Tipperary Hurling Tipperary GAA Premierview

Wexford 3-10 Tipperary 1-14 (28/07/2007) Knocknagow

An ineffective Tipperary side lost to a resurgent Wexford side in Croke Park this afternoon in eth first of this years All-Ireland Quarter Finals. Wexford now go on to meet Kilkenny in the All-Ireland Semi Final on Sunday. This was Tipp’s first Championship loss to Wexford since 1968. The total attendance was just over 42,000. Both sides lined out as selected and there was no discernable wind advantage to either side.
Both sides were sluggish in the opening exchanges and both failed to use sideline cuts with Tipp’s effort resulting in a run and wide from Lar. Darragh Hickey won a free but Willie Ryan was wide with the effort. A short Wexford shot was caught and cleared by Kennedy. Wexford then had their first goal chance with Michael Jacob easily deceiving Alan Byrne and crossing the ball to his brother who was blatantly waiting in the square and Rory Jacob under pressure from Kennedy put the ball wide. Darragh Hickey’s effort fell short before Rory Jacob scored the first point of the game after 7 minutes. Fanning was fouled, Kennedy took the free it broke to Benny and he got Tipp’s first point after 9 minutes. A Corbett run came to nothing before Wexford had a wide. Lar then had a great catch and pointed. Stephen Nolan found Rory McCarthy and he blazed wide with the goal wide open. Very poor play by Buckley allowed Rory Jacob to point. Corcoran’s sideline found Hugh Moloney and he got his first of the game.
Jacob had a shocking wide. Lambert then got straight through on goals but waited too long and Byrne got back to block the shot and Kennedy cleared. Darragh Hickey got the first yellow card with a high flick to Rory McCarthy. Benny ran with the ball and pointed to leave Tipp 4-2 up after 17 minute. Wexford eventually got their goal after 18 minutes when a fairly innocuous ball into the Tipp square, inexplicably Kennedy came out missed the ball but took out Fanning and Michael Jacob got a flick to the net to put Wexford a point up. Darragh Hickey responded with a point straight away from the puck out. An Eamon Corcoran free was expertly caught by Lar he turned and buried to the net to put Tipp back in the driving seat 1-5 to 1-2 after 19 minutes.
Wexford had 2 shocking wides before Benny had 1 for Tipp which resulted in Ruth being yellow carded. A poor puck out from Fitzhenry saw seized on by Hickey who pointed. Eoin Quigley had a great goal chance but Kennedy made a great full length dive and put the ball out for a 65 which Nolan pointed. Hugh Moloney passed to Darragh Hickey who pointed. Lar had a bad wide. On the 26th minute Tipp introduced Eoin Kelly for Darragh Egan at full forward. Wexford had their final goal chance of the half when a high ball across the Tipp square was caught by Rory Jacob over the head of Eamon Buckley but Kennedy produced another great save and put it out for a 65 which Nolan pointed. Eoin Kelly had a wide but from the poor puck out John Carroll pounced and pointed. Eoin Kelly won a free for an off the ball incident but his goal effort was blocked by Paul Roche the ball eventually broke to John Carroll but he put it wide. A Willie Ryan run came to nothing. A very poor line ball from Hugh Moloney saw the ball come to Rory McCarthy and he pointed from midfield. The ref blew after 2 minutes of injury time with Tipp ahead 1-8 to 1-5.
Tipp made a change at the start of the second half. Willie Ryan was replaced, Seamus Butler went to corner forward and Shane McGrath went to midfield. Tipp had the first chance of the half when Hugh Moloney under pressure passed to Kelly but his goal shot was expertly saved by Fitzhenry. Ciaran Kenny replaced the injured Rory McCarthy. Alan Byrne then went to sleep and let Lambert drift behind him; he got a high ball and had no problem in beating Kennedy to goal after only 3 minutes of the half, the sides were now level. Hickey had a wide and then Kennedy came with a ball, lost it and was lucky to clear it out for a 65 which Nolan put wide. Carroll won the ball in midfield and played a great bal into Kelly won turned and pointed to put Wexford ahead. Tipp made their second change with Diarmaid Fitzgerald replacing Byrne in the corner, he blocked a ball down straight away and Conor O’Mahoney cleared.
Wexford then made a significant introduction with David O’Connor on for Stephen Nolan. Wexford had another wide before Butler ran into a cul de sac up the sideline and put the ball wide. Carroll was fouled but Kelly put the free from the 65 wide. P.J. Nolan came on for Mitch Jordan and Tipp brought on Pa Bourke for Seamus Butler. Tipp fumbled the ball and Lambert pointed 2-7 to 1-9 after 51 minutes. A Shane McGrath run lead to a free which Eoin Kelly pointed to level. David O’Conner pointed in acres of space. Tipp eventually put on a burst and reeled off a few points. Firstly Benny passed to Shane McGrath and he pointed to level. Corcoran then passed to Hugh Moloney and from midfield he pointed. A high ball into Pa Bourke was collected by Hickey as he got his fourth of the day and put Tipp into a 2 point lead with 10 minutes to go, 1-13 to 2-8. A lot of messing by Lar, Hugh and Corcoran saw Lar have 2 efforts blocked and Benny put the ball wide.
Benny got booked for a flick at Ruth. It should have been a free in as Kelly was blatantly pushed in the build up to the foul. Michael Jacob was replaced by Pierce White. Lambert pointed a 65 after Fitzgerald put the ball over his own endline. Shane Maher was fouled and Kelly put over a monster free from his own 65. This was Tipp’s last score and came with 5 minutes to go and put Tipp 1-14 to 2-9 ahead. Wexford had a wide before a foul by Shane McGrath on Darren Stamp saw Wexford get a free on the 21 yard line, Lambert lined up over it but the ref put it central for dissent, (from Maher it seemed), and Fitzhenry arrived up and buried the ball to the net with a minute to go. Rory Jacob had a wide. Wexford made their last change with Willie Doran for P.J. Nolan. The ref gave a free for Wexford over carrying and move it forward 10 yards for dissent but when Kelly lined up to take it the ref inexplicably made him move back the 10 yards! Kelly took the free but it dropped short, Hugh Moloney then had his effort blocked. The ball was cleared down the field and Fitzgerald fumbled and allowed Eoin Quigley to seal the game with a great point. After over 3 minutes of injury time the ref blew up with Wexford the winners 3-10 to 1-14.
John Meyler will take great pleasure out of this game, written off by the media but yet they came though shooting 16 wides, losing Rory McCarthy through injury and missing 5 clear first half goal chances to win. He made some great switches with switching the corner backs and most importantly bringing on Doc in the half forward line, he scored 2 great second half points that lifted Wexford. They had good displays from Fitzhenry; Rossiter, Ruth and though the 2 Jacobs missed a heap of chances they showed for every ball and shot on sight. 16 wides and 5 missed goal chance will be ruthlessly punished by Kilkenny in the Semi Final.
This was a serious loss for Tipp. They have now lost in their last 3 visits to Croke Park, (the last 3 Quarter –Finals), and have to go back to 2003 for the last win in Croke Park. No matter what anyone says the wrong team was picked by Babs. Eoin Kelly, Diarmaid Fitzgerald and Shane McGrath should all have started. Both corner backs were roasted through out the game and yet the 2 of the first 3 players taken off were 2 of the full forward line. Darrgh Egan did not get 1 half decent ball into him and yet was taken off!!! Likewise with Willie Ryan. The lessons that were learned against Cork were lost; hard work graft and fighting for the ball was no where to be seen. Wexford, while they won, are a poor team the amount of times they fumbled the ball, failed to rise it, failed to take chances both goals and points left Tipp fans in desperation at what they were seeing. Tipp seemed to have no game plan. Ballooning high ball into the full forward line. The half forward line disappeared again. John Carroll is not up to 70 minutes and his one handed flicking of the ball will not win games. Benny Dunne did well in the first half but zip in the second. Tipp had no one on the field to show leadership and there was definitely none coming from the sideline. Despite all the talk of the options built up over our 8 game odyssey only 2 of the starting full forward line scored and in truth both hardly had a chance of the ball.
12 wides tell the story that Tipp had the chances but did not take them. For me the game was summed up by 2 incidents in the second half. Tipp had a goal chance from Eoin Kelly and Fitzhenry made a great save and then a minute later with Byrne dawdling Wexford goaled. The second was when Corcoran Lar and Hugh Moloney passed the ball among themselves looking for a chance to shoot, Lar did twice and both times was blocked. What is the point in having both Kelly and Butler in the inside line if the players outside all they want to do is shoot from long range? The only ball that Kelly got was 1 single pass for Carroll which he pointed. The lack of a game plan was evident throughout been beaten by a side scoring 13 times is a very poor reflection on Tipp. The number of times 2 Tipp players went to close down a Wexford player and all they did was play a simple pass to an unmarked colleague who pointed. In truth Wexford should have won by way more. They had 6 clear goal chances in the first half; scored 1, 2 blocked by Kennedy, 2 drove wide and 1 blocked by Byrne. How this change came in Tipp who only allowed a far better set of Cork forwards only 1 goal a week ago is mystifying. Were the blame for all the faults that were exposed in Tipp is not something I want to go into but it will have to death with by this team if they are to gain any silver ware in the next few years.

Gerry Kennedy: His 2 great first half saves were ruined by his rush of blood to the head for the first Wexford gaol that took out his club mate Fanning and allowed Michael Jacob to goal. He also came out and lost the ball in the second half. Could not be faulted for the 2 second half goals. I am still not convinced by him as our long term goalkeeper.

Full back Line: For the second game in a row Fanning was absolutely immense, caught every ball that came his way and kept Wexford at bay on his own. Drove out time and time again. Byrne was very poor, he dawdled 3 minutes into the start of the second half and allowed Lambert to score a simple goal. His lack of pace and big match experience was cruelly exposed and was replaced by Diarmaid Fitzgerald. Eamon Buckley was poor as well allowed, Jacob in behind him as well way too easily in the first half and was lucky not to be taken off.

Half back line: The half back line played ok till Doc came on and with no one near him he scored 2 crucial points. Shane Maher is not up to this takes too long to rise the ball and was exposed on too many occasions. Conor O’Mahony had a good first half but the damage was being done inside him. Eamon Corcoran had a good game. Set up Lar for the goal and was of the few backs to deliver good accurate clearances.

Midfield: Hugh Moloney scored a point in each half but was fairly quiet. Had 1 sideline late in the first half which led to Rory McCarthy pointing which was inexcusable. This is his best position though. Seamus Butler was very quiet in the first half hardly touching the ball, did little better in the corner before been taken off.

Half forward line: Only 1 good player Darragh Hickey. He scored 3 points in the first half and 1 in the second off none other than Gizzy Lyng. Quiet later on as he got no ball. John Carroll is clearly not a 70 minutes man but stayed on the full game. Scored 1 point in the first half but faded badly after the break. Benny scored 2 good first half points but had a few bad wides, I don’t think he touched the ball in the second half.

Full forward line: Lar Corbett had a great first half scoring a goal and a point, he missed a heap of chances and the lack of ball into him limited his chances in the second. Darragh Egan started at full forward I don’t think he touched the ball and was taken off after 26 minutes. Willie Ryan was taken off at the break after only getting about 3 balls into him.

Eoin Kelly for Darragh Egan: Came on just before the break and his first act was to have his 21 yard free blocked. He score 1 point from play and 2 from frees. His last free dropped short. Was held the whole of the second half and only got 1 free for it. Not enough quality ball was directed to him.

Shane McGrath for Willie Ryan: Shane added much needed steel at midfield, scoring a point and winning a free and worked hard throughout. Should have started.

Diarmaid Fitzgerald for Alan Byrne: Started off sluggish and again like McGrath should have started.

Pa Bourke for Seamus Butler: Again the logic of bringing in Pa and blazing high ball into him is ridiculous. He should be in the half forward line and get low ball into him.

So Tipp’s eventful year ends in abject failure. 8 games played. With only Offaly, Dublin and a half hearted Cork beaten and losses to Limerick and Wexford to show for an 8 game season. Babs 2 year reign is over and in truth we have not moved on or developed as a team since he arrived. We have lost a Munster Final and have now gone 6 years with out a trophy of any sort. Of the 8 quarter finalists we are 7th or 8th. While we may have blooded many players this year, 12. What good was that when we needed characters and leaders we wilted like we have done so many times over the past 5 years? We had a number of players on the line who should have started and a good few players on the field who clearly were not up to the job. Players have been jettisoned to the bench and off the panel who showed better heart than what was on offer today. So 2007 ends with Tipp at a very low ebb and who every takes over the job has thankless task with a bunch of players who are now very low on confidence and the glorious year of 2001 now seems like a long distant memory.

P.S. My Tipperary player of the year is Killenaule’s Declan Fanning. He was probably third choice full back at the start of the year but after a shaky opening game against Limerick was outstanding in every game. Lead from the front and even today with all the players collapsing around him he never quit. Has found his true position after playing on the wing, in the corner and the forwards over the last number of years.




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Tipperary v Wexford (22/07/07) Knocknagow

Tipp and Wexford do battle in the first of this year’s All-Ireland Semi Finals on Sunday in Croke Park at 2.00. The ref is James McGrath from Westmeath. The game forms part of a double header with Galway and Kilkenny playing in the second game at 4.00. The winners of Sunday’s games will meet in the All-Ireland Semi Final. The last meeting between the sides was in the 2001 All-Ireland Semi Final replay in Croke Park where Wexford had required a few late goals the previous day to draw the game but Tipp made no mistake in the replay which was played in horrible conditions with Tipp winning 3-12 to 0-10. Eoin Kelly got 9 points and Eugene O’Neill came off the bench to get 2-1 and a place on the All-Ireland Final team. The most noteworthy event of the game was the sending off of Liam Dunne and Brian O’Meara meaning that the Mullinahone man the All-Ireland Final. The last meeting between the sides was in 2005 League when Wexford won in Nenagh 2-19 to 2-15, the Tipp goals from Mark O’Leary and Evan Sweeney. Of the 15 Tipp players that started last Saturday only; Hugh Moloney and Fanning wing backs, Francis Devanney centre forward, Benny Dunne wing forward, and Webster at full forward started that League game.
To date Wexford have played 2 games. In the Leinster Semi Final they beat Dublin 2-14 to 3-10 with a last minute free from Barry Lambert. Nigel Higgins and Rory Jacob scored first half goals as Wexford lead at the break 2-6 to 2-4. after woeful shooting in the first half Wexford started to pull away and lead by 5 points in the second half, however a lat Dublin rally was thwarted by that late Barry Lambert free. They then faced Kilkenny in the Leinster Final and they did not perform at all. In truth the game was over after 9 minutes when Kilkenny lead through goals from Willie Dwyer. Wexford backs collapsed and Declan Ruth was called ashore, (he left Croke Park straight away), but with the Wexford forwards shooting shocking wides Kilkenny coasted home eventually winning 2-24 to 1-12 with the Wexford goal coming from a free from Stephen Nolan.
Wexford were lucky to overcome Dublin and considering that Dublin have been well beaten by Tipp, Cork and Offaly this combined with their Leinster Final display does not auger well for them on Sunday yet I am sure that John Myeler will have something up his sleeve. He needs to start playing players in their proper positions, Declan Ruth is a fine centre back but was destroyed by Shefflin at the edge of the square. Doc O’Connor is one of the best corner backs around but was wasted in the forwards the last day and in Gizze Lyng they have one of the sweetest wing backs around. If they can build the backs around these players and get some decent ball into the Jacobs and Eoin Quigley they could cause Tipp all kinds of trouble. Another thing to remember is that Wexford will be complete outsiders and totally written off. The one advantage they have is of regularly playing in Croke Park and Tipp with so many new/young players would not have played in Croke Park with the Tipp seniors. They should carry the game to Tipp in the first 20 minutes and let the ball do the work to see how Tipp cope with the favourites tag. They will be captained by Damien Fitzhenry as captain in the Leinster Final Nigel Higgins has been dropped off the panel for being late to training.
While there was a lot of celebrating and back slapping in Thurles last Saturday night as Babs rightly pointed out we have won nothing and not advanced any further from that Cork win. The main thing about the game was the way in which Tipp performed, the fighting for the ball, the good scores and the ability to win the game from the front. Of course to do this all without Eoin Kelly is a major bonus for Tipp and hopefully it will be major turning point in the development of this young Tipp team, (of the starting 15 only Corcoran and Lar have All-Ireland medals from 2001!). Playing 7 weeks in a row will not be a problem for Tipp now that we are back in a winning groove and most of the players would probably agree that playing every week is preferable to training week in week out waiting for games. Indeed the North Board had games provisionally fixed for this Thursday night if Tipp were playing Sunday week! While I was a bit hasty in calling for Babs head during the Limerick saga there is no doubting that he won the tactical battle last Saturday still a number of players did not perform so further tweaking will be needed until we get a solid 15.
Gerry Kennedy.
Eamonn Buckley, Declan Fanning and Alan Byrne.
Eamon Corcoran, Conor O’Mahony and Shane Maher.
Hugh Maloney and Seamus Butler.
John Carroll, Benny Dunne and Darragh Hickey.
Lar Corbett, Darragh Egan and Willie Ryan.
The Tipp team was announced last night with the following players ruled out through injury; John O’Brien, Paul Curran, (broken jaw), Diarmaid Fitzgerald, (groin injury), while Eoin and Paul Kelly (groin) and James Woodlock (broken ribs) are returning from injury and listed among the subs. The Tipp team shows 2 changes from the Cork game, both of the forwards who did not score. As expected Michael Webster does not hold onto his place and is replaced by Darragh Egan who scored a very good point off Sullivan last Saturday when he came on. The other change sees Francis Devanney lose out to John Carroll at wing forward. I am surprised with this as even though Carroll was very good when he came on he does not seem to have the legs for 70+ minutes and does better when sprung from the bench. The team is again captained by Benny Dunne at centre forward. The injury to Diarmaid Fitzgerald means there are not any changes to the backs. I was surprised that Shane McGrath was not picked at midfield as his work rate would compliment the loose open play of either Butler or Moloney.
How do I see this game going? Well while I do expect a bit of a backlash from Wexford I doubt that they will have improved enough to beat Tipp on Sunday. Tipp and Cork, both losing Munster Semi-Finalists, have beaten the losing Leinster Semi Finalists, Offaly and Dublin in 4 games by over 40 points. I know a lot of water has passed under the bridge since Wexford struggled to beat Dublin, however Wexford must be at bottom after that loss to Kilkenny where as Tipp are on the up. True the Limerick games were awful to lose but we recovered to get over Offaly and Dublin and then got things back on track against Cork. The Tipp backs have been outstanding al year especially Declan Fanning who was probably third choice full back at the start of the year after Curran and Maher but after a shaky first game v Limerick has been outstanding. Buckley has also grown into a fine corner back. The half back line has some exceptional displays from Corcoran and O’Mahony and I don’t fear that Wexford will rip them apart on Sunday. With the confidence that the Tipp forwards have gained from scoring 2-13 from play without Eoin Kelly they should be able to build on this on Sunday. The key to Tipp winning this game is to take the game to Wexford from the start as the longer that Wexford are in the game the more the crowd from the Galway Kilkenny game will start supporting them. I think that Tipp without Eoin Kelly will still have too much firepower to be caught by Wexford, so Tipp by 5.


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Tipperary 2-26 Cork 1-18 (14-07-07)

Tipperary got a massive monkey off their backs yesterday with a 1 point win over Cork in Semple Stadium in Thurles in front of a disappointing crowd of 13,000, (attendance not helped by the match on tv and the poor weather conditions). This was Tipp’s first Championship win over Cork since 1991 and since then Cork have won the last 5 encounters. Cork lined out as selected but Tipp made 2 changes from the selected side with as expected Eoin Kelly not being fit enough to start and he was replaced by Webster, (making his first Championship of the year), and Boherlahan’s Darragh Hickey replacing Jon Carroll at wing forward. Alan Byrne was getting his first Championship game at corner back in the absence of the injured Paul Curran and Darragh Hickey was only added to the panel on Wednesday along with Thurles Sars Stephen Lills! The 2 debutants made it 12 the number of Tipp players starting their first Championship game of 2007! Tipp made 1 positional switch with Seamus Butler going to midfield and Devanney to wing forward.

Cork got off the scoring first and led with a Joe Deane free. A Jerry O’Connor point from midfield made it 2-0 before Tipp got off the score sheet when Darragh Hickey passed to Seamus Butler who pointed from a long way out. A Joe Deane free restored Cork’s 2 point lead. Tipp then had the first goal chance of the game when Darrgh Hickey ran up the wing and put the ball across the square to Willie Ryan who pulled on the bal but it hit the sidenetting. Niall Ronan then easily avoided Alan Byrne’s tackle and his high shot was tipped over the bar by Kennedy. Another Deane free was followed by good play between the 2 O’Connor’s as Ben pointed with Cork ahead 6 – 1 after 13 minutes. Tipp responded when Benny set up Hugh Moloney and he pointed from a long way out, however the puck out was caught by Pa Cronin who pointed and had a wide soon after. A clearance from the Tipp backs found its was to Benny who pointed. Cork responded with appoint from Kieran Murphy.

A great ball from Eamon Corcoran was broken by Webster to Lar who handpassed to Willie Ryan on the edge of the square and he buried the ball in the 22nd minute to bring Tipp back into it 0-8 to 1-3. Barry Kelly then gave a ridiculous free against Corcoran when Pa Cronin had him in a headlock but Deane put it wide. The ref yellow carded Devanney and Gardiner for an off the ball incident. Benny then soloed through and got another point, before Ben O’Connor passed to Kevin Hartnett for his first of the game. Lar got the ball out near the new Stand and pointed superbly. This was followed by a Seamus Butler point before both sides had wides. After sloppy play by Tipp the ball came to jerry O’Connor and he pointed from midfield. Lar’s shot just drifted wide. Darragh Hickey’s point effort was saved by Cusack and the ball eventually came to Butler, he solod up the line but struck a poor effort wide. Benny then ran through the heart of the Cork defence but his shot was smothered and the clearance came to Butler; his shot was blocked but he should have passed to Devanney who was in acres of space. Corcoran fouled but Ben O’Connor put the free wide. The last action of the half was Hugh Moloney blocked a ball he had no right to and on the ground he flicked the ball onto Lar who pointed to only leave a point in it at the break, 1-8 to 0-12 in Cork’s favour after 2 minutes of injury time.

Cork made 1 change at the start of the second half when Brian Murphy replaced Cian O’Connor at corner back and marking Lar Corbett. Corcoran and O’Mahony fumbled and Declan Fanning was yellow carded for a foul and Deane pointed the free. Good play in the Tipp saw the ball come to Benny and he pointed. In the 40th minute Tipp then got their second goal when Benny Dunne rode a few tackles and sent a sweet crossfield ball to Willie Ryan he easily got past Shane Murphy and put the ball low into the net to leave it 2-09 to 0-13. Cork responded when Jerry O’Connor passed to Kevin Hartnett who pointed. Benny and Lar both had wides. Benny was fouled by Curran and Willie Ryan got Tipp’s first point from a free after 45 minutes to make it 2-10 t 0-14. Great pressure by Tipp in midfield saw Tipp block the ball it broke to Hugh Moloney who solod and pointed. Tipp made their first change when John Carroll replaced Devaney at wing forward. Donal Og’Cusack was eventually penalised for coming outside the area for the puck outs with a 65 which Willie Ryan scored.

Great play by Eamon Corcoran saw him flick the ball to Hickey who floated over a point. Tipp made a second change with Webster being replaced by Darragh Egan on the edge of the square. Seamus Butler had a poor wide before Tom Kenny replaced Kieran Murphy. Benny put a free wide before Gerry Kennedy had to come out and clear. Cork made another change with Timmy McCarthy replacing Kevin Harnett. Diarmaid Sullivan cleared the ball but followed through and frontal charged Willie Ryan who got up and pointed the free. Tipp were now 2-14 to 0-14 ahead with 52 minutes gone. Cork then struck back with a Pa Cronin point and an effort from Kieran Murphy after Byrne had nearly blocked the ball. Murphy was brought off straight away and replaced by Cathal Naughton. Benny Dunne passed to Egan; he was out on the wing but put a great point over. Cork then had a goal chance but Neil Ronan’s effort went across the square and Deane fumbled with the ball and his shot seemed to be touched over by Kennedy. Seamus Butler had 2 poor wides.

Cork then upped the ante with 10 minutes to go when a high ball into the Tipp square by Joe Deane was met first time by Neill Ronan who pulled first time to the net, this left Cork only a point down 2-15 to 1-17. A long range effort from Conor O’Mahony drifted just wide. Tipp brought on Shane McGrath for Hickey. Both sides had wides; Sean Og put a sideline cut wide and Egan had a wide for Tipp. John Carroll showed great strength to win possession and turn and point which turned out to be Tipp’s last score of the game. Deane narrowed the gap to a minimum when he pointed a free. Tipp made the final change with Pa Bourke on for Willie Ryan. Great play by the Tipp backs saw Timmy McCarthy’s effort blocked and cleared. The ref signalled 1 minute injury time. Lar had a wide and then Donal Og’Cusack tried to take a quick puck out and hit it off Sullivan and was not penalised. Tipp had a sideline but Corcoran’s effort was weak and Cork attacked but Tipp could not clear the ball; eventually it went out for a sideline which Ben O’Connor took. His effort was weak and John Carroll broke it away. The ref eventually blew in the third minute of injury time despite signalling only 1. The final score was 2-16 to 1-18 in Tipp’s favour.

Gerald McCarthy will not be pleased with this display. In a way the result was irrelevant to Cork as both sides were already through to the semis and Cork will now have a 2 week break when they face Waterford in the quarters. They stated off well and lead by 6 points to 1 after 14 minutes; their half back line was on fire winning ball after ball but a bit too much flashy play and poor deliveries into the forwards was letting them down. Once the Tipp half forwards stood up to Cork in the puck outs Cork disappeared. In the second half all 3 of the Cork half backs hardly touched the ball and Ronan Curran could not cope with Benny Dunne and Lar coming out so far to get the ball, it was his poorest performance in a number of years. Also the quality of ball into the forward was poor, this can be put down to the Tipp full back line which lead by Declan Fanning were immense. Cork never seemed to be able to up their game and once Tipp got their second goal Cork were always playing catch up and indeed if Tipp had converted at least half of their second half wides the game would have been over way sooner. Cork can have no complaints they were beaten by the better team on the day. They played the first half as if Tipp were going to roll over and be whitewashed. While Cork are most certainly not out it remains to be seen what psychological damage this defeat will have done them. Other teams will have learned a lot from Tipp’s second half tactics the half forwards pull hard on the Cork half backs, keep the ball away from Sullivan, and backs attack every ball. Simple tactics really but it worked for Tipp yesterday.

Babs will be more than pleased with this game. This game took on a life of its own and the fact that all it was doing was deciding placing in the quarter finals did not matter. What mattered was that Tipp had to produce a performance, had to show steel and show other counties that despite all the strife in the camp, and all the injuries, (Tipp were without the 2 Kelly’s, Paul Curran, both midfielders, Diarmiad Fitzgerald and John Carroll all out), that this team had BALLS! Tipp conjured up a performance after the news that Kelly was out and going 5 points down after 14 minutes. Once the goal went in the crowd got behind Tipp, the players upped there game 100%, Tipp got stuck into Cork hunted in packs, harried the Cork players and got their reward. For the first time this year Babs played the subs perfectly. John Carroll unfortunately is not a 70 minute player any more but his bustling burly play gave the Cork half backs even more to think about, Darragh Egan scored a sublime point and should have got at least 2 more points after been fouled by Sullivan and Shane McGrath’s work ethic in the last 10 minutes stifled Cork’s come back.

Gerry Kennedy: could do little for Cork’s goal. Puck outs were very good only did 1 short puck out to Shane Maher. Came out well to rush Deane’s gaol effort and put it over the bar.

Full back line: Declan Fanning was my Man of the Match. From start to finish was outstanding no matter who went to the edge of the square. Lead from in front of his man and cleared ball after ball. Alan Byrne was in his first Championship game and after a shaky first 15 minutes, (turned very easily by Neil Ronan and Ben O’Connor), was immense and showed bucket loads of confidence. Eamon Buckley is a rock of a corner back. Tricked a few times by Deane but will be a regular for years to come.

Half back line: Eamon Corcoran got the RTE Man of the Match award from Michael Duignan. Was very shaky in the first half gave way too much room and time to Pa Cronin who scored easily. His long ball into Webster set up the first Tipp goal. Was unbelievable in the second half where his experience won the countless loose ball and his dive and flick to set up Hickey’s point was 1 of the highlights of the game. Conor O’Mahony had another good game. Nothing fancy or flash just keeps his own area tidy, some booming clearances set up Tipp scores and also considering the torment that one of the best centre backs around Niall Ronan had. Shane Maher has a good game. Had an average enough first half but upped it in the second half. Still has trouble in clearing the ball.

Midfield: Seamus Butler started here. Scored 3 points and had at least that many wides. Tends to shoot too much and not pass to better placed players, (his shot blocked in the first half when Devanney was better placed being the prime example). Saying that his 2 first half points were superb especially with Tipp struggling. Babs many conundery is where to play him next week; midfield wing forward, or corner forward. Midfield was funny in that all 4 players scored freely from lay and no-one marked each other with the broken disjointed play suiting all 4. Hugh Moleny had a good game score a good point in each half but once Shane McGrath came on he seemed to end up at corner forward!! Worked tirelessly through out and this is his best position. His determination to win the ball just before half time and flick it onto Lar set the tine for the Tipp win.

Half forward line: I will hold my hand up here. I have been very critical of Benny Dunne’s performances in the Tipp games to date, but between himself and Lar they could have skewered Ronan Curran’s year. He scored 2 good points in the first half and his work rate to keep possession to a sweet diagonal ball to Willie Ryan set up the second Tipp goal. Devanney was on the toughest of the Cork backs in Gardiner and did not see much of the ball was replaced in the second half. Darragh Hickey started off at wing forward and went into the corner after about 20 minutes. Saw a lot of the ball in the first half and scored a great point in the second.

Full forward line: Webster got his first Championship start of the year. Got very little ball into him, however was fouled by Sullivan every time the ball came near them. Corcoran’s long ball was broken by him to Lar in the build up to the first Tipp goal. Struggled to get the ball into his hand. Lar Corbett was immense in the first half he roved out the field and picked up the ball at centre forward and fired over 3 great points as well as setting up the first Tipp goal. Cork did not know how to deal with this and had to send Brian Murphy off the bench to mark him. Willie Ryan was superb scoring 2 goals from play a 65 and 2 frees. Took his goal calmly in the first half, helped by the inexperience of Shane Murphy who collided with Sullivan to leave Ryan free. Willie Ryan had only 1 thought on his mind when he took Benny’s pass and he easily turned Murphy to goal. Impeccable from frees and 65’s. Despite getting the 2 goals got very little ball into his hand.

John Carroll for Devanney: Came on at the right time broke up a lot of Cork attacks, tracked back well and caused serious trouble for Cork score a great point for Tipp’s last score of the day.

Darragh Egan for Michael Webster: Was fouled repeatedly by Sullivan but answered with a point from a tight angle. Gave Tipp another option up front. Good to see him deliver after the disappointment of the U21’s last Tuesday night.

Shane McGrath for Darragh Hickey: On for the last 10 minutes his work and drive settled and steadied the Tip midfield.

Pa Bourke for Willie Ryan: Thrown on with injury time approaching; don’t think he touched the ball.

So Tipp advance to the quarter finals and a meeting with beaten Leinster Finalists Wexford. What a difference a week makes in hurling! This time last week it was all doom and gloom in Tipp and very few had faith in the team, this was reflected in the small Tipp crowd at the game. However once the players started fighting, the fans got behind them and despite their only being 13k at the game there was an unbelievable atmosphere for the second half and after the game. The outpouring of emotions after the game was a reflection the relief that Tipp had 1) won a tough Championship game, 2) show serious balls, 3) thrown down a marker for the rest of the year, ohh and the fact that we had beaten Cork in a Championship game!! While I got a lot of things wrong in my preview for this game the 1 think I did get right was that if Eoin Kelly did not play the rest of the back would have to stand up and be counted and not rely on Kelly to drag them out of every hole. Tipp scored 2-16 of which 2 were frees and 1 a 65, not bad for a 1 man team! Tipp got very little frees, Donal Og coming outside the square for every puck out was only penalised once, and Sullivan fouled Webster and Egan all day and went unpunished. He broke 2 hurley off the back of Egan’s helmet in the last 10 minutes and was only penalised when he frontal charged. Pa Cronin got Corcoran in a headlock just before the break and yet the ref gave the free to Cork!

Still Tipp will have to come down off this high and realise that while yes it was a good performance, there is a lot of work to do, a number of players did not perform, Tipp had 13 wides, lead by 6 points with 10 minutes to go but had to rely on Ben O’Connor missing a sideline to win. The game against Wexford will be entirely different. Babs won this round with only announcing Kelly would not play just before game, keeping Sullivan quiet and using the bench smartly. Despite all the naysayers, (yes I was one of them), during and after the Limerick games we are now in the last 8, (remember the Championship starts here). We are now in the quarter finals with a very good chance of getting to face the winners of Kilkenny v Galway in the Semis.

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Tipperary v Cork (14/07/07) Knocknagow

Tipp and Cork meet in the Final group game of the 2007 Hurling Qualifier Group B in Thurles on Saturday afternoon at 7.00 with Westmeath’s Barry Kelly the ref and the game is live on tv which will effect the attendance. Last Sunday the sides met in the Minor Munster Final and last Tuesday the sides met in the U21 Munster Quarter Final, so a number of players on both sides will have had a busy week! The last meeting between the sides in the Qualifiers was in 2004 in Killarney were despite scoring a Paul Kelly goal after his brother had a penalty saved before the break and leading 1-8 to 0-7 Tipp wilted as the game progressed and 2 second half goals from Timmy and Niall McCarthy sealed the issue along with a string of Cork points at the end as Tipp wilted. Cork have also beaten Tipp in the last 2 Munster Finals. In the 2005 effort Cork won 1-21 to 1-16. Tipp were roasted in the first half and the placing of Eamon Corcoran out of position at corner back did not help as Cork through a Joe Deane goal and lead 1-13 to 0-5 at the break after a woefully inept Tipp performance. Tipp pointed there way back into the game and with 7 minutes to go got a scrambled goal through Tommy Dunne, to get eth lead back to 4 but Cork ran out winners despite a few last minute Tipp goal efforts. In last years Munster Final an early Lar Corbett goal settled Tipp but goals from Deane and Ben O’Connor left Cork level 2-6 to 1-9 at the break. Cork got their noses in front and held out for a 2-14 to 1-14 win. Cork also won the 2000 Munster Final and the 1992 Munster Semi Final so 1991 Munster Final replayed epic was the last time Tipp beat Cork in the Championship.
Cork played 2 games in the Munster Championship. In the quarter Final they comprehensively outplayed a weak Clare side 1-18 to 1-11, the goal from debutant Pa Cronin, with the most notable event from the game was the shanigans before hand which left 3 Cork players, (rightly), suspended. Thankfully despite a lot of Cork poor mouthing and whinging in the media the 3 players served their bans. In the Munster Semi Final Cork lost to Waterford by 5-15 to 3-18. Cork were without Cusack, Sullivan and Sean Og. But it was Sullivan who was most missed as Waterford profited from high ball into the full forward line and without the considerable bulk of Sullivan Waterford had a field day. Still 2 Cork goals from Kieran Murphy and Niall Ronan had Cork in contention at the break 4-8 to 2-9. Cork goaled again through Pa Cronin and though Joe Deane had an effort off the crossbar in injury time Waterford rightly held out. A consequence of the game was the injuries that Niall McCarthy and Tom Kenny suffered. In the qualifiers they played Dublin 2 weeks ago and won comprehensively 3-20 to 0-15 wit the goals from Kieran Murphy and Pa Cronin. Cork lost both corner backs Brian Murphy and Shane O’Neill through injury early on. Last week they beat Offaly in Pairc Ui Chaiomh by 1-27 to 0-11, this game was over as a contest after 10 minutes when Niall Ronan goaled and Cork added points at will.
The fact that this game is on telly means there will be a bigger build up to it. Both sides now know their fate with the quarter final draw on last Sunday the winner will face Wexford and the losers Munster Champions Waterford. While there has been a lot of soul searching in Tipp since the first Limerick game it is worth noting that that 8 players have made their Senior Championship debut this year, Gerry Kennedy, Eamon Buckley, James Woodlock, Thomas Stapleton, Pa Bourke, Ryan O’Dwyer, Danny O’Hanlon and Shane Maher, with Willie Ryan and Darragh Egan making their first Championship starts. This must surely be some kind of record for Tipp and hopefully will pay off in the future. On the other hand with so many young and inexperienced players Tipp have suffered in lacking guile and ability to close out games, (first 2 Limerick games), and despite all the new players there is even more pressure on Eoin Kelly to get scores. With the quarter Finals in mind Babs has come out and said that he will not risk Eoin Kelly next Saturday and I agree with him on this. Yes I know it would be great to beat Cork, (not done since 1991), and play Wexford but there is no point in playing Kelly, him damaging his groin even further and being out for the rest of the year.
Tipp got their second win of the Championship when they overcame a physical Dublin side last Saturday in Parnell Park. Cork had a similar problem as well with Dublin and lost both corner backs. O’Neill and Brian Murphy to late tackles. Tipp lost Paul Curran to a blow to his face which left him with an injured neck and the loss of a number of teeth while the Dublin player only got a yellow card! From the small clip on the tv and reading the various match reports it was a lethargic enough performance from Tipp who did not shake to life until Dublin went 1-8 to 0-8 ahead, only then did Tipp come to life and with Lar scoring a goal similar to the one last week v Offaly and Willie Ryan talking over the free taking duties Tipp powered to a win. The worst news for Tipp was the two injuries to both Eoin Kelly and Paul Curran. Kelly’s is a groin injury, after the game he said he would be ok to play against Cork but it is unlikely that he will be risked by Babs with the Quarter Final a week after. The positives were the performances in the forwards of Willie Ryan, Lar Corbett and Darragh Egan, (who came on as a sub for Kelly). Willie Ryan scored 4 points from play, Lar got a real goal poachers gaol and Darragh Egan caused real problems for the Dublin full back and won the Tipp penalty. Maybe in a perverse way the loss of Eoin Kelly would not be such a bad thing for the other Tipp forwards. With him there they know that they will only get scraps and that he is the main target man, however when he is not playing then they know that they have an even chance of getting ball played into them.
The Tipp U21’s relinquished their crown last night with a very slack last quarter when they allowed an average Cork side beat them 1-14 to 2-10. In the first half Pa Bourke was on fire and scored 3 great points when he got good quality ball into him and with Woodlock dominating midfield Tipp lead 6-2 at the break. Soon after the resumption Tipp got 2 fortuitous goals through Timmy Dalton and Stephen Lillis, however Woodlock went off injured soon after and once Cork goaled the Tipp head dropped. The 2 most disappoint players on view were Danny O’Hanlon at full forward and team captain Darragh Egan at wing forward, both of them were in their third year at U21 and both were abysmal. O’Hanlon was taken off at the break after having contributed nothing and Egan was completely anonymous throughout the game and when Tipp needed a leader in the second half he was no where to be seen. O’Dwyer battle all night and will give Ronan Curran loads of it on Saturday. I suspect that we will be without Woodlock as he looked as if he bad broken ribs when subbed. Another loss to the panel is Paul Ormonde who quit citing lack of opportunities. A valid point given that Benny Dune was accommodated in the corner when Diarmaid Fitzgerald got injured against Offaly. The team will be picked later in the week.
With Tipp likely to be without Woodlock, the 2 Kelly’s and Paul Curran all out injured so it seems as if it will be damage limitation exercise on Saturday. While Cork are still a few players short Niall McCarthy and Tom Kenny they should have too much for Tipp. It’s a pity that Babs is coming out with such defeatist attitude about the game considering that if we win Saturday we are practically guaranteed an All-Ireland Semi Final spot. What would the former Tipp greats like Jimmy, John Doyle and Kieran Carey make of a Tipp team willing to concede a game to Cork? In truth Cork are a level above us and we would need all our best players playing at 100% to defeat them. I think that without Eoin Kelly we don’t have sufficient reliable firepower up front to win and also the lack of a vaguely threatening half forward line will not unduly stretch Cork’s best line of Sean Og, Curran and Gardiner. While the Tipp backs, especially Fanning and Buckley, have been exceptional this year they will not be able to keep out Deane and the 2 O’Connor’s for the full 70 minutes. I expect Cork to comfortably win by 5+ points and Tipp’s season to be ended by Waterford in the Quarter Final.

Knocknagow


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Dublin v Tipperary (07-07-07)


Tipp and Dublin both play their second game of Group B of the Hurling Qualifiers on Saturday at 3.00 in Parnell Park Dublin the ref is Dominic Connolly of Kilkenny. The game will be on Tipp FM. The last meeting between the sides was in the last round of League games this year in Nenagh. Both sides needed a win to qualify for the League Quarter Finals. Dublin were playing their third game in a week and it showed in a lethargic performance. An Eoin Kelly flick on saw O’Hanlon goal, O’Hanlon got another as did the Kelly’s to leave the interval score 4-7 to 0-4. Tipp added on the points in the second half and Dublin scored a consolation goal through Emmett Carroll from a penalty to leave the final score 4-15 to 1-10 in Tipp’s favour. Tipp marched on to the Quarter Finals and Dublin retained their Division 1 status. For the last Championship meeting one has to go back to the All-Ireland Final of 1961. Tipp lead 10 to 6 at the break, and both sides were reduce to 14 men when Tipp had Tom Ryan from Killenaule sent off. The placing of John Hough at midfield to curb Des Foley was critical for Tipp who held out to win in a tight finish; 0-16 to 1-12 with Toomevara’s Matt Hassett the captain.
Dublin have played 2 games to date. The first was in the Leinster Semi Final against Wexford in Nowlan Park, which they lost 2-14 to 3-10. Two first half goals from Kevin Flynn and Ross O’Carroll eased Dublin into the game but despite woeful Wexford shooting and a Doc O’Connor goal Wexford lead 2-6 to 2-4 at the interval. The game was tight until Barry Lambert arrived as a sub and Wexford lead by 5. Dublin fought back and levelled through another Ross O’Carroll goal but Wexford won the game with an injury time point through a Barry Lambert free. In the qualifiers last week Dublin had home advantage against Cork and lead early on with David Curtin and Padraig O’Driscoll points but 2 Kieran Murphy goals either side of the break finished the game as a contest and though Dublin did close the lead with a number of second half points a late goal from Pa Cronin sealed an easy Cork win 3-20 to 0-15. One consequence of this loss was that Padraig O’Driscoll dislocated his elbow and is out of the Tipp game.
Babs and Tipp are under a lot of pressure going into this game mainly from the performance of scraping past a weak Offaly side and his ill advised “arsehole” comment after the game! The old saying about a closed mouth catching no flies obviously does not apply when Babs sees a reporter with a microphone! Matters will not be helped by a 5th game in 5 weekends and the news that if Tipp do make the All-Ireland Quarter Final it will be played on the weekend of the 22nd July. Tipp have a number of injury worries and the announcement that the U21 Munster Quarter Final against Cork has been fixed for Tuesday 10th July will surely effect the Tipp selection, (Woodlock. ODwyer, Egand and O’Hanlon are still underage this year). Both Paul Curran and Paul Kelly are injured, (or nearly returned depending on who you listen to!), while Darragh Egan missed the game v Offaly with a virus and Lar Corbett was not deemed fit enough to start, (but did play a major role in the second half). It remains to be seen how serious the injury picked up by Diarmaid Fitzgerald is.
The Tipp team will not be announced until later on in the week and Babs has some pretty tough calls to make again. The half forward line is of course the area of most concern and it is anyone’s guess as to the 3 players that will start here. Hopefully Lar will be fully fit and able to start, he would be a viable scoring threat from the half forward line. Moving him out of the full forward line would move a scoring threat further away from goals. Probably the only certainty in the 6 forwards is that Seamus Butler will start at corner forward and in the 3 games he has played to date he has been 1 of the few positives in eth forward line. The positioning of Eoin Kelly is again another thorny issue for Tipp. Should he be place at corner forward, his best and most lethal position, or given the poverty of the Tipp the Tipp half forward line should he be brought to centre forward to win the ball. What is the point in having such a quality player in the full forward line if no ball goes into him? The downside of course is that if ball does get into the full forward line Kelly’s ability to win poor ball, (of which 90% of the ball into him this year has been), will be missing. My guess for the starting forwards is Carroll, O’Dwyer and Devanney with Lar flanked by Kelly and Butler in the full. However even if those 6 start I cannot see them lasting to 70 minutes.
So how do I see this game going? Well for the second week in a row Tipp go into a low profile game with no media spotlight on them and a small crowd attending. Kennedy has to improve from his 2 slip up’s the last day and if he does take short puck outs would he please practice them this week so that no slip ups occur. The half back line cleaned up the last day but surely will expect a tougher battle Saturday. Midfield was quiet. Again the half forwards need to step up to the plate in terms of ball winning especially under the puck outs and also scoring. Butler and Lar need to up their point scoring and relive some of the pressure off Kelly, who despite scoring 1-12 the last day still does not seem 100% fit. I expect Dublin to tear into Tipp for the first half and its up to Tipp to live with them and close the game out as soon as possible and not have the same hassle like last week when Offaly had 5 chances to put Tipp away in the last 10 minutes but were unable to take any of them. Despite the heavy loss last week Dublin are still in with a good chance as they will fancy their chances v Offaly so this home game against Tipp is a good opportunity to kick start their season. Still I feel that Tipp should have too much for Dublin and will win by a few points.

P.S. Best of luck to the Tipp minors on Sunday in the Munster Final v Cork. They have played superbly so far in beating Clare and Limerick and look like a quality out fit under the watchful eye of former Tipp players Tommy Dunne and Declan Ryan and the Sarsfield duo of Michael Gleeson and Liam Cahill.

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Tipperary 2-17 Offaly 2-13 (30-06-07) Knocknagow

Tipp eventually got their first win of the 2007 Hurling Championship at the fourth attempt this evening when the sneaked past Offaly in a high scoring game in Thurles. The attendance was just over 7,500 and the referee was Michael Haverty from Galway. Offaly made no changes to their named line out. Tipp made 4 changes and the problems of the last 3 weeks were identified with the whole half forward line being replaced; Darragh Egan, Benny Dunne and John Carroll were replaced by Francis Devanney, Ryan O’Dwyer and Pa Bourke. In the full forward line Liam Cahill was surprise start at full forward flanked by Eoin Kelly and Butler. Franny Devanney was the captain. Despite reports during the week Paul Curran did not start but both he and Paul Kelly were named as subs on the programme. John Leahy was confined to the stand as part of his suspension where he will miss the bulk of the remaining Tipp games this year.
Conor O’Mahony took a long range free, it fell to Ryan O’Dwyer who turned and went for goals, he was brought down and Eoin Kelly opened Tipp’s account with a free. Gerry Kennedy was lucky to escape when he pulled down a ball that was going over the bar, this led to a goal mouth scramble which went out for a 65 which Damien Murray put wide. Offaly got off the scoreboard when Seamus Butler fouled near the Offaly 65 and full back Paul Cleary pout over a monster free to level it. Another puck out was fielded by O’Dwyer he turned and was felled on the 21 yard line. Eoin Kelly stepped up and buried the ball to the net after 6 minutes. Offaly got a point back from Gary Hannify on the puck out. A long clearance from Conor O’Mahony was nearly collected by Cahill who was straight through on goals, the ball was cleared for a sideline which Corcoran took and Kelly flicked at and just put wide. Pa Bourke then broke a high ball to Kelly who collected and put over the bar. John Carroll then broke a high ball to Eoin Kelly who pointed to leave it 1-3 to 0-2 in Tipp’s favour. Diarmaid Fitzgerald fouled the ball and Damien Murray put the free over. Great work by Buckley and Fanning led to a free from defence which was caught by Eoin Kelly, he was fouled but got up to score the free. Rory Hannify scored a point off Hugh Moloney. Shane McGrath found Cahill but his effort came back off the post and was cleared.
Offaly got back in the game in the 17th minute when Rory Hannify took off on a run, his initial effort was hooked expertly by Declan Fanning but Sean Ryan followed up and his effort went in easily off Kennedy’s hurley to level the game. Tipp then got back ahead with an Eoin Kelly free. Butler had a Tipp wide Offaly likewise. Fanning let a long ball slip through his hands for a 65 which Murray put over the bar. Seamus Butler scored a good point from 65 m out to put Tipp 1-6 to 1-5 ahead. Derek Molloy was yellow carded for a late pull on Diarmaid Fitzgerald. Another Damien Murray free saw the sides level. Pa Bourke gave away a free which Fanning again allowed go for a 65 which Murray put wide. Another conceded free this time from Ryan O’Dwyer, when he got a short puck out, resulted in a Damien Murray point and the lead for Offaly for the first time. Liam Cahill set up Devanney for his first point of the night. Ryan O’Dwyer got a lucky free when he was clearly charging and Eoin Kelly duly obliged with the pointed free. Hugh Moloney then gave away a stupid free with a blatant push and Murray duly obliged to leave it level at 1-8 after 1 minute of injury time.
Tipp made three changes at the start of the second half. Injury forced Diarmaid Fitzgerald off and he was replaced by Benny Dunne. In the half forward line John Carroll replaced Pa Bourke while Lar Corbett replaced Liam Cahill in the corner, with Eoin Kelly going to the edge of the square. Poor play by Carroll allowed Joe Bergin to gain possession and point. Benny Dunne fouled on the 21 yard line. Tipp only had 4 on the line and Damien Murray duly goaled the free at the side with only 1 Tipp back. Hannify had a good run and point to leave Offaly ahead by 5 points 2-10 to 1-8 after only 3 minutes of the second half. Eoin Kelly then had a bad wide from a free as Tipp tried to respond. Devanney got Tipp back with a point after he picked up the loose ball. Sean Ryan put Offaly 5 up with a point from the wing. O’Mahony had a wide from a free. Seamus Butler was fouled and Kelly obliged from the free. Offaly made their first change when Alan Egan replaced Derek Molloy. Seamus Butler’s effort was hooked but the ball came to Lar who pointed. Both sides had a wide, before Eoin Kelly got another free after Shane McGrath was fouled. Kelly followed up with 2 more frees when both Devanney and Butler were fouled to bring Tipp back level after 53 minutes 1-14 to 2-11.
Offaly made another change when Barry Teehan replaced David Kenny. A Corcoran sideline cut nearly went over, before Eoin Kelly put another free wide. On 60 minutes Tipp made their fourth change with Thomas Stapleton replacing Woodlock. Poor back play by Benny Dunne allowed Sean Ryan in to point and this was followed by an O’Mahony fumble that allowed Brendan Carroll to point and give Offaly a 1 point lead 2-13 to 1-14. Offaly brought on Shane Dooley, (son of Joe), for Joe Bergin, but still added more wides. Shane McGrath gained possession in midfield found Butler, who was hauled down o the 21 yard line. He lined up goal from the free but the boys on the line told him to put it over the bar and he did to level. Benny Dunne then had a wide from a free. Offaly made their final change with Michael Cordial replacing Ger Oakley. Eoin Kelly caught a ball turned and beautifully made room and pointed to put Tipp ahead 1-17 to 2-13 with time just up.
Tipp made their final change with Devanney being replaced by Willie Ryan. Eoin Kelly conceded a needless stupid free but luckily Murray put the free wide. Poor play by Hugh Moloney allowed Offaly another chance but that went wide as well. The ref signalled 2 minutes injury time. Offaly got the ball around midfield and Shane Dooley soloed in past the 14 but his shot was saved by Gerry Kennedy and he cleared out the line. Offaly gained the ball again but Shane McGrath managed to dive full length and block the effort. The ball came to Mullins in the Offaly goal he tried to come out the field and pass to Paul Cleary but was disposed by Willie Ryan and Lar Corbett got the insurance goal 3 minutes into injury time. The ref blew the whistle on the puck out and Tipp had their first Championship win in 6 attempts, (last was 4th June 06 against Clare in the Munster Semi Final.) Final score Tipp 2-17 Offaly 2-13.
John McIntyre will not be happy with this display. Coming into this game they had a good chance to beat Tipp. The lack of confidence in Tipp was highlighted by only 7,500 paying costumers at this game and this was Tipp’s 4th game in as many weeks. Offaly would have been happy at the break, Tipp had done all the hurling yet Offaly went in level. They had a great burst in the first 5 minutes of the second half and got 5 points ahead. This was their chance to pull ahead and ask serious questions of Tipp however they failed to build on that lead and 10 minutes later Tipp were level 11 second half wides did not help. Again with 5 minutes to go they went ahead but missed 2 frees/chances by Damien Murray which left the game open for Tipp. He must have been cursing that 1 of his more experienced players and not Shane Dooley got that last chance for Offaly, he ran too far with the ball before trying to score. They are of a similar age profile to Tipp, 11 U21’s on the panel, and it was the older members of the side, Brian Mullins, Ger Oakley and Rory Hannify who failed to lead. They now go into an away game against Cork next Saturday and will be fighting with Dublin for last position in this qualifying group. Only Paul Cleary, Sean Ryan, Ger Hannify, and Damien Murray, in patches, impressed.
So Tipp return to winning ways. This game was about a win first and a performance second and Tipp managed to get the win. The positives first; scoring 2-17, coming from behind with 10 minutes to go and being able to close out the win and even though players had their 4th tough games in 4 weeks they still fought like tigers to win the last ball, (Shane McGrath). Now the negatives: of the 19 scores Eoin Kelly got 13, we got 10 scores from frees, only 3 of the starting forwards scored from play, (Kelly 3 points, Devanney 2 and Butler 2), we put out a new half forward line and they were only a slightly better improvement on last week, we conceded 2 very sloppy goals and way too many frees. In 2 weeks we have now started 6 different players in the half forward line and are still no closer to naming a decent set of half forwards. Again we are way too dependent on Eoin Kelly. Yes I know that any time that Kelly or Butler got the ball they were hauled down but we still are way too dependent on him for frees.
In truth Offaly were a poor team, their lack of physicality was shown in the way that the Tipp half backs caught ball after ball that was rained down on them. They caught more ball cleanly in any 5 minute spell than they did in all the 3 games against Limerick. There was no intensity to this game, it was played at almost League standard for the first half. If Offaly had been a little bit more ruthless at the start of the second half we could have been wiped out. Babs was criticised the last day for not making enough subs today he used all five. Babs will have learned little from this; he started 4 different forwards from the last day and only Butler played in the same position. At the end of the day Butler, Lar and Kelly are the only 3 definite forward starters and it’s a case of choose 3 out of 5/6 for the other jerseys, although based on today’s game Carroll, O’Dwyer, (if he can cut out the needless fouling) and Devanney/Egan would appear to be the best options for the half forward line. Lar Corbett is another option, although he is more of a scoring threat closer to goals in the full forward line.

Gerry Kennedy: Was baldly at fault for both goals. The first goal Fanning made a great hook from Hannify but then Sean Ryan half caught the ball, it came off Kennedy and in. The second he only had 3 players on the line, when he was allowed 4. Corcoran was on the 21yard line and he never called him in to man the line, Murray lined up to shoot for goal and he duly obliged. His short puck outs were poor, there is no point in driving the ball to the 21 and letting the corner back drive it to the half forward line. Surely the whole point of a short puck out is to drive the ball to a player so that he can get it into the full forward line. He was rightly pulled up in the second half when he pucked out the ball and the Tipp backs were not outside the 21. The question has to be asked would Brendan Cummins have made those 2 mistakes.

Full back line: Diarmaid Fitzgerald was having an outstanding game, clearing ball after ball and blocking numerous Offaly attacks until he went off injured at the break. Hopefully its not a long term injury. Fanning had another good game, was unfortunate in the lead up to the first Offaly goal that despite his hook that Offaly scored. Gave away 2 needless 65’s in the first half 1 of which was pointed. Buckley had another good game, tight tenacious nothing fancy just does his job and kept his corner tight.

Half back line: Were helped by the lack of physicality of the Offaly players and both Conor O’Mahony and Corcoran caught some amount of ball unhindered. O’Mahony had a good game under the dropping ball but tended not to track/cover his man in open play. This will be severely punished by the likes of Cork and Waterford’s. Corcoran had another good game. His positional sense and reading of the ball in the first half was a joy to watch. Hugh Moloney got away with throwing the ball in front of him in the second half after been pulled up for it in the first. Still very loose, needs to tighten up. Good game none the less.

Midfield: Did not receive the hits of the last 3 games. Shane McGrath was back to his best, hooking, harrying and winning ball after ball. Made a great block late on to prevent an equalising Offaly attack. Woodlock was not as influential as normal but still a good game.

Half forward line: Devanney lead out the team in his first Championship start of the year. Scored a point in each half but did not see much of the ball in general play. Ryan O’Dwyer played his second game at centre forward. A very frustrating player to watch. He got 2 great frees after 2 great runs were halted in the first half but by half time had conceded 2 frees for charging and overcarrying from which Offaly scored. Good at winning the ball but needs to use it better. Pa Bourke again was getting his second start of the year. Set up Eoin Kelly for a point in the first half. Even against a less than physical Offaly team was too easily brushed aside. Will be a good Tipp senior in years to come but not this year.

Full forward line: Eoin Kelly. What can you say about the man, 13 scores; 1-9 from frees and 3 points from play. Won at least 3 of the frees himself while being fouled running through on goals. Still missed 3 frees and 1 other chance. Approaching his best, hopefully will reach that for the Cork and ¼ Final games. Liam Cahill getting his first start in years and it showed, was way too anxious in the first quarter and came way too far out the field meaning the ball sailed over his head a few times. Could have done with the effort that came off the post going over. Taken off at the break. Butler again had a good game, showed for the ball, scored 2 points and like Kelly was fouled for a least 4 of Kelly’s frees. Now a reliable alternative in the scoring stakes to Eon Kelly.

Benny Dunne for Diarmaid Fitzgerald (injured): Came on at half time in his fourth position in 4 games. Came out well with a few balls but was involved in conceding the free that lead to the second Offaly goal and cleared one hail Mary ball across the field that fell to an Offaly player who luckily put it wide.

John Carroll for Pa Bourke: Came on at half time in the half forward line, was involved in setting up a few scores in the second half but was quiet enough.

Lar Corbett for Liam Cahill: Came on at the break for his club mate at corner forward. Got very little ball into him and had to come out the field to gain possession, scored 1 good point and was in eth right place to sea out the game with that injury time goal.

James Woodlock for Thomas Stapleton: for the second game in a row came on at midfield, with 10 minutes to go. Was not involved the much in the game.

Willie Ryan for Francis Devanney: Came on as injury time approached and was involved in putting Mullins and Cleary under pressure and get the ball to Lar for the last goal.

Again while its harsh to be critical of Babs one has to wonder as to why he started Liam Cahill, 1996 was the best year he had, (won an All-Star), and he faded off the panel in 2003. He was under the most scrutiny of the starting 15 Tipp players, he was over anxious and once his first effort came back off the post his confidence was shot; passing the ball instead of taking it on himself. The logic of bringing in Benny Dunne at corner back also needs to be questioned. Yes I know Benny has played Championship games here before but on the bench there were 3 specialist corner backs, Conor O’Brien, Alan Byrne and Paul Ormonde while both Hugh Moloney and Corcoran have both played Championship in the corner. Surely this was an ideal game to let Ormonde have a run out. The Tipp public do not have confidence in this Tipp set up. The crowds are reducing drastically, last years Munster Final about 25k Tipp supporters, Limerick game last week 12 k, and last night only about 6k Tipp at the game. So the Tipp wagon rolls on to Parnell Park in Dublin next Saturday and ultimately the game against Cork in 2 weeks time.

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Tipperary v Offaly (30/06/07) preview Knocknagow

Tipp and Offaly meet in the first round of qualifier games in Group B on Saturday next at 3.00 in Semple Stadium Thurles. A ref for the game has not been appointed yet. Tipp and Offaly last met in the 2006 League Quarter Final in Thurles, it was a high scoring free flowing game of hurling. Tipp lead 2-7 to 1-8 at the break with Eoin Kelly and Darragh Egan scoring the Tipp goals. Offaly pulled back in the second half and drew level with 15 minutes to go 2-15 to 3-12, but points from Kenny Dunne and Webster saw Tipp home by 2-21 to 3-14. One interesting aspect of that game is that of the only 6 of that starting 15 that day started last Sunday! The last Championship meeting was in the All-Ireland Quarter Finals in 2003 in Croke Park, a Brian O’Meara goal and some good Brendan Cummins save saw Tipp lead 1-8 to 0-5 at the break. John Carroll goaled for Tipp and they seemed in control as they lead 2-15 to 0-10 as the game seem to peter out, but Offaly with late goals from Gary Hannify and Neville Coughlan left Tipp hanging on for a 2-16 to 2-11 win. Again only 5 of those players started last Sunday.
Offaly have played 2 Championship match to date, firstly against Laois in the quarter final where they won comfortably 1-26 to 0-10. Offaly were always in control of the game and never looked in trouble as the booked a semi final spot against Kilkenny. The Kilkenny game was played in Portlaois 3 weeks ago and Offaly lost 1-27 to 1-13. The game was close until half time as Offaly won a 21 yard free and Damien Murray blasted past PJ Ryan as they only went in a point down at the break 0-14 to 1-10. However once Kilkenny goaled in the 57th minute through Eoin Larkin there was only going to be one winner as Kilkenny chalked up and impressive 1-13 in the second half. Offaly put it up to Kilkenny in the first half mainly though strong forceful hurling but once Kilkenny stepped it up in the second half there was only ever going to be 1 winner as Offaly faded badly. Consolation will have come to Offaly last Wednesday when their U21’s with 10 of the senior panel overcame Kilkenny in the Leinster U21 Semi final.
Tipp are now playing their 4th game in a row and will go into this game with very little build up and hype. Indeed the attention will be focused on the management as John Leahy will find out today when his 8 week ban for abusing a lineman at the drawn game will start and Babs may also be in trouble for his comments after that game as well. It remains to be seen what physical effect these games and more importantly what physiological effect the loss to Limerick will have on the Tipp mindframe. Tipp are lucky in the way that the games are falling. Home to the 2 strongest teams and away to Dublin. Also at home the first game and having Cork in the last game. While the game against Cork is not crucial the loser faces Kilkenny and the winner faces Wexford in the Quarter Final, (assuming that Wexford don’t win the Leinster Final on Sunday!)
The Tipp team will not be announced until Thursday night after training. There will be a few changes considering the exertions of the past 3 weekends. Paul Curran is fit to start and given the game to come against Cork in 2 weeks time is likely to play, although after Declan Fanning’s outstanding display last week he may have to revert to corner back. Paul Kelly will not feature. Willie Ryan who took a heavy belt just before half time in extra time and Shane McGrath who has come off injured in both of the last 2 games are both struggling to be fit. If Shane McGrath is not fit I hope that Hugh Moloney is moved to midfield, Diarmaid Fitzgerald to wing back and Curran in the corner. While High Moloney is a classy hurler he struggled at times with the Limerick half forwards as they scored well off him last week. Thomas Stapleton is also another option and would benefit for a start. I expect a few changes in the forwards with Danny O’Hanlon and Ryan O’Dwyer to start. At least 1 change has to be made in the half forward line where they were completely outplayed and physically destroyed by Limerick last Sunday. I think that Egan should be kept but only on the wing. While he doesn’t use his size he is still a great player to poach points but he needs a ball winner beside him to win the ball throw him the ball in space and he will use it.
Saturday will also be ideal for Pa Bouke to start. In his home stadium away from the glare of the media. I know he started the first day but he was physically not at the races with the stupid ball that was driven in to him. Last Sunday he came on midway through the half and with only 1 chance scored a good point. He is also another possible candidate to solve the wing forward problems. It should be remember that a despite all the doom and gloom in Tipp last week, (and there was good reason considering the inaction on the sideline during the game), that Limerick are only in the quarter final and if Tipp win the next 2 games they will also be in the quarter finals.
In order to avoid Kilkenny in the quarters Tipp have to finish top of the group they will have to win all 3 games. So on Saturday while a performance is not critical a win is a must. Nothing will be got easy off Offaly who with John McIntyre, (a Lorrha man who has been turned down as Tipp boss the past few times the job was on offer), this game represents a chance to get one over on Tipp. While Offaly will not have the same physical threat that Limerick carried the past 3 games they fairly lowered the blade to Kilkenny in the first half of the Leinster semi final and it worked as they only went on 1 point down at the break. This Tipp team has to learn to win and close out games. In the first 2 Limerick games they were leading as the game entered the closing stages and failed miserably to close out the game. Last Sunday it was Tipp who conjured up 3 points to force a scarcely deserved draw and force the game into extra time. In both extra times Tipp did not score in the second half when they had Limerick under pressure both times.
While Tipp will be shattered and confidence if they can stick with Offaly and their initial burst then Tipp should have enough hurling to pull through, although Tipp have struggled to cope with the Claffey’s in recent meetings. Offaly also have a proven scorer in Damien Murray and at the back have the imposing figure of Tipp man Ger Oakley and impressive Birr goalie Brian Mullins who pulled off a string of great saves against Kilkenny. So Tipp to just about get over the line and get back in track with a 3 point win.

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Limerick 0-22 Tipperary 2-13 (24/06/07) Knocknagow

Limerick eventually qualified for the 2007 Munster Final after another titanic tussle with Tipp in an at times wet and windy Gaelic Ground this afternoon after extra time in front of just over 30,000. The rain led to the game being played on a grease pitch which was cut up badly at both goals. It was preceded by a masterful display from the Tipp minors who dispatched a weak Limerick team with a clinical and ruthless edge sadly lacking by the Tipp Seniors. Tipperary lined out with the selected team but Limerick started with Kevin Tobin in place of Seannie O’Connor who was injured. Kevin Tobin played most of the game as a third midfielder but Tipp left Eamon Buckley where he was in the full back line.
A foul by Hugh Moloney saw Brian Geary point a long range free. Mike O’Brien had a wide before Lucey fouled Lar but still set up Kevin Tobin for Limerick’s second. Tipp finally got of the board when Eoin Kelly pointed a free. A great run by Woodlock was wasted when he wasted his handpass. A high ball into the Tipp square saw Reale fall under a challenge from Egan. He was stretchered off the field however in the middle of it the ref let the game resume then stopped as Egan scored a goal as Reale was still on the stretcher, he then gave a throw in!! Peter Lawlor replaced him. Tobin passed to Donal O’Grady who pointed. Tobin had a wide before a Niall Moran effort was blocked for a 65 which was pointed by Geary for 4-1. Benny Dunne was fouled but Eoin Kelly missed the free and from the puck out Ollie Moran pointed. Mike Fitzgerald and Niall Moran both pointed for Limerick as they built up a 7-1 lead.
Tipp got back on track when a Butler run saw him felled and kneed on by Mark O’Riordan. Eoin Kelly got Tipp’s second score of the day after 22 minutes. Lucey had a wide before Lar was fouled and Kelly again pointed. Lucey got yellow carded for a foul on Darragh Egan and the free was pointed by Eoin Kelly. Carroll got a yellow after a stupid foul on Lucey. Mark Foley fouled and Eoin Kelly pointed to leave only in it. Eoin Kelly tracked back, won the ball and pointed for Tipp’s first from play. A long ball from Hugh Moloney found Egan in acres of space and he buried the ball past Murray after 35 minutes to leave it 1-6 to 0-7 in Tipp’s favour. Limerick got the last 2 scores of the half with a Niall Moran point and a Shaughnessy free. A Shaughnessy effort was saved by Kennedy and after 5 minutes of injury time the ref blew with the sides level 1-6 to 0-9.
Neither side made a change for the resumption. Shaughnessy had a bad wide before Egan failed miserably with a pass to Lar. Good play by John Carroll set up Butler for a point. Eoin Kelly in a tight spot managed to get the ball to Shane McGrath and he flicked it over the bar to put Tipp 1-8 to 0-09 ahead. Shane McGrath was then frontal charged and as he fell to the ground the ref gave a Limerick free!! Which was pointed. Kelly won the ball in the middle of the field but it trailed wide. Niall Moran got a point to draw the sides level after 45 minutes. Shaughnessy pointed a free after Mike Fitzgerald was fouled. Limerick brought on James O’Brien for the ineffective Begley. Geary was stupidly fouled by Egan. Hugh Moloney was clearly fouled but only got a throw in! Shane McGrath went off after 55 and was replaced by Thomas Stapleton.
Eoin Kelly then missed a close in free after he seemed to go for goal but Murray saved. Lar Corbett was stupidly booked for dissent. James O’Brien then got through on goals but was hooked excellently by Declan Fanning. With 10 minutes to go the sides were level when Eon Kelly scored a good point. Hickey then beat Kelly and cleared. Shaughnessy picked the ball off the ground, (but got away with it), passed to Kevin Tobin who pointed. A weak puck out by Kennedy saw the ball fall to Shaughnessy whose effort came off the post and Kennedy was able to scramble it clear. Donal O’Grady got a yellow for a dirty blow on Benny Dunne and Kelly missed the free. Tipp made another change when Pa Bourke replaced Carroll. Woodlock then flicked the ball past him was taken out of it but no free given, the ball goes down the other end and Mike Fitzgerald points. Limerick got their last score of the game on 66 minutes with a Niall Moran effort. Benny Dunne was eventually was taken off and replaced by Willie Ryan. Pa Bourke got his first ever Tipp Senior Championship score with a neat point. Willie Ryan was crudely fouled by Lucey and Kelly made no mistake with the free. Limerick replaced Kevin Tobin with Pat Tobin. Mark Foley then had a chance to clear but missed the ball Butler swooped to collect shrugged off a few tackles and put the ball over the bar to level. Both sides had one more chance Tipp’s chance fell to Egan but he fumbled and the chance was lost, Limerick’s chance fell to Mike Fitzgerald but his effort went wide under pressure from Corcoran so after 3 minutes injury time the ref blew up with the full time score of Tipperary 1-12 Limerick 0-15.
So for the second time in 8 days the sides faced extra time. Ollie Moran got a point but not before striking Conor O’Mahony off the ball straight into the ribs. Hugh Moloney was fouled and Conor O’Mahony’s free fell to Butler who fumbled it then it came to Lar and went out for a 65 which Kelly missed. Butler had a wide before Kennedy had to come out to catch and kick the ball to safety. Tipp then got a goal when Eoin Kelly under pressure passed to Willie Ryan his shot seemed to deceive Murray and went to the net. Straight away Seamus Butler was fouled and Eoin Kelly pointed to make it 2-13 to 0-16 as injury time approached in the first period of extra time. Shaughnessy pointed for Limerick but then Kevin Tobin missed a great goal chance when his effort was blocked by Buckley and his next effort went wide. Half time in extra time 2-13 to 0-16 in Limerick’s favour.
Limerick brought on Barry Foley and took off Mike Fitzgerald. Geary got a great point straight from the throw in. A Fanning fumble allowed Ollie Moran to break the ball to Barry Foley whose effort was saved with his body by Kennedy the ball went for a 65 and it was pointed by Shaughnessy to leave only a point in it. Hugh Flavin came on for Pat Tobin and straight away missed a goal chance. With 17 minutes gone another Shaughnessy free saw Limerick edge ahead by 1, 2-13 to 0-20. Mark Foley fouls Butler Eoin Kelly free was short and Willie Ryan was desperately unlucky to see his goal effort smothered and cleared. The clearance fell to Egan and he was blatantly hand tripped by Seamus Hickey the ball came to Eoin Kelly and as he shot a Limerick arm was around his neck the ref waved Limerick advantage as the ball was cleared!! The game was getting scrappy now and at one stage the ref threw in the ball with 2 Limerick and 1 Tipp man. Worse was to follow for Tipp as Lar Corbett got the ball in the corner and with the clock reading over 20 minutes, he again was hand tripped by Seamus Hickey, most of the players stopped for this obvious free but the ref gave nothing. Barry Foley passed to Ollie Moran he pointed and then his brother got the last of the game. Tipp then made a raid down the field to get an equalising goal, Limerick fans invaded the pitch the ball was hit in by Tipp the ref blows the whistle and gives a throw in despite the fact that Tipp had possession!! Finally after 23 minutes of extra time the ref blew up and Limerick advanced to their first Munster Final since 2001 on a score line of 0-22 to 2-13.
So Limerick eventually beat Tipp for the first time since 1996, and win a first Munster Championship game since 2001. It was a very different game to the first 2, a lot closer, and scores harder won. Limerick while deserving the win, (they scored 22 times to only 15 from Tipp), still have an awful lot of work to do. They dominated the first half an hour, lead by 7-1 but yet as the in injury time were behind by 2 points. Shaughnessy had a poor day on the frees and indeed in general play, Begley was totally ineffective at the edge of the square and while the plot of playing Tobin worked in stopping Woodlock and McGrath running with the ball they had nothing in the inside line. They will have to up their game considerably if they are to come close to Waterford. The main thing for Richie is to keep the player feet on the ground, they go into the Munster Final as serious underdogs. Their inability to score goals will make it tough to beat Waterford.
There were 2 clear reasons why Tipp lost this game. Firstly all the players gave 110% and worked themselves into the ground. However they were let down by the sideline and the ref. Firstly I will restate what I said after the game last week. BABS HAS TO GO, and the sooner the better. How he stayed looking at that half forward line for over 60 minutes is beyond me, Egan was shocking, Benny Dunne appalling and Carroll not much better. Gerry Kennedy was told put the ball as long and as hard as possible, even a few time Leahy came down to issue instructions. Tipp did win a single ball from a puck out in the first half. When in the name of God was Ryan O’Dwyer not brought on, why was Eoin Kelly not brought out to win possession. Why in the name of God was Danny O’Hanlon put warming up and sitting on the bench for all the second half and then all of extra time and not used? What is the point in having a subs bench if it not used. He was summed up for me when a few minutes before the game started instead of talking to the players he was signing autographs at the Tipp terrace, what use is that to the Tipp players?
The second reason that Tipp lost was down to the ref, who gave one of the worst displays of referring I have seen in a long time. It is not sour grapes or begrudgery he was just rank and shafted Tipp big time. While in normal time he did some stupid things, letting the play go on when Reale was still on the stretcher and not off the field, he blew that up only as Tipp through Darragh Egan were about to score and not Limerick. He again let a lot of frontal charges by Limerick players go unpunished, especially on Shane McGrath early on in the second half. In the first period of extra time he missed O’Mahony getting hit and grounded by Ollie Moran as he scored a point. It was in the second period of extra time that he took the biscuit. He missed 3 clear Tipp frees: firstly when Egan was clearly tripped, then Eoin Kelly had a shot at a point and a Limerick player had their hands around his neck, in that incident he waved his hand giving advantage to Limerick. He then gave Mark Foley 2 frees over by the Mackey Stand side when they should have been Tipp frees or at least play on. Then with Tipp only a point down and the game in injury time Lar was clearly tripped, (watch the tape again 3 Limerick players and most of the Tipp players stop as the foul is so obvious), again no free. This was by far the most obvious of the three and there was no justification in the world as to why it was not a free. He then threw in the ball and there were 2 Limerick players and 1 Tipp man for the throw in. Then when there was a pitch invasion Tipp drove the ball into the Limerick half, (we needed a goal), but he again threw in the ball. Absolutely ridiculous rubbish from one of the so called top referees.

Kennedy: Made 1 great save in extra time when he came out and blocked a Barry Foley effort. His puck outs were poor. It was clear he was under instructions to drive it long, when he should have used the wing or corner backs who looked for it every time. Did not concede a goal and never looked likely to either.

Full back line: Fanning was my man of the match. Beat Begley up a stick never let him get a look in. Thrived in the tough conditions, by far his best game of the 3 to date. Buckley was outstanding. Was helped by the fact that Tobin stayed in midfield and he mopped up ball after ball all day. Made a great block in injury time to deny a nearly certain goal. Fitzgerald also had a good game, I would still like to see him in the half back line but he didn’t put a foot wrong in the corner.

Half back line: Conor O’Mahony despite some unfair criticism the last day, stuck to Ollie Moran like glue and never let him out of his sights, not much ball came his way and had a good day. Corcoran drifted in and out of the game, started off very well and cleared an amount of ball, but both Limerick wing forwards scored a lot and did a lot of damage. Hugh Moloney has a lovely clearance of the ball and delivers it well into the inside line, but tends not to be aggressive enough in closing his man down.

Midfield: It was tribute to how these 2 players did the last 2 weeks that Limerick put a third man on them to curb their influence. Shane McGrath was not as prominent as the last 2 games, although did score a point at a crucial time. The cruel sledging that he had been subjected to over the last 2 and a half game seemed to take their toil and he was replaced after 55 minutes. Woodlock again was not as prominent but his work rate could not be faulted, worked tirelessly through out and never gave up.

Half forward line: Even in the worst days our pathetic half forward line of last year they never were this bad. Darragh Egan did not win the ball from the puck out all day, never used his height or weight. Luck to escape for dragging Reale to the ground by his face guard. Did score a goal, (which in such a low scoring game probably ensured his continuing on the field), contributed nothing from general play and it was a mystery to most Tipp fans as to how he saw the full 90 minutes. Had a chance to win the game lat on in normal time when the ball came to him he fumbled it and Limerick went on the attack, summed up his day really. Was better on the wing where he could pick off points. Benny Dunne has now not performed in 3 positions, did not chase down the ball, show leadership or win ball from the puck outs was lucky to last 68 minutes. Carroll had a serious off day, was totally dominated by Mark Foley, not helped by being moved into to full forward and no ball going into him, replaced after 65.

Full forward line: While Eoin Kelly scored 9 points in total, 2 from play, and did set up Willie Ryan’s goal he had an off day. He missed a handy free in the first half, a crucial 65 when Tipp were 3 points down with time running out, missed a 21 yard free that went straight at Murray, then in extra time drove a free low and into the square when normally he would put it over the bar with his eyes closed. Yes he was been the saviour and hero for Tipp for the past 6 years but today was not one of his better days. Seamus Butler had a good game, living off very little ball got 2 points, the second one which took the game into extra time. Might have been better suited out around midfield to us all the broken ball. Lar Corbett did not score and wasted a lot off ball. Foraged and worked hard but in such a tight game should be able to carry the game to the Limerick backs.

Thomas Stapleton for Shane McGrath: Had a great chance straight after coming on but shot well wide. Not involved much there after despite playing all extra time.

Pa Bourke for Carroll: Came good with a sweet point at a time when Tipp were struggling to scores to draw the game.

Willie Ryan for Benny Dunne: His first time pull on the ball went to the net in extra time. Got a heavy knock just before half tome of extra time and this seemed to take a lot out of him.

Probably on the balance of things Limerick deserved to win the scored 22 times to 15. 15 scores over 90+ minutes is a pathetic return from Tipp at this level. Tipp only scored twice in extra time. The half forward line only scored once from play and only 3 points from play from the full forward line and it took an astonishing 33 minutes to score from a point from play in the first half. Again Richie Bennis beat Babs up a stick as far as tactics go. He again wisely used his bench, making switches and changes wholesale an it showed as it was the new men who did most of the damage late on. Tipp made 3 subs in 90+ minutes, one of those was forced as Shane McGrath was shattered. He had Danny O’Hanlon warming up for most of the game but he never came on when we were screaming for someone to win the ball in the full forward line. Again Babs may whinge and moan about the lack of talent but Babs this is your second year here and that was what the League was for to get a panel of 30+ players ready for Championship. What the point of having O’Hanlon, Liam Cahill, Devanney, Ryan O’Dwyer and Shane Maher on the bench if you wont play them. No fault could be found with the defence who played well, but in the first half any time the ball was cleared it was just bouncing back off the Limerick half back line, we were shouting out for Ryan O’Dwyer’s aggression and fire but we got nothing not even switches from Babs. How they stood on the line for so long and tried nothing is beyond me. We go into the nasty route of the qualifiers in a wretched tired state and Offaly will be waiting in the long grass next Saturday in Thurles to ambush us.

Knocknagow

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Limerick v Tipperary (24/06/07) Second Replay Preview

Tipp and Limerick meet for the third time on Sunday in the Gaelic Grounds to decide who faces Waterford in the Munster Final on 8th July at 3.30. The game will be preceded by the Munster Minor Semi Final between the same 2 counties at 1.45. Also the U21 game which involves a large number of the Tipp panel for this Thursday night between Tipp and Cork has been postponed. Liam Cahill will have a busy afternoon as he is a sub on the Tipp Senior team and is a selector on the Minor team. While the winner of this game gets into the Munster Final in 2 weeks time the loser has to go into the qualifiers Group B with Dublin, Offaly and Cork with 2 teams to get out and into the All-Ireland Quarter Finals. However the worst aspect is that the games are scheduled to take place on the weekends of the 30th June, 7th and 14th July, so it means that the losers will have to play 5 weeks in a row and depending on results an All-Ireland Qualifier the week after! So while the incentive for the winner is good it is way more gruelling prospect for the loser to recover. One can only but wonder how the convoluted Tipp Senior Club Championship would cope with no games being played until the end of July at the earliest!
The game last Saturday followed a very similar pattern to the first game only taken to more extremes. Tipp were the best team in the first half and dominated most of the game, Limerick trailed for the vast majority of the game and fought back, 3 points in the drawn game, 10 the replay to force a draw. They again forced the game into a second replay. One aspect of the game that seems to have been overlooked is that while Limerick dominated the last 15 minutes of normal time outscoring Tipp 1-9 to 0-2 they could not carry this into extra time and it was Tipp who dominated the first period of extra time scoring 1-2. This was the first time in both games that Limerick had the chance to power past Tipp and they failed to do so. Of course Tipp have numerous occasions on both games to finish the match off and failed to do so. Personally I felt there were 2 occasions last Saturday when Tipp were not going to win.
The first was when Limerick scored the goal, even though they were still 6 points down the tide turned and there was only 1 team in it after that. However Woodlock had a great chance when he ran through with 5 minutes to go and popped the ball over the bar, with Eoin Kelly outside him screaming for the ball. If he had goaled or passed to Kelly then the Limerick momentum would have been stopped and Tipp would now be in the Munster Final. While the upheavals and changes that Tipp had before taking the field did not seem to have an effect on the team in the first, 4 changes and a host of changes to accommodate Benny Dunne, could not have done any good for the confidence of the side when the pressure came on in the second half.
Still while calamitous errors were made before, (Cummins dropped, Benny at centre forward), and during the game, (Benny Dunne left at centre forward for so long, subs not been brought on to counteract the fresh Limerick legs.) Tipp had sorted out a lot of the problems from the last day; with a few exceptions the full back line was a lot sounder, until Corcoran went off injured the half back line was solid as well, midfield was dominating, that changed when Woodlock was moved to centre forward and Benny to midfield, (why was this done, Woodlock was taken away from the action his style of play in closing down and harassing would have been a lot better than Benny Dunne’s lose play and it showed as the likes of James O’Brien and Kevin Tobin got free reigns.) Babs may complain about injuries, well why did he call up 2 corner backs from the intermediate team and not add some midfield reinforcement? While Babs was well able to whinge to the media about people criticising the players, and the players were shattered after the game, well Babs the reason they were shattered was that you did not make enough substitutions. Look at Richie Bennis as far as I can remember he made 8 changes, taking off players giving them a rest. Sure he made mistakes; Donie Ryan was poor so he was hauled off again. We were crying out for a change/new blood around the half back line midfield area for the last 10 minutes of normal time on and surely Diarmaid Fitzgerald could have been moved to midfield or wing back with Conor O’Brien coming in the corner. On the bench Francis Devanney, (who stared at midfield for Toome when they won Munster last year), was not even considered. Babs what’s the point in having a panel if you won’t use it? You have a panel so use them.
If Gerry Kennedy was brought in because Babs fell out with Cummins over his puck outs then to my eye last Sunday Kennedy was doing exactly the same thing on Saturday. Don’t get me wrong Kennedy had a good game, saving the penalty well and sweeping up any Limerick chances. However our main tactic was to put the puck outs to Carroll. In the first half he caught an amount of them but with Benny Dunne MIA Limerick pushed Geary over and unless Carroll won the ball cleanly the 2 Limerick players cleared the loose ball down the field. Why wasn’t Ryan O’Dwyer brought on sooner if he was able to play extra time then surely he should have been brought on midway through the second half to counter act Geary. Again the quality of ball into the Tipp full forward line was shocking Pa Bourke was brought on in the corner and the ball into him was ridiculously high and at only 19 he was well pushed off the ball by the more experienced Lucey. Why wasn’t he switched with O’Hanlon who is a lot more physical and he wouldn’t have been as easily pushed off the ball? O’Hanlon was on from injury time of normal time until the end of extra time and I didn’t remember him touching the ball.
Despite all the doom and gloom around Tipp during the week it is worth remembering a few things, unavailable the last day through injuries and various other reasons where Brendan Cummins, Philip Maher, Paul Curran, Paul Ormonde, Paul Kelly and John O’Brien all of whom were involved with Tipp since 2001. These players have the experience and authority on the field and added to the loss through injury of Eamon Corcoran with 10 minutes to go may go some way to explaining Tipp’s inability to hold onto a substantial lead. The Tipp team will not be announced until closer to the game and hopefully with no further upheavals or injuries it will be along the following line; 1-10 same as the last day, Ryan O Dwyer and Darragh Egan forming the rest of the half back line, then Eoin Kelly, Danny O’Hanlon and Seamus Butler in the full forward line, although I suspect that Lar and Benny will start. Limerick will go with pretty much the same side as last week. One area where I can see us prospering on Sunday is goal scoring. Last Saturday we had at least 6 clear shots on goal, 2 went in, 2 were saved, 1 wide and Kelly’s effort off the top of the crossbar. Tipp need to be able to take these chances on Sunday.
How do I see this game going? Well after over 160 minutes these teams know each other pretty well by now. I expect this game will be a lot tighter with neither side building up a commanding lead. There will be a lot more pressure on Limerick this week as they are now back on home turf and its up to them to take the game to Tipp. For Limerick to win they need a forward other than Ollie Moran to step up to the plate, someone like O’Shaughnessy who has not overly impressed either day. For once the scoring in the Tipp forwards has been evenly distributed and maybe with another game under his belt Eoin Kelly might score more from play. Again the substitutions may be critical as players will be shattered come the second half after the first 2 games. Despite all the hassle and squandered leads I still expect Tipp to sneak through by a few points although we may have to endure extra time first!



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Tipperary 2-21 Limerick 1-24 (16-06-07) Knocknagow

Tipp and Limerick have to go to a second replay after drawing after extra time in Thurles yesterday evening in front of just over 27,000. Neither side could be separated after over 90 minutes of hurling so its back to the Gaelic Grounds next weekend to hopefully get a winner to the Munster Semi Final and decide who meets Waterford in the Munster Final on 8th July. Limerick made no changes but Babs made a whole raft of them. Firstly Brendan Cummins was dropped and Gerry Kennedy of Killenaule made his Championship debut. Conor O’Mahony started at centre back with Hugh Moloney wing back. Benny Dunne started at centre forward in place of Ryan O’Dwyer who had an injured thumb. In the full forward line Lar Corbett and Seamus Butler flanked Eoin Kelly at full forward, with Pa Bourke and surprisingly Willie Ryan losing out.
A foul on Mike O’Riordan saw Geary get a long range point. Darragh Egan passed to Lar but his effort on goal was weak and batted away by Brian Murray and eventually put over the bar by Benny Dunne. Another foul on Mike O’Riordan saw Geary get a long range free, the ball came to Niall Moran who pointed. A Hugh Moloney push on Donal O’Grady went unpunished when Shaughnessy put the free wide. Shane McGrath passed to Eoin Kelly to Lar and then he pointed to put Tipp 3-2 ahead. Niall Moran then frontal charged Conor O’Mahony and was not yellow carded. Benny Dunne managed to get a pass off to Eoin Kelly but his effort came off the top of the crossbar and was waved wide. Ollie Moran was fouled by O’Mahony and Shaughnessy pointed the free. A high ball into the Tipp area saw Kennedy come out and block the danger posed by Barry Foley. A Geary clearance was blocked by Eoin Kelly and Seamus Butler nipped in to point.
Benny Dunne then had a great chance of a goal but shot high and over. Darragh Egan was then frontal charged by Geary and Eoin Kelly scored the free to put Tipp 3 ahead. Pat Tobin passed to Ollie Moran who pointed. In the 22nd minute John Carroll had a great catch, ran at goals but his shot came back off the post. Seamus Butler got the ball easily beat Reale on the end line and buried the ball past Murray, 1-6 to 0-4. Butler added another point. Lar Corbett then ran at goals but his shot was easily saved, his shot was not helped by the 3 vicious blows as he ran at goals for which Lucey only got a yellow card! Messing by Diarmaid Fitzgerald, (not clearing the ball when he had 3 chances to do so), saw the ball break to Sahughnessy, he was hauled down by Fanning and Limerick had a penalty in the 27th minute. Kennedy justified his selection with a great save, low to his left, he brought the ball out and Fitzgerald cleared. Reale saw yellow for wrestling Kelly to the ground, Kelly got up and pointed. He pointed another free soon after when Butler was fouled by Hickey. Conor O’Mahoney found Lar and he pointed. Limerick made their first change with the ineffective Lawlor being replaced by Begley. He went to the edge of the square with Mike O’Brien midfield. Woodlock fouled and Shaughnessy pointed for Limerick’s last score of the half. Buckley was then frontal charged by Begley and the ref saw it but waved play on and never punished Begley. Egan snapped up the loose ball and pointed. Ollie Moran caught a high ball in the square and was hauled down by O’Mahoney but the ref ruled it was a square ball. That was the last action of the half as the ref blew after 4 minutes of injury time with Tipp ahead 1-12 to 0-5.
Limerick made 1 change with the ineffective Mike Fitzgerald being replaced by Barry Foley. Gerry Kennedy got away with some sloppy play, before Geary got the first score of the half with another long free. Sloppy Tipp play let Limerick in for a point. In the 41st minute Eamon Corcoran put over a great sideline cut. Shaughnessy pointed a free. Benny Dunne had a silly wide. Benny Dunne passed to Eoin Kelly and he pointed. Limerick then added 2 scores with Mike Fitzgerald putting over after a scramble and then Niall Moran pointed to leave it 1-14 to 0-10. Limerick brought on Donie Ryan for Pat Tobin. Lar set up Egan who pointed. Tipp then brought on Pa Bourke for Lar at corner forward.
Butler then came in along the endline but tried to flick the ball over Murray and his shot was saved but Eoin Kelly pointed. Mike O’Brien got a yellow card for a foul on Woodlock which Kelly pointed to make to 1-17 to 0-10 after 55 minutes. Limerick brought on Kevin Tobin for Niall Moran. Limerick then got motoring and Mike Fitzgerald pointed. Egan then stupidly dropped his hurley with the ball in his had, the ref by Geary laws caught by Ollie Moran who passed to Mike Fitzgerald who flicked to the net to only leave 6 pointes in it with 14 minutes to go. Kevin Tobin got a long range point. Benny Dunne passed to Seamus Butler who pointed.
Eamon Corcoran then went off injured and was replaced by Stapleton. James O’Brien was on for Limerick in place of Mike O’Brien. Pa Bourke set up Woodlock and he pointed with Eoin Kelly screaming for the pass. This was Tipp’s last score and seemed to be enough as Tipp lead 1-19 to 1-12 with 6 minutes to go. Kevin Tobin pointed and Egan’s run to goals was halted. Ollie Moran began to take over and pointed, as did James O’Brien Moran got 2 more to leave only 2 points in it in injury time. Eoin Kelly then down in the corner played the ball straight to a Limerick man, the ball went down the filed and Moran pointed. Tipp brought on Danny O’Hanlon in place of Woodlock at full forward. Shaughnessy won a free 4 minutes into injury time after Diarmaid Fitzgerald fouled him he pointed it and the when the ref blew the sides were heading for extra time with identical scoreline to last week of 1-19 apiece.
Straight from the throw in James O’Brien pointed for Limerick, Shane McGrath was injured and had to receive treatment. Eoin Kelly won the ball on his hands and knees, got up soloed at the goals, drew the men, passed to Egan who buried to the net to put Tipp back in the driving seat after only 2 minutes of injury time. Tipp brought on Ryan O’Dwyer at centre forward for Pa Bourke. Mike Fitzgerald pointed to reduce the lead to a point. Limerick drew level when Conor O’Mahony was yellow carded for a foul on Ollie Moran and Shaughnessy pointed, he then was through on goals but fumbled the ball and Buckley and Fitzgerald were able to clear. Shane McGrath was caught very late and had to go off injured. Eoin Kelly pointed the free. Benny Dunne then found Lar who pointed from far out for Tipp’s last score of the game on the stroke of half time to make it 2-21 to 1-22 in Tipp’s favour after 2 minutes of injury time.
Limerick made 2 changes with Niall Moran replacing Donal O’Grady and Damien Reale replaced by Maurice O’Brien. Mark Foley got a long range point. Pat Tobin came back on for the ineffective Donie Ryan, and soon both Tobin and Diarmaid Fitzgerald were yellow carded for off the ball incidents. Eoin Kelly set up Benny Dunne but he put the ball well wide. Shaughnessy then bore down on the Tipp goal but put the ball wide. Tipp made their last change with Willie Ryan replacing Seamus Butler who was suffering from a dead leg. Tipp the stupidly fouled and the ball dropped into the Tipp area, Thomas Stapleton came out with it but the ball was blocked by Ollie Moran and came off his hurley and went over the endline. It should have been a wide ball but due to the protestations of the Limerick players it was signalled a 65 and Shaughnessy sent the ball over the bar to leave it Tipperary 2-21 to Limerick’s 1-24 after nearly 3 minutes of injury time. RTE gave Man of the Match to Brian Geary.
Again Richie Bennis will be elated with this game they were dead and buried for ¾ of the game but still when they were 10 points down they kept plugging way and got the goal and in the last 10 minutes managed to get 7 points to draw the game. However a number of his players did not perform the Tipp full back line totally blotted out the Limerick full forward line with Barry Foley and Pat Tobin being replaced and it was interesting to note that its was from the half forward line and midfield that most of their scores came in the last 10 minutes. Twice in injury time Shaughnessy was through on goals but fumbled the first effort and the second one he put wide. A lot may be glossed over by their second half but Limerick were shocking in the first half and need to start producing consistent game if they are to win.
One aspect of Limerick’s game that deserves comment is the number of late tackles that they committed throughout the game. In the first half 3 Tipp players were frontal charged, O’Mahony, Egan and Buckley. The first 2 were frees for Tipp but no action against the Limerick player the ref pointed at Begley after he took out Buckley but when the play stopped he never confronted Begley! In extra time Shane McGrath was caught late, Tipp got the free but no one was yellow carded. Another aspect that grated Tipp people was the way the Limerick officials intimidated the linesman on the Old Stand side of the field, every time the ball went out there was least 1 official shouting at him. Why weren’t these officials in the dug out? They won a sideline in extra time which led to a Limerick point, that was a Tipp ball. Likewise the last 65 which Limerick drew the match with was NOT a 65 yet half the Limerick team badgered the umpire until he gave a 65. The ref was poor twice he gave frees to Reale when he grabbed Eoin Kelly’s arm or hurley and pulled him to the ground and the second time had the cheek to signal to the ref that Kelly should be booked!!! This from the guy that twice tried to break Kelly’s arm 1 week ago and has been yellow carded 3 times in 2 games for fouls on Kelly. You could not make it up.
Babs tried everything in his power to lose this game. Firstly dropping Brendan Cummins, (one of the best goalies of the last 20 years), over a petty dispute and then staring at Benny Dunne wasting ball after ball and waiting until the game was nearly lost before putting on Ryan O’Dwyer at centre forward. While Ryan O’Dwyer may have had an injured thumb if he was fit enough to play extra time why in the name of God was he not started? Dwyer did not let Geary get a sniff of it last week and this week Geary ended up Man of the Match. Also putting Pa Bourke at wing forward and they watching ball after ball been ballooned in at him with snow on it. If this was his game plan then why not put on Webster or O’Hanlon in the corner as it was Lucey ate Bourke without salt.
Also what messing was Babs doing with “dropping” O’Hanlon a few weeks ago to train with the U21’s and then calling him back last weeks and playing him. What does that say about the other forward subs in the panel who were overlooked, Devanney, Webster and Cahill? Why in the name of God does Babs not use his bench even if it is only to give players a break. Look at Limerick in the last 10 minutes of normal time it was the subs, Kevin Tobin, Mike Fitzgerald and James O’Brien who did all the damage to Tipp. They were the new fresh players and they ran the legs off our lot who were out on their feet. Once Corcoran and Shane McGrath went off injured Tipp had nothing around the middle of the field to combat Limerick. The full back line was shored up from the last day but all they could do was watch in vain as the Limerick players out around the middle of the field pointed ball after ball. To be honest The County Board should do the honourable thing and sack him during the week to avoid any further embarrassment.
Again Eoin Kelly was well shackled from play only scoring 3 points but Egan and Butler contributed handsomely and if Tipp had any bit of luck would have had 2 more goals in the first half. Also only 5 wides over 90+ is a great conversion of chances by Tipp, compared with 15 wides from Limerick. Still Tipp lacked the maturity to close out the game in the second half and once Limerick got a run with 10 to go there was only ever 1 team in it and indeed Tipp were lucky to hang on and force the game into extra time.

Gerry Kennedy: In fairness to the guy was the fall guy in the situation and Cummins was fully supportive of him before the game. Could not be faulted for the goal. Made a great save for the penalty and was commanding of his area.

Full back line: Buckley had a great game. Did not give Barry Foley a sniff of the ball, and coped with everything well. Also when he has time he delivered a few great ball into the forwards. Declan Fanning had a good game, allowed Shaughnessy no room and did not give Begley a puck of the ball in the second half. Diarmaid Fitzgerald had a great game except for 1 incident when he had 3 chances to clear the ball but didn’t and it led to an unnecessary Limerick penalty.

Half Back line: If the game ended at 60 minutes then Conor O’Mahony would have had a great game but in the last 10 minutes Ollie Moran went to town setting up the goal and scoring 3 points from play. Still did better than Benny Dunne. Hugh Moloney had a quiet game effective though, should have possible been moved to midfield in extra time to combat Limerick’s dominance. Corcoran scored a beaut of a point and was motoring well until he went off, after that Tipp collapsed around the middle third of the filed and his experience and leadership was sorely missed.

Midfield: Shane McGrath had a great game until taken out of it with a dirty late tackle in extra time. Again ran himself into the ground. Woodlock had a good game got through an amount of work and did not let the Limerick’s midfield get a look in. Was wasted in extra time when forced to move to centre forward to accommodate Benny Dunne at midfield. Should possible have passed to Kelly or goaled himself with Tipp’s last chance in normal time, however he took his point.

Half forward line: John Carroll caught some great ball off Mark Foley and was the only option for the puck outs. Was not helped by having 2 men on him at times. Benny Dunne gave Geary a free role and his man was outstanding. Ok Benny scored 2 points but costed Tipp at least 3 times that many scores. We were effectively playing with 2 men in the half forward line. Did not fare any better at midfield. Should not be started the next day. Darragh Egan got a lot more stuck in and involved scored 1-2 and his goal may have looked like the winner in extra time. Was in the half back line late on trying to clear the ball. Still needs to get more involved and use his physique top win more first time possession.

Full forward line: Seamus Butler was a surprise starter but scored a peach of a goal and added 3 points. Got no ball in the second half. Eoin Kelly scored 9 points, 3 from play and set up the second goal. A lot more involved, gave away possession lat on for Limerick’s second last point stupidly. Still not 100% fit. Lar Corbett wasted some amount of ball it was not funny. He scored 3 points in his 2 spells on the field. Why in the name of God was he put at midfield the second time? He needs to be a lot more economical with the ball he gets, also gets blocked down way too easily.

Pa Bourke for Lar Corbett: Put in at corner forward midway through the second half but Lucey was way too physical; for him. Was not helped by ball being ballooned in at him instead of low out in front of him. Taken off in extra time which will not have helped his confidence.

Thomas Stapleton for Eamon Corcoran (injured): First start for last years minor star. Came on with 10 minutes to go of normal time at wind back. Got very little ball.

Danny O’Hanlon for Woodlock: On in injury time of normal time. Did not get any ball despite having the physical presence to cause damage to the Limerick full back line.

Ryan O’Dwyer for Pa Bourke: Came on in extra time and got stuck in straight away. Was brought on too late to stop the Tipperary rot.

Lar Corbett for Shane McGrath (injured): Since when was Lar a midfielder although he did score a point there.

Willie Ryan for Seamus Butler (injured): came on in injury time of extra time, don’t think he touched the ball.

So after 2 and a half game the sides can not be separated. It was Tipp who lost this game rather than Limerick drawing it. 10 points up and cruising at half time Tipp did not poses the required spine to close the game out, (as a Kilkenny or a Cork would have done), the management deserves a large slice of blame, why was Woodlock moved out of midfield, why were so many changes made before and during the game to accommodate 1 player, namely Benny Dunne and why did Tipp not make more switches to cope with the Limerick dominance in the last quarter of normal time. Sure Tipp were unlucky to lose Corcoran and Shane McGrath through injury but that was why Babs had the League to blood players and get players ready for this situation. In truth when Limerick came at us we flopped and were not able to handle the pressure. In the last 15 minutes Limerick outscored Tipp 1-9 to 2 points how what did the Tipp management do to stop this rot….nothing and by God we nearly paid for it. Again in extra time we went ahead but did not have the resolve or guile to close the game out. The direction and leadership to do this should come both from the players on the filed AND also the management on the line.
Still there are some glimmers of hope for next week, Limerick will go in under pressure to finish the game but still over nearly 160 minutes they have only lead for about 20 minutes of that. They have always reacted to Tipp and played catch up. How will Limerick cope the next day if they take the lead and have to close the game out? Hopefully Tipp’s injuries will clear up, Corcoran, Butler and McGrath and with a bit of calmness and reflection during the week it will be a united squad that goes out to do battle in the second replay of what is now becoming an epic.

Knocknagow

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Tipp v Limerick (16-06-07) replay preview Knocknagow

Tipp and Limerick replay their Munster Semi Final on Saturday in Thurles at 7.00, extra time to be played in the event of the sides finishing level. This will be the fifth Championship meeting between the sides in 3 years with the replay of 2 years ago going to extra time before an Evan Sweeney goal in injury time gave Tipp the win. The previous replay between the sides was in the 1996 Munster Final which Limerick won.
Both sides will have reasons to be glad to get a second chance. Tipp with 6 debutants failed miserably to use the extra man and also were way too slow to sort out the problems at centre back. Given the weather conditions Tipp needed to use way more subs. Surely with the extra man some one in the Tipp management or in backs should have positioned the spare man 45 yards out passed the ball to him a few times and then he drive quality ball into the Tipp full forward line. However the Tipp players have to be commended when Limerick spent the first 20 minutes sledging Tipp players, Lucey and Reale, twice, were all booked for striking with the hurley Tipp never resorted to that level and just hurled away. While the inadequacies of the Tipp half forward line may be glossed over with the fact that they scored 1-5 however other than Ryan O’Dwyer winning some ball in the air the 2 wing forwards won nothing from Cummin’s puck outs.
Another aspect that Tipp will have to be wary of the next day is of marking up when there is a throw in as Limerick scored 3 points collecting loose ball after throw ins. Of course the ref Saturday will not throw in the ball as much as Kirwan did last Sunday. While the Tipp backs harried and hassled their men to great effect this was undone by Benny Dunne standing off Ollie Moran and the shakiness of the full back line. Up front while there was a good range of point scorers they lack of goal threat was again evident for Tipp. Indeed the goal came from a free that either Corcoran or Conor O’Mahony should have taken and probably scored. Other than that chance Tipp did not have any other effort on goals, it’s a pity that both of the main goal scorers during the League Paul Kelly and O’Hanlon are out of contention for Saturday. Also the inside line only scored 3 points from play.
Last Sunday’s game will have brought Eoin Kelly, who did not look even 75% fit, and Lar Corbett on a lot and with both of these starting on Saturday the Tipp inside line will carry a lot more of a scoring threat. As with last year the quality of ball into the Tipp full forward line has to improve drastically. Twice in the second half the ball was belted out to the corner flag for Eoin Kelly to chase and both times he was well beaten by Seamus Hickey. The correct ball was the type of 1 that Hugh Moloney played late on in the game a low ball out in front of the full forward line giving them time to catch turn and go towards goal. Willie Ryan only got 1 point, and Pa Bourke hardly touched the ball last Sunday, the reason no decent winnable ball went into them they were living off scraps.
The physcology of both teams entering this game will be interesting. Limerick came off the field celebrating as if they had won, where as the Tipp heads had dropped after the Limerick goal. Yet looking at the way the scoring went in the last 10 minutes it was Tipp who were dominating. With 60 minutes gone the sides were level 1-16 to 0-19. Tipp got 4 attacks and the last 3 points of the game, getting the last with 5 minutes to go. I know Limerick got a goal and should have gone ahead but Donie Ryan wouldn’t pass the ball. Usually in replays it the side that has learned the most from their mistake of the previous day that advances.
The Tipp team has not been announced yet but I expect that there will only be 1 change, Lar Corbett replacing Pa Bourke in the full forward line. From reports from the Tipp camp Paul Curran will not be fit to line out so it looks as if Declan Fanning will remain at full back. The captaincy issue is likely to mean that Benny Dunne is still picked at centre back although one can only pray that he will be moved off Ollie Moran. Even if he is put to wing back I expect that Limerick would still pick him out for their puck outs. Possibly the best position for him is midfield but then Woodlock and McGrath played well together. On the Limerick side its unlikely that Seannie O’Connor will recover from the injury that forced him off last week. I expect that Brian Begley will replaced him on the edge of the square, as O’Connor’s height caused Fanning all kinds of trouble. Another cause of Tipp worry is that Limerick now know that Tipp are dodgy at full and centre back and that either Reale or Seamus Hickey can keep Eoin Kelly quiet, I don’t think that Babs will have learned as much about Limerick’s weaknesses.
While the Tipp half forwards were not as weak as for the last few years they will have to play for the full 70 minutes. Darragh Egan stood on the 40 got 3 balls in the second half scored 2 points and set up another he will not get that room on Saturday. John Carroll needs to stay involved and not drift out of games. Ryan O’Dwyer ran himself into the ground. Improved performances will also be required from Diarmaid Fitzgerald, although exams and lack of match practice did not help his cause. He should also be trying to pick out a colleague in the half forward line rather than ballooning the ball up the field whenever he gets it.
So how do I see this game going? Well unfortunately I don’t have the starting teams for both sides. This game marks a great opportunity for the winner to get a decent shot of winning a Munster Final and also a direct place in the All-Ireland Quarter Finals in August. From a Limerick point of view the element of surprise is gone, and they are losing home advantage, yet recovering to draw a game that they should have lost with only 14 players will give them confidence. Tipp will know that they let this game slip, leading from the 16th minute and not able to close it out or build more than a 3 point lead. The Tipp team is still far from perfect, problems at full back and centre back, however with the half forward line improving, some of the scoring burden gone off Eoin Kelly Tipp should still have just about enough to sneak past possible in extra time.