Tipperary Hurling Tipperary GAA Premierview

Tipperary 3-16 Waterford 1-22 (25-04-04)Knocknagow



Tipp and Waterford served up a high scoring and entertaining draw in the last game of the group stages in a hot Thurles this afternoon in front nearly 10,000. As Clare had beaten Cork well and Galway hammered Limerick Waterford knew that a draw would take them into the final whereas Tipp needed a massive 14 point win to qualify for the final. Both sides lined out as selected on the programme but Waterford made wholesale switches all over the field. Tony Brown went centre back, Ken McGrath and Brian Phelan were the wingbacks, Michael Walsh and Dave Bennett midfield, Dan Shanahan centre forward and Seamus Prendergast to full forward were some of the main changes they made. Tipp switched Eoin Kelly to full forward after about 5 minutes and the corner backs were switched during the first half. Tipp played with the aid of a slight breeze in the first half.
Waterford were first to settle when Eoin Kelly rifled over their first point after 30 seconds. Fanning then denied Dan Shanahan another point when he blocked down his shot. A Philip Maher catch and clearance found John Carroll who pointed. Eddie Enright then all the hard work of winning the ball near the sideline but his pass went straight to Dan Shanahan who pointed. Eoin Kelly was fouled and pointed the free. An Eamon Corcoran pass found Benny Dunne who pointed to put Tipp 3-2 up on 9 minutes. Tipp dominated for the next 5 minutes and scored accordingly. Eoin Kelly passed to Eddie who pointed, Paddy O'Brien did likewise. Benny Dunne won the ball and after getting himself boxed in he found John Carroll who soloed with the ball and buried it for the games first goal after 16 minutes, Tipp 1-5 Waterford 0-2. Waterford struck back with 3 points from Eoin Kelly, Seamus Prendergast and Dave Bennett.

Benny Dunne put Tipp 4 up with a good point. John Carroll was fouled and from the middle of the field Paul Kelly pointed. Paul Curran fouled the ball and Paul Flynn pointed. Tommy Dunne then saw his goal chance flash wide after a pass from John Carroll. Tipp made their first change with Colin Morrissey replacing Eddie Enright in midfield. Both Eoin Kelly's had points. Paul Kelly had 2 wides. Paddy O'Brien was fouled and Eoin Kelly pointed the free, Tipp 1-9 to 0-7. Paul Flynn scored a free. Eoin Kelly then found himself through on goals and his shot was turned over the bar by the Waterford goalie. Paul Flynn then had a 21-yard free that he went for goal it was saved and then Cummins saved the rebound. Subsequently Flynn was booked and Ken McGrath pointed a long range free. Eoin Kelly was fouled and scored the free. Tony Scroope found Colin Morrissey who from on the sideline scored a great point. Paul Flynn had the last action of the first half when after Dan Shanahan was fouled he pointed the free. Halftime score Tipp 1-12 Waterford 0-10.

Neither side made changes at the break. Inside a minute Tommy Dunne drifted out the field got the ball and gave a 50-yard inch perfect pass to Eoin Kelly who buried it; Tipp 2-12 Waterford 0-10. Paul Flynn then put a score able free wide before a foul on Benny Dunne saw Eoin Kelly's free hit the post. Michael Walsh and John Mullane scored 2 Waterford points. Eamon Corcoran then gave away a stupid free and Flynn took it fast and scored a goal. Game on 2-12 to 1-12. Tipp made their second change with Seamus Butler replacing Paddy O'Brien. Waterford brought on Jack Kennedy for Moloney. John Mullane then pointed. Another Tommy Dunne delivery found Seamus Butler who for the second week in a row found the net. Waterford then got a lucky free when Flynn threw up the ball and caught it and was then awarded a free! He pointed the free, 3-12 to 1-14. Colin Morrissey then caught the ball and after a good run pointed. After 17 minutes Flynn pointed another free.



Paul Curran then got a yellow and from the resultant Flynn pointed to put a goal in it. John Carroll stopped the rot with a good point. Flynn then scored 2 points from frees the ref refusing to see the blatant foul on Martin Maher for the second free. Tipp made another switch with Noel Moloney replacing Paul Kelly. Tommy Dunne ran out to get a puck out and delivered another great pass to Eoin Kelly whose shot was saved but the keeper then lay on the ball and the ref awarded a free out!! Declan Fanning then committed a foul and Flynn duly pointed, to leave Tipp only a point ahead 3-14 to 1-19. Benny Dunne passed to Eoin Kelly who pointed. Tipp brought on Mark O'Leary for Tony Scroope. Flynn had another free and also a bad wide. Benny Dunne was bearing down on goals and was fouled. Eoin Kelly got Tipp's last score from the free, Tipp 3-16 to 1-20. Dave Bennett scored from a long range free.

Approaching injury time Waterford made their last change with Paul O'Brien (he scored the winner against Cork last week), replacing Dan Shanahan. Brendan Cummins made a great catch of a high ball into the Tipp goals. The ref then completed his bizarre referring when after a great block from Martin Maher gave Waterford a free, which Flynn pointed. After 3 minutes of injury time the ref blew the whistle with the Waterford players celebrating. Eoin Kelly picked up a yellow card late on after protesting with the ref over one of the Waterford frees. The final score was Tipperary 3-16 to Waterford's 1-22.

Justin McCarthy will be very happy with his day's work. Prior to the game he knew that a win or a draw would have them facing Galway in the Final due to Galway's large win over Limerick. This lead to a good exciting game of hurling as Waterford knew there was no chance of a League Final meeting with Clare. He will be pleased that Waterford were able to come back from being 8 points down early in the second half and 5 points down midway through the half to draw level eventually. He will be pleased that they scored 23 times and 1-12 in the second half. However he will be disappointed in Paul Flynn while even though he scored 1-11 in frees he also missed 2 very easy one and had another goal effort blocked. On the other hand he will know that he will not find a ref in the League Final or Championship giving so many easy frees! Also in the last 20 minutes of the game their whole game plan seemed to be to get the ball in towards Flynn and win the free, (8 of their last 9 scores came from Flynn frees!) John Mullane started off the second half with 2 points but saw little else of the ball. He will be disappointed that they conceded 3 goals and gave Eoin Kelly's acres of room in front of gaols at times.



It's hard to know how Ken Hogan views the outcome of the game. At the start of the second half Tipp looked odds on to reach the Final but like last week against Galway they conceded a softish goal and suddenly Tipp's vulnerable underbelly raised itself again. He will have been pleased with the first half performance when all bar 2-3 players played well. However he will not be pleased with the second half display when Tipp conceded free after free and allowed Paul Flynn to score 1-8 from frees. Also Tipp only score 2 points from play in the second half and John Carroll was the only forward to score a point from play in the second half. Midfield faded for long spells and Tipp looked with the Tipp backs getting no decent ball in they found scores hard to come by. Indeed with about 10 minutes to go Eoin Kelly had to run out to midfield and I am sure had some choice words for the half back line and the type of ball going into the forwards! His main worry will be that Tipp are not able to kill of a game or hold on to a lead when heading in to the latter stages of the game, while they escaped last week, at no time did Tipp ever look like having the skill to close Waterford out of the game. While the backs played ok (despite the frees) the forwards again will cause headaches due to their lack of winning 50-50 ball and on players other than Kelly scoring regularly.

Tipp team:

Cummins: Seemed to be caught napping for the gaol which is not on with Paul Flynn around. Made 2 great saves from Flynn in the first half and a great catch in the second half. Set up one of the goals with a low pass to Tommy Dunne.

Full back line: Philip Maher is back to his best. The sharpness and fluidity that was missing the last day was visible today. Only let Prendergast score an early point and kept him well under wraps after that. Both Martin Maher and Curran had a lot better games than last week but still conceded a lot of needless frees. Martin Maher made 2 vital blocks to stop points. Curran was caught in possession a few times.

Half back line: Corcoran stated off very well sweeping up in front of the full back line and making great clearances and keeping Eoin Kelly very quiet. Faded as the game progressed. Fanning was up against a tough character in Dan Shanahan but came out of the game with a good display. Won a lot of ball in the air and in broken play and his clearances are improving with every game. Fitzgerald had another commanding display, not the most spectacular but tough, gritty and determined. Teams up well with fanning.

Midfield: Both scored points early on and were replaced. A lot of the play bypassed midfield and were spectators for large spells of the game. Paul Kelly missed 2 second half frees.

Half forward line: John Carroll had another good game started off the Tipp scoring with a point and got his trademark goal running from 20 yards, the opposition backs hopping off him and burying the ball in the net. Scored a point in the second half. Benny Dunne was fairly quiet, scored 2 first half points and did little in the second. Tony Scroope was very quiet and rarely touched the ball.

Full forward line: Eoin Kelly again went full forward. Scored 1-7; 1-1 from play and 6 points from frees, (half of which he won himself). Is way more suited to full forward where he more central and involved in the play. Tommy Dunne was very quiet although he gave 3 great passes, one for Eoin Kelly's goal a beautiful pass from 50 yards, the second set up Seamus Butler's goal and the third saw Eoin Kelly's effort saved. Did very little in general play. Paddy O'Brien was quiet scored a free early on and like Dunne suffered from a lack of possession.

Subs:

Colin Morrissey for Eddie Enright: Came on early in the first half did not do much in general play but got 2 very good points.
Seamus Butler for Paddy O'Brien: Came on early in the second half. Scored a good goal but got little of the ball. Has scored 2-3 in his last 3 subs appearances.
Noel Moloney for Paul Kelly: Came on with about 10 to go. Did not have time to make an impression.
Mark O'Leary for Tony Scroope: came on as the game was going into injury time I don't think he touched the ball.

So Waterford progress to the League Final in two weeks against Galway. For Tipp it's now a 6 week break to the next game against Waterford or Clare in the Munster Semi-Final. In the 8 games played Tipp have had 4 wins, 2 draws and 2 losses. Thankfully it did not end with the injuries of last year. While some of the Tipp players like the full back line, Tony Scroope and Tommy Dunne probably need more games with the memory of what happened in last years League Final still fresh in the mind Tipp are probably better off getting ready for the Championship with a fully focussed mind. Pleasing aspects of the game are the fact that 8 different Tipp players scored. However we are very dependent on him and we only scored 2-4 in nearly 40 minutes hurting in the second half. Id say that 12 of the places are fairly secure with players coming back from injury; Denis Byrne, Conor Gleeson and Noel Morris yet to come onto contention. Still Ken has 6 weeks to get the players ready for either the Banner or the Deise.



Knocknagow


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Tipperary v Waterford (25-04-2004) Preview Knocknagow


Tipp and Waterford play their last game of Phase 2 of the National Hurling League on Sunday in Thurles at 3:30. The game is being refereed by T. McIntyre from Antrim. Both teams will know where they stand as regards qualifying for the League Final as the other two games will be finished before the game starts. Cork v Clare is being played Saturday evening while the Limerick v Galway game will be played early on Sunday. As it stands Waterford have 4 points and a points difference of + 5, Tipp are in fourth place with 2 points and a points difference of - 3. While a win may see Tipp into the final a loss will see definitely see Tipp lose out. There is very little points difference between Clare, Limerick, Galway and Tipp all of whom have 4 points.
It's a number of years since Tipp and Waterford have met in the League as they have been in opposite Group. Their most recent meeting was the week before the League started when Waterford beat Tipp in a high scoring AIB Tournament game in Walsh Park 4-18 to 3-14. The game was fairly even but goals from Paul Flynn put Waterford in command. Best for Tipp was Benny Dunne who impressed at wing forward. Their last Championship meeting was in the Munster Final of 2002, when Waterford had a convincing win over Tipp who were All-Ireland Champions at the time.
Waterford qualified from Division 1A and in their first game they claimed the scalp of All-Ireland Champions Kilkenny with a 0-15 to 1-10 win in Nowlan Park. They lead 0-10 to 1-5 at the break and despite playing against a strong wind in the second half, but good displays from Paul Flynn, (7 points), Michael Walsh and Dave Bennett saw them hold out for the win. A week later they struggled to a 0-25 to 3-11 win over Laois and had Paul Flynn, 9 points, and John Mullane, 5 points, to thank. Their third game saw then annihilate Dublin 6-17 to 2-11 with Mullane and Flynn again the men who did the damage. Their next game saw then well beaten by Galway 5-13 to 1-14.
Their last game in Phase1 saw them lose their second game in a row 1-16 to 1-14 in a tough game in Ennis. Again it was Flynn, 1-7, and Mullane, 0-3, who got most of the scores as Waterford barely scrapped through to the top Phase of the League. Two weeks ago they beat Limerick 1-20 to 4-7. They dominated the game leading 1-12 to 0-4 at the break but let Limerick through near the end with 3 goals as Waterford hung on. Last week they won a close tight game in Pairc Ui Rinn 014 to 0-13. After a great first half where they took all of their chances they lead at the break 0-10 to 0-8. Despite extensive Cork pressure Waterford held on to a narrow single point win. A tribute to the Waterford defence was that it was not until the 65th minute before a Cork forward scored from play.
Waterford have a great chance of getting to the League Final for the first time since 1999. Unlike other years Justin McCarthy has concentrated on the League and avoiding defeat on Sunday would see them get to the Final. Aspects of their game have been very impressive with Paul Flynn, John Mullane and Dave Bennett have all been prolific scorers so far in the League. However they still seem to have trouble with the defence and conceding goals, 3 to Laois, 2 to Dublin, and 4 two weeks ago against Limerick. Similar to Tipp they have being doing a lot of experimenting in the backs with the most notable switch being Ken McGrath at wing back. By all accounts of the reports he has being doing well there. They still have a lot of the side that won the Munster Championship two years ago with Tony Browne at centre back and the same full forward line as that day. Some of the newer players like Brian Phelan and Paul O'Brien have also added strength to their team.

The Tipp team was announced last night and line out as follows:
Brendan Cummins.
Martin Maher, Philip Maher and Paul Curran.
Eamon Corcoran, Declan Fanning and Diarmuid Fitzgerald.
Eddie Enright and Paul Kelly
Tony Scroope, John Carroll and Benny Dunne.
Paddy O'Brien, Tommy Dunne and Eoin Kelly.

It only shows a single change from the side that beat Galway last week with Lar Corbett being replaced by Tommy Dunne at full forward. Its not a surprising change really as Lar has been poor in the last 2 games and came off last week at the break. This is Tommy Dunne's first start of the year although he has come on as a sub in a good few of the games the only game he impressed was against Antrim when he scored 2 goals. He also will resume as the captain of the team. The last 2 weeks he has hardly got a puck of the ball when he came on. Still it is good to see him return so soon to the Championship although Eoin Kelly will be disappointed that after his prolific return last week he returns to the corner. With his experience and prowess in front of goals hopefully this will be a productive position for him as we struggle to score goals against the better teams.
Paddy O'Brien can consider himself lucky to get a second game although with Conor Gleeson and Noel Morris only returning to the panel in recent weeks there are no real alternatives. The backs looked solid enough, although both Martin Maher and Paul Curran need to start better than last week as a similar by them will be punished by Mullane and Flynn. It will be interesting to see how John Carroll copes with Tony Browne, as neither are naturals in their selected positions. Tony Scroope after his impressive debut gets another chance and if he can pass the ball to a colleague instead of the solo runs then with his height and ball winning ability he will be a valuable addition to a Tipp half forward line that has been inept up until now.
It will be interesting to see what focus the managers have on this game as these side could possible meet not only in the League Final but also on June 6th in the Championship! Also it will be interesting to see do players play in their selected positions. I expect the likes of Eoin Kelly and Tony Browne to move and drag their men all over the place. Another good performance by Declan Fanning on Dan Shanahan on Sunday will see him claim a Championship start. His task will be a lot more difficult than the Galway game as Shanahan is a lot more physical. Fitzgerald has impressed in the League since the first game against Offaly and should do ok on Sunday.
Although the Waterford team has not being selected yet it will probably be similar to the one that beat Cork last Sunday. If both sides go for this game and Waterford take it as seriously as they have the rest of their games then it should be a cracking game. The attendance will probably be down on last Sunday with the neutrals preferring to watch the rugby on the tv. So with Tipp after the good win last week and Waterford with one eye on their Championship date with Clare Tipp will probably win by a few points.
Knocknagow




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Tipperary 2-15 Galway 1-15 (18-04-04) Knocknagow


Tipp got their quest for a return to the National League Final firmly back on track with a 3 point win over a determined Galway side at Thurles yesterday. Tipp were unbeaten by Galway in the League in Thurles for 14 games after today's win. Both teams lined as selected in the programme. Tipp made one notable positional switch with Eoin Kelly going to full forward where Diarmuid Cloonan marked him and Lar Corbett went corner forward. Tipp were again captained by Benny Dunne and played with the slight wind advantage in the first half into the Town End into the Town End.
Tipp had the first two chances of the game. The first was an Eoin Kelly free after a Damien Joyce foul. Kelly's shot was low and saved. His brother Paul soon put a free wide. Galway soon took over and over carrying was punished with and Eugene Cloonan free. Paul Curran fouled and Cloonan again pointed. Alan Kerins rounded Curran and shot on the run to score. John Carroll was then harshly given a yellow card after a shoulder on a Galway player. An Alan Kerins point put Galway 4 points to the good. Tipp then got their first score when a good Tony Scroope run was followed by a pass to Paddy O'Brien who buried the ball to the Galway net. John Carroll caught a great ball soon afterwards but put it wide. The Tipp corner backs were swapped. A Galway attack saw Cummins and Martin Maher save. Eddie Enright then levelled the game with a long-range great point from midfield, 1-1 to 0-4. A Diarmuid Fitzgerald foul saw Cloonan point. Eoin Kelly levelled with a free. An Eoin Kelly pass to Eddie saw him get his second of the day. A poor clearance from Curran saw Broderick nip in for a Galway score. Eamon Corcoran's hurley was held and Eoin Kelly pointed the free. David Forde levelled it again with a point.

John Carroll then won a high ball and charged towards the goal. His shot went over the bar. Forde got his second point to make it 1-5 to 0-8. Carroll then caught a Brendan Cummins free and pointed. A series of passes from Fanning to Fitzgerald, to Tony Scroope and eventually found Eoin Kelly who pointed. Paul Kelly had a wide before Eoin Kelly pointed a 65. 1-5 to 0-8. Carroll then caught a Brendan Cummins free and pointed. A series of passes from Fanning to Fitzgerald, to Tony Scroope and eventually found Eoin Kelly who pointed. Paul Kelly had a wide before Eoin Kelly pointed a 65. 1-5 to 0-8. Carroll then caught a Brendan Cummins free and pointed. A series of passes from Fanning to Fitzgerald, to Tony Scroope and eventually found Eoin Kelly who pointed. Paul Kelly had a wide before Eoin Kelly pointed a 65. Mark Kerins then fresh aired the ball only yards from the gaols while Lar would have been through on the Galway goal only for the fact that he fumbled the ball. Derek Hardiman then went down injured and when he recovered proceeded to hit Benny Dunne with his hurley, give him a head butt and also swing at Paul Kelly but all these went unpunished. Benny had a good chance of a goal but his shot was saved. The last action of the half saw Diarmuid Cloonan yellow carded for some wild pulling in the Galway full back line. Score at the break 1-8 to 0-8.


Tipp made a change after the break with Tommy Dunne replacing the ineffective Lar Corbett. Tony Scroope then was fouled and Eoin Kelly pointed the free. Tommy Dunne then had a goal effort but his weak effort was easily saved. Then both Tony Og Regan and Tommy Dunne had point efforts go wide. Eoin Kelly then ran out from full forward, collected, turned and scored a lovely point, 1-10 to 0-8. Eamon Corcoran then had a great block on a Kevin Broderick shot. The two Dunne's and Eoin Kelly all had wides. Eugene Cloonan scored a free. Both teams then made switches with Seamus Butler replacing Paddy O'Brien on Tipp team, and David Collins replacing Derek Hardiman on the Galway side.
On 20 minutes John Carroll pass found Paul Kelly who pointed to put Tipp 6 up 1-12 to 0-9. Eoin Kelly then put a 65 and a close in free wide. Fergal Healy pointed for Galway after poor Tipp play. On 25 minutes a Kevin Broderick brought Galway right back into the game. A Cloonan free soon after saw it 1-12 to 1-11. Tommy Dunne then was fouled and Eoin Kelly pointed the free. Rory Gantley came on for David Hayes. With 5 minutes to go Seamus Butler was fouled and Eoin Kelly pointed despite lining up to go for goal. Alan Kerins had a wide. A high ball into the Galway full back line from Paul Kelly saw Seamus Butler sneak in and flick the ball over his head into the goal, Tipp 2-14 to 1-12. Tipp now seemed well in control and a great Benny Dunne run and point seemed to seal the win. Colin Morrissey replaced Eddie Enright in midfield. Eoin Kelly had a wide. As the game entered injury time, Martin Maher then let Broderick beat him to the ball and from the tightest of angles Broderick managed to goal. Mark Kerins then pointed despite Eugene Cloonan blatantly fouling Philip Maher. However the next Galway attack was stopped when the ref spotted another Cloonan foul on Maher. Tipp then brought on David Kennedy for Eamon Corcoran. His first and only action was to fumble the ball and pick it off the ground and Galway got a free in. The ball went into the square and Tipp had to rely on a great Brendan Cummins free before the ref blew up after 3 minutes of injury time to hold on for a 2 point win, 2-15 to 2-13.





Galway manager not be pleased with this Galway performance. They had a great start and lead by 4 points after 10 minutes, they were well in control yet let Tipp in for a goal and then only scored 4 points on the rest of the half. It was the opposite in the second half they let Tipp score1-3 before getting their first score of the half. While they were very dependent on Eugene Cloonan, he scored 6 points only 1 from play, it was Kevin Broderick who did most of the damage from very little possession scoring 2-1. Indeed if Mark Kerins had scored a goal when he was straight in front of it in just before the break then the game could have been very different. They had a great last 10 minutes lead by the two Kerin's and Broderick. However they have the base of a good team they seem a lot bigger and meaner with the likes of Diarmuid Cloonan, Derek Hardiman and Tony Og Regan adding height on the major positions. If they could get more supply into Broderick and Cloonan then they will be a hard team to stop.



The Tipp manager will be pleased with this win, especially after the poor performance last week. The major difference was Eoin Kelly at full forward and the type of ball played into him. Still Tipp are conceding too many frees Cloonan scored 6 points from frees. Also the poor start will also worry Ken. Likewise the ability of Tipp to kill off a game will also worry him. Three times in the game Tipp were 6 points up and both times seemed to panic and let Galway back into it. The first was 10 minutes into the second half and 2 Tipp's wides was followed by 1-1 from Galway and he game was back on. More worryingly well into injury time Tipp conceded 1-1 and only for a last minute save Galway could have won it.
However the backs played very well as a unit although both Curran and Martin Maher had shaky spells. The half back line was immense. At last the half forward line was not a push over and fought and won a lot of ball. The full forward line was pretty much Eoin Kelly. We still are struggling in the full forward line as both Lar and Paddy O'Brien were ineffective and with only a few games left till the Championship we are not very close to naming over six starting forwards. Still Tipp had a lot of heart with the likes of Martin Maher and Fanning throwing themselves in front of ball and making good interceptions. Unlike last week Tipp stood up to a more physical Galway team and were not shoved off it.



Tipp team:

Cummins: Could not be faulted for the first goal. His near post was exposed for the second goal. Again made a few great catches and a at least 2 crucial saves.

Full back line: Philip Maher is getting back to his best. Had a tough afternoon on Cloonan who is very niggly. Came in to his own in the last 10 minutes and cleared a lot of ball. Paul Curran started off shaky, not surprising as it was his first game for Tipp since last August, and switched corners. While he won a lot of ball his clearances were very poor and Galway scored off a few of them. It remains to be seen if he is a corner back. Martin Maher was on Broderick for most of the game and conceded 2-1. Still a bit off the pace.

Half back line: They all had a great game. Corcoran was very solid in both defence, where he blocked a certain point from Broderick and in delivering good quality ball into the Tipp forwards. Fanning had a good game. Very solid in close play, his clearances are improving and his reading of the game is getting better. Fitzgerald again had another good game. Has developed a good understanding with Fanning and helps him out. Tight marker and tough as nails.

Midfield: Eddie Enright got Tipp's two first points from play and had a good game. Paul Kelly scored a point from play and unusually did not take the long range frees.

Half forward line: John Carroll started off very poor fumbling the first 3-4 balls, but then settled down and hurled a good game, scoring 2 good first half points and winning a lot of ball in the air. Still his positioning under the high ball is poor at times and goes to bat it rather than catching it. Tony Scroope was starting his first game and impressed me a lot. His great run in the first half set up Paddy O'Brien for a goal. Won a lot of ball and let it into the inside line. Still had 2 runs near the end into the corner and lost the ball. Good first game. Benny was fairly quiet but still scored 2 crucial second half points the second after a great run.

Full forward line: Eoin Kelly was a revelation at full forward. Despite being marked by Cloonan who was way bigger and stronger he beat him to most balls. As well as winning a share of highball he is best suited sprinting out 20 yards catching turning and scoring. He scored 5 frees, 2 points from play and a 65 as well as setting up scores for others and also missing 2 scoreable frees. Lar Corbett had a poor game before being replaced. Could have had a goal chance before half time but fumbled the ball. Paddy O'Brien scored a good goal but like Lar got very little ball before being replaced.

Subs:
Tommy Dunne for Lar Corbett: Came on after the break at corner forward and had 3 early chances of scores, which he missed. Did win a vital free late on. Seems to lack the physical presence of previous years.
Seamus Butler for Paddy O'Brien: Came in with 20 minutes to go and scored a lovely goal to put Tipp 5 up also was fouled late on and won a free.
Colin Morrissey for Eddie Enright: Came on with 30 minutes gone and I don't think he got a touch.
David Kennedy for Eamon Corcoran: He came in injury time at wingback and gave away a late free from which Galway nearly scored a goal.

So Tipp are back on track and now face Waterford in a lot better form than they did entering this game. Still Tipp have a lot of work to do. If Eoin Kelly has a bad game then we will struggle to get scores. However we scored 2 goals and with a bit of luck could have had a few more, Eoin Kelly had 2 close in frees near the end, from which he could have gone for goals. The backs are more solid and while they are conceding a lot of frees and goals late on it was good to see the Maher's and Paul Curran all coming through a full 70 minutes after such long lay off's. With a look at the other results and the teams that both pick for Sunday it remains to be seen how much Tipp will want to show their hand against Waterford, (as we could meet later in the Championship), or get to a League Final also against Waterford. Still things are not as gloomy after last week!

Knocknagow


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Tipperary v Galway (18-04-2004) Match Preview Knocknagow

Tipp and Galway play second game of Phase 2 of the League on Sunday in Semple Stadium, Thurles at 3.30. The game is refereed by Diarmuid Kirwan of Cork. This is Tipp first of two games at home. They play Waterford the weekend after next.
Galway qualified as top of Section 1 A of the League. They beat Dublin the first game 1-14 to 2-6. Eugene Cloonan scored 1-6 as he eased them through their opening game. In their second game in Salthill against Kilkenny they stood up to them and won by 0-18 to 0-12. Again Eugene Cloonan was the main scorer with 12 points with Damien Hayes the other contributor. In horrific conditions during their third game they lost to Clare; 1-15 to 1-12, after being behind 1-14 to 1-3 at the break, again Eugene Cloonan 1-6 and David Tierney 0-3 being the other threat. Clare's fourth game they gave Waterford a good beating 5-13 to 1-14. Eugene Cloonan 3-7 and Damien Hayes with 2-1 did the damage. They made sure of their place in the top phase with a 3-22 to 1-8 win. Eugene Cloonan, Tony Og Regan and Damien Hayes did the most damage. In their game last Sunday Galway had a very impressive win in Salthill over Cork; 3-13 to 1-15. Again Eugene Cloonan, Alan Kerins and Damien Hayes did the damage.
Last year these sides met in the League and the Championship. The first was in Thurles and it ended up a draw. Tipp got off to a lightening start and lead 3-3 to 0-2 with Lar and Conor Gleeson getting the goals. Tipp lead 3-7 to 1-6 at the break. Tipp lead 3-14 to 1-17 late on and the introduction of John Leahy seemed to lift Tipp however Galway fought back and Richie Murray equalised with a goal in injury time. Also in injury time Eamon Corcoran was sent off and received a harsh suspension, which kept him out of the early part of the Championship. Tipp won the Championship meeting 1-18 to 1-17 in Salthill later in the summer. Late on in the game Tipp lead 1-17 to 0-14 but some sloppy play meant that Tipp had to rely on a Redser point to see them struggle in to the All-Ireland Quarter Final.

Galway are managed again by Conor Hayes and seem to be motoring along very well in the League. Unlike most years the team seems fairly settled with the forwards containing the 2 Kerins, Eugene Cloonan, Damien Hayes and Kevin Broderick. They seem to have found a good full back in Diarmuid Cloonan and Derek Hardiman has played the last few games at centre back. They also have been scoring fairly well against the bigger teams although they do seem to rely a lot on Cloonan to get their scores both from frees and from play.

Tipp have been poor in their last 2 games, in Cork when the game was open and lose in the first half the small light forwards profited and scored points at will however when the space was closed down and the quality of ball coming in to them was poor like in the second half of the Cork game and the game against Clare, the Tipp forwards struggled. While the Tip backs played well enough Colin Lynch and Niall Gillighan were allowed too much space and Tipp were punished most severely for this. Also both Baker and McMahon ran too easily through the Tipp half forward line to score.

If Tipp are going to play small forwards in the flanks there is no point in play high balls in over their heads, the backs need to put the ball low in front of them. Also Tipp need to support each other more and if a man is caught in possession then there should be a colleague near him to take the pass. Hopefully the cause of the poor performance against Clare was the fact that Tipp are concentrating on the 6th of June whereas Clare have to be ready for the middle of May. Still and improvement n performance is required big time on Sunday if Tipp are to have any realistic chance of silverware at the end of the summer. Tipp need to improve their striking and the crispness of the delivery too many times players just ballooned the ball away when a colleague was better played 20 yards away.

The Tipp team was announced last night and line out as follows:
Brendan Cummins.
Martin Maher, Philip Maher and Paul Curran.
Eamon Corcoran, Declan Fanning and Diarmuid Fitzgerald.
Eddie Enright and Paul Kelly
Tony Scroope, John Carroll and Benny Dunne.
Paddy O'Brien, Lar Corbett and Eoin Kelly.
This team shows 4 changes from the side that lost to Clare last Sunday. In the backs Thomas Costello was injured late on in the game last Sunday and is replaced by Martin Maher. Paul Curran recently returned from the States takes over from John Devane at corner back. In the forwards Burgess's Tony Scroope gets his first League start in place of Mark O'Leary. Eoin Kelly returns from injury at corner forward with Lar Corbett going to full forward, with Brian O'Meara the man to lose out. Galway have announced the same team as the one that beat Cork.

The team picked on Sunday has a welcome return for Eoin Kelly who was badly missed last week although he will have a tough game, as Ollie Canning will probably be marking him. The backs have a commanding look about them. While it is good to see Paul Curran back for Sunday the full back line is very rusty. Philip Maher has only played 1 full intercounty game in 11 months, Martin Maher and Paul Curran are both getting their first starts of the year! While Paul Curran is s good full back it remains to be seen if he can transfer the form of last year into the corner position. With the likes of Eugene Cloonan, Alan Kerins and Kevin Broderick in their ranks the Tipp backs will have their hands full on Sunday.
John Carroll gets another chance to impress after a poor game last Sunday and Declan Fannning gets a chance to further to tighten his grip on the Number 6 jersey as the Tipp management begin to think about the Championship team. Of the team that is picked for Sunday probably 1-9 will start in the Munster Semi Final with 3-4 of the forwards also starting.

Galway will be well up for this game for a number of reasons; they will not be too pleased at having to travel to Thurles to play Tipp for the second League game in a row, they will want revenge for the narrow Championship loss in Salthill last summer, and Galway will be far more determined to make the league final as it will be their last game until the Championship in late June. So going on Galway's good performance last week and Tipp's lethargic display against Clare last Sunday I think that Galway will win this one by a few points.


Knocknagow.




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Clare 1-20 Tipperary 1-15 (11-04-04) Knocknagow.

Clare and Tipp played their first game of this phase of the second round of
the National League today in Ennis in front of a fairly large crowd. Both
teams lined out as selected. There was no real wind advantage to either side
in a game refereed by Aodan Mac Suibne of Dublin. Tipp were again lead out
by Benny Dunne.
Clare had the first attack of the game when Niall Gilligan rounded John
Devane and pointed. Minutes later a Colin Lynch attack found its way to
Gilligan who pointed. Tipp's first attack saw Lar fouled and Paddy O'Brien
obliged with the free. Clare made a temporary sub with Ronan O'Looney
replacing Colm Forde. With O'Looney only barely on the field the ball came
into to Lar who after much fumbling put the ball across the square and John
Carroll was waiting to blast the ball to the net, 1-1 to 0-2 to Tipp. Forde
resumed his place and Brendan Cummins pulled off a great catch, before his
clearance found Paul Kelly who passed to Eddie who pointed. Paddy O'Brien
then scored from play after a pass Benny Dunne. Clare then responded and
Gilligan had his goal effort from a free saved but Conor Plunkett scored the
65. Colin Lynch scored a good point on the run before Paul Kelly pointed a
free after Corcoran was fouled, Tipp 1-4 Clare 0-4.
Clare went on a good run and after fouls by first Philip Maher and then
John Devane, Gilligan scored 2 more frees. Colin Lynch then scored a point
from play before Paddy O'Brien restored Tipp's lead with a free 1-5 to 0-7.
Clare added 2 more points both the result of poor Tipp play before Lar
passed to Benny Dunne who pointed. Gilligan and Paddy O'Brien swapped frees.
Diarmuid Fitzgerald passed to Eddie who nudged Tipp ahead again. Tipp made
their first change with Martin Maher replacing the ineffective John Devane.
An Eamon Corcoran pass was intercepted and Clare pointed. Clare then
dominated to the break and Diarmuid McMahon passed to Colin Lynch who found
Frank Lohan in acres of space and he goaled with 4 minutes left to the
break. Colin Lynch and Jamsie scored 2 more points from play to leave Clare
comfortable ahead at the break 1-13 to 0-08.
Tipp made 2 changes at the start of the second half with Tommy Dunne and
Seamus Butler replacing Brian O'Meara and Lar Corbett. Clare continued where
they left off in the first half and scored 2 points the second from a
Gilligan free after Costello fouled his man. Martin Maher passed to Seamus
Butler who pointed to bring it back to 6 points 1-9 to 1-15 to Clare. Tipp
then put on their best spell of the game and had 3 points Paddy O'Brien, 1
from play and 1 from a free and then Seamus butler brought Tipp to within a
goal. Tipp also had a few bad wides and Brendan Cummins pulled off a good
save. Clare brought on Tony Griffin and Daithi O'Connell and took off Alan
Markham and David Forde. Gilligan had another point before Cummins pulled
off another save. Clare had another point to stretch to 1-17 to 1-12.
The game was beyond Tipp at this stage and Tipp made 2 more changes with
Colin Morrissey replacing John Carroll and the injured Tom Costello being
replaced by Michael Phelan. Morrissey went wing forward with Eddie Enright
centre forward. Daithi O'Connell then got booked for pulling across Martin
Maher. Tony Griffin scored 2 good points and Colin Lynch had a great goal
effort just wide. Seamus Butler scored Tipp's last point from play. Aonghus
O'Brien came on for Jamsie. Gilligan pointed a free and as Tipp tried for
goals as the game approached injury time Paddy O'Brien pointed 2 frees for
Tipp to leave the final score 1-20 to Clare and 1-15 to Tipp.
Anthony Daly will be very pleased with this Clare display. The older
players like Brian Lohan, Gilligan and Colin Lynch all lead by example with
good displays. While some of the younger players like Conor Plunkett and
Diarmuid McMahon had good performances. Clare's old Achilles Heel of not
scoring was not in evidence as they managed 21 scores in 70 minutes and it
could have been more if not for some wayward shooting. Clare seemed fresher
and more hungrier to the ball than Tipp if they keep this up could well be
in the League Final.
Ken Hogan will be very disappointed with this Tipp display. Tipp were lack
lustre in most areas of the field, second to most balls, shoved off the ball
by the more determined Clare players and gave up the ghost early in the
second half. The forwards were atrocious only scoring 9 times from play in
70 minutes and only for a lucky goal and the class of Brendan Cummins, Clare
could have won by double scores. Tipp also shot a lot of aimless balls into
the forwards instead of trying to pick their men out. The backs were also
poor conceding way too many frees and giving highball into small forwards,
which is not on especially when the likes of Brian Lohan is around.
Hopefully Tipp are concentrating on the 6th of June and not letting the
League interfere, however there should be no excuse for the poor performance
that Tipp produced today.

Tipp team:

Cummins: could not be faulted for the goal. Made at least 2 class saves in
the second half and caught a lot of high ball into the square.

Full back line: Tom Costello all right. Had to be replaced late on with what
looked like a broken had. Philip Maher cleared some ball but also fumbled a
lot of ball late on that he normally would clear, Needs another few games to
get back to full match sharpness. John Devane had an absolute nightmare. Was
rounded in the first minute by Gilligan who pointed and did not get a look
in until he was hauled off after 20 minutes.

Half back line: Eamon Corcoran started off very well making good clearances
but faded from the game. Declan Fanning was good when the play was close in
winning the ball but still has a trouble getting in his clearances in tight
situations. Also let Colin Lynch rove all over the field resulting in Lynch
scoring 2 points and setting up the goal. Diarmuid Fitzgerald was Tipp's
best player. Had a great first half but was more subdued in the second.

Midfield: Had a quiet game. Paul Kelly scored a point from a free and Eddie
scored 2 from play. They kept Baker fairly quiet but could not cope with
McMahon.

Half forward line: Mark O'Leary was very quiet hardly touched the ball. John
Carroll stared off great finishing his goal well and had a few other bursts
at the goal but totally faded out of the game. Benny Dunne scored a point
from play in the first half.

Full forward line: Both Lar and Brian O'Meara were very, very poor. Once
Brian Lohan won the first ball between himself and O'Meara that was it
O'Meara did not want to know about it. Lar set up the goal. Paddy O'Brien
was Tipp's main threat he scored twice from play and six times from frees.

Subs:
Martin Maher for John Devane: Making his first appearance of the year.
Played well and steadied up the ship.
Seamus Butler for Lar Corbett: scored 3 points in the second half.
Tommy Dunne for Brian O'Meara: Touched the ball about twice in 25 minutes.
Totally out of the game.
Colin Morrissey for John Carroll: Went wing forward but the game was well
over.
Michael Phelan on for Tom Costello: Game over as a contest when he went on.

So Tipp left Ennis with their tails between their legs with a very clear
message. Without Eoin Kelly we are very mediocre. More of these similar
performances in the last 2 games and Tipp will have a very short summer. The
only positives that can be taken out of the game are the return of the 2
Maher's and the displays of Eddie Enright and Diarmuid Fitzgerald. The
negatives are many; the ineptitude of the forwards, the number of wides and
the way the heads dropped when the going started getting tough. So its back
to the drawing board for Ken Hogan and hopefully he can get 2 good displays
in the next two weekends.

Knocknagow.


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Clare v Tipperary (11-04-2004) Preview Knocknagow.



Clare and Tipp play their first game of Phase 2 of the League on Sunday in Cusack Park, Ennis at 3.30. The ref is Dublin's Aoidain Mac Suibhne. They are joined by Limerick, Cork, Waterford and Galway in the higher section of the League. Only one of these counties can win the League. Each county will have 3 games in this phase of the League with no team playing ones that they have already met already this year in the League. The top two teams qualify for the final. A difference to last year is that points are not carried forward from phase 1 so all teams have equal chance of making the May 9th Final.
Last year in the League in Ennis Tipp had a very handy 0-22 to 0-14 win. It occurred only a month before the Championship class between the same sides. Tipp lead 11-9 at the break and won convincingly in the end. For Tipp Eoin Kelly scored 6 points and Eugene O'Neill scored 5 points. Tipp scored 17 points from play. The significance of this game was put in the stark terms when in the Championship Clare beat Tipp well.
Clare qualified from Division 1A of the League with a record of 4 wins and 1 loss. They qualified in second place with 8 points the same as Galway but they had a slightly inferior points difference. Clare's first game was an easy win against Laois, 3-15 to 1-11 in Portlaois. Clare scored 2-15 from play with Niall Gillingham scoring 1-4 and Frank Lohan 2-1. Clare had their second win over Dublin but they struggled 3-13 to 2-13. Clare lead 2-8 to 1-6 at the break and by 9 soon after the break but 2 late points from Alan Markham sealed a Clare win. Top scorers were Alan Markham with 1-5 and Frank Lohan 1-1. Third game was against Galway and they won 1-15 to 1-12. Clare had a gale force wind in the first half and scored 1-12 from play by the break. Top scorers were Niall Gillingham 6 points and Frank Lohan a goal. Clare's only loss came with 2-10 to 1-12 in a tough tempered game against Kilkenny. Shefflin was the main tormentor of Clare who had Niall Gillingham top scorer with 1-2. Clare's final game was against Waterford two weeks ago when they won 1-16 to 1-14. Waterford lead at the break but Clare fought back strongly to win by 2 points, with Niall Gillingham top scorer with 1-5.
Clare, like Tipp, have a new manager with Anthony Daly taking over the reins from Cyril Lyons. Clare have been impressive in the League so far with their only blip coming with a loss to Kilkenny. Another loss is the suspension of goalie Davy Fitzgerald who will only be able to play again until late May. Daly has tried a number of experiments with Frank Lohan at full forward. While he rattled the net against some of the weaker teams he struggled against some of the more established full backs. It remains to be seen if he is more valuable at full forward than at corner back. Another experiment is Colin Lynch at centre forward for the past few games. He has done well there so far. Some of other big names have also being making their appearance towards the later stages of the League are Ollie Baker, Seanie McMahon and Brian Lohan.
While Clare have been impressive at the back they still seem to have trouble finding new forwards as a look at any of their match reports shows that it's the same faces like Alan Markham and Niall Gillingham who are still getting most of their scores. Although new players like Ger O'Grady in the half back line, Diarmuid McMahon in midfield and the returned David Forde in the forwards have impressed so far.
Tipp had their toughest game of the League last Sunday week when they drew with Cork. Tipp dominated the first half but still only went on level at the break. While there was a lot of experimenting with new players their should be no excuses at how easily Cork scored two goals in the lead up to the break. Their will also be concern that while the light Tipp forwards are well able to score points at will when the play is loose and fractured, (the first half), when the game got tight and the anti was upped in the second half Tipp did not score from play and all the good running and moving off the ball had disappeared. Tipp still have major concerns in the backs with both corner backs being exposed at stages during the Cork game. With competitive games running out before the Championship Tipp need to get a settled solid team as soon as possible.

The Tipp team was announced last night and line out as follows:
Brendan Cummins.
Tom Costello, Philip Maher and John Devane.
Eamon Corcoran, Declan Fanning and Diarmuid Fitzgerald.
Eddie Enright and Paul Kelly
Mark O'Leary, John Carroll and Benny Dunne.
Paddy O'Brien, Brian O'Meara and Lar Corbett.
This shows 6 changes from the side that defeated Cork last Sunday week. Denis Byrne has left the panel due to lung infection that has affected him since the start of the League. His place is being filled by Eddie Enright. There is a welcome return of Philip Maher to full back. This is his first game since the League Final of last year. John Devane goes to the corner with Colin Morrissey losing out. In the half back line Diarmuid Fitzgerald replaces Hugh Moloney. In the forwards Noel Moloney and Eoin Kelly are replaced by Brian O'Meara and Lar Corbett.
The backs now are beginning to have a very solid look about them that Philip Maher has returned to the edge of the square. John Devane seemed unsure of himself when he was corner back last year, however with the return of Paul Curran from the States he will be happy to be playing at all. Diramuid Fitzgerald's rating seems to have gone up by not playing the last day. Although it does seem harsh on Hugh Moloney as he was on Cork's best player the last day. According to media reports Eoin Kelly is injured, hopefully its not too serious, he has been Tipp's best player of the League and only for him Cork would have would handy. Brian O'Meara gets his first start in a long while and it will be interesting to see how last year's captain copes with being the most experienced Tipp forward.
The Tipp half forward line still looks weak and will have to tighten up and not their men clear ball after ball like the last day. A lot of the pressure on the forwards will rest on Paddy O'Brien who will be taken the frees, and John Carroll and Brian O'Meara who will be expected to win the high balls and leave it off to the lighter players like Lar and Benny Dunne. The Tipp half back line needs a good game and both Fanning and Fitzgerald will have a tough day at the office. Eddie Enright's distribution and vision is a welcome addition to the midfield. With his hard work and Paul Kelly's long range striking Tipp should have the advantage here.
It's hard to know what to think of this game. There should be a decent crowd at the game on Sunday, as the Bank Holiday weekend will bring a lot of people to the game. It will be interesting to see how seriously Clare take this game as they are due to play Waterford in the Munster Quarter-Final two weeks after the League Final. Taking this into account a League Final place would not be the best preparation for the Munster Championship. Still Anthony Daly never liked losing to Clare as a player so I cannot see anything changing now that he is at the other side of the white line. If Clare have the same attitude as in the corresponding fixture last year then Tipp will win easy. However from what Clare have shown in their League games so far they will be up for the game and want to continue their winning vein.
Taking all of the above into account a narrow home win for Clare in a close tight game.

Knocknagow.


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Cork 2-17 Tipperary 1-20 (28-03-04)Knocknagow



Tipperary and Cork completed their phase 1 games of the National Hurling League with honours even with this high scoring draw in Pairc Ui Chaiomh today. Cork made one change; Ronan Curran did not start and was replaced by Graham Callinan. John Gardiner went centre back and Callinan went wing back. Tipp made no changes but the injured Lar Corbett, Eddie Enright, Brian O'Meara and David Kennedy joined long term-injured pair of Noel Morris and Conor Gleeson in the stand. Tipp played with a slight wind into the Blackrock End in the first half however the wind soon died out as it started to drizzle.
Cork had the first attack of the game but Eamon Collins put it wide. A long clearance from O'Sullivan found Jonathan O'Callaghan who pointed for Cork. Tipp then took over the game. Eoin Kelly pointed, as did Paddy O'Brien and when Paul Kelly disposed his man in midfield and pointed Tipp lead 3-1. Brendan Lombard saw his goal effort drift wide. John Carroll was fouled and Eoin Kelly duly obliged from the free. In the 10th minute Benny Dunne caught a puck out and pointed. Paddy O'Brien pointed before a Noel Moloney pass found Benny Dunne who pointed to make it 7-1 in Tipp's favour and this point saw the Cork wingbacks being switched.
Eamon Collins found Jonathon O'Callaghan who pointed. Benny Dunne had a wide before O Callaghan pointed after Morrissey failed to clear properly. He added a free after Costello fouled to make it 7-4 after 23 minutes. A good passage of play by the Tipp forwards saw it 8-4. Eoin Kelly found Benny Dunne who pointed. Jonathon O'Callaghan again pointed a free before Cork made their first change bring off Graham Callinan and putting on Cian O'Connor. Paddy O'Brien scored a good point. O'Callaghan missed a free before Paul Kelly caught a sideline in midfield and pointed, John Carroll eventually got a point after a scramble around the Cork square to put Tipp's lead in double figures; 12-06. A Noel Moloney point after a great pass from John Devane was Tipp's last score of the half. Cork best spell saw Cork score a point and then a Diarmuid O'Sullivan caused panic in the Tipp penalty area and Kieran Murphy goal. Costello intercepted a potential goal effort when Cork were bearing down on goals. Paul Kelly had a wide. A fumble from John Devane and with Cottrell stuck on his line Eamon Collins buried the ball to the net as Cork after being totally outplayed were now level at the break 0-13 to 2-7.
There were no changes at the start of the second half. Cottrell made a good catch. Hugh Moloney lost the ball and Adrian Coughlan pointed to put Cork ahead since the first minute of the game. Denis Byrne was fouled on the 65 m line and Eoin Kelly pointed the free. Eamon Collins was fouled and O'Callaghan pointed the free. Eoin Kelly did likewise when Benny Dunne was fouled. In the 10th minute Paul Kelly was fouled and pointed to stretch Tipp's lead to 2 points; 0-17 to 2-9 after 10 minutes. Cork then made 3 changes. One was enforced when Diarmuid O'Sullivan went down awkward and limped off replaced by Mickey O'Connell. Cian O'Connor went full back. Adrian Coughlan and Brendan Lombard went off and Joe Deane and Niall McCarthy came on in the forward line. Paul Tierney and Joe Deane pointed to level matters with 15 minutes gone.
Tipp made their first change with Shane Maher on instead of Denis Byrne. Paul Kelly pointed a 65. Niall McCarthy was yellow carded after a wild pull on Paul Kelly. Noel Moloney went off after a belt to the face and was replaced by Tommy Dunne. Benny Dunne had a wide before a John Carroll clearance was blocked and Gardiner pointed to level the game. Sean Og fouled and Eoin Kelly pointed the free. Tipp made another change with Mark O'Leary off and Tony Scroope replacing him. Paul Kelly fouled Gardiner who pointed the free. Hugh Moloney was yellow carded and O'Callaghan pointed the free. Paul Tierney pointed to put Cork 2 up. Eoin Kelly got a free and Joe Deane rifled over the bar. John Devane fumbled but Deane could not make Tipp pay. With time nearly up Tipp needed a goal and it duly arrived when a ball into the square saw Eoin Kelly fouled after a few minutes the Cork backs gave him the ball back. He placed the ball on the 21 and blasted to the net to put ahead very late in the game; 1-20 to 2-16. Cork won the puck out and Joe Deane was fouled O'Callaghan duly pointed the free to level the game. Tommy Dunne had 2 chances to win it but his first shot was wide and his second fell short. Paul Tierney had a chance but it went wide. The last chance of the game fell to Eoin Kelly who had a great effort from a sideline but it agonisingly fell short. The ref blew up with Cork attacking much to the annoyance of the Cork crowd even though he had played the 2 minutes of injury time. Final score Tipp 1-20, Cork 2-17.
Donal O'Grady will be pleased with certain aspects of the game. In the first half they looked down and out losing by 7-1 and been beaten in most areas of the field. Yet they scored 2-1 in the last 5 minutes of the first half to drag themselves back into the game. However he will be worried about Diarmuid Sullivan injury as Cork looked very vulnerable after his injury. Also they were very dependent on Jonathon O'Callagan for scores especially in the first half. He will have been pleased with the displays of Wayne Sherlock, (he won the TG 4 Man of the Match award), and John Gardiner who had a great game on John Carroll. The forwards looked a lot more threatening with both Niall McCarthy and Deane on board. The return of the Newtown players will boost the Cork forward strength and make them a more formidable outfit later in the year.
Ken Hogan will have probably have a similar out look to the game that O'Grady will have. Tipp should have won this game but with a few minutes to go should have lost it! Tipp were cruising in the first half and looked as if they were going to blow Cork away but some very sloppy play let Cork in for 2 goals and all the good work of the previous 25 minutes was undone as Cork went in level after having played second fiddle to Tipp for most of the first half. Tipp made full use of their possession in the first half and I cannot remember too many wides however Ken Hogan will be worried that Tipp did not score from play in the second half as both the Kelly's accounted for Tipp's total from frees and 65's. In the first half Tipp had 7 scores but only 2 in the second. In the second Tipp struggled to gain possession and to get scores.

Tipp team:

Cottrell: Had nothing to do in the first half until the 2 Cork goals. Was caught a bit flatfooted for the second goal. Not as assured or confident as Cummins

Full back line: Threatened with 2 high balls in the first half and concede 2 goals. Devane had a good game. Was a bit hesitant for the goals but controlled the square well for the rest of the game. Made some good relieving clearances. Costello had a good game; just before half time made a great interception that prevented Cork from getting their third goal. Colin Morrissey let his man get away from him especially for the first goal and his man got around him too easily a few times.

Half back line: Eamon Corcoran started off very well making clearance after clearance, but then was less in the game as Cork kept the ball away from him. Declan Fanning had another nervous start to the game. He is not commanding enough for centre back especially under the puck outs. Clearances were also very short at times. Still not sure if he is suitable for the No. 6 jersey. Hugh Moloney had a tough time on Cork's best forward Jonathan O'Callaghan but persevered until the end of the game.

Midfield: Had a quiet game. Paul Kelly scored 5 points, 2 from play in the first half, 2 from frees and a free in the second. Made some good interceptions. Denis Byrne saw very little of the ball and was replaced during the second half.

Half forward line: Mark O'Leary and John Carroll both scored first half points, while Benny Dunne scored 3. They had a good first half especially Benny Dunne but were totally outplayed by Sean Og hAilpin and John Gardiner in the second half and allowed Cork players to clear the ball under no pressure. John Carroll had a poor game, won very little high ball, looked lacking in pace, and some of his passes that were meant for Tipp players ended up being Cork scores. Mark O'Leary was very quiet. Benny Dunne has a great understanding with Eoin Kelly and was playing so good that his man was subbed after 25 minutes but he faded as Cork began to dominate.

Full forward line: Eoin Kelly was Tipp's only realistic threat in the forwards. Despite having his jersey held for much of the game by Sherlock he still scored 1-6, (2 points from play in the first half and the rest from frees in the second). Also set up some of Benny Dunne's scores and was deadly accurate from frees. His goal was a great effort. Noel Moloney had a tough introduction to top-flight hurling. While he may meet more skilful full backs he will not meet tougher opponents than O'Sullivan. He played him well staying away from the dropping ball until the last moment so that Sullivan had to keep one eye on the man with the result that O'Sullivan won very little clean possession. Scored a point and on another day could have scored a goal. Had to come off with a facial injury. Paddy O'Brien started off very well and scored 3 first half points. Faded in the second mainly due to the lack of ball going inside. Seems to be better suited to the space on the wing.

Subs:
Shane Maher for Denis Byrne: Went midfield not involved in much.
Tommy Dunne for Noel Moloney: Went full forward, had 2 great chances to win the game in injury time but both efforts failed.
Tony Scroope for Mark O'Leary: Only on for the last few minutes.

So as expected both teams qualify for the top phase of games in the next round of the league. Cork go through unbeaten with 9 points; 4 wins and a draw and must be one of the favourites to win the League when they get the Newtown contingent and some of last years forwards back on the team. Tipp go through with 7 points; 3 wins, a loss and a draw. Tipp will be very disappointed with a few aspects of the game. The way they let Cork back into the game, failure to score from play in the second half, lack of scoring forwards, (other than Eoin Kelly), when the pressure is on, and Tipp still have trouble at centre back and centre forward where the 2 lads who played their today did not have good games. Tipp also have troubled with the half forward line who are letting their men win the ball too easily. The upcoming games will also give the 2 Maher's (both on the bench for today's game) badly need match practice and chances for some other players to gain a place on the team. Tipp now have a week off and then three games against Clare, Waterford and Galway in three weeks to solidify the starting 15 for Championship time, and also the League is very much winnable now with Kilkenny out of the reckoning.

Knocknagow

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Cork v Tipperary (28-03-2004) Preview Knocknagow



Cork and Tipp play their last game of phase 1 of this stage of the National Hurling League in Cork on Sunday in Pairc Ui Chaiomh. Seannie McMahon of Clare will referee the game. The game was originally due to be under lights on Saturday night but Tipp would not agree to it. The game is live on TG4 at 3.30. It was in 2000 that they last met in the Championship when Cork as defending All-Ireland Champions beat Tipp in Thurles. This is their fourth League meeting in 3 years. In 2001 Tipp as defending All-Ireland Champions Tipp beat Cork 1-17 to 1-14 in the last game of the group stage of the League to qualify for the Quarter-Final, which they won and then faced Cork the following week in the League Semi-Final! Cork won the League Semi-Final 0-21 to 0-13 in comprehensive fashion.
Last year in the League in Thurles Cork won a high scoring game 4-15 to 4-11. Tipp had first half goals from Redser and Eoin Kelly but Cork led by a point at the break 2-8 to 2-7. Tipp cruised into a 4-10 to 2-12 lead, with the goals coming from Eoin Kelly, before Cork fought back. The introduction of Setanta O'Hailpin saw Cork get 2 late goals in a surge for the last 5 minutes to win by four points.
Cork are the only team in Division 1 of the League to have won all their games. Despite the absence of the 3 Newtownshandrum players, (Pat Mulcahy and the O'Connor twins), due to club commitments, Setanta O'Hailpin to Aussie Football and the retirement of Alan Browne they are leading Division 1B of the League. Their first game was against Limerick in the Gaelic Grounds and they won 0-14 to 1-9. With the strong wind Cork lead 11-4 at the break and despite a late Limerick rally won through points from Jonathon O'Callaghan. Cork's second game was under lights when they trounced Wexford 2-13 to 0-9 points with Brendan Lombard netting both goals.
Their third game was against Antrim with O'Callaghan the main scoring threat with 10 points. Last week Cork had a last gasp win over Offaly 3-11 to 1-15. Offaly dominated the first half and lead by 0-12 to 0-3 at the break, on the resumption Cork scored 2 gaols from the 2 Kieran Murphy's put Cork back in the game. However a gaol from Joe Brady left Offaly leading approaching the end but points from O'Callaghan and an injury time goal from Kieran Murphy (Sarsfield) gave Cork a 3-11 to 1-15 win in a game that they scarcely deserved having struggled for long spells of the game.
Cork have pretty much a new forward line in their League games so far and the player that has been getting all the scoring plaudits has been Jonathon O'Callaghan with 6 points, 4 points, 10 points and 7 points in 4 games. He has started most games so far at wing forward and has scored most of his scores from frees. Other forwards to impress have been Brendan Lombard at full forward and Kieran Murphy (Sarsfield) who was only brought back into the panel last week. Joe Deane has come on as a sub during the last 2 games as he is recovering from an injury and should feature in Sunday. With the absence of Pat Mulcahy (club duty) Diarmuid Sullivan has gone back to full back, and seems to be playing ok there. Also playing well is Sean Og Hailpin and Ronan Curran in the half back line, while Tom Kenny seems to have settled well into midfield.
While the Cork backs seem settled and solid they have done a good bit of chopping and changing in the forwards, due to injuries and the absence of the O'Connors. The O'Connors are not expected to return for another week. While they have only conceded 4-38 their forwards have only racked up 5-52 in their four games to date. They have also been held scoreless for long spells of their games and shooting a lot of wides.
While Tipp have impressed in their last 3 games it is hard to tell how good the team really is as the opposition have folded early in those games. The Tipp backs will have it a lot harder on Sunday and the newer players will have their work cut out. The Tipp forwards will not have near as much room as last Sunday. Tipp still have a number of players who will not be adequate come Championship time, although as the weeks go by more and more of the Championship contenders are returning back to the panel; last week saw Philip Maher's first Tipp game in 10 months. While there is good competition in the backs it is in the forwards that Tipp are struggling. Even last Sunday the Tipp half forward line let the Antrim backs clear ball after ball, on a different day this could have had more serious consequences. Again Tipp are heavily dependent on Eoin Kelly as their main scorer and will struggle if he is not available come the Championship.

The Tipp team was announced last night and line out as follows:
Justin Cotrell.
Tom Costello, John Devane, and Colin Morrissey.
Eamon Corcoran, Declan Fanning and Hugh Moloney.
Denis Byrne and Paul Kelly
Mark O'Leary, John Carroll and Benny Dunne.
Paddy O'Brien, Noel Moloney and Eoin Kelly.
This shows 6 changes from the side that defeated Wexford last Sunday. Tipp had a number of knock after the game last Sunday with Eddie Enright, David Kennedy and Michael Phelan all suffering and losing their places to Denis Byrne Hugh Moloney and Colin Morrissey. The other changes see Justin Cottrell start his first game of the campaign, with Mark O'Leary taking over from Seamus Butler and Noel Moloney starting instead of Redser.
There certainly is a lot of changes with the 2 Moloney's getting their first chance to impress from the start and both Denis Byrne and Colin Morrissey their first starts this year after both have recovered from injuries. The attack is again pretty inexperienced and will rely very much on Kelly to get the scores. I am not sure how much experience Noel Moloney has at full forward but the position is up for grabs as Redser did not impress in his starts to date
A win on Sunday would see Tipp go above Cork in the table as they would both have the same points total but Tipp have a vastly superior points difference of +50 compared to Corks +19. Indeed a loss for Tipp would also see Tipp through as the 2 teams 2 points below Tipp both have points difference in the negative. A win for Cork would have them with one foot in the Final proper as all the teams coming from the other side of the draw have lost at least one game. However it remains to be seen if Cork will be concentrating totally on the Championship or whether a League Final place would be a priority so early in the year. Tipp v Cork normally are close tight games however as Cork are already guaranteed a place in the top grouping of the League and Tipp have learned so little from their last 3 games, and with a fairly inexperienced team that Cork will prevail by 3-4 points.


Knocknagow

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Tipperary 5-23 Antrim 0-13 (21-03-04) Knocknagow

Tipperary got their third League victory in a row today and confirmed their second place in Division 1B with a comprehensive victory over a very poor Antrim outfit in Semple Stadium, Thurles. Antrim played with the advantage of a gale force wind in the first half as heavy showers made good hurling impossible n front of a sparse crowd. Antrim lined out as selected but Tipp made two changes. Eamon Corcoran replaced Diarmuid Fitzgerald in the half back line while Eoin Kelly replaced Lar Corbett at corner forward. Benny Dunne was captain for the day and led the team out.
Antrim had the first attack but it was wide. Seamus Butler was fouled and Eoin Kelly pointed the free to open Tipp's account. After a Redser pass to Paddy O'Brien the Toome man was fouled and Eoin Kelly pointed the free. Redser was also involved in setting up Eoin Kelly but he shot was saved and Seamus Butler pointed the rebound. Antrim got off the mark in the 7th minute when Kieran Hennon pointed a 65. A clearance from Declan Fanning found Butler who pointed. Eoin Kelly was fouled, he tried a short free to Benny Dunne whose shot was blocked but Paddy O'Brien scored. A high John Carroll ball found Redser who was fouled, Eoin Kelly took the free and buried it 1-5 to 0-2. Antrim took off their corner back Micheal Kettle and put on Gerard Cunningham. Eoin Kelly pointed after a good pass from Eamon Corcoran. Micheal Herron pointed for Antrim but a Seamus Butler point left it at 1-7 to 0-3 after 20 minutes.
Aidan Delargy, free, and Redser, after a good catch, swapped points, before Antrim showed some life with four unanswered points; from Karl McKeegan and a 65 after a Liam Watson effort was saved. Both David Kennedy and Micheal Phelan needed treatment afterwards. Their third point came from Sean Kelly after poor marking and an Aidan Delargy free made it 1-8 to 0-7. They had a few goal chances but poor finishing and good Cummins catches kept them out. After this period of Antrim pressure Redser was fouled and Eoin Kelly found the net again with his free. Straight away Sean Kelly pointed, as did Paddy O'Brien. Two late Kieran Herron frees left the score after 4 minutes of injury time; 2-9 to 0-10 in Tipp's favour at the break.
Tipp made two changes at the break. David Kennedy who seemed to have been injured was replaced by Shane Sweeney, Corcoran went centre back with Sweeney at win back. Tommy Dunne replaced the ineffective Redser at full forward. Michael Herron got Antrim's first point of the second half. Tommy Dunne opened his account with a point. Eoin Kelly's goal effort was saved but Benny pointed and he followed up with another, 2-12 to 0-11. Eoin Kelly pointed a free after Butler was fouled. Temporary blood sub for Tipp with Tony Scroope replacing John Carroll for about 2 minutes. Michael Herron pointed for Antrim. With 9 minutes gone Eoin Kelly received from Benny Dunne and pointed. Eddie Enright went off with a hand injury and was replaced with Denis Byrne. An Eoin Kelly free was saved and Paul Kelly eventually pointed. John Carroll pointed. Eoin Kelly passed to Tommy Dunne who passed to his brother, Benny who pointed. Aidan Delargy got Antrim's last score as Tipp totally dominated, 2-17 to 0-13. Antrim brought on Joey Scullion for Sean Kelly. Eoin Kelly pointed a free and Paul Kelly had a wide before a long John Devane clearance found Eoin Kelly who pointed. A poor Antrim clearance found Benny Dunne who pointed, 2-20 to 0-13.
With 20 minutes of the second half gone the biggest cheer of the day was reserved for Philip Maher who came on as a sub for Micheal Phelan, John Devane went corner back. The two Toome men Paddy O'Brien and Tommy Dunne pointed, (even though Tommy was straight through on goals.) However he made up for it soon after when good work from John Carroll who passed to Tommy who took his goal well. Both teams made changes Tony Scroope replaced Seamus Butler and Paddy Cunningham replaced Kieran Connolly. Eoin Kelly passed to Benny Dunne who pointed, 3-23 to 0-13. Tipp had 3 wides in a row, the first from Paul Kelly and the second two from Paddy O'Brien. Then came the best bit of play of the game when a Paddy O'Brien was saved and Tommy Dunne acrobatically dived and flicked the ball past the Antrim goalie. Denis Byrne had a wide before the second loudest cheer of the day went up for a great Philip Maher catch and clearance. In injury time Brendan Cummins had a free from just outside his own 21 and the wind carried it past the Antrim goalie. After two minutes injury time the ref blew up with the final score Tipp 5-23 Antrim 0-13.
Dinny Cahill will not be too pleased with this game. Even without the Dunloy contingent were very poor and never looked even remotely like contesting the game. They had the wind in the first half and were still outscored by Tipp, 11 scores to 10. In the second half they only scored 3 times and were held scoreless for the last 20 minutes. Their full back line was totally porous with the corner back having to be taken off after only 15 minutes. Despite winning a lot of possession in their half back line in the first half they could not make any headway against the Tipp backs. Still their goalie made some excellent saves and stopped at least 3 other goal efforts.
Ken Hogan will be relatively pleased; Tipp won, put on a good score, kept their first clean sheet of the League, scored 5 goals and saw the return of Philip Maher. Not much analysis of the game is needed, as the result was never much in doubt. While the backs conceded only 10 points when Antrim had the gale force wind and the Tipp forwards scored 28 times he knows Tipp will rarely get a softer match for the rest of the year, although this had more to do with poor Antrim marking than good Tipp play.

Tipp team:

Cummins: First clean sheet of the League. Had a few good catches and 1 good save on a wet and cold day. Used the wind well in the second half and will be delighted to have scored a goal.

Full back line: Solid throughout but rarely threatened. Phelan had a good game was loose a few times, was replaced late on. Devane had another good game, some lengthy clearances although does tend to loose the ball sometimes when bursting out. Costello had a good game.

Half back line: Kennedy did ok, although still his clearances are poor, seemed to go off with a belt to his hand. Eamon Corcoran is a class act, good reader of the game, rarely beaten and accurate clearances. Went centre back for the second half. Declan Fanning had a nervous start but settled in well and had a good game. Has a good clearance but tends to be blocked down easily in crowded play.

Midfield: Very quiet due to the wind carrying most of the puck outs and clearances over their heads. Paul Kelly did score a point and Eddie was quieter than other weeks.
Half forward line: Very loose and could have been punished in the first half against different opposition. Benny Dunne scored 5 second half points, but was quiet in the first half. John Carroll scored 1 point and set up Tommy Dunne's goal. Paddy O'Brien scored 2 points in the first half and 1 in the second. Got through a good bit of work.

Full forward line: Eoin Kelly was again superb. Scored 2-7 in total; 2 goals from frees, (one a 21 yard free), 4 frees and 3 points from play. He also set up most of Benny Dunne's points and totally terrorised the Antrim full back line. Redser was poor again, did score a point but was out behind his man too often. Seamus Butler scored 3 points benefiting from some slack Antrim play.

Subs:
Shane Sweeney for David Kennedy: Became the third Ballybacon-Grange player on the Tipp team when he went wing back at half time. Had little to do as Antrim caved in.
Tommy Dunne for Redser: Went full forward at half time and scored 2-2, could have been 3-1. Has a great eye for goal but drifted away from the square when he should have stayed inside.
Denis Byrne for Eddie Enright: Eddie seemed to be holding his hand going off. Denis had a wide but not involved in much.
Philip Maher for Micheal Phelan: Made one good catch and clearance. Great to have him back.
Tony Scroope for Seamus Butler: Only on for the last few minutes.

Tipp now seem fairly sure of qualifying for the top group in the next League stage after today's game. Tipp learned little from the game only that Redser is not cut out for full forward, Tommy Dunne's best position could be full forward and Kennedy is still not inspiring confidence at centre back. Tipp now have an abundance of quality full backs. Paul Curran is back from America soon and in his absence Devane has done well in the last two games, (albeit against fairly limited opposition), and now Philip Maher is back, although he might not have the match fitness for the full 70 minutes yet. All of the forwards scored although Redser's contribution was negligible. Tipp are still very dependent on Eoin Kelly although when he is on song he is a joy to watch both his scoring and distribution, especially to Benny Dunne. Now Tipp face Cork next Sunday in a top of the table clash in Cork, which will tell a bit more about our long term credentials.

Knocknagow


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Tipperary v Antrim Preview Knocknagow
(21-03-2004)

Tipp and Antrim play their fourth game of the National
Hurling League in Semple Stadium Thurles on Sunday. Galway man, M. Haverty,
referees the game. It is a few years since the side last met in the League
as Antrim have been in Division 2 for a while and qualified for Division 1
with a win over Kerry in the Division 2 Final in Croke Park last May on the
same day that Tipp lost to Kilkenny in the Division 1 League Final.
All eyes in Antrim will be on the Club Final, as Dunloy
CuChulains will be playing in their third final in four years and hoping to
bring the trophy north for the first time since 1983. A good few of the
Dunloy players play with Antrim and it remains to be seen how many of them
will line out for Antrim on Sunday. Dunloy, (trained by Cappawhite's Ger
O'Neill), played Tipp in a challenge game that ended in a high scoring draw
back in January. Antrim have a Tipperary connection with former Tipp and
Kilruane hurler Dinny Cahill as their manager. The last Championship meeting
between the sides was in 2002 in the All-Ireland Quarter Final in Croke Park
when Tipp, as defending All-Ireland Champions, eventually won 1-25 to 2-11
after being pushed all the way. Antrim lead 2-6 to 0-10 at the break but
Tipp struggled all of the second half before a goal from sub Eugene O'Neill
with 4 minutes to go sealed the game for Tipp.
Antrim have played and lost their 3 games in the League
so far and without their Dunloy contingent have struggled. Their first game
was away to Wexford and they lost 2-17 to 1-10. Despite scoring the first
point Antrim never settled and Wexford lead for all the game and only a goal
by Liam Herron in injury time put the score line respectable. Antrim's
second game was at home to Offaly and despite a good game they lost 2-17 to
2-14. Despite being 2-9 to 0-6 down at the break Antrim rallied and second
half goals from Aidan Delargy and Brian McFall cut the lead, however Offaly
held on for the win. Antrim's game last Sunday was against Cork in Casement
Park again. Antrim got an early goal and were only behind 0-9 to 1-3 at the
break. They were heavily penalised by Cork's Jonathon O'Callaghan who scored
8 points from frees. A late goal by Liam Watson left only a goal between the
sides but Cork held out for a 0-14 to 2-5 win.
Tipp have played three games in the League so far and
after losing to Offaly on the opening day now have two wins in a row. Tipp
still have major problems in a number of positions throughout the field. The
two positions causing the most concern are centre back and full forward.
John Carroll played the first two games at centre back but after scoring 2-2
against Wexford it now appears that his future lies in the forwards.
Personally I hope that he is switched to centre back, as despite being well
able to take his scores he is not a forward. After two games at full back
David Kennedy was centre back against Wexford and did not impress.
Unfortunately he does not have the presence of 2001 and Tipp will have a
short summer if he is still at No. 6 come June. At the other end of the
field Redser has started all 3 games at the edge of the square. He has been
beaten on all 3 occasions by Ger Oakley, TJ Ryan and Darragh Ryan and
substituted during the last two. He is not playing well, does not pose a
threat, is behind his man way too much, drifts out of the game for long
spells, and does not set up enough scores for those around him.
On the positives the move out of defence has suited Paul Kelly and his
style of play. He is too loose for wing back and was often badly exposed
under the high dropping ball especially against taller opponents, Martin
Comerford. He seems to have a good understanding with Eddie Enright and is
well able to take his scores, 10 points from 3 games is a good return from a
midfielder. In the backs hopefully the two Maher's will return to action
soon as any chance Tipp have of success this year depends on Philip to
return and command the square like before. As said above we are in trouble
at No. 6 but my opinion is that John Carroll should be put there and left
for the rest of the League.
In the forwards, Eoin Kelly still remains our main scorer. The jury is
still out on Redser and Seamus Butler and we are well use to Lar scoring
highly in the early stages of the League only to be blown away come the
Championship. Benny Dunne seems a lot more at hope at wing forward than
corner back. Centre forward remains a thorny issue; Shane Maher was ok
against Offaly and poor against Limerick, while Carroll had a good return
against Wexford. With Conor Gleeson still to come back it appears at the
moment that Carroll is the only candidate here. Tommy Dunne is still
recovering from injury, although has had cameos in the last two games; again
his positioning could make or break Tipp's summer.
Some other players like Shane Sweeney, Declan Fanning, Pat Buckley and the
two Moloney's have not been given games yet in the league to impress and I
expect that they will get games over the next few weeks, although it appears
that with the 2 Mahers, a fully fit Tommy Dunne, and Conor Gleeson to come
back it will be highly unlikely that more of the newer players will gain a
regular place on the team.

The Tipp team was announced last night and line out as follows:
Brendan Cummins.
Tom Costello, John Devane, and Michael Phelan.
Declan Fanning, David Kennedy and Diarmuid Fitzgerald.
Eddie Enright and Paul Kelly
Lar Corrbett, John Carroll and Benny Dunne.
Seamus Butler, Redser and Eoin Kelly.
This shows 1 change from the side that defeated Wexford last Sunday.
Killenaule's Declan Fanning, (a former Tipp footballer) gets his first
League start at wingback replacing Eamon Corcoran. Fanning impressed in some
of the challenge games but an injured hand meant that he was not available
for the opening games. He has impressed for his club at centre back over the
last few years and now gets his big chance. Mark O'Leary will not feature,
as he is playing with his club in the Munster Intermediate club-hurling
Final on Sunday. Eamon Corcoran, Eoin Kelly and Brian O'Meara have all been
named in the subs.
This is Tipperary's only home game of this phase of the League and they
will be expected to put on a good display. Tipp should have too much
firepower up front, and the backs should be able to cope with an Antrim team
that has struggled to score from play. In their last game against Cork only
one Antrim forward scored from play. The Tipp forwards will again have to
stand up and be counted, as Eoin Kelly is not picked again. With a very
strong team, Tipp should win this game fairly comfortably.





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Wexford 1-13 Tipperary 4-18 (14-03-04) Match Report Knocknagow



Tipperary got back to back to victories in the League today and also moved into second place in Division 1B with a comprehensive victory over a very poor Wexford outfit in Wexford Park. Tipp played with the advantage of a gale force wind in the first half as both team made changes to their selected teams. For Wexford Paul Codd ended his "will he, wont he" play saga with Wexford by starting at midfield and Mick O'Leary lined out at wingback. For Tipp Eoin Kelly did not start and Paddy O'Brien replaced him. Lar Corbett started at corner forward with Paddy O'Brien playing out on the wing. On the subs bench Mark O'Leary replaced Brian O'Meara.
Wexford had the first score of the game when a wild pull by David Kennedy on Larry Murphy saw Kennedy yellow carded and Paul Codd point the free. Paul Kelly had a wide before Benny Dunne had to go off after shipping a high blow and was temporarily replaced by his brother Tommy. Both Paul Kelly and Paddy O'Brien had wides before a long free from Brendan Cummins was fielded by Redser who passed to John Carroll who goaled. Redser nearly had another goal immediately after when he flicked on a high ball from Eddie Enright but it went narrowly wide. Tommy Dunne scored a point before being replaced by Benny. Redser was fouled and Paddy O'Brien pointed the free to put Tipp 1-2 to 0-1 ahead. Michael Phelan fouled his man, was yellow carded, and Paul Codd pointed the free.
Paul Kelly pointed a 65 before Paddy O'Brien was fouled and scored the free. Straight from the puck out John Carroll caught, soloed and scored a good point. Corcoran fouled and Codd punished to make it 1-5 to 0-3. From the puck out the ball went into the full forward line, fell to Lar who scored a goal. Lar added a point and Codd a free. In the 27th minute another long puck by Cummins caused panic in the Wexford full back line and John Carroll goaled after his first shot was saved, 3-6 to 0-4. Tipp added 5 points without replay; Eddie Enright with a long range point, Seamus Butler, Paddy O'Brien, Paul Kelly after a good run and Redser who caught a puck out. Darragh Ryan went centre back and Doc O'Connor full back. Just at the end of normal time Robbie Codd scrambled the ball to the net before John Carroll finished the scoring with a point in injury time 3-12 to 1-4.
Neither team made changes for the second half. Wexford had the advantage of the wind but it was Tipp who started the brightest after Lar was fouled and Paddy O'Brien pointed. He had a wide soon after before Paul Carley scored a Wexford point. Tommy Dunne replaced Benny Dunne. Paul Kelly put a 65 wide. Wexford made their first change with Mitch Jordan replaced Barry Lambert. Lar then scored his second goal when he fielded a great cross-field pass from John Carroll and goaled, 4-13 to 1-5. Brendan Cummins made a great catch before Paul Codd pointed a sideline. Rory Stafford replaced Robbie Codd. Seamus Butler pointed before Cummins brought off a good save from a Codd free. Carley and Codd pointed for Wexford. Barry Goff replaced Michael Jacob.
Tipp made their second change with Nenagh's Noel Moloney making his first senior start replacing Redser at full forward straight away bringing a good save out of Fitzhenry. Wexford made another change with Rory McCarthy replaced by Willie Doran. Paul Codd scored 2 points. Tipp brought on Declan Fanning and took off Diarmuid Fitzgerald. Paddy O'Brien and Seamus Butler pointed, 4-16 to 1-10. Paul Codd and Rory Jacob did likewise before Noel Moloney opened his account. David Kennedy then got his second yellow after a stay pull. Paddy O'Brien got the last score with a point before Cummins made a fine save. The ref blew after 2 minute of injury time.
Wexford boss John Conran will not be pleased. Despite playing in front of a large vocal home support his team were totally outfought and out classed for pretty much all of the game. His forwards were small and light and not effective at all. It took them until the second half to score a point from play. Paul Codd was the only player to really stand out scoring 9 points and was not given any help from the rest of the forwards. They made no use at all of the wind, (it contributed directly to Tipp scoring 3 goals), in the second half and had given up the ghost long before the final whistle.
Ken Hogan will be reasonably pleased with this display. Starting without Eoin Kelly I thought that Tipp would struggle. He will be pleased that all of the starting forwards scored from play, bar Benny Dunne who went off injured. He will be pleased that when the game was still alive (in the first half) Tipp were first to most balls and outplayed their men. The backs played as a unit and did not concede too many needless frees. The forwards made good use of possession and scored 22 times on a day when the gale force wind made scoring very difficult. He will also be pleased that Tipp scored 1-6 against the wind and limited Wexford to only 1-7 in the second half.

Tipp team:
Cummins: Conceded a goal from a goalmouth scrambled, saved a goal effort from a free and a couple of high catches.

Full Back Line: John Devane was back to his more usual position of full back. Had a good game but was not tested by the ineffective Robbie Codd. Sound in his clearances. Thomas Costello had a good day at the office. While Phelan is a sticky corner back, not spectacular, but does his job well.

Half Back Line: Corcoran was had a quieter day then his previous two outings. Fitzgerald had another good game, settling in well. David Kennedy had a poor game. While not directly at fault for Wexford scores, fumbled the ball, failed to control it and took until about 10 minutes to go to clear the ball with his hurley.

Midfield: Paul Kelly scored a point from play and a 65. Again was a lot quieter than the last day. Eddie Enright was my Man of the Match. Cleared a lot of ball, covered acres of ground covering behind the centre back line also launching attacks. Scored a good point.

Half Forward Line: Benny Dunne was again the captain for the day, got a belt very early on and went off for about 5 minutes. He then went off after the break holding his leg. Quiet throughout. John Carroll had a great 20 minutes before the break scoring 2-2. His goals were typical Carroll, bursting his way through and blasting to the net. Was quiet in the second half. Paddy O'Brien was starting his first game for Tipp in a long while. Scored 3 points from frees and 2 from play. Won a lot of ball deserves another day out. Was in a difficult position, having the extra pressure of free taker with Eoin Kelly not starting.

Full Forward Line: Redser was again poor, he was not on the one of the most mobile of full backs in Darragh Ryan and yet was out behind him for every ball played in between them. Had a hand in the goals through default really. Scored a point in the first half. Spent some time in corner forward in the second half. Seamus Butler scored 4 points but again does not seem up to this level. Lar fumbled a lot of ball by trying to rise it with one hand on the hurley but benefited from some pretty appalling loose marking by the Wexford backs to score 2-1 from play.

Subs:
Tommy Dunne for Benny: Scored a good point when on as temporary sub for Benny. Did very little when he came on permanently. Is only settling back after a long spell out.
Noel Moloney for Redser: Normally a wing forward he played at full for the last 15 minutes and looked lively enough scoring a point and bringing a good save from Fitzhenry.
Declan Fanning for Diarmuid Fitzgerald: Like Moloney the Killenaule was making his first senior hurling start. The game had totally disintegrated by the time he came on.

So Tipp are back in pole position to qualify for the top group for the next phase of the League. Ken Hogan will be pleased that the Tipp forwards coped well without Eoin Kelly. Still Seamus Butler and Redser do not seem up to this level. However with a fully fit Tommy Dunne and Conor Gleeson to come back there is no need for panic. The display of John Carroll seems to suggest his power and goal scoring potential will outweigh his need at centre back. In the backs again Phelan and Fitzgerald impressed. The good display of Carroll at no 11 and the poor display of Kennedy will worry Hogan over the coming weeks. It now coming to a critical stage where either Carroll, Corcoran or Fanning are put at no. 6 and left there till the League is over so that we have a player going in to the Championship with 3-4 games experience in the position. As was said after the Limerick game more difficult game lie ahead.
On a final note good to see Philip Maher back on the Tipp panel after being out for 10 months.






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Wexford v Tipperary (14-03-2004) Preview Knocknagow



Tipp and Wexford play their third game of the National Hurling League in Wexford Park, Wexford on Sunday at 2.45. The hurling game will be preceded by the National Football League game between Wexford and Cavan. The ref for the game is Seanie McMahon of Clare. This is Tipp's third away game in a row. The sides have met a total of 37 times in the League with Wexford holding the advantage with 17 wins, 16 losses and 2 draws.
Tipp won last year's game very convincingly on a score line of 3-21 to 1-11, in Nenagh. Tipp dominated the game throughout and through goals from Eoin Kelly and Lar Corbett (2) lead 3-11 to 0-5 at the break. The second half was played at a pedestrian pace as Tipp scored another 10 points to win comfortably. Lar Corbett, Redser and Conor Gleeson were the best for Tipp.
Wexford have won one and lost one of their League games so far. On the first day of the League they beat Antrim in Wexford Park by 2-17 to 1-10. Antrim struggled throughout with out their Dunloy contingent and Wexford lead 2-10 to 0-4 at the break. The Codd brothers were the main scorers for Wexford with Paul scoring 0-6 (from placed balls) and Robbie scoring 1-1, Anthony O'Leary also scored 1-1. Their second game was two weeks ago against Cork under floodlights in Páirc Uí Rinn, (the first National League Hurling game under lights). Cork with a new look forward line won on the score line of 2-13 to 0-9. Darragh Ryan at full back conceded 2-1 to Brendan Lombard while the Wexford forwards struggled throughout and failed to make any head room against a very solid Cork defence.
While Tipp had no National League game at the weekend all of the players were involved in action at the weekend. In the Fitzgibbon Cup, UCC had 2 Tipp players, Mark O'Leary and Micheal Phelan, who played on both Friday and Saturday. In action on Friday were Diarmuid Fitzgerald for UCD and Eoin Kelly with LIT (he scored 1-8 of LIT's total). In action for their clubs on Sunday were Eamon Corcoran with JK Brackens and Diarmuid Fitzgerald (again) for Roscrea. Both excelled at centre back with Corcoran scoring 4 points and Fitzgerald scoring 8 points. The rest of the Tipp team were involved with the county side in a tournament game in Nowlan Park as Tipp won 5-12 to Kilkenny's 3-17. Tipp had a fairy inexperienced team out, with John Devane at full back, Carroll at centre back, Tommy Dunne at centre forward and Redser at full forward. Others newcomers to feature were Cottrell, Colin Morrissey, Declan Fanning, Tony Scroope, John O'Brien and Pat Shortt. In a game that appears to have been dominated by forwards Lar Corbett scored 3-3 and Paddy O'Brien 1-4.
Tipp have had two very different types of games so far in the League. In the first outing was a very competitive affair, which Tipp lost by 2 points. There were a lot of good displays in a good team performance. The game against Limerick was hard to judge with Limerick giving up the ghost long before the end of the game, only the 2 Kelly's and the 2 Dunne's impressed in a poor team performance. One pleasing aspect of the game was the return of Tommy Dunne. Even though he was not even listed on the programme he came on before the break in his first game since last November. The next job now is to find his best position on the team!
Again Tipp still have trouble in some sectors. In the backs all the players on the wings and in the corners are solid, with Diarmuid Fitzgerald beginning to impress, (another Paul Delaney perchance?) yet it's at both full and centre back that we look shaky. John Carroll was still adjusting and his displays have been improving steadily at centre back although seeing as he is switched to centre forward its unlikely if he will be returning to the defence in the future. While the David Kennedy at full back experiment seems to have ended its highly unlikely, (based on performances since 2002), that he will stay at centre back. The forwards are not performing as a unit. Eoin Kelly was by far the best player on the field the last day but received very little support, if he has a bad day Tipp will be in trouble. The addition of Carroll to the forwards will add some muscle and ball winning ability in a sector that has seriously struggled the last 2 days.
Wexford will have to plan for the year ahead without Liam Dunne and Larry O'Gorman both of who have retired. Yet they are always a very hard nut to crack; in 2002 as All-Ireland Champions Tipp got well beaten 3-13 to 1-10 in their last visit to Wexford Park. The loss of form of Doc O'Connor and the retirements will make it hard for them, yet they always do good at home to Tipp and after their poor display in Cork in the last round they will be looking to get a win. Still they have plenty of experience in Darragh Ryan, Paul Codd and Damien Fitzhenry.
The Tipp team was announced last night and line out as follows:
Brendan Cummins.
Tom Costello, John Devane, and Michael Phelan.
Eamon Corcoran, David Kennedy and Diarmuid Fitzgerald.
Eddie Enright and Paul Kelly
Lar Corrbett, John Carroll and Benny Dunne.
Seamus Butler, Redser and Eoin Kelly.
This shows 2 changes from the team that beat Limerick. Lar Corbett comes into the side at the expense of Shane Maher in a reshuffled attack, after impressing at the weekend wins in the forwards. He played most of the game against Limerick but fumbled a lot of the possession that he won. John Carroll returns to centre forward with Lar Corbett on the wing. The full forward line is the same as the last day, although when Eoin Kelly is not rested is beyond me, surely it's a lot better to see some one else tried in that position. Seamus Butler and Redser are very lucky to start on Sunday after they're very poor outing the last day. The other changes see Tom Costello return to corner back with John Devane returning to his more natural position of full back (where he impressed greatly at U21 last year), David Kennedy goes to centre back although I would still rather if John Caroll had been left there.
This game should hopefully be closer than the corresponding fixture last year. Tipp are used to playing away from home by now although very few will have played in Wexford Park before. Again it is up to the newer Tipp players to fight to hold on to their positions. The Wexford forwards will struggle against a more organised Tipp back line although it remains to be seen if there is a more even spread of scorers in the forwards. While Ken Hogan will want a win, performances especially out of John Carroll and Kennedy will be the most crucial aspects of the game from a Tipp point of view. So Tipp will probably win in a close game by 3-4 points.



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Limerick 1-12 Tipperary 2-21 (29-02-04) Match Report Knocknagow,



Tipperary got their first win of the 2004 Hurling League campaign with a comprehensive win over a lifeless and inept Limerick team today in the newly revamped Gaelic Grounds. Tipp played with the advantage of a slight breeze in the first half as both team lined out as selected in front of a disappointingly small crowd (probably as the game was live on TG 4).
Tipp were first to settle and after some wild pulling in the Limerick full back line Eoin Kelly pointed a free. Soon after O'Meara won the ball, passed to Kelly who pointed again. Limerick got their first score with an Andrew O'Shaughnessy free before Eoin Kelly replied with a similar score after a foul on Redser. David Kennedy dropped the ball and allowed Pat Tobin to point (0-3 to 0-2 in Tipp's favour.) Eddie Enright shot wide after good passing between Carroll and Corcoran. After 10 minutes over on the new stand side of the field Brian O'Meara went down injured and left the field wearing a medical collar, he was replaced in the half forward line by Lar Corbett. Eoin Kelly pointed a free after his brother was fouled and then followed up by collecting a sideline ball and pointing.


Limerick then had their only good spell of the game levelling with 3 points to make the score 5 each; the first a good Ciaran Carey point after a poor Tipp clearance, the second an Andrew O'Shaughnessy free after David Kennedy was harshly adjudged to have over carried, the third after John Carroll gave a poor hand pass and allowed O'Brien to equalise. Donie Ryan pulled wildly across Diarmuid Fitz but got away with it. Peter Russell temporarily replaced Ryan. Paul Kelly nudged Tipp in front with a 3 long range frees from midfield after wild pulling Limerick, one of the incidents saw Peter O'Reilly get booked after pull on Eddie Enright. Limerick then had a goal chance scrambled wide with Cummins injured, the resultant 65 was put wide.
Benny Dunne had a wide before Eoin Kelly set him up to pop over a nice point, (9-5 to Tipp.) Kelly was now operating at full forward. Peter Lawlor was replaced by Brian Geary for Limerick. Benny Dunne collected a sideline and pointed and another Eoin Kelly free put Tipp 6 up. Limerick made their second change bringing on Niall Moran and taking off Peter O'Reilly. With 33 minutes gone Tommy Dunne replaced the ineffective Redser. He went corner forward and T.J. Ryan went out to "greet" him! Eoin Kelly was pushed and pointed the free. Paul Kelly pointed a 65. Eoin set up Benny for another point and Paul Kelly was fouled and took the free himself. The last score of the half went to Benny Dunne. The ref blew up after 4 minutes of injury time as Tipp had an unassailable lead of 0-16 to 0-5.


The second half started with Eoin Kelly on the edge of the square marked by T.J. Paul O'Grady was on the Limerick team. David Kennedy fouled O'Shaughnessy and from a tight angle he went for goal but the ball went wide, Benny Dunne won the puck out and pointed. Again O'Shaughnessy won a free but his goal effort went wide. Donnacha Sheehan pointed for Limerick, (17-6.) Tipp then finished off the game when Benny Dunne took a pass from Eoin Kelly and his shot was saved, as the ball ran along the ground Tommy Dunne managed to get around 3 Limerick men and put the ball into the net, 1-17 to 0-6. Straight away Limerick responded when a slip up by Kennedy allowed Donie Ryan to goal from a narrow angle. A pass from Butler and Eoin Kelly floated over another point from the sideline. On 10 minutes Pat Tobin managed to put the ball off the post with 10 minutes of the second half gone. Eoin Kelly extended Tipp's lead with another point before Seanie O'Connor was booked for a wild pull on Carroll. Ciaran Carey limped off to be replaced with Clement Smith. Limerick scored 2 points on the trot before Benny Dunne pointed after a pass from Lar. Limerick got 3 points the first from Niall Moran, the second a 21 yard free from O'Shaughnessy that was saved by Diarmuid Fitzgerald, the third another O'Shaughnessy free to make the score 1-20 to 1-11.


Eoin Kelly then scored a penalty after Lar was hauled down. Shane Maher was taken off and replaced with Paddy O'Brien. Tommy Dunne went centre forward, Eoin Kelly full forward with Lar and Paddy O'Brien in the corners. The Kelly's and the Dunne's all had bad wides. A schmozzle in front of the Mackey stand saw Benny Dunne throw a few punches before getting a belt in the back from Clem Smith, both of whom were booked. Michael McKenna replaced Donie Ryan. A foul on Clement Smith by John Carroll saw O'Shaughnessy point. Tommy Dunne was booked for a wild pull. Eoin Kelly got the last score of the game before Paul Kelly was sent off in injury time. After only a minute injury time the ref blew up with the final score Tipp 2-21 Limerick 1-12.
Offaly man Pad Joe will not be pleased with this game. Limerick looked like a team that had no ball work done. They were second to most balls and did not look up for the game and gave away too many frees, (11 of Tipp's scores came from frees.) There is no point in spending all of January playing Micky Mouse challenge games and then not trying in the league. Most of the frees conceded were for high and very dangerous pull around midfield under the dropping ball. Donie Ryan can count himself very lucky not to be sent off. Near the start of the game Paul Kelly cleared the ball and Ryan blatantly pulled straight across him with the ball well gone. He then pulled straight across Diarmuid Fitzgerald in front of both the ref and the linesman and got away with it again. No Limerick player really stood out, even with Kennedy at full back Limerick could not exploit his lack of pace. They died a total death after 15 minutes with the scores 5 each it was 5 minutes into the second before they got their next score and by that time Tipp had scored12 points!


While Tipp won well i suspect that Ken Hogan will not be happy. He learnt a lot more from last week's narrow loss to Offaly. The backs were solid enough with both Fitzgerald and Corcoran outstanding. Kennedy and Carroll both had hairy moments. Ken will not be happy with the forwards; despite dominating possession totally the starting Tipp 6 forwards only scored 9 points from play. That's not bad until you consider that Eoin Kelly and Benny Dunne got that entire total. The spine of the forwards Redser and Maher did not work, indeed the spine of the team from full back to full forward did not convince me. This game will have told the Tipp management and he will hope for a better examination from Wexford on Sunday week.

Tipp team:
Cummins: Conceded a goal from a good shot from Donie Ryan. Made a few good saves and clearances were good.

Full Back Line: Devane was making his first start of the year. Mad a good solid game throughout and was never really tested by a lack lustre Limerick attack. Phelan again had a quiet time was solid throughout. David Kennedy had a slight improvement on last weeks performance still made a few slips at critical times, which under more serious circumstances would prove costly. I still don't think that he is a viable solution at full back come Championship time.

Half Back Line: Corcoran was again a class apart. As well as launching many Tipp attacks he also was back in the full back line when needed. Fitzgerald, was on one of the better Limerick players Donie Ryan and after an early belt settled in well and hurled a fine game. John Carroll was poor enough, positioning was poor at times and judgement when he had the ball in hand also suspect at times. Time will tell if he will be wearing the No 6 jersey in June.

Midfield: Paul Kelly was masterful from frees, scored 5 frees and a 65 in the first half. Did not really do that much in general play and was sent off near the end. He had a few long range shots from play go wide. Eddie Enright was solid throughout. The Limerick midfielders were both replaced and Eddie supplied good ball to the forwards.

Half Forward Line: Brian O'Meara set up Tipp's first point from play for Eoin Kelly but went off injured after 10 minutes. Shane Maher had a poor afternoon. Did not win any clean ball and struggled in general play. Benny Dunne (captain for the day) picked off 6 points from play and had a hand in the first goal.

Full Forward Line: Redser was very poor, replaced just before the break and I don't think he got clean possession once. Seamus Butler was poor as well. Seems slightly off the pace for Senior inter-county hurling and did not contribute much. Eoin Kelly was a class apart. Scored 1-9: 5 frees and a point from play in the first half, in the second; 2 points from play, a free and a goal from a penalty. Some of his points were class, his first point of the second half when close to the sideline between the 14 and 21 and still managed to curl it over the bar was coolness personified.

Subs:
Lar Corbett on for Brian O'Meara; played nearly 60 minutes of the game at wing forward and did not impress. Still fumbles the ball way too much and its way to easy to disposes him when he tries to rise the ball with one hand on the hurley. Was fouled for the penalty.
Tommy Dunne for Redser: Wearing No. 24 and not listed on the programme he played at corner forward and centre forward. Scored a good goal and shipped a lot of punishment on and off the ball which probably explained his yellow carding late on in the game.
Paddy O'Brien on for Shane Maher: He went corner forward but I don't think he touched the ball.

So Tipp get their League campaign off the ground. There is very little that can be taken out of this game. Some positives that can be taken out of the game are; the return of Tommy Dunne (his eye for goals is badly needed); the continued good displays of Corcoran and Fitzgerald in the half back line and a sparkling return from TG 4 man of the match Eoin Kelly. Negatives; the backs came under no real sustained pressure and yet conceded 13 scores, Carroll and Kennedy struggled, despite scoring 23 times, 4 of the starting forwards failed to score and of these 3, (Shane Maher, Seamus Butler and Redser), contributed nothing in general play. So its on to Wexford and hopefully a more meaningful game with solid individual performances from the Tipp players and a more even distribution of scores among the forwards
Knocknagow




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Limerick v Tipperary (29-02-2004) Preview Knocknagow



Tipp and Limerick play their second game of the League in the newly revamped Gaelic Grounds on Sunday at 2.30, the game is live on TG4. The game is at the Gaelic Grounds as due to buildings works Limerick were unable to play there last year. This is Tipp's second away game in a row, and of the five games in the opening stage of the League Tipp have only one game at home and that is to Antrim!
Tipp won last years game very convincingly on a score line of 1-17 to 1-08. Despite an early Limerick goal from Donnacha Sheehan, Tipp were well ahead at the break, thanks to Lar Corbett, 1-12 to 1-2. Tipp comfortable played out the second half, and with Lar on top form scoring 1-3 never looked like losing to a disappointing Limerick side.
Limerick had a pretty similar opening game to Tipp at home against Cork last Sunday when they lost by 2 points, 0-14 to 1-9 to an under strength Cork side, with only 1 of last All-Ireland years forwards starting. Cork played with the wind in the first half and dominated the game to lead by 7 at the break. Limerick rallied to level the game, helped by 3 frees from Andrew O'Shaughnessy but Cork finished off the stronger and 2 points from Jonathon O'Callaghan sealed a win for Cork. Top scorers for Limerick were Pat Tobin with a goal, and O'Shaughnessy with 3 points. Others to impress were Michael Cahill at corner back, and debutant goalie John Cahill.
Limerick, like Tipp, are under new management this year with Padjoe Whelehan the manager and Mike Nash and Damien Quigley the selectors. After the poor showing last year and the hassle with the dual players seemingly sorted out they seem to be moving in the right condition and in Whelehan they have a man who knows what it takes to win All-Irelands. I don't expect them to be going full throttle for the League but come the Munster Semi-Final against Cork they will be well fired up for the game.
Tipp have nothing to get too excited about after League outing. They could not cope with the 2 Hanniffy brothers who scored 1-9 out of Offaly's total of 1-15. Tipp struggled at full and centre back while the wings and corners had good games. In the forwards David Franks had the beating of Eoin Kelly all day and only Shane Maher of the half forward line looked like scoring regularly. Tipp also created very few goal chances. Eoin Kelly had a great effort saved by Brendan Mullins and Redser had the goal at his mercy but blazed over the bar. Tipp however had the winning of the game when they turned around only a point down with the advantage of a gale force wind behind them. Tipp lead by 2 points with 5 minutes to go but could not hold onto the lead as Gary Hanniffy scored a goal.
If either of these sides harbours any ambitions of winning the League outright then they have to win on Sunday. Limerick will be well up for it and will have the advantage of having played in the Gaelic Grounds last week whereas it's a few years since any Tipp team played their. Despite fielding a few debutants against Cork they still have enough experienced players in their side that can trouble any team, TJ Ryan, Ollie Moran and new captain Ciaran Carey. They also posses 2 of the best young forwards in the game in Pat Tobin and Andrew O'Shaughnessy who if they enough possession will give Brendan Cummins and the new Tipp fullback line a very busy afternoon on Sunday. There could be a few changes to both teams as there are Fitzgibbon games on during the coming week involving a number of players from both sides. Tipp have got Michael Phelan and Mark O'Leary with UCC, John Devane and Martin Maher with UL, and Eoin Kelly with LIT. Damien Reale (LIT) and Niall Moran (UL) are some of the Limerick players involved in the Quarterfinals.

The Tipp team was announced last night and line out as follows:
Brendan Cummins.
John Devane, David Kennedy and Michael Phelan.
Eamon Corcoran, John Carroll and Diarmuid Fitzgerald.
Paul Kelly and Eddie Enright.
Brian O'Meara, Shane Maher and Benny Dunne.
Seamus Butler, Redser and Eoin Kelly.

The team shows only one change from the side that lost to Offaly last Sunday. John Devane comes in at corner back for Tom Costello who is unavailable. Denis Byrne who was supposed to play last week but could not due to illness has been added to the subs bench. Devane played a few games in the league last year and also came on in the League Final, sp he should have no trouble settling in even though he is a full back. The ref was initially supposed to be Wadding of Waterford but thankfully he is not doing the game and it will be Kelly of Westmeath. Limerick have made a number of changes to their team as well with the unavailability of Ollie Moran who is getting married on Saturday.
Tipp not be looking forward to this game on what from the accounts of last Sunday game will be on a heavy pitch. The Tipp that lost the last day has been given a chance to redeem it self. Our midfield pairing will have to be more consistent and be involved in the game for the full 70 minutes. Hopefully we will see an improvement in discipline in the backs and a more even scoring return from the forwards. David Kennedy and John Carroll will need to be more confident and commanding in their central defensive positions. The newer players from Tipp will have to continue their good play of last week. So id say that Limerick will win this tight game by 2-3 points as at home under new boss Padjoe they will be under pressure to deliver a win.


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Offaly 1-15 Tipperary 0-17 (22-02-04) Match Report, Knocknagow.



Tipperary opened their 2004 League campaign with a point loss to Offaly in a very entertaining and competitive game in a bitterly cold Birr this afternoon. Offaly lined out as selected but Tipp had one change with Diarmuid Fitzgerald lining out instead of Denis Byrne. Fitzgerald played at wing back beside his club colleague John Carroll with Paul Kelly partnering Eddie Enright in midfield. Offaly played with the advantage of a gale force wind in the first half.


Tipp got the first score of the game when Paul Kelly pointed a free from midfield after Benny Dunne was fouled. Brendan Murphy levelled soon afterwards after poor play from Paul Kelly. After good work Shane Maher pointed but Rory Hanniffy equalised. Eoin Kelly pointed after catching a sideline ball; his brother pointed a free after Corcoran had been fouled to put Tipp 2 up, 4 points to 2. Eoin Kelly was booked after a clash with David Franks. Tipp extended their lead when a long John Carroll free found Redser who pointed to put Tipp 3 up after 20 minutes. Maher then scored his second point from a Paul Kelly sideline. Mick O'Hara got 2 points in the space of a minute and the gap was reduced to a minimum when after a great Mullins save from an Eoin Kelly rasper the ball was cleared down the field and Hanniffy pointed.
The first switch of the game was made when Offaly took off their debutant corner forward McRedmond and put on Dylan Hayden. After 25 minutes Tipp pointed after good play from Benny Dunne, Offaly brought on Michael Cordial for O'Hara. Paul Kelly had a wide from a Tipp free before Rory Hannify pointed a free after a Diarmuid Fitzgerald foul. Tipp then had a major scare when Costello to scramble the ball off the line and eventually Offaly pointed the 65. Paul Kelly was booked for dangerous play before Redser pointed after a Shane Maher pass to put Tipp back in the lead. Rory Hanniffy equalised before Colm Cassidy put Offaly ahead for the first time in the game with a pointed free after O'Meara over carried. So at the break Offaly lead 9 points to 8.




At the start of the second half Offaly replaced Joe Brady with Kevin Brady. After passes from Eddie Enright to Eoin Kelly Seamus Butler pointed. An overhead flick by Butler found Redser in space but with loads of time he blasted the ball over the bar when a goal looked more likely. A Tipp free by Eoin Kelly stretched Tipp's lead to 2 points. Tipp had 2 wides the first when Benny Dunne shot narrowly wide and the second from Eamon Corcoran. Rory Hanniffy then punished fouls by Corcoran, (who was booked), John Carroll and David Kennedy by scoring 3 frees. A fourth foul by John Carroll saw take a short free but the ball sailed over the bar to Offaly a point up 13 - 12. Butler was booked before Lar Corbett came on for Paul Kelly, Benny Dunne went midfield.

Eoin Kelly put a difficult free wide, before Shane Maher scored pointed after Redser's initial shot was blocked. Eamon Corcoran the soloed up the field and scored a point, a minute later he repeated the feat after Lar's shot was blocked. On 20 minutes Eoin Kelly scored a free after an Offaly player over carried to put Tipp 16 to 13 up. Tipp then made their second change with Paddy O'Brien coming on at full forward instead of Brian O'Meara, Redser went into the corner and Eoin Kelly went out in the half forward line. Offaly pointed before the turning point of the game arrived a long ball was fumbled by David Kennedy at full back and it allowed Gary Hanniffy to score the games only goal. Offaly were now a point up, 1-14 to 0-16 and with the crowd behind them Rory Hanniffy extended their lead. Offaly then sent on Nigel Mannion for Neville Coughlan. Lar had a bad wide for Tipp before John Carroll fouled and Rory Hanniffy pointed the resultant free. Tipp now needed a goal and Lar Corbett had a great chance but failed to connect with the ball. In injury time Eddie Enright had a long-range point but referee Pat Dunphy blew up on the puck out and Offaly had gained two points and a first win over Tipp in the League since 1997 by 1-15 to 0-17.

So a losing start to Ken Hogan's reign. However if all the games in the rest of the League are as competitive as this on he will not be complaining. The main reason that Tipp lost this game was due to the lack of discipline. In the second half after coming out with the wind at their backs Tipp built up a 2 point lead they then conceded 4 frees in scoreable positions and allowed Offaly to regain the initiative. He will also be very disappointed that Tipp only scored 9 points with the gale force wind in the second half. His counterpart Mike McNamara will be very pleased with the performance and the result. For a team that should complete disdain to the League the past 2 years they hurled this game at Championship intensity. The two Hannifys were the main scoring threats in the forwards while the backs held Tipp fairly well. They also took their goal chance whereas Tipp missed all of theirs.

Tipp team:
Cummins: Could not be faulted for the goal. Had little else to do, was landing his puck outs onto the 14 in the second half.

Full Back Line: For his first senior start for Tipp Michael Phelan had a good game, broke up a number of Offaly attacks and kept his man very quiet. Tom Costello had another good game; a few of his clearances were intercepted though. David Kennedy had a poor game, was directly at fault for the goal, which won the game for Offaly. Looked very shaky and unsure under the high ball and let his man in behind him on a few occasions. Is not the long-term solution at full back.

Half Back Line: Corcoran again was masterful. Broke up an amount of Offaly attacks and even contributed to the scoring with 2 long-range points from play. The best Tipp man on the field. Diarmuid Fitzgerald, like Phelan his first senior start. Got stuck in to his neighbours across the border and was solid throughout. Similar to his U21 days very tough and sticky man marker. Definitely more suited to here than in the corner. John Carroll gave away way too many frees and should have been sent off, he spent the last 10 minutes swinging every Offaly player who ran at him to the ground by trying to catch them around the neck. Still a bit unsure under the high ball and positioning as a centre back was poor at times. Hopefully he will improve as the League continues.

Midfield: Paul Kelly started here until he was replaced midway through the second half. Fairly quiet scored a few long-range frees. Eddie Enright had a good first half intercepting a lot of Offaly passes and setting up Tipp scores. Faded a bit in the second half but did reduce the gap to a point in injury time.

Half Forward Line: Brian O'Meara was poor. Created very little and won very little of ball played into him. Shane Maher scored 3 points and set up a few more. Very good man to win the high ball but took the wrong option on a few occasions when he had the ball in hand. Got stuck in and was not intimidated. Benny Dunne was very quiet moved around a bit but did not contribute much.
Full Forward Line: Seamus Butler did not get much of the ball but still managed to score a nice point and a lovely flick to Redser nearly yielded a goal. Came out to the half forward line near the end of the game. Redser was well held by Ger Oakley but still managed to score 3 points. He spent the whole of the second half running away from the gaols to get the ball when he should have been standing on the edge of the square. Had a great goal chance but put the ball over the bar. Eoin Kelly was well held by David Franks and got booked for giving him the but of the hurley. I don't think he scored form play. Had a great goal chance saved brilliantly in the first half by Mullins.

Subs:
Lar Corbett on for Paul Kelly. Still has his thigh heavily bandaged. Got the ball a few times after he came on. Won a free from one and had a great chance of a goal near the end but missed. Still looks a bit rusty.
Paddy O'Brien on for Brian O'Meara unusually went in full forward for the last few minutes but nit enough time to change the game.

So Tipp begin 2004 as they finished the 2003 League with a one-point loss. Hopefully that is where the similarities with the 2003 campaigns end! Ken Hogan will be disappointed that Tipp lost a game they should have won at half time, (a point down with a gale force wind behind them) a sloppily conceded goal, poor discipline by the Tipp backs and the Tipp forwards fairly well shackled sums up the game fairly well from a Tipp point of view. The positives out of the game was the display of the 2 wing backs. Tipp now face Limerick next Sunday.
Knocknagow




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Tipperary v Offaly (22-02-2004) Preview ,Knocknagow



Tipp open their 2004 Allianz National Hurling League Division 1B campaign with a Round 1 meeting with Offaly in Birr on Sunday next at 2:30. These teams are frequent combatants over the past 3 years; this is their fifth meeting between League and Championship since 2002.
In 2002; Tipp won in Birr (in the League) 2-21 to 3-8 and in Portlaois (in the Championship) 2-17 to 1-9. In 2003; Tipp won in Nenagh 4-14 to 1-8 (in the League) and in Croke Park (in the All-Ireland Quarter Final 2-16 to 2-11. Last years League game was a bit of a wash out with Tipp having the game won well before half time, (leading 3-6 to 1-4), with the goals coming from Brian O'Meara and two from Lar Corbett. Lar completed his hat trick early in the second had as Tipp cruised to a win over a Birr-less Offaly side.
Offaly have been very quiet in the build up to the League. Their Walsh Cup campaign consisted of a win over Laois before losing to Babs Keating trained UCD 2-7 to 1-6 in the Semi Final. Unusually for them they have kept fate in manager Mike McNamara for a another year and their preparations will have been helped by Birr's loss to O Loughlin Gaels in the Leinster Championship in November which will have given the Birr players a chance to recharge their batteries and also a chance for the full Offaly panel to train together.
For the third year in a row Tipp have a different manager! Mick Doyle's reign lasted only a year and after a lot speculation former Tipp goalkeeper and selector under Nicky, Ken Hogan took over as manager. He is joined by Jack Bergin and Colm Bonnar as his selectors, with Bonnar also acting as trainer. Tipp have been very busy on the challenge game circuit since Christmas and for the past 4 weekends have played 6 games; winning 2, drawing 2 and losing 2.
Tipp began on the 24th of January with a loss to Portumna 4-12 to 1-16, on followed the day they played out a draw with, UCC 1-14 each. On the 31st of January Tipp beat the Garda College 0-18 to 0-5, and the day after drew with All-Ireland Club Finalists Dunloy 3-12 each. On the 9th of February Tipp beat Kerry 3-23 to 0-12. Their final game was last Saturday when Tipp lost to Waterford in a highly competitive AIB Tournament game in Walsh Park 4-18 to 3-14.
As with last year a lot of players were tried in various positions. Due to the injury to Philip Maher and the unavailability of Paul Curran for most of the League, a number of players were tried at full back. John Devane, Damien O'Brien (Burgess) and David Kennedy all got games. With John Devane injured and David Kennedy having a very poor game against Waterford where both Seamus Prendergast and Dan Shanahan both destroyed him (especially under the high ball) it looks as if we will be seeing a bit of O'Brien in the upcoming League.
Another problem area is centre back; again a few players were tried here, David Kennedy, Shane Maher (Burgess) and John Carroll. Shane Maher has got a few games at both centre forward and centre back. He had a tough game against Tony Browne at centre forward last Saturday but impressed when he went centre back against Dunloy. John Caroll has played all of his hurling in these challenge games at centre back. While not dominating last Saturday he was caught a few times but came into the game more later on. I assume that Carroll and Maher will be in the reckoning for this position.



When they met last year in Nenagh.


At full forward Redser, John O'Brien and Brian O'Meara have all been played. Tipp have not had a proper full forward since the 2001 All-Ireland Final and while Redser impressed in the games he played whether he will be up to Championship hurling is another question. Although he is a great man to catch a high ball, not be muscled out of it and score a goal he could well capture the No. 14 jersey for June. From sifting through the various reports of the newer players who were given games the following seem to have impressed, Michael Phelan and Shane Sweeney (both Ballybacon-Grange), Declan Fanning (Killenaule) and Shane Maher, although it remains to be seen how close any of the above will be the team in the Summer.
On the injury front, Brendan Cummins picked up belts to the head and leg against Waterford but is ok as he is starting. Both Tommy Dunne and Lar Corbett are back hurling in the last few weeks after injuries carried over from last year. Philip Maher was togged out against Waterford, did all the drills before the game but still is a bit off full match fitness. Martin Maher is still out with his knee injury. With the long-term unavailability of both Paul Ormonde and Noel Morris, the Tipp back line will have a very different look from last year.
The approach the Tipp management take to the League will be interesting. Many blamed the League Final last year for the loss to Clare in the Championship. However as Tipp showed in 2001 and Kilkenny in the last 2 years that league form is carried into the Championship. The fact that the League Final is on the 9th of May and Tipp are not playing in the Munster Championship until the 6th of June means there is time enough to concentrate on the Championship after the League Final. The main thing to be gained from the League from a Tipp point of view is that we get a settled team and also give players games so that they are not dropped into vital games later in the summer not having played during the League.
The Tipp team was announced last night and line out as follows:
Brendan Cummins.
Tom Costello, David Kennedy and Michael Phelan.
Eamon Corcoran, John Carroll and Paul Kelly.
Denis Byrne and Eddie Enright.
Brian O'Meara, Shane Maher and Benny Dunne.
Seamus Butler, Redser and Eoin Kelly.
This is Denis Byrne's first start in the League for Tipp (he made a number of appearances as a sub last year). It also a first start for Drom-Inch's Seamus Butler (he came on a sub twice against Cork in the 2002 League). Shane Maher of Burgess gets his chance to shine at centre forward after impressing in recent trials and the other debutant is Ballybacon-Grange's Michael Phelan at corner back who starred in the same position for the Tipp U 21's last year. Tipp's captain for the year Tommy Dunne was not considered due to injury, so the team will probably be captained by his brother Benny. The subs bench contains a lot of new faces; Pat Buckley (Emly), Pat Shortt (Upperchurch), Noel Moloney, (Nenagh), and Shane Sweeney (Ballybacon) hopefully these will see action on Sunday.
It will be interesting to see how Michael Phelan gets on at corner back, with all Tipp's injuries a few solid League performances could see him hold onto the jersey. The make up of the rest of the full back lines means that he could have a very busy afternoon on Sunday! Sunday sees John Carroll revert back to what many see as his best position for Tipp. The partnership of Eddie Enright and Denis Byrne will also be interesting. Byrne seems to be a lot more comfortable out around the centre of the field rather than restricted as he was in the full forward line like last year. Tipp need some one physical to dominate at full forward and Sunday may go some way to answer if Redser's long-term prospects are here. Tommy Dunne is also another candidate for this position.
Being the first game of the year it is hard to predict a winner to this game especially as I have not heard the Offaly team. Offaly will not be as disjointed as they were in the League as they were in other years. Tipp have a good few new, young players in central positions and these should be eager to impress the new boss. Still a narrow win for Tipp in a close, tight game. Knocknagow