Tipperary Hurling Tipperary GAA Premierview

Waterford 1-22 Tipperary 3-13

Waterford advance to the 2006 Al-Ireland Semi Final with Cork after a 3 point win over Tipp in Croke Park yesterday watched by just 46,000. Both sides lined out as selected with a few positional switches on the Waterford team. Waterford were first on the score sheet with Dan Shanahan catching and pointing. The Tipp response was instant with Francis Devanney catching, popped the ball to John Carroll who at full pelt burst through the Waterford defence and buried to ball for Tipp’s first score. Eoin Kelly was dragged to the ground but got up to point to leave Tipp 1-1 to 0-1 ahead. Eoin McGrath easily evaded his marker and pointed. John Mullane was then fouled and Dave Bennett pointed the free, 1-1 to 0-3. Lar Corbett was fouled and Eoin Kelly pointed. Dave Bennett responded with a similar score for Waterford.
Eoin Kelly then had a run on goals managed to pass to Diarmaid Fitzgerald but the ball was cleared, Kelly had his jersey dragged was tripped but did not get a free. Paul Kelly took a long range free the ball found Lar who blasted the ball over the bar. Paul Kelly then caught a puck out and put the ball over the bar to give Tipp a 1-4 to 0-4 lead after 12 minutes. Dan Shanahan then caught a ball over Hugh Moloney and pointed. John O’Brien set up Lar for a point. John Mullane then dived won a free which Dave Bennett pointed. Paul Kelly then put the ball wide when in cares of space and time. Eoin Kelly then had a shot that was deflected wide and eventually after a bit of argy bargy Tipp were awarded a 65 which Kelly put wide.
After 23 minutes Eoin McGrath pointed to reduce the gap to 1 point and Brick Walsh set up Dan soon after to draw the game. Eoin Kelly made a run through the Waterford defence was dragged down by Eoin Murphy who was yellow carded and blasted to the net from a 21 yard free to restore Tipp’s lead 2-5 to 0-8. Waterford did not panic and 2 Dave Bennett frees converted by after fouls by Ormonde and Curran narrowed the game again. Waterford were forced into their first change with James Murray replacing Brian Phelan who was been skinned by John Carroll. Dave Bennett with another free drew it level before Eoin Kelly put Tipp ahead with a point from play. John Mullane put Waterford ahead with point from play. Dave Bennett then was helped off injured and was replaced by Jack Kennedy at midfield. A Ken McGrath point from a penalty, very suspiciously won by Dan Shanahan, was tipped over the bar by Cummins to put Waterford ahead for the first time in half an hour deep into injury time. The ref blew after 2 minutes of injury time with Waterford ahead 2-6 to 0-13.
Neither team made any change for the start of the second half. Poor play by Lar allowed Eoin McGrath to eventually claim the ball and point. Lar got the ball himself but it was blocked for a 65 which Eoin Kelly pointed. Mullane snuck in for another points before Dan Shanahan got the ball easily got past Corcoran to bury the ball to the net and put Waterford in the driving seat 2-7 to 1-15 after 42 minutes. Mullane and Ormonde both got booked before Shane McGrath had a bad wide. Tipp made their first change of the game taking the ineffective Francis Devanney off and putting on Willie Ryan. John O’Brien was fouled by Tony Browne and Eoin Kelly pointed the free. Paul Flynn came on for Shane Sullivan. John O’Brien made a great catch and pointed to reduce the gap to a goal. Corcoran set up Willie Ryan who threw over a point.
An ineffective Conor O’Mahony clearance allowed Dan to point. John O’Brien had a point effort blocked before Dan Shanahan got a point off Ormonde. Brick Walsh and Eoin Kelly swapped points. Dan Shanahan was fouled and Paul Flynn pointed the free. With John Mullane pointing to put Waterford well in control, 2-11 to 1-20. Both sides made a change with Seamus Butler replacing John O’Brien and Stephen Moloumpy replacing Seamus Prendergast. Lar Corbett drove 2 bad wides. Shane McGrath was replaced by Colin Morrissey and Eoin McGrath replaced by Paul O’Brien in the 64th minute. A Paul Flynn put Waterford further ahead. Tipp were thrown a lifeline when John Carroll finished with a great shot to the net to put only 4 in it with 5 minutes to go. Ken Dunne replaced Paul Kelly and this was Tipp last changed. Willie Ryan then got a ball on the end-line and took a rasper of a shot which was cleared out for a 65 which was pointed by Eoin Kelly.
With injury time approaching Paul O’Brien had a wide before Paul Curran fumbled the ball found Man of the Match Dan Shanahan who pointed. Tipp now had Waterford under severe pressure and Eoin Kelly got his last free of the game to put a goal between the sides. Tipp had 2 chances at the end 1 from Lar Corbett and goal effort from Eoin Kelly which Ken McGrath blocked the 65 was dropped in and Ken McGrath cleared. The ref blew up after 2 minutes of injury time with Waterford winners 1-22 to 3-13. The game in a bit of controversy as both John Carroll and Colin Morrissey got stuck into the Waterford full backline with Carroll clearly seen to swing and hit Declan Prendergast.
Justin McCarthy will be delighted with this win. They have broken a major hoodoo in not winning in Croke Park in so long, they were underdogs but powered away and won from the front in truth were 5-6 points the better side. They also managed to win with Paul Flynn only playing a minor role but their other main players stood up and were seriously counted. Ken McGrath was masterful at centre back and was my Man of the Match. Dan Shanahan was superb again causing nightmares for the Tipp backs in the air, he finished up with 1-5. John Mullane was constant thorn in the Tipp side, scored 2 points but won a heap of frees. Waterford’s strongest line was their half back line, once James Murray came on, Tony Browne and Ken McGrath dominated for long spells of the game. Unlike in the Munster Championship Eoin Murphy kept a close watch on Eoin Kelly, he played close to the edge at times but got away with it limiting him to 2 points from play. 23 scores and 8 wides tells of their dominance.
This is a major blow to Babs, however it is clear from what was on offer that we just don’t have the players. With Eoin Kelly well marshalled only Lar with 2 points and John O’Brien were the only other point scoring forwards we were steeped to be only 1 score away from them in the end. Again Waterford exposed our weaknesses, with Dan Shanahan benefiting greatly from Corcoran’s aerial weakness and scored 9 points from frees. That was a symptom of the amount of pressure that the Tipp full back line was under. We never got to grips at midfield with Shane McGrath not up to his previous superb levels this meant that no ball was going into the Tipp forwards and with Lar off colour Tipp’s only luck came when Carroll ran straight at the Waterford backs and this gave us 2 goals at crucial times. Once Waterford went a head at the break we never looked like coming back and with the changes made 20 minutes too late the game was up long before the final whistle.

Goalkeeper: Cummins brought off a great save for the Waterford penalty before the break, and could do nothing about Shanahan’s goal.

Full backline: Eoin McGrath got the ball 3 times in the game and scored 3 points of Fanning, who still does not look a natural corner back. Curran had a good game, despite giving away a few needless frees and handpassing to Dan Shanahan at the end for the winning Waterford point. Ormonde was constantly involved off the ball with Mullane and gave away a few frees.
Half backline: Hugh Moloney did not have a good game, the physicality of the Waterford half forwards got to him. Conor O’Mahony had a good first half but faded badly after the break and was directly at fault for 2 Waterford second half points. Corcoran had a great game on eth ground and cleared an amount of ball but showed that he does not have a ruthless streak in him when he found Dan Shanahan trying to round him and get in on goals, a corner back would have floored Dan but Corcoran tried to play him and Dan sealed the game for Waterford.

Midfield: Shane McGrath got a belt early on which seemed to effect his game was not at his usual foraging best. Paul Kelly scored 1 point but then proceeded to balloon a heap of bad wides and 1 in the first half was very bad when the whole pitch opened up in front of him. He work rate improved on previous games but his distribution was shocking. Replaced by Kenny Dunne late on.

Half forward line: John Carroll was on fire in the first half, 1 great goal and getting on the ball. Again lack of service and James Murray on him stifled his play but he scored a great goal late on to give Tipp a lifeline. By far his best display of the year. Devanney set up Carroll’s goal and did nothing else. John O’Brien started to hurl about 10 minutes into the second half scoring 1 point and was taken off.

Full forward line: Eoin Kelly only scored 2 points from play and while he got 1-8 altogether it highlighted how much of 1 man team Tipp are. He got no decent ball and was very frustrated with the lack of ball into him. Had a great chance at the end but Ken McGrath stopped his goal bound effort. Lar scored 1 good point but had 2 shocking wides. Had the captaincy shove onto him. Again his concentration seemed to let him down. However has done remarkably well to be playing this year after all his injuries. Diarmaid Fitzgerald is not and never will be a full forward or a forward of any description. Should be moved to midfield or wing back and be left there.

Subs:
Willie Ryan for Francis Devanney: His first ever Tipp game. Scored 1 good points and nearly was a hero at the end but his goal effort was flicked away. One for the future.

Seamus Butler for John O’Brien: came on with 15 to go but was never going to be a ball winning forward needs more open play.

Colin Morrissey for Shane McGrath: Came on last 10 minutes.

Kenny Dunne for Paul Kelly: Came on last 5 minutes.

So end this season with another bad loss. Unlike last year there will be no arguments about the result. We are severely limited up front we don’t have a hint of a half forward line and Eoin Kelly is our only reliable scoring threat, compared to Waterford who have Eoin McGrath, Eoin Kelly, Mullane and Shanahan. Tipp only scored 16 times and had 15 wides many of them stupid shots from way out the field. How far have we come from last year? Is the team better than last year? Unfortunately I think we have gone backwards from last year and no we were far closer to Galway last year than to Waterford this year. How do we improve? Well firstly we have to play players in their proper positions. D Fitz has to go wing back. Willie Ryan has to be played in the League and not given his first game 10 minutes form the end of an All-Ireland Quarter Final. We have got to face facts now we are a 5-8 ranked team and will struggle in the next few years to make it into an All-Ireland semi final.

Best Tipp players of the year:
1: Eoin Kelly.
2: Paul Curran.
3 Shane McGrath.

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Tipperary v Waterford (23-07-06)

Tipp and Waterford do battle on Sunday at 4 pm in Croke Park for a place in the All-Ireland Semi Final. The game will be refereed by Barry Kelly of Westmeath Their opponents in the Semi Final, (Galway v Kilkenny), will be known by the time this game takes place as will take place on Saturday evening in Thurles. The game will be preceded by the Clare v Wexford game the winners of which will meet the winners of the Cork v Limerick in the other Semi Final.
This is the second time this year that these sides have met in the Championship, Tipp just about wining in Pairc Ui Chaiomh at the start of June. In the mean time Tipp have lost the Munster Final to Cork by 3 points and Waterford have quietly gone about their business in the Qualifiers notching up comfortable over Laois and Westmeath before winning the top of the table tussle with Galway to get another crack at Tipp. They were underdogs playing Galway but a vital point blank save from Clinton Hennessy gave them the boost to go on and win the game.
Another major difference since the last meeting is that Waterford gave had 3 winning games under their belts and also got Ken McGrath 3 valuable games, got Eoin Kelly back from suspension and John Mullane motoring again. Captain Paul Flynn is struggling with an injury but has delayed having an operation until the Championship is over. So it will be a massively different Cork team in terms of personnel and confidence to the team that lost to Tipp earlier in the Summer.
Tipp lost the Munster Final in a game they should have won. However it was in the week after that the hassle has occurred with Redser and Michael Webster both not on the panel any more and a number of other players reprimanded as to future behaviour. While Redser did not have a good game in the Munster Final, (he was replaced after 55 ineffective minutes), the fact that the management saw fit to remove the captain of the Tipp team brought a lot of unwelcome media attention to both the player and the Tipp team. While he may not have started v Waterford on Sunday he would definitely have been introduced at some stage, considering the contribution he made at the same stage of the competition last year. Webster is in a similar position in that he would not have been likely to start but would have been seen on the field at some stage.
This is a crucial game for Babs and Co on Sunday. Up to now he has done remarkable similar to Ken Hogan last year, scraped over 2 teams to get into the Munster Final. Hogan lost by 4 points to Cork in the Munster Final, Babs lost by 3, (although with an infinitely better display), and now a tricky All-Ireland Quarter Final in which Tipp go in as favourites, under a cloud of controversy again, (remember last year v Galway and the team not announced until 10 minutes before the throw in), but will be very lucky to win.
The Tipp team was picked last night and is as follows:
Brendan Cummins,
Declan Fanning, Paul Curran and Paul Ormonde.
Eamon Corcoran, Conor O’Mahony and Hugh Moloney.
Shane McGrath and Paul Kelly.
John Carroll, Francis Devanney and John O’Brien.
Eoin Kelly, Lar Corbett and Diarmaid Fitzgerald.
There is 1 enforced changed as Redser is replaced by Francis Devanney. Lar Corbett takes over the captaincy of the team. I am amazed that Devanney gets to start on Sunday, considering that he played no part in the League and has not appeared in the Championship to date. His last Championship start was last year against Cork in the Munster Final where he was taken off at half time after a very ineffective display. I am surprised that someone out of Kenny Dunne, Seamus Butler or Colin Morrissey were not picked to start in the half forward line as all would do better. However that’s the call that Babs has made so hopefully he has seen something in training that warrants Devanney starting.
The rest of the team picks it self. Depsite the full back line playing good against Cork it must be remember that a half fit Ben O’Connor scored 1-2 and Brain Corcoran scored 1-1. The extra month will hopefully have brought on Paul Ormonde. The half backline picks itself and another workman like performance and most importantly a good quality supply of ball into Eoin and Lar on Sunday. In midfield Paul Kelly needs to get the thumb out and track back, cover and pick off his points. Shane McGrath has been a revelation this year with his work load but on Sunday he needs to stick like glue to Ken McGrath and not give him an inch of space.
Again the forwards will cause us problems. John Carroll is lucky to start and needs to contribute on the score board, John O’Brien will pick off his 2 points while what Francis Devenney gets up to is anybody’s guess. Tipp’s main scoring threat is Lar and Eoin Kelly and both will need to be on fire. I expect to see a few switches with Diarmaid Fitz moving out to centre forward at some stage, (witness the ball to Lar in the Munster Semi) and Eoin Kelly to full forward to expose the hesitancy in the Waterford full backline. While Tipp have not played Championship in a month most players have played a number of games with their clubs and last weekend Tipp’s subs played Galway in a high scoring challenge game.
The Waterford team is not picked yet, but it will probably be similar to the side that started the second half against Tipp with John Mullane and Eoin Kelly back. As I said above it will be a way different Waterford side. Still despite their power up front its at the back that they are flaky, especially the full backline, (witness how easy Eoin Kelly got his 2 goals in the Munster Semi against how Cork closed him out the last day.
So how do I see this game going? Well things have changed since the last meeting and despite Tipp being slight favourites with the bookies it is Waterford who go into this game on an up with Tipp the ones in controversy. Against most teams I would fancy that they would be able to keep Eoin Kelly quiet however I don’t think that Waterford have the quality of man marker to close out Eoin Kelly. The Munster Final showed how limited Tipp are without regular supply of ball going into Kelly. Tipp need to get a grip in midfield and the half back line to have any hope of winning this game, this will keep the likes of Dan Shanahan, the 2 McGrath’s and Eoin Kelly quite. So Tipp to sneak home by 2 points after a nervy performance.

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Tipperary 1-14 Cork 2-14 2006 Munster Senior Hurling Final 26-06-06

Cork advance to the All-Ireland Quarter finals as Munster Champions after squeaking past Tipp in Thurles yesterday in front of over 53,000. The day did not get off to a good start from a Tipp point of view when they were comprehensively by Cork in the Minor game after dominating for the first half. In the Senior game both sides lined out as per the programme with the exception of Lar Corbett and Diarmaid Fitzgerald who swapped positions. Cork played with the advantage of the wind in the first half.
Tipp were on the offensive from the start of the game and the along ball from Conor O’Mahony found its way to Diarmaid Fitzgerald who got his kick to goal smothered by Cusack who fouled him in the process. Eoin Kelly pointed the resultant 65 to give Tipp the lead. In the fourth minute another long ball into the Tipp full forwarded line by John O’Brien was collected by Lar Corbett who rifled past Cusack. Jerry O’Connor responded with a point to open Cork’s account straight away. John O’Brien had a wide before Hugh Moloney was ticked for a foul and Joe Deane pointed. Ben O’Connor put a sideline wide before Joe Deane pointed after the Tipp backs did not clear the ball. Cork then took the lad when a miss hit Niall McCarthy ball was fielded by Corcoran who passed to Deane who put the ball back across the square and despite the despairing dive of Paul Ormonde Corcoran goaled, 1-3 to 1-1 to Cork after 10 minutes. Straight away John O’Brien got Tipp’s first point from play. John Carroll they passed to Eoin Kelly who shot weakly at goal when a point would have been the better option. He pointed a free soon after Redser was fouled. Eoin Kelly caught the ball drew 3 players passed to John Carroll who pointed to put a point in it, 1-3 to 1-4. Ben O’Connor had a bad wide and Lar also shot wide when in loads of space.
Ben O’Connor took a pass from Timmy McCarthy and pointed. A minute later Pat Mulcahy, despite fouling the ball, set up Tom Kenny he found Ben O’Connor who beat Brendan Cummins at his near post to give Cork a commanding 5 point lead 1-3 to 2-5 with 15 minutes to half time. John Carroll passed to John O’Brien who pointed. A great pass from Lar set up Diarmaid Fitzgerald but his shot was smothered by Cusack and went for a 65 which Kelly pointed. Cork got their last score of the half when a long ball from Gardiner bounced and Cummins tipped it over the bar. Paul Kelly picked up the ball in midfield and ran and pointed. It should have been a close in free as Sullivan threw Eoin Kelly to the ground and hit with the hurley. A Cork player catching the ball 3 times saw Eoin Kelly point and the next ball into the full forward line saw Sullivan foul Kelly and he got up to point to level the game just before the break. Cork had 1 chance when the ball went into Deane however Fanning emerged with the ball and the half time whistle went after 2 minutes of injury time with the sides level; Tipp 1-9 Cork 2-6.
Neither side made changes for the second half. John O’Brien and Tom Kenny had wides before a Joe Deane free saw Cork ahead. Corcoran fouled Timmy McCarthy was yellow carded and Joe Deane pointed the free. John Carroll had a great run and point to narrow the gap. Sloppy play by Ormonde allowed Brain Corcoran to nip in and point. Eoin Kelly got a long range free and pointed it. He then got a sublime point after turning and putting it over the bar. Poor play by Fanning allowed Deane to score. Redser had a wide before Cork made their first move of the game removing the ineffective Cain O’Connor and replacing him with Niall Ronan. John Carroll put a great chance wide before Redser was replaced by John Devane at centre forward after 55 minutes. Brain Corcoran had a wide before Joe Deane pointed after sloppy play again from Fanning.
Lar fielded a great ball and pointed to reduce the gap to 2 points. Greedy play by Paul Kelly saw him waste a chance and he was replaced by Colin Morrissey. With 5 minutes to go Joe Deane got a 65 to make it 1-13 to 2-12 in Cork’s favour. Benny Dunne, just on for John O’Brien, than got a great point from out under the new stand. Eoin Kelly then took a pass from D Fitzgerald and his weak shot was saved when a point would have been the best option. Cork made their last change with Kieran Murphy on for Niall McCarthy he got soon after. Tipp made their last change with Webster going to the edge of the square, Hugh Moloney of injured and D Fitzgerald to wing back. Tipp then gave away 2 stupid frees one of which Ben O’Connor pointed to seal a 3 point win 2-14 to 1-14. With the game deep in injury time Joe Deane had a shot smothered by Cummins and Dickie blew up after 3 minutes of injury time and Cork spent much of that time wasting. Pat Mulcahy lifted the cup for Cork.
John Allen will not be happy with this performance. He is not going to win an All-Ireland with such a weak and ineffective half forward line. While Kieran Murphy did get the point that sealed it that was his third shot at goal. With their half forward line failing to win the ball, (2 of them replaced), and the Tipp full back line dominating for long spells the inside line was living on scraps. However for a team that does not score goals they had 2 shots on goal yesterday and got 2 goals. The fact that they shot 13 wides and the midfielders and half back line were so inaccurate put Cork under severe pressure. Still this game will have brought Ben O’Connor on a ton, despite being only about 70% fit he scored 1-1. Cork will seriously need to up their performance if they are to win the All-Ireland. When they are closed down their “magical” running game looks very laboured. Still they are Munster Champions and well on the way to 3 in a row All-Irelands. There luck has to run out at some stage although it remains to be seen if it will be this year.
While Babs will be happy with the Tipp performance and attitude and the fact that Tipp were only a point down with 30 seconds to go no matter what way this game is sugar coated it was one that Tipp let get away. Yes the ref was poor and let Cork away with a lot but Tipp had the chance to win but did not take them. This game was very reminiscent of the 2000 final when the more experienced side beat the new naïve one. Hopefully history will follow and Tipp go through next year unbeaten! Tipp played superbly well from 1-9 however its from there that the problems begin. John O’Brien did what he does best, scored a few points. John Carroll and Redser won nothing in the air, Diarmaid Fitzgerald, our best player last year is wasted in the full forward line. Our subs yesterday were not much better 2 centre backs came in the half forward line. We need to be playing forwards in the forward positions. The half forward line the next day should be John O’Brien, Diarmaid Fitzgerald and Seamus Butler with Eoin Kelly, Webster and Lar in the full forward line.
While I do not often comment on the referring I felt that Dickie Murphy was very poor yesterday. Shane McGrath got an elbow in the face from Niall McCarthy and only got ticked. Paul Kelly rugby tackled Niall McCarthy and was not suitably punished. However the worst offences were committed by Donal Og Cusack; coming outside the small parrellogram for every single puck out, ridiculous shannagins with the wrong sliothars through out the entire game, time wasting every time Cork went ahead, tripping Diarmaid Fitzgerald in the first minute, and twice in the second half puking the ball to Pat Mulcahy when he was inside his own 21 yard line. None of these offences were punished. This along with Pat Mulcahy pirouetting with the ball in his hand before Ben O’Connor’s goal, the continuous fouling by Diarmaid Sullivan, in injury time Ben O’Connor took a full minute to take a sideline cut, (replacing his hurley and replacing the sliothar) and in the very last incident Ben O’Connor pulled on Diarmaid Fitzgerald with the ball no where near O’Connor these were all ignored by the smiling Dickie Murphy.

Tipp players:
Breandan Cummins: Should have covered his near post for Ben O’Connors shot. Cork had 2 goal chances and scored both. Should have varied his puck outs in the second half as Tipp were being destroyed in the half forward line.

Full Back line: Paul Ormonde took a while to settle in; however by the time he settled down Ben O’Connor had scored 1-1 off him. Played well for the rest of the game except for 1 fumble when Brian Corcoran pounced and pointed. Paul Curran was masterful at the edge of the square. Did not let Corcoran get a sniff of the ball. There to stay. Fanning cleared 1 effort off the edge of the square late in the first half. Fumbled twice in eth second half and Deane nipped in and got 2 crucial points.

Half Back line: Corcoran had a great game did not let Cain O’Connor settle into it. Cleared an amount of ball. Conor O’Mahony did well playing in his first Munster Final, Niall McCarthy got no clear runs at goal and was replaced late on. Hugh Moloney again dominated and did not give Timmy a puck of the ball.

Midfield: Shane McGrath worked his socks off in hassling, blocking and breaking up the play. Needs to improve on his distribution though. Paul Kelly scored 1 point before the break but faded badly in the second half. Way too loose and would not mark up especially for the Cork pukouts. Any ball he got he aimed at his brother, but rarely managed to find him. Kelly went on 1 headless run just before he was hauled off and they shot a poor wide. Tipp midfield on top throughout and stopped the Cork midfielders running through taking easy scoring chances.

Half Forward line: John Carroll scored 3 points as Sean Og spent all his time dropping back on Kelly. Had 1 other great point chance put his weak effort went wide. Redser was poor. Did not contest the puck outs and Ronan Curran cleared an amount of ball uncontested. Both he and Carroll will be lucky to start the next day. John O’Brien did what he always does scored 2 good points right after the Cork goals. He too faded badly in the second half and was replaced.

Full Forward line: Lar scored 1-1 took the goal superbly. Should have won another free after a blatant push by Pat Mulcahy. Got very little ball in the second half. Diarmaid Fitzgerald got 2 great goal chances and had both of the saved. Showed a bit of naiveté with the second effort when he should have rounded Cusack. Not a forward, he has to go out the field if his skills are to be used to their maximum potential. Went wing back for the last few minutes when replacing Hugh Moloney. Eoin Kelly was well blocked out, scored 2 65’s, 4 frees and only 1 point from play. He took 2 very weak shots at goal when points were required, the last 1 when Tipp were a point down heading into injury time. As expected got very little ball and probably would have converted at least 1 of the chances that Fitzgerald got.

John Devane for Redser: Came on at centre forward for the last 15 minutes; did not get any decent possession.

Colin Morrissey for Paul Kelly: Morrissey did not do much during his 10 minutes on the field.

Benny Dunne for John O’Brien: Scored 1 great point but is not a wing forward.

Webster for Hugh Moloney: Only on the last 3 minutes got the ball once and passed to Sean Og.

So both Cork and Tipp march onto the quarter finals. Cork were the better team and deserved to win as though they played badly, (or were not allowed to play well depending on your persuasion!), they were never lead after 10 minutes when they got the first goal. Even when Tipp were on top all they could do was bring the game back level they never looked like having the bottle to go on and win the game. They got their tactics right in dropping back Sean Og on Eoin Kelly although this lead to John Carroll getting 2 points. While Tipp have improved on last years shambles there is still a lot of improvement required especially in the forwards. The subs bench does not inspire confidence either.
Also Tipp’s management in the second half were poor in not bring out either or both of Eoin Kelly and Diarmaid Fitzgerald to a beaten half forward line to win some ball. There is no point in having a player of Kelly’s ability inside in the corner if no ball is going into him. The half forward line was pushed way too close into the full forward line, depriving the Tipp forwards of abll and giving Cork a platform to attack Tipp. Tipp saw in the first 10 minutes what would happen if the half backline came out and gave the room to the inside line to take on the Cork full back line as each of the Tipp men had the beating of their Cork counterparts. To be honest I felt that yesterday was our best chance of winning some silverware this year as I still think we are about 4 decent forwards away from being an All-Ireland winning team. Still its back to club action and hopefully a successful return to Croke Park in about 5 weeks time.

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Tipperary v Cork (25-06-06)

Tipp and Cork renew their rivalry in the Munster Final on Sunday in Semple Stadium Thurles at 4.00, the match will be preceded by the minor game featuring the same counties as well. The sides met in last years Munster Final in Cork and Cork won. They lead 1-13 to 0-5 at the break after an appalling display by Tipp though Tipp did improve in the second half, through Paul Kelly points and a late Tommy Dunne goal brought Tipp close Tipp never got within a score of Cork and lost 1-21 to 1-16.
Cork are the defending Munster and All-Ireland Champions and comfortable beat a poor Clare side in the Munster Semi Final a few weeks ago. In truth once the initial Clare flurry passed after 10 minutes Cork won at their leisure picking off easy points. Cork have not changed their team much over the past few years and indeed only for Ben O’Connor getting injured they would have lined out with the same 15 that won the All-Ireland final last year. He was replaced on the day by Cian O’Connor, (normally a back), who did not do enough to warrant a starting place for Sunday. Indeed it will be one of the only times this year that Tipp will face a team with a half forward line as weak as their own. Cork’s successful game plan is winning the ball in half back line/midfield lines and getting it into their full forward line fast. This worked to great effect against Clare when Joe Deane had his best game in years. For Tipp to have any hope of winning they need to stand toe to toe with the Cork half backline and pull hard on every dropping ball. Tipp were wiped out in the first half of the Munster Final last year when they failed to contest the dropping ball. As well as contesting the high balls the Tipp forwards cannot allow the Cork backs to hand pass or solo the ball out of defence as they did to devastating effect against Clare.
Tipp have beaten both Limerick and Waterford to get to this stage. Although considering how Limerick fared last Sunday against Clare in the Qualifiers that should be a warning to Tipp that a major step up in form is required if we are to have any hope of winning on Sunday. Cork will hold all the aces, defending Champions, stronger team and stronger subs, (any side that can afford to keep Wayne Sherlock in reserve are serious outfit), Tipp do not have an equivalently strong bench although Webster, Morrissey and Kenny Dunne have all played serious Championship hurling this summer.
Tipp do still have problems especially in the forwards where way too much is dependent on Eoin Kelly, Yes he has played spectacularly well in both games but did not get much help from John Carroll and Michael Webster. Indeed Webster has paid the price for 2 performances and is dropped. I assume the thinking behind this is to put Diarmaid Fitzgerald in on Sullivan and run him around the place winning ball and creating chances for Eoin Kelly and Lar. In the recent Mid Semi final between Drom-Inch and Loughmore Webster was very well marshalled by Eamon Buckley. The best player on view was Seamus Butler won scored 1-12. John Carroll has not had the best of years either. Despite getting loads of ball in the Waterford game, (most of the puck outs came to him as it was Tipp’s tactic to keep the ball away from Ken McGrath), he failed to use it and was replaced in the second half.
I also expect that there will be a lot of movement in the full forward line. Diarmaid Fitzgerald played his best when he was at the edge of the square and set up both Tipp goals. Also Eoin Kelly might benefit from a spell at the edge of the square as it will give Sullivan something else to worry about after mullocking with Webster. As well as stopping the Cork half backs from setting up scores the Tipp half forward line will have to chip in with scores of their own. Lar Corbett is in the side for his speed and will cause Pat Mulcahy considerable trouble. If Lar is on fire and gets the right supply of ball he will cause havoc. The main thing is that we now have 2 scoring forwards in the inside line and a good ball winner. This will give the outfield players a lot to aim at. John O’Brien has scored 2 points in each of the last 2 games and will need to at least contribute the same on Sunday. Redser needs to up his game. He is the captain on Sunday and hopefully the occasion will not get to him. He needs to be getting on the scoreboard far more often.
Midfield is also an area that Tipp struggled in the second half of the Waterford game, as there was no one to mark Ken McGrath and he lorded it for long spells. Tom Kenny and Jerry O’Connor will be a step up again for Tipp and if Tipp come close to breaking even here it will be a good result. Tipp are also in trouble at full back. Despite initial misgivens Declan Fanning has settled and is now a solid corner back. It’s at full back that Tipp have struggled, as a result of this Paul Curran, who has been masterful at corner back takes over the number 3 jersey for the first time since 2002. This is a welcome return for Paul as it is his best position.
The Tipp team was named last night and is as follows:
Brendan Cummins,
Declan Fanning, Paul Curran and Paul Ormonde.
Eamon Corcoran, Conor O’Mahony and Hugh Moloney.
Shane McGrath and Paul Kelly.
John Carroll, Redser and John O’Brien.
Eoin Kelly, Lar Corbett and Diarmaid Fitzgerald.
This team shows three changes from the side that beat Waterford; Philip Maher did not recover from his knee injury and is replaced by Paul Curran, Paul Ormonde comes into the corner back spot for the Loughmore’s man first Championship start since 2002, where he marks Joe Deane. Last years All-Star Paul Kelly resumes in midfield where he won Man of the Match in last years Munster Final. There is also 1 change in the forwards with Lar Corbett replaces the ineffective Webster at the edge of the square. Hopefully Lar has recovered and is at full fitness. This team is balanced and contains no obvious weakness, with the exception of lack of quality forwards and should perform better than the first half of the Munster Final last year. While the Cork team shows only 1 change with Ben O’Connor replacing Kieran Murphy at corner forward.
While there will be a lot of reminiscing this week about the history of the Munster Final in Thurles, Tipp have to go back to 1991 when they last won the Munster Final in Thurles, after a replay. Indeed since then Tipp have contested seven Munster Finals and only win 2, 1993 and 2001. So history is not on Tipp’s side as they have not beaten Cork in the last 4 times that they have played them. Tipp to win have to have everything go right. A lot of ball into the inside line, stop ball going into Deane and Ben O’Connor, stop the Cork midfield running with the ball and the Tipp half forward line to contribute with scores. While this Tipp team is better than the one that lined out against Cork in the corresponding fixture last year I expect that Cork will just have too much in the tank and win by 3-4 points.

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Tipperary 3-14 Waterford 1-12 (04-06-06)

Tipp advanced to the Munster Final against Cork on 26th June in Semple Staduim after an 8 point win over Limerick today in front of just over 27,600 in Cork today. Surprisingly both teams lined out as selected but as expected Waterford made a raft of positional switches; the most telling of which saw Brick Walsh to full forward, Seamus Prendergast centre forward, Eoin McGrath at midfield and Gearoid O’Connor corner forward. Waterford played with the advantage of a slight wind in the first half.
Tipp had the first few scoring chances but Conor O’Mahony’s free dropped short and was cleared, John Carroll’s shot was hooked and Shane McGrath’s run came to nought. Waterford’s first chance was when Philly Maher fouled but Flynn put the free wide. A John O’Brien run saw the ball fall to John Carroll but even though he goaled the ref blew up for a free in as Eoin McGrath got a yellow for a pull across O’Brien. Kelly pointed the free. James Murray came on as a blood sub for Tony Browne. The next high ball into the Tipp full forward line saw Diarmaid Fitzgerald rise high over Eoin Murphy draw Eoin Kelly’s marker pass to Kelly and goal. 10 minutes gone Kelly 1-1 to 0-0 for Waterford. Sloppy play by the Tipp backs allowed Paul Flynn to point. A great run by Redser saw him fouled but he did not get a free so he passed the ball out to Kelly who flicked the ball over the bar. Tony Browne returned. Eoin McGrath got around Conor O’Mahony and put over a point from a tight angle, 1-2 to 0-2, 14 minutes gone.
Intense pressure by Diarmaid Fitzgerald on Hennessy saw his clearance fall to John O’Brien who pointed. Kelly found Redser with a great ball but his weak goal shot went out for a 65 which Kelly pointed as he did likewise a minute later after a foul on Shane McGrath. Webster, Walsh and Paul Flynn all had wides before Webster passed to Kelly but his goal shot was smothered. Paul Curran was yellow carded for an off the ball incident and Paul Flynn got a point after a silly foul by Philly Maher. With 27 minutes gone Kelly caught a great cross field ball from John Carroll and with only debutant Denis Coffey following him ran 20 yards and kicked to the net, Tipp led by 2-5 to 0-3. Waterford put on a bit of pressure which saw Flynn point a free, then get booked for a petulant pull on Corcoran! Kennedy and Dan Shanahan both had wides. Another Diarmaid Fitz run saw him flick a delicate ball to Carroll whose first goal bound shot was smothered but he put the rebound over the bar. Paul Flynn had 2 frees as the break approached, the first he went for goal it took a deflection off Morrissey but Cummins saved it, the second free went wide. After a minute of injury time the ref blew up with Tipp leading 2-6 to 0-4.
Both teams made changes for the start pf the second half. Tipp brought on Kenny Dunne for Colin Morrissey at midfield while Waterford took of Seamus Prendergast and Gearoid O’Connor and threw on James Murray, at centre back, and Shane O’Sullivan, Ken McGrath went midfield. Eoin Kelly had the first chance of the half but his shot came back off the post. Dave Bennett put a free wide before Shane McGrath passed to Redser who got his first of the day. Conor O’Mahony picked up a yellow card for a foul on Walsh. Webster caught a ball out on the corner and pointed. After 40 minutes Tipp lead 2-8 to 0-5. Jack Kennedy got a good point. Waterford added 2 points, the first from an unmarked Ken McGrath and the second from a long range Dave Bennett free. Waterford further upped the ante when Brendan Cummins had to pull off a great double save from Kennedy and Shanahan. Waterford brought on Mullane for Bennett and his first act was to charge at Paul Curran. Waterford got their fourth in a row when ken McGrath pointed from long range.
With 20 minutes to go Lar Corbett replaced John Carroll and Paul Kelly came on as a blood sub for Corcoran. Flynn got Waterford’s fifth point in a row with a free. Eoin Kelly settled the Tipp nerves with a good point. Corcoran came back on. Dan Shanahan got a ball out on the sideline and easily got in on goal with the clearly injured Philly Maher chasing in vain. He buried the ball to the net and Philly came off injured replaced by Shane McDermott, in his first Championship start. 55 minutes gone and Tipp only 2 points ahead, 2-9 to 1-10. Tipp did not panic and when Diarmaid Fitz won a ball out the field he passed superbly to Lar who made no mistake to goal for Tipp. Moments later a high came into Webster and he nearly got through again but the ball went for a 65 which Kelly pointed. From the puck out John O’Brien closed down a Brian Phelan clearance and pointed, to put Tipp back in command; with 10 minutes left 3-11 to 1-10.
Ken McGrath got his third of the half, before Cummins pulled off another great save. With 7 minutes to go Redser was replaced by Paul Kelly. McDermott then made a great block to deny a Waterford goal before Paul O’Brien’s flick was smothered by Fanning. Webster passed to Diarmaid Fitz whose run earned a lucky free which Kelly pointed. Eoin Kelly then put the icing on another Man of the Match display with a great leap and twist to put the ball high over the bar for Tipp’s last score of the day. Mullane got Waterford’s last score before Kenny Dunne had a wide. With 1 minute of injury time left Darragh Egan came on for Shane McGrath. With 3 minutes of injury time the ref blew up with Tipp ahead 3-14 to 1-12.
Waterford’s day can be summed up with their wide tally 14, many of which came from easy chances, especially Paul Flynn’s frees. They had the vast majority of possession but did not have the forwards to use it. While Eoin Kelly was a big loss I don’t think that he would have made that massive difference to the outcome of the game. Their debutants, Jack O’Connor and Gearoid O’Connor were roasted while Brick Walsh was wasted at full forward. The world and its mother knew that Philly Maher was not even close to 100% but yet they only exploited it once with Dan Shanahan’s goal. Eoin McGrath was again way too inconsistent, he scored 1 good point in the first half but disappeared for long spells of the game. Ken McGrath did not get any ball near him in the first half and was anonymous, but excelled in midfield in eth second half. James Murray hurled a stormer in the second half and questions have to be asked how he started on the bench. While they should come through the qualifiers: Paul Flynn needs a good kick in the arse and Dan Shanahan and Seamus Prendergast need to find some form, players need to be playing in their proper positions, Tony Browne is not a corner back, if they are to have and sort of decent summer. Still the displays of James Murray, Jack Kennedy, (when he got going), Ken McGrath and with a fully fit Mullane and Eoin Kelly back they still could decide the destination of Liam McCarthy.
So Tipp have arrived at the same stage as last year. Again all the talk was about 1 player, the genius that is Eoin Kelly. However he can give half that crystal to Diarmaid Fitz who worked his sock off in setting up 2 of the Tipp goals as well and causing endless trouble for the Waterford backs, however his presence was required in midfield to mark Kane McGrath who threatened to pull Waterford back into the game on his own. Once Morrissey ran out of steam Tipp had no one to mark with both Shane McGrath and Kenny Dunne way too loose. The half forwards were not as dominant as against Limerick, John Carroll got loads of ball, as all the puck outs were down on him but produced little. Tipp let Waterford back into the game, unlike Cork last week who closed it out. With 40 minutes gone Tipp lead 2-8 to 0-5 but with 55 minutes gone it was 2-9 to 1-10. That kind of sloppy play will be crucified by Cork. Babs did not make changes sooner out around the middle third of the field and the tactic of pushing the Tipp half forwards up the field onto the full forward line nearly backfired as it gave ken McGrath acres of room which he duly exploited. Surely Babs should have told the half forwards to crowd the midfield and let Kelly and Lar come out to the breaking ball.

Brendan Cummins: Pulled off 2 great sets of saves as well as a deflected free from Flynn.

Full back line: Both corner backs were outstanding Curran was back to his best and had Geraoid O’Connor beaten after 10 minutes. Made a few vital interceptions in the second half with Tipp under sever pressure. Fanning also had a good game giving Flynn nothing from open play. Maher was clearly not 100% but had a great first half and should have gone off much sooner. Was badly caught for the goal. Worrying few weeks ahead to see if he will make the starting 15 for the Munster Final

Half Back Line: Conor O’Mahony had a solid game. Was not troubled by high dropping balls like in the Limerick game. Corcoran had an efficient and exorcised the demons of those 2 goals that Dan Shanahan got off him in 2004. Hugh Moloney not as good as against Limerick but will need to stand a yard closer to his man in the Munster Final.

Midfield: Shane McGrath had a great first half with his usual game of blocking and hooking but faded as the second half progressed and Ken McGrath prospered. Colin Morrissey had a good first half and the bite went out of the Tipp middle third when he did not return after the break. He will be required for 70 + minutes in the Munster Final.

Half Forward line: Redser had a quiet game, as the ball was kept away from ken McGarth still he did score 1 good point. John O’Brien scored his usual 2 points the second of which effectively sealed the game for Tipp. Got stuck in when needed. John Carroll had another poor game and was lucky to last as long as he did, had a great goal chance before the break and was lucky to get a point out of it.

Full Forward Line: Eoin Kelly, 2-3 from play, 4 frees, two 65’s, a point chance off the post and another goal chance saved. Not a bad auld day out for the Mullinahone prodigy! His last point from play summed up how class he is. No ball for 10 minutes then a high that is destined for James Murray’s hand then he nips in spins and point for Tipp. Pure class. Webster had a poor game. Did score 1 good point in the second half, got buckets of ball in the second half but made Tom Fenney look like an All-Star, (quiet an achievement!!). Not suited to the corner but his poor first touch lets him down time after time. Needs to seriously up it to last the Munster Final pace. Diarmaid Fitzgerald was outstanding. Clearly would lot more prefer to be further out the field. Set up 2 Tipp goals, the second with an exquisite pass to Lar. When he went out centre forward late on steadied the ship.

Subs:
Ken Dunne for Colin Morrissey: This was a serious step up in class for the Toome man and it showed. Got little or now time on the ball and was not suited to the man marking task of Ken McGrath.

Lar Corbett for John Carroll: 1 pass of the ball and 1 excellent goal. Great to se him back in flying form.

Paul Kelly for Redser: Came on for the last 7 minutes. Did not have time to effect the game.

Darragh Egan for Shane McGrath: On for 1 minute of injury time.

So Tipp advance to meet to meet Cork in the Munster Final. Despite all the hullabo this is the where this Tipp were last year and seriously underperformed, when the pressure came. Now while Tipp have put Limerick and Waterford to the sword there was not a step up in performance from the Limerick game. Yes some of the mistakes were cut out, only 4 wides and 3 goals, (could have been 2 with a bit more luck). However way too many scoreable frees were conceded, Tipp again failed to put the opposition away, despite being clearly superior. The main concern is the dependence on Eoin Kelly, he scored 2-9 out of 3-14, the other starting forwards only scored 5 points. That will not be good enough against the close “attentions” that Brain Murphy will show him in the Munster Final. Still Tipp will now go a way play a few club games, get focused on the Munster Final in 3 weeks time. A few changes may be needed especially in midfield to cope with the speed and power of Kenny and Gerry O’Connor. I would go with Paul Kelly and Morrissey as Kelly was Man of the Match in the fixture last year. While this is extremely harsh on Shane McGrath, we need Morrissey to do the donkey work and Paul Kelly to keep Gerry O’Connor occupied. Also the half forwards will need to be looked at considering the debacle that occurred last year in these positions.
Still all that can be sorted out in a few weeks as we look forward to another Tipp v Cork Munster Final in Thurles with hopefully a repeat of the 1991 Munster replay final result!

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Tipperary v Waterford (04-06-06)

Tipp and Waterford meet on Sunday in Pairc Ui Chaiomh at 2.00 in the Munster Semi Final to decide who meets Cork in the final on the 25th June in Thurles. The referee will be Brian Gavin of Offaly. The sides did not meet in the league this year and unusually Waterford have beaten Tipp on the last 2 occasions they met; the 2002 Munster Final and the 2004 Munster Semi Final. 2004 saw Dan Shanahan get Waterford off to a great start with 2 goals but Eoin Kelly responded with 2-1 in 3 minutes to bring Tipp back into it, another goal from John Mullane saw Tipp down 3-5 to 2-5 at the break. Tipp surged at the start of the second half with a Colin Morrissey goal to lead 3-12 to 3-9. With injury time approaching Paul O’Brien scored a great goal for Waterford to put them 4-10 to 3-12 ahead and try as Tipp did they could not get the equalising point. In his previous incarnation as Tipp manager Babs’s only played Waterford once in the fiery Munster Final of 1989.
This is Waterford’s first outing in the Championship and the most noteworthy thing about their League campaign, (ended by Limerick at the quarter final stage), was the loss of Eoin Kelly to suspension after an incident in the Offaly game. They also have injury worries over both Ken McGrath and John Mullane. Now while they may not be 100% fit I expect both of these players to play a major part in the action on Sunday, if they don’t start they will surely appear as subs at some stage. Waterford played Wexford in a challenge game last weekend and lost in a very high scoring game.
Tipp have beaten Limerick in the previous round and this Championship game will probably make them favourites, however injuries have taken their toll. With the volume of Senior club games in the county it was decided to run a number of games in each of the four divisions the week after the Limerick win, the bad weather dictated that most of these games were put off until last weekend. This may have major repercussions for the Tipp panel. It did give Babs and his selectors a chance to have a look at some of the panel in action, (Babs was at the West Semi-Final between Clonoulty and Cappawhite), it has resulted in Philip Maher picking up a knee injury. He played a staring role as Borrisleigh beat Nenagh in the North Tipp quarter final but went off near the end of the game after twisting knee. The 2 alternatives for this position, John Devane and Shane McDermott, Babs saw playing last weekend for their clubs. However neither of them played full back; Devane lined at midfield for Clonoulty and McDermott at centre back for Cappa. Unfortunately Mullinahione did not have a chance to play so Paul Kelly did not get a much needed game under his belt. Neither Benny Dunne nor Colin Morrissey played for their clubs which makes their chances of playing Sunday very slim.
While Tipp did have a good win over Limerick there were a lot of negatives on the day: conceding 2 very soft goals, failure to put a clearly inferior Limerick team away until injury time, concession of needless frees, lack of scoring forwards and too many wides. Only Sunday will tell how much progress has been made. While Tipp were missing their first choice midfield partnership, in Paul Kelly and Colin Morrissey, a likely Waterford partnership of brick Walsh and Dave Bennett will be a lot sterner test than the 2 O’Gradys. While Shane McGrath had an impressive debut next Sunday will be another step up. Justin McCarthy will also have noted with interest the discomfort that Conor O’Mahony suffered during the third quarter when Stephen Lucey got high ball, so expect to see Dan Shanahan on the 40 with high ball pumped into him. Dan will also spend some time at wing back where he pilfered 2 goals off Eamon Corcoran in 2004. In the forwards with the injuries to Ken McGarth and John Mullane limiting their time on the field expect Paul Flynn to step up to the plate. Tipp will have to cut out the needless fouls as he will punish.
One of the most pleasing aspects of the Limerick win was the harrying, hooking and blocking by the Tipp half forwards and midfield which stopped Limerick scores and set up Tipp points. Similar levels are required next Sunday to stop our full back line being exposed. Again the Tipp half backs will have to be tight and not allow their men to win the ball uncontested. While Eoin Kelly was outstanding the last day we need a more even distribution of scores among the rest of the forwards. Redser and John O’Brien as well as winning ball need to be more accurate.
The Tipp team was named last night and is as follows:
Brendan Cummins,
Declan Fanning, Philip Maher and Paul Curran.
Eamon Corcoran, Conor O’Mahony and Hugh Moloney.
Shane McGrath and Colin Morrissey.
John Carroll, Redser and John O’Brien.
Diarmaid Fitzgerald, Michael Webster and Eoin Kelly.
Despite Philip Maher picking up that knee injury the latest report are that it was only jarred and he should line out. If not then McDermott or Devane will step in. I am surprised that Colin Morrissey is deemed fit enough to start seeing as how early he went off and he has not played since. Changes here would be bring Diarmaid Fitz out to midfield, where he played his best hurling in the last 10 minutes v Limerick and bring in either Kenny Dunne or Daragh Egan. I would consider that John Carroll is lucky to start after a poor game the last day. Hopefully this will serve to spur him on to produce a good display on Sunday. John O’Brien needs to do what he did the last day be competitive under the puck outs, pick off a few points and stop the Waterford half backline getting on top. Webster will have had more time for his ankle to heal and will hopefully stand at the edge of the square for the whole game and not be switched around.
How do I see this game going? Well it is hard to judge Waterford as they team they pick is not necessarily the team that lines out, still they have some experienced players in Tony Browne and Paul Flynn. Waterford will be relishing the chance to get into another Munster final and get another crack at Cork. Tipp are still a very unsettled side with only a third of the team that started the 2001 All-Ireland final, this will be another step up in intensity from the last day. If Eoin Kelly can get the supply of ball that he got v Limerick and in 2004 in the first half v Waterford then Tipp will win, however if Waterford shackle the Tipp half back line then Kelly will get no ball and Waterford will win. Waterford players know that they have crushed Tipp in 2002 and beat them in a close game in 2004. If this were a knock out I would expect that all of Waterford’s “injured” players would start but with the All-Ireland Championship starting at the quarter final stage in late July a loss will not the end of the summer for either side. Still I think that Tipp are on a rising tide and will have too much for Waterford; so Tipp by 3 points.

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Tipperary 0-22 Limerick 2-12 (14-05-06)

Tipp advanced to the Munster Semi Final against Waterford on 4th June after a hard earned 4 point win over Limerick in Semple Staduim today in front of just over 26,500. Redser captained Tipp for the first time in the Championship today and both teams made no late changes or positional switches with both Mark Foley and Mark Keane deemed fit to start for Limerick.
Tipp were on the defensive from the start when Shane McGrath fouled Paul O’Grady and Mark Keane pointed. Colin Morrissey then received treatment to an injury which saw him replaced on 8 minutes by ken Dunne. Donie Ryan caught a puck out and put the ball into Begley who flicked the ball one handed into the net. Eamon Corcoran was fouled and Eoin Kelly pointed the free from the sideline. Donie Ryan drilled another ball into the square where after fumbling in the full backline it fell to fell to O’Shaughnessy who buried it to the net. So after 6 minutes Limerick lead 2-1 to 0-1. Kenny Dunne passed to Eoin Kelly and he pointed. Eoin Kelly then had a great goal effort blocked and the ball was cleared out the line where John O’Brien pointed. Seamus Hickey came on as temp blood sub for Ollie Moran. Another ball into the Tipp fill back line was eventually cleared. Redser then had 2 attempts at goal and missed both. Eamon Corcoran fouled and Mark Keane pointed Redser made up when he passed to Webster who pointed, to leave it 2-2 to 0-4 after 15 minutes.
Eoin Kelly then superbly fooled TJ Ryan and pointed over his shoulder. Limerick made their first change when Denis Moloney was replaced by Seamus Hickey after he fell awkwardly while jumping with Redser. Conor Fitzgerald got his only point, Eoin Kelly got another class score which was followed by a similar score from Shaughnessy. Diarmaid Fitzgerald passed to Eoin Kelly who was fouled but he got up and pointed the free. A great run by Redser lead to a pass to Eoin Kelly who buried the ball to the net but the ref ruled that Redser had picked up the ball. Eoin Kelly passed to Webster and he pointed to put only 2 points in it approaching the break. Tipp were now dominating but had wides from Redser, John O’Brien, (hit the post), and Webster. Good work between Kenny Dunne and Eoin Kelly saw John Carroll get his first of the game. Poor play from Philly Maher lead to a Limerick free which Mark Keane pointed. As the game approached its 6th minute of injury time Eoin Kelly got a free and then picked a Webster pass and pointed to leave the sides level 0-11 to 2-5 at the break.
Neither team made additional changes at the break both John Carroll and Kenny Dunne swapped positions. Shane McGrath was fouled and Eoin Kelly pointed so Tipp took the lead for the first time in the game 2 minutes into the second half. Diarmaid Fitzgerald won possession but he was hooked and his shot went wide. Lucey won a high ball over Conor O’Mahony and pointed. John O’Brien put over his second point. Limerick had to make changes and took drastic action by removing the O’Grady’s from midfield and put on Niall Moran and Mike O’Brien. Conor O’Mahony fouled Lucey and Mark Keane pointed Limerick back to within a point. A Mark Keane was then flagged wide when it was just inside the post. Tipp did not let up and Kenny Dunne pointed. A silly foul by Philly Maher gave Mark Keane another free which was given as a point! Redser and Lucey had wides. Shane McGrath passed to Kenny Dunne who got his second point of the game to leave it 0-16 to 2-08 with 53 minutes gone. Eoin Kelly got another superb point but this was cancelled out by a Lucey score.
Limerick made their fourth change with Barry Foley replacing Mark Keane. Conor O’Mahony got a yellow card for his foul on Lucey and Barry Foley punished the mistake. Webster, (now at wing forward), won a puckout, passed to Redser who got his first of the game. With 10 minutes to go Tipp made another change with Darragh Egan on for John Carroll. Shane McGrath passed to Darragh Egan who got his first Championship score with a point to put Tipp 3 points ahead 0-19 to 2-10. Limerick made their final change with Mike Fitzgerald replacing his namesake Conor. Begley got his first of the game with 5 minutes to go. Tipp took off John O’Brien and let on Seamus Butler. Webster caught a high ball into the square but kicked the ball high and wide. Diarmaid Fitzgerald was now out around midfield and gave away a free which Mark Keane pointed to put it 0-19 to 2-12 with time running out. A great pass from Eoin Kelly saw Redser get the ball and put it across the square to Darragh Egan who pulled on it first time; Brian Murray smothered it out for a 65 which Kelly pointed. A superb leap by Diarmaid Fitzgerald in midfield led to a pass to Eoin Kelly who put it over. Tipp were now 3 points ahead as the game approached injury time. Limerick won a free after Conor O’Mahony swung wildly at Lucey and was lucky not to get the line. Barry Foley dropped the free into the square. Unlike the corresponding fixture last year; the ref gave a square ball and with it went Limerick’s chance. Willie Ryan got his first run out at Senior level when he came on for Redser. Well into injury time Darragh Egan passed to Eoin Kelly on the old stand side of the ground and showed his class and with a point to give Tipp a 4 point win 0-22 to 2-12 after 3 minutes of injury time.
Joe McKenna will not be happy with this result. After 6 minutes they lead by 6 points and ended up losing by 4! It was frees which kept then in the game for long spells. They failed to perform in a lot of areas all over the field. Both midfielders were anonymous. Donie Ryan set up both goals and was running riot on Hugh Moloney but when they switched Conor Fitzgerald Donie Ryan’s influence was totally blotted out. Lucey had only some success in the early stages of the second half. Limerick’s best line, their half back line did not dominate as expected. The decision not to put Damien Reale on Eoin Kelly was baffling. After 10 minutes Eoin Kelly had destroyed Mark Foley and TJ Ryan was never able to keep up with Kelly. The decision to only have 2 men in the full forward line in the second half also backfired as Tipp were able to put 2 men on Begley and Limerick never looked like getting the goal that they needed to stay in the game. Limerick have a lot of work to do in the qualifiers.
This was serious vindication for Babs Keating and his backroom staff. Pillored in the media and every “pundit” backed a Limerick win. Yet despite a horrendous start once Tipp got their noses in front early in the second half they never looked like losing. Even when Limerick got to within a point Tipp were able to latch on another few. The loss of Colin Morrissey so early and the unavailability of Paul Kelly and Benny Dunne was well compensated by Kenny Dunne who gut stuck in early on. John O’Brien also banished previous back performances with 2 good points. The amount of hooking and blocking, especially by Shane McGrath, set up many of the Tipp scores and meant that Limerick had no time to settle on the ball.

Brendan Cummins: Was badly exposed by his defence on both occasions. Puck outs were good and he advance off his line when he had to.

Full back line: Declan Fanning was never going to have the most stressful of days on the not 100% fit Mark Keane and so it proved. Tougher tasks, Paul Flynn, lie ahead. Philip Maher flapped badly at the ball which lead to the first goal, surprisingly struggled with Begley although got to grips with him in the second half when Limerick played with a 2 man full forward line. Paul Curran let Shaughnessy nip on for the second goal but coped well with him and Donie Ryan also made some fine clearances late on.

Half Back Line: Donie Ryan set up both goals off Hugh Moloney who was not tight enough on him. However when Conor Fitzgerald was moved over he blossomed and hurled a great game setting up a few scores. Eamon Corcoran completely blotted out Conor Fitzgerald, Limerick’s leading scorer during the League. Set out his stall when he won the first ball down his side of the filed won a free and raised a clenched fist. A good return to form. Conor O’Mahony totally commanded Lucey in the first half but as the game got fractured in the second half Lucey caused him problems. Will be happy with his first Championship start.

Midfield: Colin Morissey lasted 8 minutes. Shane McGrath started off very edgy but gradually settled into the game. Ran his socks off in hustling and harrying players and set up Eoin Kelly with a few good passes. Was a lot more physical than in previous games.

Half Forward line: For the first time in a few years every member of the half forward line scored. Redser led by example, while not having the best of games scoring wise, set up Eoin Kelly for the goal that was disallowed and scored a point himself. Did not let Brian Geary get a sniff of the ball all day. Did not let all the wides get to him and his workrate was phenomenal. John Carroll had a quiet game seemed a yard off the pace in most exchanges. Still scored 1 point just before the break. John O’Brien looked very lively scoring a point in both halves and collecting a lot of loose ball. Will stay in the half forward line for the next game.

Full Forward Line: Webster was very heavily strapped around his right ankle. Started at full went into the corner and spent some time on the wing, where his lack of pace was evident. Scored 1 point before the break. Best position is at full forward. Diarmaid Fitzgerald tried his heart out in the corner but was wasted in there, the only starting forward not to score. It speaks volumes of his ability that when he went out the field for the last 5 minutes he caught 2 great balls and set up 2 scores from his natural position of wing back. What can be said of Eoin Kelly 14 points Tipp’s second highest Championship scoring at only 24 years of age? Scored 10 points from play, should have had a goal, nearly set up another goal and tormented the whole full back line scoring points off all 3 of them. Equal adept at full forward or in the corner.

Subs:
Ken Dunne for Darragh Egan: Came on after 8 minutes for his first Championship game. Played in midfield and at wing forward. Got stuck in from the start and set up Tipp’s first point from play. Scored 2 good points in the second half. A fitting display for a player on the fringes of the Tipp panel for the last few years.

Darragh Egan for John Carroll: Scored a point and set up Eoin Kelly for the insurance point. One for the future.

Seamus Butler for John O’Brien: But for injury during the League probably would have started. On for the last 10 minutes.

Willie Ryan for Redser: Came on deep into injury time. His first Championship experience.

So Tipp advance to meet Waterford. In truth Limerick were poor; none of their big players showed up, they got most of their scores from frees and despite getting a dream start with 2 goals they never looked to have the confidence to go on and win the game. They were beaten in most sectors of the game. Tipp still have a lot of work to do. Too many scorable frees were conceded, Tipp had 9 wides in the first half most of them scorable. The Tipp full backline was in trouble in eth first half as every time the ball went in Limerick looked like they could score a goal. The lack of ball into this area in the second half does not disguise that a lot of work still has to be done. Tipp also have injury worries Colin Morrissey looks serious while both Diarmaid Fitzgerald and Webster were heavily strapped. Paul Kelly, Kenny or Benny Dunne may slot in if Morrissey cannot line out v Waterford.
So while this win was good lets not get carried away, a loss v Waterford will put us in the same position as Limerick are now. A lot of work still has to be done but it was good to see 7 different Tipp players scoring, players fighting and working for the ball and each other, and the trip to Thurles was worth it just to see the genius of Eoin Kelly in full flight.

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Tipperary v Limerick (14/05/06) preview Knocknagow
Tipp and Limerick get the 2006 Munster Championship started on Sunday with this quarter final meeting in Semple Stadium, Thurles at 2.15. Michael Haverty from Galway is the referee. Since 1988 the sides have met 13 times in the Championship, there have been 2 draws, (1996 and last year), 2 Limerick wins, (1995 and 96), and Tipp have won the remaining games. It is also interesting to note that during Babs previous involvement with Tipp he saw Tipp win 4 years in a row against Limerick, 1988-1991.
The last meeting between the sides was in the first round of the League. Tipp were 4 points down as the game entered injury time but a point from Benny Dunne and a good goal from Redser after a John Carroll pass saw Tipp snatch an undeserved draw 2-15 each. Since then their paths have taken very different paths. Limerick went through unbeaten until the League Final where they went down to Kilkenny. Tipp seriously struggled and only barely scraped through to the knock outs stages, before being walloped by Kilkenny in the League Semi-Final. The last Championship meeting was last year when after a draw in Thurles, 2-14 each the sides met in the replay in Limerick. Redser came on as a first half sub and goaled as Tipp lead 1-7 to 0-8 at the break. In torrential rain both sides traded scores and it was Donie Ryan who got the equalising point to leave it 1-11 to 0-14 as the teams headed into injury time. Evan Sweeney got the crucial score at the start of extra time with a great goal. Tipp held on till the end of the game to claim a lucky 2-13 to 0-18.
Unlike most occasions over the recent years its Limerick who are approaching this game as the settled team. They have had a very good year so far, unbeaten up to the League Final, winning the South-East League Final, they did eventually lose the League Final but put in a good display. Tipp on the other hand have played 23 games since Babs took over and still look all over the place. Under Joe McKenna they have steadily improved. In defence both Mark Foley and Damien Reale have had powerful leagues although Foley is doubtful for the Tipp game. Last years minor Denis Moloney, from Doon, has effectively stepped in Peter Lawlors shoes at wing back. Geary and Ollie Moran are the platform for most Limerick’s attacks. However it is in the forwards that they have struggled. In the League Final Conor Fitzgerald was their only forward with both Stephen Lucey and Brian Begley very poor. Andrew O’Shaughnessy was anonymous in the corner and Mike O’Brien, (who excelled against Tipp in the League), was very poor. They will be a serious loss if Mark Keane is not able to line out as he was Limerick’s most effective player in both their quarter and Semi-Final wins, over Waterford and Clare. With his accuracy from frees alone he is well worth his starting place on the team.
Tipp have not had a good League; only getting to the League quarter finals after scrapping past Antrim and beating Laois. In the game against Offaly they seriously flattered to deceive and the many flaws of the team was cruelly exposed against a Kilkenny team not out of second gear in the semi-final. Tipp most recent game was a challenge on Bank Holiday Monday against Galway. In that game Eamon Buckley, Shane McDermott, Francis Devanney and Willie Ryan; players who saw no games in the League all started and it will be interesting to see how many of them will be in consideration for Sunday’s game. Babs selections in the last few League games has given no indication of his starting 15 for Sunday, with injuries to Diarmaid Fitzgerald, Webster and Eoin Kelly reducing their availability the starting 15 will contain players will not have had much hurling done in 06.
The Tipp team was named last night and is as follows:
Cummins,
Declan Fanning, Philip Maher and Paul Curran.
Eamon Corcoran, Conor O’Mahony and Hugh Moloney.
Shane McGrath and Colin Morrissey.
John Carroll, Redser and John O’Brien.
Diarmaid Fitzgerald, Michael Webster and Eoin Kelly.
Not considered due to a leg injury was last years captain Benny Dunne. This team shows 4 changes from the side that lost to Kilkenny in the League Semi-Final and contains 3 players getting their first start for Tipp in the Championship, Conor O’Mahony Hugh Moloney, (both of whom came on as subs last year) and Ballinahinch’s Shane McGrath. Gone from the Kilkenny game are Michael Ryan, Paul Kelly, Kenny Dunne and Darragh Egan. Paul Kelly still has not recovered from a leg injury and is only fit enough for a place on the bench.
The main serious problem that I have with this 15 is the positioning of Diarmaid Fitzgerald. Watching last years quarter final loss to Galway he was by far and away the best Tipp back that day. He has done the vast majority of his hurling for Tipp and Roscrea along the half backline. Given the shakiness of our full backline he is a ready made corner back. The only time I have seen him play in the forwards was with UCD in this years Leinster club Championship when Babs had him at full forward and he struggled. He got 2 great chances when he came on as a sub in the Kilkenny game but fluffed both, (I know his rebounded shot lead to Eoin Kelly’s goal.) It must be heart breaking for the other forward subs on the bench to see him come in and get a place at corner forward. Hopefully it will not back fire badly and effect his confidence. Something similar happened last year when Ken Hogan left him out of the drawn game v Limerick and came back in the replay with a Man of the Match display.
Of the other changes; I don’t think that Fanning is a corner back. From what I have seen of him at other positions he is a centre back full stop. Conor O’Mahony gets his first Championship start at centre back after a workman like display during the League. Not very flash or fancy he hopefully will hold the fort on Sunday and 2-3 long range frees will be more than welcome. Tipp are taking a massive gamble with Shane McGrath at midfield making him the first Ballinahinch player to play Senior Championship hurling with Tipp. While he is well able to pick off his points he was blown out of it in the physicality stakes against Kilkenny in the League.
John O’Brien returns from the wilderness at wing forward, his first start in a few years, hopefully the spark he has shown in the latter stages of the League will be visible on Sunday. Babs is also taking a big gamble with Redser, who captains the side, however he is the only 1 of the 3 half forwards who can win puck outs. Hopefully the Redser who led the Sars by example to their Co Final win will show up Sunday and not the player who was invisible in the latter stages of the League. It will be a massive honour for him to lead out Tipp on Sunday. John Carroll needs to get the ball to hand and run directly at the Limerick goal. I expect to see a lot of switching around of the Tipp forwards on Sunday to keep the Limerick backs on their toes. While Tipp have done a lot of changing in the forwards, Eoin Kelly looks the only reliable scoring threat. In the inside line he will get the vast majority of the scores and hopefully John O’Brien will assist. Lar Corbett and Paul Kelly make the subs bench.
I still have worries with the backs. Philip Maher was not at his best during the League although the style of play of Begley will suit him rather than a speed merchant like O’Shaughnessy. Paul Curran has not been setting the world alight in the League but was solid as a rock in the Championship last year. Eamon Corcoran will be under pressure after a number of below par performances. He has been way too loose on his man and needs top tighten up. Hugh Moloney gets his first start in his best position and will not let Tipp down on Sunday.
How do I see this game going? Well Limerick are the form team going into the game after such a good league run however it is 10 years since their last Championship win over Tipp. Tipp’s weakest line of the field, half forward line, will be marked by Limerick’s strongest. If Tipp can come anywhere near breaking even here then Tipp will win. Both teams have poor enough forward lines and the main worry for Tipp would be Damien Reale keeping Eoin Kelly quiet. Babs should move Kelly around the 6 forward positions a lot on Sunday. To be honest with the restructured Championship this game has lost a lot of its appeal, and the winner on Sunday will be the least worse of 2 average teams who will not feature at the business end of the Championship come September. Tipp have a proven match winner in Eoin Kelly, he has to get the right supply of ball into him. Also Tipp have to use Webster’s aerial ability. There is no point in putting low ball into him. High ball into the edge of the square with Eoin Kelly lurking to profit. While my head says Limerick my heart says Tipp, so Tipp by 1 score!