly has got another full game under his belt, the corner backs were outstanding, forwards did well scoring 17 points from play and Eugene O'Neill did well at the edge of the square. However he knows that the Championship game in 3 weeks will be nothing like this as Clare will be more fired up, a sure sign of their lack lustreness was that no yellow cards were given out and there were no heavy tackles. He will also be worried at the number of goal chances that Clare had and the lack of chances that Tipp had. The game was over as a contest mid way through the second half as Clare seemed to give up. He also knows from this game that whatever role Aidan Butler plays in the future with Tipp it will not be at midfield.
Tipp team:
Cummins: Made one spectacular save in the second half from Markham diving full length. Made another few good saves. His first clean sheet in a long time.
Full Back Line: Philip Maher had a fairly quiet afternoon; found Andrew Quinn a handful conceded a few scores to him. Made a crucial interception to hook a Clare goal effort. Benny Dunne had a brilliant game, helped in no small part by the appalling display of Gillingham who was shocking from frees and general play. Benny made a few good interceptions and cleared a lot of ball. Could do with being tighter on his man. Martin Maher had a great game as well, if it was not for Benny's great game he would have picked up the man of the match award. Stuck like glue to his man and gave a lot of accurate clearances that were turned into scores. Hopefully his injury is not serious.
Half Back Line: Paul Kelly was quiet did not do much in general play, still this game and the final will bring him on a lot. Horgan was very and was caught out at a few critical times behind his man. Kennedy was quiet but did his job well enough.
Midfield: Tommy Dunne scored three points from frees and from play. Did ok in general play and made some good clearances. Aidan Butler was very poor and I will be surprised if he is seen again in the League or Championship especially with Noel Morris and Eoin Brislane due to return the team soon.
Half Forward Line: Conor Gleeson with a helmet after the blow to the head last week was ok, scored a point but not much of the play came his way. Mark O'Leary scored a good point and was lightly better than last week. Liam Cahill scored 2 points but again his general play was poor and he went missing for long spells.
Full Forward Line: Similar to the Galway game they did way better in the first half. They scored 14 points from play, which is a good return. Eoin Kelly had a good game on Frank Lohan scoring 6 points in total, (2 frees.) Again suffered from lack of ball in the second half. A similar return on the 18th of May would be greatly appreciated. Lar had a good game scoring 5 points and was unlucky with his 2 goal chances, one of which came off the post. Eugene scored 5 points but it should be remembered that Brian Lohan was not playing and two of these came in injury time. Did ok but probably not well enough to get a starting place for May 28th.
Subs:
Richie Flannery for Aidan Butler: Not his ideal position but Richie did ok and set up a good point for Eugene.
Denis Byrne for Mark O'Leary: For the second week in a row this switch occurred. Only on for the last 9 minutes and did not see much of the ball.
John Devane for Martin Maher: Occurred in injury time and Devane did not touch the ball.
So Tipp again are in a League Final against Kilkenny with the venue to be decided during the week. This really was nothing game as far as Tipp were concerned, as they did not want to give too much away to Clare. Still the win coupled with the draw in the Kilkenny and Wexford game means that Tipp finished top of the League group with 13 points and a point's difference of +11 with Kilkenny on 13 but a point's difference of only +5. While the game is not ideal coming only 2 weeks before the Clare game as any red cards or injuries will rule players out of the Championship opener, it is a good chance for Paul Kelly, Noel Morris to prove their match fitness and hopefully a chance for John Carroll, and Redser to prove they will be fit, ready and able for the Championship.
Knocknagow
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Clare V Tipperary (27-04-2003) Preview Knocknagow
Clare and Tipp play their eight League game on Sunday in Cusack Park Ennis in the third and final game of Series 2 of this new National League format. The game starts at 3:30 and will be shown live on TG4. This will definitely be Clare's last game of this years League as they only have 6 points. Tipp have a chance of another game. Kilkenny have 12 points, Tipp 11, and Cork 10. So a Tipp win or draw, or a Galway win over Cork, would definitely see Tipp into the final against Kilkenny.
The last meeting in the League was in the 2001 Final in the Gaelic Grounds. Tipp won 1-19 to 0-17. The most unusual aspect of the game was John Leahy lining out at wingback. Clare dominated the first half and it was not until the second half that Tipp opened up the game with Declan Ryan scoring 1-1, Eoin Kelly contributed 0-3 and Lar 0-4 as some superb saves from Brendan Cummins brought Tipp their 18th title. They also met in the 2000 League Semi Final in the Gaelic Grounds with Tipp winning 0-19 to 1-15. The Tipp hero was Tommy Dunne who as well as scoring 12 points also scored the winner with a late free. Their last meeting in Ennis was in 1997 when both sides were fighting relegation. Tipp won 1-10 to 0-12. Tommy Dunne scored the Tipp goal and Brendan Cummins saved a last minute penalty from Davy Fitz to give Tipp a narrow win.
Clare opened their League campaign with a 3-18 to 1-10 win over Laois with Daithi O'Connell the hero. Their second game was against Dublin, which they won 3-17 to 3-10. Conal Keaney scored 3-1 but Barry Murphy and Niall Gilligan rescued Clare with some high scoring. Their third win brought a win over Galway, helped by 2 goalkeeping blunders from Damien Howe. Niall Giligan and Frank Lohan again were the most impressive for Clare. Kilkenny ended Clare's wining run with a 2-22 to 1-13 in Nowlan Park. Henry Shefflin did the most damage with 1-11, Clare lead early on with a Tony Carmody goal but Clare were totally out played in the second half scoring only 0-5 to Kilkenny's 1-13. Clare lost their last game of Series 1 with 2-18 to 2-15 loss to Waterford. Waterford thanks to Michael Walsh and Paul Flynn lead 2-11 to 0-8 at the break. Clare scored 2 goals in the second half from Daithi O'Connell and Gilligan but Waterford held out tow in.
Clare continued their losing streak in Series 2 of the League. Their first game 2 weeks ago saw them go down to Cork in Ennis. After an eventful first half Cork lead 6-4. A Tony Carmody goal was cancelled out by Setanta O'hAilpin. An Alan Browne goal put Cork 8 up but an Eamon Taffe goal and some late points left only 3 in it at the end. Last Sunday Clare lost their fourth game in a row when they were beaten 1-15 to 1-13 by Wexford. Wexford lead 1-8 to 0-7 at the break and dominated the second half through Paul Codd who was top scorer with 9 points. Clare were 4 points down when Gilligan scored late on but a Mitch Jordan point sealed a 2 point win for the Wexford men.
Clare brought back a few of the forwards that were there in the mid 90's Taffe, Barry Murphy and McNamara for some of the League games. The most worrying news to them is the hamstring injury to Jamsie O'Connor who is now a major doubt for the May 18th Championship showdown between the same two sides. Tipperary have a good few injuries going into this game as well. Long term injuries include Brian O'Meara, Eddie Enright and John Carroll while Eamoon Corcoran is suspended for this game due the red card he picked up against Galway last Sunday.
Mick Doyle will be hoping for improvements in a few sectors on Sunday. Firstly Tipp shot 18 wides last Sunday, including many scoreable one from play and from frees. Also Tipp totally collapsed once Conor Gleeson went off and allowed the Galway halfbacks and midfielders to run riot and the Tipp forwards were stifled of supply for the last 25 minutes. Liam Cahill was the only forward to score from play for Tipp in the second half. Doyle will also be disappointed to have conceded 2-18 against a Galway team without a number of regulars. The backs will have to tighten up and stop fouling while the midfield will have to get into broken play more and supply the forwards, especially the inside line, with better quality ball. The half forward line will have to step up in the scoring stakes as in the last few games well over half the scores are coming from the inside line.
In all of Tipp's League games to date the team has been named on the Tuesday night prior to the weekend game. However due to injuries to eight players team selection has been delayed until later in the week when hopefully some of the injuries will have cleared up. There was no word last night either about the Clare team so it will probably not be announced until later in the week
With so many injuries to the Tipp players and the fact that Tipp and Clare meet again in a few weeks time I fully expect Mick Doyle to name a fairly inexperienced team to rest some players and also to give some of the younger fringe players games as they may be needed come Championship. John Devane, Richie Flannery, Eamon Ryan, Michael Ryan and Denis Byrne will all probably start in place of some of the more experienced players who lined out against Galway last Sunday in Thurles. This will have the duel effect of giving these players games at this level and also a last chance for many to stake a claim for a staring jersey in May.
How do I see this game going? Clare will not want to lose five games in a row and neither will they want to lose to Tipp so close to Championship time. Tipp at this stage of the year will not relish a League Final against Kilkenny as it is less than two weeks before Championship. So a more hungry and fired up Clare team to triumph over an inexperienced. Mick Doyle will be happy with good performances and no injuries or sending offs. So Clare to win by 5 points.
Knocknagow
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Tipperary 3-15 Galway 2-18 (20-04-03) Match Report Knocknagow
Tipperary's advance to the League Final took a blow with a draw against a determined Galway outfit in a sunny Thurles this afternoon. Both teams lined out with changes; Tipp had Paul Kelly instead of Noel Morris in midfield, Galway had John Conroy and Alan Kerins instead of Rory Gantley and Damien Hayes. Tipp played with the advantage the swirling wind in the first half.
After six minutes the sides were level 2-2 with the Tipp points coming from Eoin Kelly and a good effort from Liam Cahill. Tipp then dominated the next ten minutes. First off was a great goal from Conor Gleeson scored from a very narrow angle. Tommy Dunne scored a point before both sides had bad wides. Lar then rediscovered his goal scoring touch with a cracking goal after a great catch and run. Galway's new goalie Ciaran Callanan was left further stunned when a long range Tommy Dunne free was touched to the net by Redser. This score left Tipp cruising 3-3 to 0-2.
David Tierney scored a point before Conor Gleeson caught and pointed. Galway began threatening the Tipp gaol but a good Philip Maher block kept them out. Mark O'Leary had a bad wide before Redser fielded a great ball turned and scored a great point from a difficult angle a bit of afters from Ollie Canning saw him booked. Lar had another bad wide from a good Horgan pass. Galway got back into the game with a goal from Ollie Fahy after turning Maher, a point from Forde soon after brought the score to 3-5 to 1-5. Tipp responded to this set back with a wide from a Tommy Dunne free before the Kelly brothers struck with two good points from play. Ollie Fahy again pointed before Gleeson had a bad wide to leave the half time score; Tipp 3-7 Galway 1-6.
Galway scored two points straight on the resumption with Cathal Moore scoring the second. Eoin Kelly was wide from a free and from play with Mark O'Leary also wide. Liam Cahill then rifled over two points in quick succession to restore Tipp's interval lead. Eoin Kelly scored 2 Tipp frees, the second after a foul on Lar. Mark O'Leary had a bad wide before Paul Kelly scored from a free to leave it 3-12 to 1-9. Galway scored three points, 2 from play and a free before Tipp made their first substitution; Micheal Ryan coming as a blood sub for Conor Gleeson. A great block from Philip Maher saw Tipp concede a 65 from which Galway scored.
Mullinahone "native" Denis Byrne replaced Mark O'Leary. A series of Galway points, 1 a 65 after a Galway goal effort was scrambled out saw Galway score 4 points and come back to within 3-12 to 1-17. Tommy Dunne after a great run scored a point to ease the Tipp nerves. Eugene O Neill replaced Micheal Ryan. Martin Maher blocked a goal effort and the 65 was put wide. Redser was replaced by John Leahy a move which received by far the biggest cheer of the day. The Tipp forwards lined out as Byrne, Leahy and Cahill and a full line of Kelly, Eugene and Lar. Tipp edged a goal ahead with a good point from Paul Kelly after a sideline, Tipp 3-14 to 1-17. Richie Murray scored a point before John Leahy caught a great ball and laid it off to Tommy Dunne who pointed.
As the game entered five minutes of injury time Tipp seemed in the driving seat but Galway pushed and pushed and after two wides, Brendan Cummins brought off a great save but Richie Murray was first to react and blasted the ball to the net to draw the game. There was still enough time but then a fight broke out. From what I saw both Corcoran and his man were digging each other, as the ref turned Corcoran caught the Galway man with his hurley who dropped to the ground. A Galway player then hit Corcoran in the back and a fight broke out. After every thing had settled down the ref showed Corcoran the line but no Galway man seemed to get sent off. Soon after this the ref, Pat Aherne, blew up full time with the final score 3-15 to Galway 2-18.
Galway manager Conor Hayes will be very pleased with his side's second half display. Out of the League they had nothing to play for yet short a lot of first team regulars, the two Cloonan's, Damien Hayes and Joe Rabbitte, the battled back from a 10 point first half deficit to draw a game that seemed beyond them. The did well around the centre of the field and only for some bad shooting and the forwards constantly going for goals rather than taking their points they should have won this game. Their half back line dominated as the game progressed and this had the dual effect of stopping the ball into the lethal Tipp inside line and vastly increasing the ball into the Galway forwards. Another display similar this against Cork next week will see them well set up for the Championship.
Mick Doyle will not even be remotely pleased with the game. They did all the hard work in the first half scored 3 goals, dominating in half back line and a 10-point lead yet were lucky to hang on and get the draw. The start of Tipp's demise for me began with Conor Gleesons loss. Right after he left the game turned and from mid field up Tipp got no ball. His ability to horse men out of it and break up the play was badly missed. Tipp also had a lot of wides and most worryingly all three free takers, 2 Kelly's and Tommy Dunne, had some very bad misses. He will be pleased with the corner backs, and to s certain extent the full forward line. Although they never got the massive volume of ball that they got the last day they did well in the first half. The parallels to the recent Cork game was astounding; Tipp cruising, take the foot off the pedal and nearly caught again.
Tipp team:
Cummins: Was slightly at fault for the first goal when he seemed to dive too early, made a good save for the second but the rebound was buried.
Full Back Line: Philip Maher had a tough afternoon; Ollie Fahy scored 1-1 off him in the first half but he kept him fairly quiet in the second half. Benny Dunne had another good game, was caught a few times but is a good man to clear a ball. Martin Maher had a great game. Blocked at least two goal bound efforts and made some great clearances.
Half Back Line: Corcoran had a better game than against Kilkenny but a lot of his clearances were poor. He will have a long time now to sit out and study the game after the red card. Hopefully he will be back for the Championship game. Horgan made a few good clearances but was caught out at a few critical times as well. Kennedy did not dominate as much as last week.
Midfield: Tommy Dunne scored points from frees and from play, was in the game a lot longer and seemed to have sealed the win with his late point. Paul Kelly in for his first game since October had a good game. Again scored from frees and from play. Seemed to tire in the latter stages when he was needed the most. While the Tipp midfield scored points in general they were well beaten by the Galway pair.
Half Forward Line: After a great game the last day it was a return to previous form. Conor Gleeson was playing good until he left with what looked like a head injury. He scored 1-1 and the Tipp half forward lien collapsed once he left. Mark O'Leary had a quiet game missing at least 3 scoreable chances. Liam Cahill scored 3 points but his general play was poor and let his man clear an amount of ball.
Full Forward Line: Scored 2-3 in the first half but scoreless in the second half! Redser scored 1-1 and used the ball into him well. Eoin Kelly was on the best corner back in Ireland, Ollie Canning and managed to score two points from play. Lar scored a great goal in the first half and could have had another except for a fumble. The entire full forward line suffered from a lack of ball in the second half.
Subs:
Michael Ryan for Conor Gleeson: Michael Ryan was poor and was soon replaced.
Denis Byrne for Mark O'Leary: Seemed over anxious to impress and fumbled a few balls. Hopefully will start the next day.
Eugene O'Neill for Michael Ryan: Had one effort for goal but it was blocked.
John Leahy for Redser: Came on with 3 minutes to go but with injury time ended up playing 8 minutes in total. Caught one great ball and laid off a sweet pass to Tommy Dunne. Hopefully a sign of things to come.
This was not the result or performance that Tipp wanted. After the Kilkenny game last week Tipp seemed fired up and heading in the right direction. Yet the Tipp team seemed to crumble when faced with a bit of Galway pressure and tried to defend a 4-point lead, which is suicide in hurling. With John Carroll's injury and Eamon Corcoran's sending off Tipp are heading into the lions den next Sunday looking for a win. However the return to action of Leahy and Denis Byrne's first Tipp game will hopefully get the Tipp players back focused as there are no All-Irelands won in April.
Knocknagow
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Tipperary V Galway (20-04-2003) PREVIEW Knocknagow
Tipp and Galway play their seventh League game on Sunday in Semple Stadium in the second game of Series 2 of this new National League format. The game starts at 3:30. It is unusual for Tipp and Galway to meet at this stage of the League as they have met 6 times in the last 7 years in the League quarter, semi or final, (as well as the 2000 All-Ireland Quarter Final and the 2001 All-Ireland Final). Of the last 6 meetings Galway have won 3 and Tipp 3. The last League meeting was in Semple Stadium last year in the Quarter Final that Tipp won 4-13 to 1-17. Tipp dominated the first half and lead 2-10 to 0-2 at the break with the goals coming from Lar after 20 seconds and a trademark John O'Brien effort. Despite a Galway fight back, goals by John O'Brien and a late Brian O'Meara effort sealed a place for Tipp in the League Semi-Final.
Galway again continue the their manager merry go-around with All-Ireland winning captain of the late 1980's Conor Hayes taking over from Noel Lane. Galway are in similar mood to last year with controversy in the panel. Last year there was the hassle with the Kerins's. This year it came with a report in today's Examiner that former underage Galway star Ger Farragher has cited a lack of match action as his reason for quitting the panel. Also joining him in the stands are the following players who opted out or are not on the panel; Damien Howe, Fergus Flynn, Alan Crimmins and Brian Higgins. Athenry pair of veteran Joe Rabbitte and Eugene Cloonan are still not back with the panel after Athenry's extended run in the club Championship in the spring. So as can be seen from the above with all that much talent on the bench it is no wonder that Galway have struggled in the League and only barely managed to scrape into the top phase for the second Series of games.
Their first game of the League came with a seven-point win a hardy Dublin side. They won 1-14 to 1-07 after a hard game. Their second game was live on TG4 when they got a hurling lesson in Nowlan Park from the Cats losing 0-20 to 1-15. Galway lead for most of the first half but Martin Comerford and Tommy Walsh got Kilkenny back to within a point at the break. On the resumption a bad error by Philly Larkin let in Kevin Broderick for a goal. Six Kilkenny points in five minutes put them back in the game and they powered away to win. Best for Galway were Diarmaid Cloonan and Rory Gantley.
Their third game brought another defeat this time at the hands of Clare in Ennis, by 2-16 to 1-18. The main talking point of this game was the two goals that Damien Howes conceded in the Galway goals. He was subbed at the break and as mentioned above has since left the panel. Despite dominating the first half the sides were level at the break. Galway threw everything at Clare in the second half and with Cathal Moore and Ollie Fahy impressive they got level with time up, but 2 late Clare points sealed another loss for Galway. They them played Waterford in a game in which Ken McGrath and Diarmaid Cloonan got the line. The teams were level heading to injury time but an Ollie Fahy goal got Galway back on track. Their final game of Series 1 was against Laois a game in which they were well beaten by a far more committed Laois side 3-14 to 0-15 in O'Moore Park. Galway were very poor throughout and were on their way to loosing a place in the top of the League only for Rory Gantley to score a free deep into injury time to sneak a place win by a single point over Laois. Their outing in Series 2 saw them defeat Wexford 3-10 to 1-10 with Olllie Canning taking all the headlines. The Galway forwards showed a vast improvement on previous weeks.
The Tipp team was picked last night:
Brendan Cummins.
Martin Maher, Philip Maher, Benny Dunne.
Eamon Corcoran, David Kennedy, Brian Horgan.
Tommy Dunne, Noel Morris.
Mark O'Leary, Conor Gleeson, Liam Cahill.
Eoin Kelly, Ger O'Grady, Lar Corbett.
It shows a single change from the one that was victorious over Kilkenny. Ballingarry's Liam Cahill comes as a half forward for John Carroll. According to the news report it is a back injury that is keeping the Roscrea man out of the team. It is disappointing that he is losing out as it would be nice to have seen the same Tipp team playing again. However news, which will delight Tipp supporters, is that the Mullinahone duo John Leahy and Denis Byrne are listed as subs. Hopefully either or both will see action on Sunday. Its great to see Leahy back after such a serious injury. Both of these players will be going full out for Championship places and this can only benefit the team. Martin Maher and especially Redser will be delighted with their performances and similar displays on Sunday will see them stake serious Championship claims for their jerseys.
The Galway team was also named with the main surprise being Kiernan Callnan being named in goals. This makes him their third goalie of this League campaign, Kevin Broderick also returns to the forwards. Mick Doyle will be pleased after the Kilkenny game; Tipp showed a lot of heart and commitment on the day and were deserving winners. However he has to make sure that this is only a stepping-stone and emphasise that more improvement is required. A few aspects that he will be happy with is that the backs worked a lot better as a unit the last day and that the equality of ball into the Tipp inside line was superb with them scoring 1-13 from play. This has to replicated again on Sunday. Aspects that will not please him are frees, the Tipp backs fouled way too much last Sunday and allowed Kilkenny to score 5 frees in the second half, also both Tommy Dunne and Eoin Kelly missed at least 3 frees each, this has to improve or it could prove costly.
How do I see this game going? Galway are after recovering from a bad run at the start of the League with an impressive win last Sunday. Although they are out of the reckoning for the League Final the will not want to lose to Tipp. Tipp need a win to still keep in contention for a spot in the League Final on the May Bank Holiday weekend. They have forwards that will trouble with Kevin Broderick, Damien Hayes and Ollie Fahy in their forward line the Tipp backs will have to stay tight to their men throughout. Don't expect a big crowd at this game only 2,000 turned up in Pearse Park last Sunday, although the immanent return of John Leahy may tempt a few doubters to travel. Tipp should have too much firepower for a Galway side missing a few and still finding their feet under Conor Hayes. So Tipp to win by 5 points.
Knocknagow
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Kilkenny 2-16 Tipperary 2-19 (14-04-03) Knocknagow
Tipperary put their ambitions for National League success firmly back on track with a gutsy and hard fought win over Kilkenny in a wet, windy and greasy Nowlan Park this afternoon. The bad weather and the game live on TG4 probably kept the crowd down. Both teams lined out as selected with Tipp playing with the advantage of a strong wind in the first half.
Tipp drew first blood with a sweet Mark O'Leary point from an Eoin Kelly pass. Kilkenny midfielder Tommy Walsh opened the Cats account from a tight angle, before a Shefflin free and Coogan point put Kilkenny 3-1 ahead. Colin Morrissey then came on as a blood sub for 5 minutes for Redser. Tommy Dunne put a 65 wide and Eoin Kelly did likewise from a free and from play before DJ scored a good point. On 15 minutes DJ took a great pass from Eddie Brennan to crash the ball to the net to leave it 1-4 to 0-1 in Kilkennys favour. Things appeared ominous for Tipp but the forwards settled down and began to receive better service. This resulted in Redser and Eoin Kelly scoring 2 points each from play with good work from Conor Gleeson setting up these scores.
Shefflin responded with 2 points, one a free, to leave it 1-6 to 0-5 in Kilkenny after 21 minutes. Redser then scored 2 great points from play, in between which both sides had bad wides. Tommy Walsh scored his second point of the day after Morris blocked his initial effort to restore Kilkenny's goal advantage. Kilkenny were switching as well with Gorta going to centre forward and Shefflin full. Philip Maher then made a great block before Lar pointed. Tipp won a free Tommy Dunne took it initial goal effort blocked but Mark O'Leary from a narrow angle put it high into the roof of the net over a despairing McGarry, Tipp 1-8 Kilkenny 1-7. DJ scored a long range free to draw the game. Tipp then had a great chance to restore the lead but a short sideline to Gleeson was blocked Kilkenny won a free and DJ scored. Right on the stroke of half time a great Eoin Kelly catch saw him point to level the game at the break 1-9 a piece.
On the resumption the wind favouring Kilkenny appeared stronger. Eoin Kelly scored 2 points on the resumption the first after a Tommy Dunne sideline cut, the second a good run from Lar. Shefflin pointed after Gorta had a bad wide. Redser after a great catch point but Shefflin scored after Kennedy fouled him. Tipp 1-12 Kilkenny 1-10. Redser scored a point from a difficult angle after a Morris sideline. Eoin Kelly scored 2 points the second a free after Redser was fouled to leave Tipp with a five-point advantage. Then on 17 minutes came the turning point of the game Redser collected a ball from a long Tommy Dunne cut and under severe pressure from Noel Hickey kicked to the net to leave it 2-15 to 1-11 in favour of Tipp.
Shefflin responded with a free before Larkin was booked for a wild pull on Eoin Kelly. Tommy Dunne pointed the resultant free. Kilkenny then made their first of many changes bringing on Tennyson and Carter instead of Lyng and Coogan. Richie Mullaly pointed a sideline cut to leave only six points between the sides. Gleeson had a bad wide before Brendan Cummins made a superb save from Eddie Brennan the point blank shot was deflected over the bar. Gleeson made up for his early bad wide with a great catch and score. Mark O'Leary extended Tipp's lead to 2-18 to 1-14. Kilkenny made further changes bringing on Walter Bourke and Conor Phelan for Hickey and McEvoy. Both teams swapped wides before Kilkenny made their final sub Brian Dowling for Brennan.
Tipp then had an anxious few minutes when Kilkenny goaled. DJ, (now operating in the half forward line), got the ball and soloed straight through the heart of the Tipp defence, passed to Shefflin shot was saved but the rebound was blasted to the net by Charlie Carter. Tipp brought on Liam Cahill for John Carroll. Shefflin had a great run but superb mass defending by the Tipp backs meant he was pulled up for over carrying and was lucky not to see a card when he pulled on Kennedy. Mark O'Leary then was frontal charged and deep into injury time Tommy Dunne pointed the free. Kilkenny won a late free and Shefflin took his point. The ref blew on the puck out to leave it Tipperary 2-19 Kilkenny 2-16.
Brian Cody will be very disappointed with his teams display today. They started off very well and still well in control at half time despite Redser's late goal just before the break. They had the advantage of a strong wind and yet they wilted in the second half. Their main problem arose in the full back line where Redser ran riot and scored 1-6 before Hickey was taken off. I was amazed that he lasted till 5 minutes from the end. The forwards after a good opening faded and were over reliant on Shefflin. The fact that 3 of them were replaced tells its own story. Tommy Walsh after a good first half disappeared in the second and Lyng was taken off.
Tipp team:
Cummins: Could do nothing about the two goals he conceded. Made one brilliant save from Eddie Brennan. Had massive puck outs in both halves although put 2 straight over the line early on.
Full Back Line: Philip Maher was a tower of strength, gave very little change to Gorta, Shefflin or Phelan. His cousin had a good game caught a few times kept Eddie Brennan, then Carter quiet took a while to settle but impressed greatly. Benny Dunne was caught once by DJ early on but won the rest of the tussles between the two; this game will see his confidence rocket through the roof.
Half Back Line: Corcoran was back, and while he settled the line did not play as good as normal. Still won a lot of ball and gave good clearances. Horgan had a few quiet spells in the game, had a great last quarter where he repelled attack after Kilkenny attack. Kennedy gave away at least 3 frees to Shefflin but had a good game. The jersey is his to keep.
Midfield: Tommy Dunne scored a good few points from frees and delivered a lot of good ball. Was there to help out in the second half when the pressure was on the Tipp backs. Morris after a quiet start had a great game was my Man of the Match. Totally dominated the midfield in the second half and supplied great ball into the forwards.
Half Forward Line: Vast improvement from this line on previous outings. John Carroll was his usual self, hastling and harrying, set up a lot of Tipp scores before running out of steam. Conor Gleeson had a great game on Barry and will be well pleased with his offering, scored a point and set up countless others. Mark O'Leary had a quiet game seeing little of the ball but still scored 1-2 the goal a peach of an effort at a critical time in the game.
Full Forward Line: Lar Corbett had a good first half, but suffered in that the ball Redser was passing to him the last few games Redser was now scoring with! Redser was announced, as Man of the Match and after scoring 1-6 from play deserved it. After a quiet opening 10 minutes burst into life scoring points at will and totally destroying Noel Hickey. His goal won the game for Tipp and he still had time to get involved in a schmozzle near the end. Eoin Kelly had a tricky game on Larkin, still scored some great points and can be well pleased with his first outing as Tipp captain. He missed a few frees which on other days could have been costly
© Prermierview 2003
Subs:
Liam Cahill for John Carroll not on long enough to make an effort
Mick Doyle will be delighted after this game. Tipp were up against it at the start of the second half yet they responded superbly after the break scoring more against the wind the with it. He will be delighted that his fate in Redser has born fruit. Noel Morris solved the question of who is to partner Tommy Dunne at midfield. The battling qualities of the team were also born out as despite being six points down very early Tipp responded and dominated the start of the second half. All lines of the field played well and this was Tipp's first game of the league that they truly answered the questions that were asked of them on the field. After the gutless second half performance he will have a lot more confidence in the upcoming Championship. So Kilkenny's 14 game unbeaten run comes to an end at the hands of their enemies. Hopefully Tipp will not get to carried away with this as well League is League an tougher tasks lie ahead for Tipp not forgetting that even a League title will not matter facing Clare on 18th of May.
With Cork winning as well, Tipp Cork and the Cats each have 10 points from 5 games, so next weeks game will be crucial. Kilkenny travel to Cork while Tip host Galway in Thurles. A win for Tipp and they will almost be true to the League final on May 5th. The Tipp v Galway game on Sunday should be a cracked with both teams needing wins.
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Kilkenny v Tipperary (13-04-2003) Preview Knocknagow
Tipp and Kilkenny play their sixth League game on Sunday in Nowlan Park and also the first game of Series 2 of the new National League. The game starts at 3:30 and is live on TG4. This game should have been in Thurles but as Tipp had played three of their five League games at home then Kilkenny got the game as they only played two at home. Their last League encounter was in 2010 in Nowlan Park. The game was played on a very heavy pitch. It ended in a draw Tipp 0-15 Kilkenny 1-12. Brendan Cummins made some great saves to keep Tipp in it and they gradually settled into it with new boy Lar Corbett impressing, both Leahy (more good news about him anon) and Carroll came on as late subs with the game ending in a draw despite a last gasp long range effort from John Carroll. In interviews after the All-Ireland Final of 2001 Nicky English said that it was after this game that he knew that Tipp would go a long way.
These two teams have dominated the national hurling stage of the new millennium with Galway being the only other county to win a trophy; 2000 League Final where they beat Tipp, (Kilkenny won the All-Ireland Final.) Tipp completed a League and Championship double in 2001 with Kilkenny doing likewise in 2002. Kilkenny's last Championship defeat was in the 2001 All-Ireland Semi-Final to Galway, and they are now on a fourteen game League and Championship unbeaten run. Their last defeat was in the final of the Walsh Cup to Dublin at the start of February in Parnell Park.
Kilkenny as defending League Champions have been very impressive in the League so far. They are unbeaten in their five games to date winning all of them comfortably. Their first game was at the end of February with a 4-11 to 0-12 win over Waterford. Their second game was the televised one against Galway in Nowlan Park. Kilkenny were forced to line out without DJ due to a broken finger. It saw new young hurler Tommy Walsh thrown into the limelight where he dominated midfield, scored four points from play and won TG4 man of the match award! They responded well to a Galway goal in the second half as they surged to victory in the last quarter without flu victim Shefflin.
They then recoded an eight-point win over Laois before putting Clare to the sword with a twelve-point win with Shefflin scoring 1-11. Their final Series One game was against Dublin in Parnell Park. Dublin drew level just after the break however, Kilkenny with a mix of old and new players powered away to win by fourteen points. New players Willie of Dwyer and Tommy Walsh impressed scoring 1-2 and 0-3 points each with "old-timers" DJ and captain Charlie Carter scoring 0-2 and 1-6 in a game in which they also hit seventeen wides.
The Tipp team was announced last night and shows 5 changes from the one that started against Cork. The Kilkenny team will not be announced until Wednesday evening.
Brendan Cummins.
Martin Maher, Philip Maher, Benny Dunne.
Eamon Corcoran, David Kennedy, Brian Horgan.
Tommy Dunne, Noel Morris.
John Carroll, Conor Gleeson, Mark O'Leary.
Eoin Kelly, Ger O'Grady, Lar Corbett.
Not surprisingly three of these changes comes in a back line that conceded 4-15 to Cork the last day. Younger cousin of Philip Maher resumes in the corner beside his cousin who had a tough day with Joe Deane the last day. John Devane drops to the bench after an impressive start he has been decidedly dodgy in the corner. Eamon Corcoran return solidifies the halfback line. David Kennedy gets another chance to impress at centre back and needs a good display to convince his many distracters within the county.
Midfield sees the welcome return of Noel Morris who will hopefully have recovered from injury and has only two County League game with his club behind him. There is only 1 change in the forwards with John Carroll replacing the injured captain Brain O'Meara in the half forward line. I will be surprised if John Carroll spends the whole game there he might switch with Redser as many think that his only position in the forward division is at full forward. Many others would like to see him tried at centre back, (where he excelled as a minor in 1996.)
Other welcome news over the weekend was that two players have been added to the Tipp panel over the weekend. Denis Byrne after months of controversy donned the blue and gold jersey in a challenge game for the Tipp Seniors against the Tipp Intermediates last week. He also trained with the panel over the weekend. Another player whose return to the fold has delighted Tipp fans is John Leahy although now 33 he still has a lot to offer at this level. His last game was against Clare in 2001where after being introduced as a sub did his cruciate and has not played with Tip since. He played a major role as player manager leading Mullinahone to their first County Senior Hurling title last year. His magnificent catch near the end of the replayed county final will live long in the memory. Neither, according to Mick Doyle, will be considered for this game, although both will surely play some part in the Championship come the summer.
Tipp were doing well in the league until the wheels came off in the second half against Cork not scoring for 28 minutes will be punished by a team of Kilkenny's class. Kilkenny seem to have put All-Ireland celebrations behind them and are now concentrating in getting their team ready for the Championship. They have a major advantage in this phase of the League in that they can loose one game and still make the final. They will not want this loss to come against Tipp and especially in Nowlan Park. They have a lot of new players like Tommy Walsh and Willie O'Dwyer who are impressing and will not want to give up their places easy. Tipp on the other hand have tried a lot of new players in the League so far; Devane, Morrissey, Butler and Redser and the first three are dropped for Sunday to make way for more experienced players.
Tipp will need their backs especially the two Mahers on top form to keep Gorta and Carter quiet. Kennedy needs a good game for his confidence and for Tipp to have any chance of a win. Tipp midfield will have to be on their toes and hopefully a fresh Noel Morris will do the sufficient work in midfield to get quality ball into the inside line. The half forward will have to get into shape, as they have been very poor on all occasions that I have seen them so far. Redser will know come Sunday evening if he has a future as a Tipp hurler after being marked by Noel Hickey. He will have to get more into the play and not foul his man when he looses possession. After a brilliant start Lar seems to have slowed down and a good return on Sunday would see him cement a Championship jersey.
How do I see this game going? Kilkenny will not want to loose any game to Tipp so they will attack from the start and it will be the toughest game that Tipp have had so far. Tipp got a rude awakening after the Cork game and will need to be efficient with the ball to get anything out of this game. A loss for Tipp and a win for Cork would see Tipp struggle to make the League Final although with the Clare game only two weeks after the League Final this might be a bad thing. These are the quality of games that Mick Doyle will want for his men but I think that a win is beyond Tipp on Sunday as a more settled Kilkenny side on home soil should prevail by 3-4 points in what will hopefully be an exciting game.
Knocknagow