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Knocknagow
Tipperary 3-18 Galway 3-16 (20-04-08) Knocknagow
Tipp claimed their 19th League title today in the Gaelic Grounds after a 2 point win over Galway in a thrilling National Hurling League Final. Both sides lined out as selected but Tipp had 1 change on the bench when Joe Caesar replaced the injured Diarmaid Fitzgerald. Galway played into the Ennis Road End and had the advantage of the wind in the first half.
Tipp had the first chance of the game but a weak Lar effort was easily cleared by James Skehill. Galway had the first score of the game when Damien Hayes, playing at wing forward, got a point. A Woodlock ran lead to a pass to Corbett he was grounded and Eoin Kelly pointed the free. Sloppy play by Shane Maher saw the ball eventually break to Damien Hayes who pointed. Willie Ryan broke the ball to Lar and he put the ball wide. Tipp then had the first goal chance when Willie Ryan passed to Kelly who found Lar and he tried to pass back to Kelly when he should have shot on goal, Adrian Callinan gratefully intercepted and the danger was cleared. Shane McGrath had a good run, picked out Lar who tried to give a pass to McGrath but put it over the line. Eoin Kelly then got Tipp’s first point from play when he won a ball on the 65 and drove it over the bar to make it 2 points a piece after 10 minutes. Kelly was then fouled and pointed the free. Galway then went on a bit of a scoring burst, firstly Kevin Hynes pointed after a short Galway puck out, then Richie Murray took full advantage of the wind to drive over a mighty score from his own half and finally after a Ryan O’Dwyer foul James Skehill pointed a free from well inside his own half. Corcoran then put a sideline wide as did Farragher. Tipp reduced the margin after 16 minutes when Woodlock passed to Lar who was fouled and Kelly did the needful from the free.
Damien Hayes got another point. A massive Brendan Cummins puck out found Kelly who got his second point from play. Great play by both Buckley and Curran snuffed out a Galway goal chance. Curran then blocked down Canning and the 65 was pointed by Farragher to put Galway 7-5 ahead after 22 minutes. Woodlock then got a lucky free which Kelly pointed. Damien Hayes then got another point. Buckley did great work on the corner and blocked Niall Healy’s chance and won a free. Woodlock passed to Eoin Kelly and under severe pressure he found Butler who pointed after 28 minutes, (first Tipp player other than Kelly to score). Galway made their first change with Alan Kerins replacing the ineffective Niall Healy. Benny Dunne then caught a ball in midfield soloed with the ball took a poor shot it bounced in front of Skehill and into the net. So Tipp lead 1-7 to 0-8 with 2 minutes of the half left. Eoin Kelly had a wide but was cynically slashed at by Fergal Moore, who got a yellow card, Kelly dusted himself and pointed the 21 yard free. As injury time approached a Joe Canning run took 3 players to close him down the ball broke to Fergal Healy and his scuffed shot hit the back of the Tipp net. Tipp did not panic and Kelly passed to Lar who pointed under pressure to give a slender half time lead of 1-9 to 1-8 as the ref played 2 minutes of injury time.
Galway made more changes at the start of the second half when Aonghus Callinan and David Forde replaced Ger Farragher and Richie Murray. Galway had a wide before a long Conor O’Brien clearance was caught by Lar, stood on the edge of the square, and he passed to Kelly who returned the ball and Lar pointed. Tannion was fouled and Joe Canning pointed the free. Another high ball into Lar was broke to Willie Ryan and he made no mistake as he goaled, Tipp 2-10 Galway 1-9 after only 2 minutes of the half. Breandan Cummins caught and cleared a Canning sideline cut. Galway responded in kind straight away when Buckley was disposed by Canning he passed to Damien Hayes who found Callinan who goaled despite clearly being inside the small rectangle. Galway were now motoring and it took Brendan Cummins to smother another Damien Hayes goal effort but Canning pointed to level matters. Both Shane McGrath and Canning had wides. Eoin Kelly then found Shane McGrath who ran and coolly slotted over for his first of the day. Both Woodlock and Conor Dervan were yellow carded for an off the ball tussle. A Galway chop gave Eoin Kelly a far out free but it drifted wide. Corcoran fouled and Canning levelled matters, 55 minutes gone.
Willie Ryan picked out Butler with a great cross field pass and he pointed. A poor puck out by Skehill gave Butler a chance he rounded his man and pointed. A burst up the middle saw Conor O’Mahony drive the ball wide. Tipp made their first change when Seamus Callinan replaced Ryan O’Dwyer at centre forward. Benny Dunne elbowed Kerins in the face and Canning pointed. Both Lar and Butler missed chances. Sheedy then replaced Benny for John O’Brien, with Woodlock dropping back to midfield. Damien Hayes then had a great run but his pass missed Callinan and the chance was gone. Straight from the puck out the ball went to Willie Ryan’s corner he broke the ball to Lar and despite the attentions of 2 Galway men he blasted to the net. He won the next ball out the field and pointed that. Tipp now lead 3-14 to 2-12 with 10 minutes to go. With the game now becoming more fractured Brendan Cummins saved and cleared.
Tipp extended the lead to 7 points with 7 minutes to go firstly Eoin Kelly found Willie Ryan and he put it over from a tight angle then Seamus Butler pointed. Tipp made another change when Alan Byrne replaced the injured Eamon Corcoran and Galway replaced Tannion with Kerril Wade. Joe canning then ran and despite the attentions of 3 Tipp players put the ball past Cummins to leave it 3-16 to 3-12. Alan Kerins was fouled and Canning pointed the free. Lar found Butler and again he pointed to ease Tipp nerves. Kevin Hynes pointed after Conor O’Mahony’s attempted clearance was blocked. Tipp were now shooting from all angles and Lar had a wide. Shane McGrath fouled and Canning pointed. Both Shane McGrath and Woodlock had wides. Tipp made their last change when Darragh Hickey replaced Willie Ryan. Damien Hayes had a run at goal the initial effort was smothered by Curran and O’Brien and the Conor O’Mahony threw himself to stop Callinan’s shot and the ball came to Kevin Hynes and he pointed. A sloppy Galway clearance fell to Shane Maher he passed to Callinan and despite falling he flicked the ball to Butler who steadied himself and on the sideline put the ball over the bar for the last score of a pulsating. On the next play the ref blew the whistle after 2 minutes of injury time with Tipp the victors 3-18 to 3-16. TG4 gave Lar Corbett the Man of the Match and both Eoin Kelly and Paul Ormonde lifted the cup.
Ger Loughnane will not be happy with this result. At the end of the game I think that only Skehill was the only player who was in his starting position! Skehill was at fault for Benny Dunne’s goal, Tony Og Regan was cleaned out by Lar Corbett, likewise Fergal Moore by Eoin Kelly, Farragher contributed nothing and Iarlath Tannion was bottled up by Curran and was quiet when moved into the corner. On the positive John Lee was close to being man of the match and with both Damien Hayes and Canning on fire then have the beatings of a lot of teams com the summer. While Joe Canning had a quiet first half he had a hand in all 3 goals and never sherked his responsibilities. Shane Kavanagh was superb at corner back. Alan Kerins caused Benny Dunne heaps of trouble and should have started. Ger has a lot to do but 2 months out of the limelight and with Ollie Canning back in the corner they will have a lot to say about the destination of this years Championship.
Well done to Liam Sheedy and all of the 30 man Tipp panel. This is Tipp first piece of silverware since September 2001 and nobody can deny that they were not the better team today. Personally I though there 2 times when Tipp looked like winners. With the first half drifting to a close and Tipp a point behind Tipp goaled, Galway goaled and Tipp got 2 points to go in leading at the break slightly taking the sting out of Galway’s goal. The second was when Damien Hayes’s hand pass didn’t find its target, the ball was pucked out and Lar goaled. 6 point turn around and although Galway narrowed the lead then never could level the game. The reason for Damien Hayes’s first half dominance is explained by Corcoran dropping back to just in front of Buckley and Canning and leaving Damien Hayes run riot. Tipp ditched this plan once it was evident that Buckley could cope with Canning and Corcoran twisted his ankle.
While Tipp were very dependent on Kelly in the first half and this is an accusation thrown at Tipp endlessly for the last 7 years, the second half made very interesting reading. While Tipp scored 10 times in the first half Kelly got 4 of those from frees and 2 from play, in the second half he did not score and Tipp scored 11 times from play. Not bad for a 1 man team eh! Again the foundations for this victory were laid in the solidity of the backs. Another noteworth aspect of the Tipp performance especially in the second half was that it was the newer players who stepped up and were counted. With the ball not going to Kelly and Corcoran carrying his ankle; it was Paul Curran, Shane Maher, Shane McGrath, Woodlock and Butler who drove Tipp forward. O’Mahoney threw himself in front of Galway shot late on Buckley and Curran blocked Damien Hayes run on goals. With Galway only a point behind Woodlock and Shane McGrath both had efforts for points when in other years they would have instinctively to pass to Kelly, yes they missed but at least they were taking the responsibility for themselves. Butler stood up and delivered in the second half with 5 points from play including the clincher.
Other commendable aspects of Tipp’s play was that Tipp conceded very few scoreable frees in the first half, however as the game came more fractured Tipp did foul. By my reckoning Tipp only had 3 first half wides and 1 of those was given as a free for a late foul on Kelly. In the second half Tipp had 7 wides, 3 of those coming as Tipp pressured for that late insurance point. It is superb to again see the work rate and to die for attitude that this side display today, with hooking blocking pressurising and covering; which was displayed time and time again. The number of Tipp players who threw themselves in front of Galway players without fouling and blocked goal chances shows that this Tipp side are here to be reckoned.
However there were a number of negatives; Tipp lead by 7 points with 7 minutes to go and let Galway back to within 1 point. Galway goaled 3 times and Damien Hayes had about 3 other runs at goals 1 of which should have found the net. Tipp conceded 19 scores and Galway had numerous goal chances and wides throughout. The plan to tighten up on Canning backfired as Damien Hayes ran riot in acres of space. Benny Dunne was poor and 2 of the Tipp forwards did not score. Again the half forward line have a serious problem in winning primary possession. Lar Corbett fumbled an awful lot of ball and Tipp put way too many balls into Skehill’s hands and with Lar Corbett having the beating of Tony Regan at full back why did Cummins play every ball into Willie Ryan when Shane Kavanagh was cleaning him out? Still all credit to Willie Ryan he took his goal and point well and set up Lar for another.
Brendan Cummins: Was beaten 3 times, none his fault. Directly set up the last Tipp goal. Varied his puck outs to great success finding Shane Maher a few times. Should not have put most of the puck outs in the second half down on top of Willie Ryan and Kavanagh. He will be delighted tonight to have picked up his third League medal after all the hassle of last year.
Full back line: Again Curran was outstanding seeing off Iarla Tannion and gave Canning little joy at the edge of the square and it was noteworthy that Canning had to move out the field to gather the ball. Eamon Buckley was superb to day and this was his best display in a Tipp Senior jersey. Canning started in the corner and he was first out to most balls, he fumbled twice and both of these were snapped up by Canning who set up goals. Conor O’Brien had another good day. Set up Willie Ryan’s goal with an intelligent clearance. Should not have been on the line for Canning’s goal, but all in all a good game.
Half back line: Eamon Corcoran was not at his usual dominance self as he twisted his ankle early on and had to sacrifice his own game to close the space down for Canning, unfortunately this plan backfired as Damien Hayes ran riot. With his ankle clearly giving him trouble was replaced in the second half. Conor O’Mahony had another good game especially in the first half when he both broke up Galway play and sent good quality ball into the forwards. Great block down late on to smother a Galway goal effort. The only Tipp player to start every single league game this year. This was Shane Maher’s best game for Tipp since the Cork game last year. With Corcoran restricted both he and O’Mahony lead the line. Came out with ball after ball in the second half and delivered it well into the forwards.
Midfield: Shane McGrath covered every single inch of the Gaelic Grounds today. Scored 1 good point and created a few more. Not at his usual dominant self but for me was head and shoulders Tipp’s best player in the League. Benny Dunne was very poor. He did get a luck hop of the ball for the goal but did nothing much after that. Alan Kerins tore him to shreds and should have been replaced way sooner.
Half forward line: Ryan O’Dwyer was on Galway’s best player in John Lee but still worked and worked very well at blocking and closing down, was replaced in the second half. Seamus Butler was quiet in the first half only scoring a point however he was on firs in the second half scoring 5 points and coolly slotted over the clincher. His best game for Tipp in a Senior jersey and was my Man of the Match. James Woodlock created heaps and heaps of problems for the Galway backs won 3-4 frees in the first half. Is a bit headless when he runs with the ball and does not pass until it’s too late. Was moved to midfield late on.
Full forward line: Tipp Captain Eoin Kelly lead by example in the first half with 5 points from frees and 2 from play and set up both of Tipp’s other points. Took a dirty late blow to his hand which hopefully is not going to be serious. Was a lot quieter in the second half but still set up Shane McGrath for his point. Has scored 2-56 in 7 League games to date. Lar Corbett was typical Lar missing the first 2 point chances he got fumbling a lot of the ball into him but turned it on for the first quarter of the second half with a great gaol and setting up Willie Ryan’s goal. Scored 1-3 in all and was a constant thorn for the Galway full backline. Willie Ryan was well marshalled by Shane Kavanagh, but broke his shackles to rifle 1-1 and return the favour to Lar and set up his goal. Was replaced late on.
Seamus Callinan for Ryan O’Dwyer: Came on at centre forward. Did not have the same impact as his previous 2 games but still it was his pass that set up Butler for the insurance score.
John O’Brien for Benny Dunne: Came on at wing forward. On for last 10 minutes, the game was so franitic at this stage that he did not have much influence.
Alan Byrne for Eamon Corcoran (injured): Came on for last 6 minutes and was heavily involved in the successful thwarting of Galway’s late goal attempts.
Darragh Hickey for Willie Ryan: Came on in injury time to run the clock down.
So Tipp head to the June 8th showdown with Cork in Cork in fine fettle. While Cork will be lying in the long grass and analysing this Tipp win we will go to Cork in fine fettle. The hardest job that Sheedy will have in the next 2 months is in keeping a lid on the expectations for this Tipp team, especially among the supporters and media. We are still a young green side although the game today was played at Championship pace and will have brought Tipp on heaps. There are still a number of issues to be sorted before the Cork game, will the current All-Star Declan Fanning be able to regain his fill back spot; unlikely. Will Diarmaid Fitzgerald be able to get back into the side? Is there room for Paul Kelly and or John Carroll have they anything to offer at this stage? Who is the best partner for Shane McGrath at midfield? Hopefully all the players will come through their club Championship game over the next few weeks and be ready for Cork. Likewise the achievements of what this side has done to date should not be brushed under the carpet. This is a first national medal for 10 of this side.
Liam and the boys; enjoy your week in Malaga you thoroughly deserve it!
Knocknagow
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Tipperary v Galway 20/04/08 Knocknagow
Tipp and Galway meet in the 2008 National Hurling League Division 1 Final on Sunday next in the Gaelic Grounds at 4.15, the game is live o TG4 and the ref is Barry Kelly of Westmeath. The game will be preceded by the Division 2 League Final between Westmeath and Carlow. The last meeting between the sides was a few weeks ago in Galway when the sides drew 16 points each. The last League Final meeting between the sides was in 2000 when Galway won 2-18 to 2-13 in Ennis with Liam Sheedy, (in his last year on the Tipp Senior team), at corner back. Tipp’s last League Final was in 2003 when they were cruising to victory with 10 minutes to go but a late Kilkenny burst of goals began a long hard season for Tipp, (both Philip Maher and Noel Morris were lost due to injury) as Kilkenny won 5-14 to 5-13 with Henry Shefflin kicking a last minute point. Tipp won their 18th League title in 2001 with a 1-19 to 0-17 win over Clare in the Gaelic Grounds. Of that side Brendan Cummins Eamon Corcoran, who lined out at centre back), Eoin Kelly, Lar Corbett and Paul Ormonde, (a sub for Sunday), are the only survivors.
Tipp are unbeaten in the League to date and had to battle extremely hard last Sunday to overcome the All-Ireland Champions, the ref and an early Kilkenny goal to get to this League Final. However once the Tipp players settled down it was an immense performance limiting Kilkenny to only 6 scores from play in 75 minutes and for the first time in a long time the Kilkenny players continuously ran up blind alleys in the second half going for goals only for 2-3 Tipp backs to block their path to goal. Tipp got the leadership from the back with Paul Curran in outstanding form, Eamon Corcoran and Conor O’Mahony very solid in the half back line. Shane McGrath was outstanding again in midfield and despite not scoring Ryan O’Dwyer worked his socks off and took some very heavy punishment and closed down and snuffed out many Kilkenny attacks.
However all is still not Hunky-Dory. Shane Maher is just that fraction of a second off the pace required for this level. Benny Dunne was very poor last Sunday having numerous shots blocked down and providing no support whatso ever Shane McGrath. James Woodlock is a good player to win the ball with made numerous runs at the Kilkenny goals that came to nothing from half forward although he did do much better once he went midfield. Seamus Butler started off well but faded badly and was replaced. Tommy Fitzgerald got 2 points just before the break when under severe pressure but was unable to use any other possession that came his way. Lar Corbett was at his infuriating self last Sunday at least 3 times he had a clear run at the goals but only raised one and he buried that past the hapless PJ Ryan. Eoin Kelly was fairly quiet but scored 2 good points from play one in each half.
Galway qualified in first place in Tipp’s division so they had a wait of 2 weeks for their League Semi-Final against Cork last Sunday. They were outstanding in the first half blitzing a disinterested looking Cork side and lead 2-15 to 0-7 at the break with the goals coming from Iarlath Tannion and a Ger Farragher free with half the Cork players on the line. Galway went to sleep for most of the second half and it took a mighty sideline from Joe Canning and a lat point from sub Eoin Lynch to seal the game despite conceding 17 points in the second half! Indeed it was Corks inability to goal, they missed 2 close in frees, that handed the game to Galway. Impressive for Galway on Sunday was goalie James Skehill with the full forward line of Damien Hayes, Iarlath Tannion and Joe Canning all outstanding. Despite being named at corner forward Joe Canning roved all over the field and scored 3 points from play and 1 superb sideline cut which he won after what can only be described as an assault of a challenge from John Gardiner. Ger Loughnane named the Galway team and it is the same as the one that won the semi final. Galway got a boost during the week with the news that Ollie Canning is rejoining the squad but not until after the League, something I am sure will please Eoin Kelly!
Sunday’s game is an ideal preparation for the Championship in June. On Monday they head off to Portugal for a weeks training camp and the League cup beside Eoin Kelly would make an ideal start to the training week. One worrying aspect is the amount of expectation that is now on this Tipp team, in media interviews and stories all week there is talk of comparing this side to the 2001 side and how they had a similar run, thankfully Liam Sheedy has being nipping it in the bud. Tipp will go in on Sunday as underdogs, (Galway are at 8-11, Tipp at 5-4 with Paddy Powers). Tipp have the experience of going into the last 2 games as underdogs being under severe pressure both times in the second half and closing out the game with getting the last 3-4 crucial scores. Last Sunday it was Seamus Callinan who came in and scored 2 points to seal the game. The starting Tipp forwards scored only 6 times out of 16 which is not enough. We are lucky at the moment the likes of Shane McGrath and Eamon Corcoran are able to pop up with scores but it is up to the starting 6 forwards to convert their chances when they arise.
The Tipp team was announced last night and is as follows:
Brendan Cummins.
Eamonn Buckley, Paul Curran and Conor O'Brien.
Eamon Corcoran, Conor O'Mahony and Shane Maher.
Benny Dunne and Shane McGrath.
Seamus Butler, Ryan O'Dwyer and James Woodlock.
Eoin Kelly (captain), Lar Corbett and Willie Ryan
The side shows one change from last week. Tommy Fitzgerald is replaced by Willie Ryan with Lar Corbett going to the edge of the square. While Tommy Fitzgerald was poor in general play last Sunday he did score 2 points which is more the whole half forward line got! However I suspect that it is for Lar’s goal scoring ability that he is put at the edge of the square. Willie Ryan has not played that much in the League and is well able to take his chances when he gets them. Benny Dunne and Woodlock are both luck to start again and both need big performances for 70 minutes on Sunday.
Sunday will be another crucial stepping stone for Liam Sheedy. A League title would be sweet but also heap pressure on this Tipp side who are not used to it. Tipp have shown unbelievable workrate and drive to date, highlighted by the performances of Ryan O’Dwyer and Shane McGrath and it will take a similar effort on Sunday. The full back line will need to be tight and hopefully Curran should have too much for Tannion. It will be interesting to see what Loughnane tells Canning to do; is he to go walk about like against Cork or stay in the corner. Who will Tipp get to mark him; Buckley or Conor O’Brien, he has a major height advantage on both these players? The Tipp backs have been in fine form to date and should be able to cope with the Galway forwards as long as midfield and the half forwards use the ball they get well. Hopefully Sunday evening will see Eoin Kelly collecting our first piece of national silverware since 2001. Tipp by 3 points.
Knocknagow
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Tipp v Kilkenny (13-04-08) Knocknagow
Tipp and Kilkenny do battle on Sunday for a place in the National League Final. The match is on in Nowlan Park with throw in at 4.15 with extra time being played in the event of a draw. The game is live on TG4 and the ref is Michael Wadding of Waterford. Surprisingly it is not a double header with the Cork v Galway semi final, which is on in the Gaelic Grounds earlier in the day. The last league meeting between the sides was last year in the group phase when Tipp went to Nowlan Park and won 3-13 to 2-13. Tipp got off to a great start and both John Carrroll and Benny Dunne had points before Danny O’Hanlon goaled, this was followed soon after by a Paul Kelly goal and further points from the 2 Kelly’s saw Tipp lead comfortably at the break 2-8 to 0-7. Danny O’Hanlon put and Eoin Kelly rebound to the net and Tipp lead by 10 points with 20 minutes to go. Martin Comerford goaled to reduce the gap. An Eddie Brennan goal and a Brian Hogan point reduced the lead to only 2 points with a minute to go but then a late free sealed a 3 point win for Tipp. The last meeting at the semi-final stage was in 2006 when Tipp got a good beating off Kilkenny in Thurles; 3-20 to 2-11. Goals from Martin Comerford and Cha Fitzpatrick saw Kilkenny race into a 2-3 to 0 lead after 15 minutes! Things did not improve much until the break although Eoin Kelly made no mistake when he buried a free to leave the half time score 2-13 to 1-4 in Kilkenny’s favour. Tipp did get a goal from Eoin Kelly to pull it back to 7 but a Shefflin goal saw Kilkenny romp to an easy win.
Kilkenny are the defending All-Ireland Champions and had no difficulty in topping Division 1A of the League, although they got a walkover from Cork. They comfortably dealt with the challenges of both Wexford and Kilkenny and qualified unbeaten for the semi finals. An unusual feature of the 4 League Semi finalists is that none of them have lost a game, Cork gave two walkovers, but Kilkenny are the only team to have won all their games to date. Kilkenny have used pretty much their full strength teams in most games as well as giving the likes of Damien Fogarty and Richie Hogan game time. However Kilkenny also have their injury worries as Henry Shefflin is still a few months away from playing after rupturing his cruciate in last years All-Ireland Final, Derek Lyng is out with an ankle injury and Noel Hickey has not seen any league action due to a heel injury. Still Kilkenny have the calibre of player like JJ Delaney to cover at full back. Some of the squad members of last year like Donnacha Cody, James Ryall and the Reid brothers are others who have enjoyed extended runs to date in the league although the old reliable likes Martin Comerford, Cha and Tommy Walsh have got Kilkenny comfortably through to the semis.
Loughmore as County Champions have nominated Paul Ormond as Tipp captain for the 2008 season, if he is not selected then it will be the next most senior Loughmore player; Webster, and if no Loughmore man is selected then its Eoin Kelly as it was against Waterford. Tipp have had 2 extra League games so far this year with the last being the win in the quarter final. While the win against Waterford was good Liam Sheedy will not get carried away. Again the forwards were poor Tipp scored 17 times. Eoin Kelly got 2 points from play, Seamus Butler 1-1 and Lar got a point. Lar had a shocking first half and was lucky to come back after the break. Of the starting 6 forwards 5 scores from play is a shocking return. Of the subs that were introduced 3 of them were forwards; Seamus Callinan got a point with his first touch at fullforward and did nothing else for the rest of the half. Darragh Egan was on for about 15 minutes at corner forward and was hauled off again. Webster did look lively when he came on and set up Lar for his point. He should have been brought on way sooner. On the positives the displays of Conor O’Brien, Eamon Corcoran, Shane McGrath and Eoin Kelly will have delighted Sheedy. While Kelly was starved of any possession in the second half he stilled popped over a great point coming in along the endline to ease Tipp nerves.
The Tipp team was announced last night:
Brendan Cummins.
Eamonn Buckley, Paul Curran and Conor O'Brien.
Eamon Corcoran, Conor O'Mahony and Shane Maher.
Benny Dunne and Shane McGrath.
Seamus Butler, Ryan O'Dwyer and James Woodlock.
Eoin Kelly, Tommy Fitzgerald and Lar Corbett
It shows 2 changes from the side that won last weekend. In come Benny Dunne in midfield for John O’Brien, with James Woodlock moving to wing forward, and Tommy Fitzgerald gets his second start of the year at full forward with Pa Bourke losing out. Eoin Kelly again captains the side. Its no surprise to see that the changes are in the forwards, after their poor display last week. I am not too sure how James Woodlock will do at wing forward as he has done most of his Tipp hurling at midfield. Benny Dunne is too loose for wing back so midfield is probably his best position as he has a good eye for a point. Sheedy has sprung a big surprise in picking Tommy Fitzgerald at full forward. Considering how good Webster did in his cameo at full forward last Sunday I thought he would start but given the lack of a target man v Waterford he has a great chance of staking a claim for the No. 14 jersey.
Tipp have conceded serious ground in playing the game in Kilkenny. This is slightly diluted by the fact that Tipp played and won there last week and that most of this Tipp team also played and won v Kilkenny in Nowlan Park last year. Despite Kilkenny being without a number of their big names; Shefflin, Lyng and Noel Hickey they are still a very serious proposition and will be all out to derail Tipp. Tipp will again be looking to Shane McGrath to dictate matters in midfield. He was powerful last week. A similar performance this week and good ball onto Tommy Fitzgerald, he breaking the ball for Kelly and Lar to run onto, is Tipp best option of winning this game. Again the Tipp backs will have to be tight. The twin threats of Big Dan and Mullane were kept quiet last week and a similar effort is required from all 6 Tipp backs this week. Fast ball is required into the forwards and a lot more scoring is a necessity from the half forward line although I doubt that this will happen, as Butler is the only scoring forward of the 3. Eoin Kelly showed in glimpses last week that if he gets enough ball he will score. He should also be given licence to roam if he is not getting enough ball into the corner. Lar showed this last week when he did a lot better when moved out the field.
I cannot see Tipp playing good enough for the 70 minutes to beat Kilkenny. We are still team building while Kilkenny are at least a level above Tipp at present. With Kilkenny not starting serious hurling till July they will want to win this League title and will not be as half hearted as Waterford were last week. What Tipp people want to see is a good team performance and displaying the fighting will to win that Shane McGrath did last week. So Kilkenny to win by 5 points.
P.S. There will be a minutes silence before the game for Darrel Darcy of Shannon Rovers, Tipp U21 and Senior footballer, who was tragically killed in a road accident during the week. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.
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Tipperary 1-16 Waterford 0-14 (06-04-08) Knocknagow
Tipp advanced to the National League Semi Final next Sunday and a meeting with All-Ireland Champions Kilkenny after this 5 point over Waterford in a bitterly cold and windy Noland Park this afternoon. Waterford lined out without their Eoin Kelly and he was replaced at midfield by Dave Bennett. Tipp lined out as selected, with Eoin Kelly as captain and with the advantage of the strong wind in the first half. Before the game commenced there was respectful minutes silence for former Tipp legend Pat Stakelum.
Waterford got the first score when Dave Bennett pointed a free after an Eamon Buckley foul. Ken McGrath should have seen a red card after he broke his hurley off Ryan O’Dwyer in an off the ball incident. Seamus Butler had a wide before the same player was fouled and Conor O’Mahony put over a long range point. Eamon Corcoran over carried and Dave Bennett pointed the free. Eoin Kelly put a sideline wide. John O’Brien got possession on the sideline but his shot was blocked, it fell to Shane McGrath who pointed under pressure to level the scores at 2 points each after 10 minutes. Shane O’Sullivan got Waterford’s first point from play. Lar Corbett got the ball passed to Seamus Butler who pointed. Sloppy play from Shane Maher allowed Shane Casey in to point. Good Eoin Kelly play won a sideline and from 50 yards out Eamon Corcoran cut it over the bar to level at 4 points each. Pa Bourke had his run to goals blocked and Kelly pointed the free.
He followed this up with another free when Butler was fouled. Shane Casey had a Waterford wide. Eamon Corcoran won a ball on the sideline and punched and kicked by Eoin McGrath who was yellow carded and so amazingly was Shane McGrath. Eoin Kelly got his first points of the day from play. Conor O’Mahony was penalised for lying on the ball and Dave Bennett pointed the free. John Mullane got his only point of the day soon after good play from Dan Shanahan. With 5 minutes to the break Tipp got the goal that their first half dominance nictitated. A high ball was broken just outside the 21 by Ryan O’Dwyer which Seamus Butler ran onto, solod and flicked to the net to put Tipp a goal to the good. Straight after the goal Lar Corbett was cynically hauled down and Kelly pointed the free. Tipp had 2 more chances to extend their lead before the break but first Eoin Kelly and the Shane McGrath had wides. The ref blew after 2 minutes if injury time with Tipp ahead 1-8 to 0-7.
Tipp made 1 change at the start of the second half with Pa Bourke being replaced by Seamus Callinan. He went to the edge of the square with Lar Corbett drifting out the field. Straight away the ball came into to Callinan at full forward and he pointed. Sloppy play by Brian Phelan forced Kearney to pick the ball off the ground and Eoin Kelly pointed the free to give a 1-10 to 0-7 lead. Eoin McGrath got a Waterford point. Seamus Butler then had a great run for Tipp but his pass to Lar was poor and Waterford cleared. Shane Maher fouled and Ken McGrath pointed from distance. Waterford got their third point in a row when Dave Bennett pointed to put only a goal in the game. John O’Brien got a belt to the face and was temporarily replaced by Darragh Egan. Waterford had 2 wides from Ken McGrath and Prendergast. Ken McGrath broke his hurley off Ryan O’Dwyer for the second time in the game and eventually got yellow carded. Eoin Kelly pointed the resultant free to put Tipp 1-11 to 0-10 with 13 minutes of the second half gone.
Waterford made their first change with Stephen Molumphy replacing Shane O’Sullivan at midfield. Waterford hit back with 3 points of their own. Firstly sloppy Shane Maher play allowed Bennett to point. He then got 2 points from frees the second of which resulted from a Ryan O’Dwyer foul. This left Waterford only a points down with 15 minutes to go, Tipp made their second change with John O’Brien replaced by Darragh Egan he went into the corner. Seamus Callinan then got through on goals but took 2 attempts at the ball and missed both. Eoin Kelly put a free over the bar with 23 minutes gone. Sheedy made another change replacing the ineffective Woodlock with Benny Dunne. Lar broke a Cummins puck out to himself and pointed. Benny Dunne had a bad wide. Shane McGrath tracked a Waterford player back into his won half won possession and won a free, Conor O’Mahony took the free found Eoin Kelly he sold a great dummy to Aidan Kearney and flicked over the bar Tipp now lead 1-14 to 0-13.
Both side made changes Waterford replaced the subdued John Mullane with Shane Walsh. Tipp replaced Egan with Webster who immediately went to the edge of the square. He won the first ball and passed to Lar who put it wide. The next ball in Webster was fouled and Eoin Kelly pointed to leave Tipp 1-15 to 0-13 with only 5 minutes remaining. Waterford then got their last score of the game with a Prendergast point. Seamus Butler then spotted Ryan O’Dwyer in open space and passed him the ball, Dwyer got the ball and ran at goals but gave a poor pass to Webster whose weak shot was saved for a 65. Eoin Kelly scored this. With time up Waterford desperately looked for a goal and a few high balls into the Tipp square were cleared. Ryan O’Dwyer got a yellow card for a rash foul on Ken McGrath, considering all the timber he got during the game he did well to hold his cool until injury time. Waterford put that free into the Tipp square but it was cleared out to the sideline. The ref blew his whistle after 2 minutes of injury time and Tipp had won 1-16 to 0-14.
As I said inn the preview that Justin McCarthy will not have his full concentration on this game and so it proved today. Still it is worrying for Waterford that they have lost 2 games in a row. The Waterford tactics in the first half of only having a 2 man full forward line badly backfired as every time Dan Shanahan got the ball he played it into the space where he was supposed to be. While Ken McGrath was outstanding for a spell in the second half when Tipp kept the ball away from him they struggled to win possession. There forwards in general failed to sparkle and it is a long time since I have seen John Mullane play so poorly and Shane Casey while he did score also went for a couple of shots that he was never going to score. Still Waterford’s aim is the Championship and I am sure that Justin will not lose too much sleep over this game.
Liam Sheedy will be very happy with certain aspects of this game. Tipp played with the wind in the first half and did not look to have used it well but in the 5 minutes before and after the break scored 1-3 to put daylight between themselves and Waterford. In the Clare game when the pressure came on Tipp then allowed Clare to score at will. Today with 10 minutes to go Waterford had score 3 points in a row, the gap was only 1 point and the Waterford crowd were on their feet. Yet Tipp scored 4 of the last 5 points and would have won well if either Ryan O’Dwyer or Webster had goaled. There were a number of good displays; Shane McGrath was outstanding and head and shoulders the best player on the field. He started off and scored a great point and spent the last 15 minutes tracking and winning possession off Waterford players. He was closely followed by Corcoran who also pointed and held firm through out. Eoin Kelly again was on fire from frees and play. Yet there were some serious negatives; the half forward line was very poor again, Webster should have been brought on way sooner, again Eoin Kelly was our only scoring threat and despite having a gale force wind with us in the first half Waterford matched us score for score until just before the break.
Brendan Cummins: Did not have a single save to make. His puck outs were often poor in the first half and he even drove 1 straight over the sideline.
Full back Line: Conor O’Brien had a good game. Tight and solid through out mopped up well and coped well with Waterford’s 2 full forward line in the first half. Paul Curran had a good game in testing conditions came out well with the ball and kept his 2 corner men in check. Eamon Buckley started off very shaky on Dan but settled into the task well after that.
Half back line: Eamon Corcoran had a good game. Was solid throughout and scored a great sideline when Tipp were struggling for scores. Conor O’Mahony had a good first half scored a great long range free, Tipp’s first of the day, but fumbled a lot of ball and did not win much clean possession in the second half although he was under severe pressure most of the time. Shane Maher sloppy play lead to 2 Waterford points.
Midfield: Shane McGrath was outstanding. Was harshly booked by a rubbish ref in the first half and that seemed to slightly unsettle him. But he knuckled down and was by far the best player on the field in the second half, hooking blocking and winning frees and possession time and time again. Woodlock was quiet and did not get much of the ball was substituted in the second half.
Half forward line: Seamus Butler had a good first half scoring 1-1 and distributed the ball well. Was a lot quieter in the second half. Ryan O’Dwyer was quiet although that has to be pout against 2 things; Ken McGrath broke 2 hurleys off him and when the ball was put into the Tipp centre forward Ken McGrath excelled. Had a great chance of a goal at the end but gave Webster a poor pass when shooting himself or taking his point was the best option. John O’Brien was very, very poor throughout and should have been replaced way sooner.
Full forward line: Lar was lucky not to be taken off at half time, while he did score a point he was very sloppy and fumbled a lot of bal. he was much better in the second half when out around midfield and score a good point in the second half. Pa Bourke only got the ball about once in to his hand in the first half and was replaced at the break. Eoin Kelly was again Tipp’s only real scoring threat. He scored 7 points from frees, 2 points from play and a 65; not a bad day’s work! His two points were taken well especially the second when he slipped his man and got the insurance point. Was isolated in the second half and could possibly have come out the field.
Seamus Callinan replaced Pa Bourke: Straight away got a ball, turned and pointed. However that was as good as it got from him as his touch and nerve seemed to desert him and was through on goals and fumbled the ball twice.
Darragh Egan for John O’Brien: Only on for about 10 minutes and only got the ball once. Went in corner forward.
Benny Dunne for James Woodlock: Came on at midfield midway through the second half. Had 1 point chance and put it wide.
Michael Webster on for Darragh Egan: came on with 5 minutes to go and the ball went into him twice; he won the first and passed it to Lar and got a free off the second. Could have a goal near the end.
So Tipp march onto the semis-finals, however there still are a number of problems. Where are Lar and Seamus Butler’s best positions, where oh where are we going to get a decent half forward line before the Championship? The displays of Curran, Corcoran, McGrath and Kelly will only carry us so far before we are found out. If this is next Sunday then we could have serious problems. Still there are 7 days for Sheedy to come up with a game plan. He should consider either starting Webster at the edge of the square or else brining him on way earlier in the game. The game next Sunday will tell us a lot more about ourselves and the mental make up of Liam Sheedy’s side. I expect that he will again make 3-4 position switches to the side that lined out today. Still onwards and upwards!
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Tipperary v Waterford (06-04-2008) Knocknagow
Tipp and Waterford meet in the National League Quarter Final on Sunday in Nowlan Park at 2.30. The game will be referred by Brian Gavin of Offaly. The sides met at the same stage of the competition last year and it was Waterford who emerged winners after a high scoring encounter. Tipp were behind 1-11 to 0-9 at the break after a poor half hours hurling and after 5 minutes of the second half had John Carroll sent off. However when Paul Kelly goaled for Tipp the lead reduced down to 2 points, this goal had serious long term consequences for Tipp as Kelly subsequently due to a misdiagnosis of the injury has not played for Tipp since. Despite great work by the 14 men, including Lar Corbett, Ryan O Dwyer and Thomas Stapleton Tipp got back level with time just up. However Waterford scored a last gasp point from Shane O’Sullivan to win 1-20 to 1-19.
While Waterford are defending League Champions, (they beat Tipp, Cork and Kilkenny in the knock out stages last year to claim the title), they have been patchy to date. Tipp defeated them earlier in the year in the final of the Waterford Crystal Tournament. Since then they surprisingly lost to Wexford by a point. Got 2 points due to Corks no involvement at that time. They hammered Antrim before Kilkenny beat them in a televised game in Nowlan Park, the game was close until the break but Kilkenny upped gears in the second half and won well. They beat Dublin by 7 points in the last round of games. They finished third, level on points with Cork, in Group 1A and amazingly were forced to play off with Cork last weekend to decide who finished second and third. They lost that game 2-17 to 1-19 despite fielding pretty much a full strength side and now have to play Tipp on Sunday.
Sunday will be the first serious test of Liam Sheedy’s Tipp side. It is also be used as a comparison to last year as this is an identical fixture. However Tipp have looked a lot better this year as they came through Division 1B undefeated. The only blot was letting a 4 point lead in Ennis slip which meant that with Galway beating Limerick well the win over Laois was never going to be enough to get to the Semi’s. The winner on Sunday gets to meet Kilkenny in the Semi Final. Tipp will have had 2 weeks since the last game however long term injury victims John Devane, Danny O’Hanlon and Hugh Moloney will not feature. Sheedy originally pushed for this game to be played in Cork as this will be the venue for the Munster Championship game v Cork in June.
Probably the most impressive players to date for Tipp have been Lar Corbett and Eoin Kelly and both have delivered big time in the games that they have featured in. Lar has done the most damage from full forward and it remains to be seen if he will be left there or will Webster be put at the edge of the square. The bane of this, and indeed it has been the case for the last 7-8 years, Tipp side is the complete lack of a decent half forward combination. Of the 3 positions John O’Brien is doing well at wing forward. After that any out of 5-6 could fill the other 2 positions. Centre forward; Ryan O’Dwyer’s cause will not have been helped by the sending off against Galway, Darragh Egan did not impress v Clare and Shane McGrath while tried there against Laois is our best midfielder by a long way. The half forward line will have their work cut out against a probable half back line of Brian Phelan, Ken McGrath and Jack Kennedy.
While the half backline seems settled Sheedy has major problems in picking his full backline. Declan Fanning is back and ready after being out with a broken finger and with being the current All-Star he should be the full back. Paul Curran will probably start in one of the corner back spots. The other corner back spot is between 1 of the following; Paul Ormonde, Paddy Stapleton, Eamon Buckley, Conor O Brien and Alan Byrne, good luck to Sheedy in picking a full back line! Whoever is picked will have fun on Sunday keeping up with Dan Shanahan and John Mullane.
The Tipp team was picked last night and is as follows:
Brendan Cummins.
Eamonn Buckley, Paul Curran and Conor O'Brien.
Eamon Corcoran, Conor O'Mahony and Shane Maher.
James Woodlock and Shane McGrath.
Seamus Butler, Ryan O'Dwyer and John O'Brien.
Eoin Kelly, Lar Corbett and Pa Bourke.
Returned from injury are Diarmaid Fitzgerald and Eoin Kelly both with back injuries and Seamus Callinan ankle injury. From the Laois game Cummins returns for Kennedy, Buckley back for Paddy Stapleton, and in the half forward line Ryan O'Dwyer and John O'Brien for Joe Ceaser and Pat Kerwick, injured. The main thing that Tipp fans will want from this game is to start to see a settled 15 as this possibly could be our last competitive game before Championship. Looking at the side picked it does seem that Sheedy is getting close to his Championship 15 with 11-12 of that side seem to have Championship jerseys. Again with Tipp it looks as though the midfield and full forward line look the strongest but there are a lot of questions about that half forward line.
The outcome of this game will depend a lot on the attitude of Waterford. If they play their full team and play to their potential they will win. However mindful of how they lacked that bit of drive against Limerick in the All-Ireland Semi Final last year Justin McCarthy has his eyes on bigger prizes in the summer and a League Quarter Final loss in February would not cause any sleepless nights for the Passage man. Tipp will be going all out to win this game as Championship games v Cork is not until June. If Tipp can keep the ball going into the full forward line and likewise keep it away from the inside Waterford full forward line then Tipp will win. So with Waterford having one eye on the Championship Tipp to win this by 2 points.
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Tipp v Laois 23-03-08 Knocknagow
On Sunday Tipp and Laois play the last round, round 5, of Group 1B in Leahy Park Cashel at 2.30. The game is referred by John Sexton of Cork. The last meeting between the sides was in 2006 in Portlaois when Tipp won 4-17 to 0-12. Tipp were always in cruise control and lead comfortably at half time 2-11 to 0-4. Kenny Dunne got the first goal from a penalty and Webster goaled just before the break. He got his second after the break and John Carroll got Tipp last goal to make the final score 4-17 to 0-12.
Laois have not had a good campaign to date. In their first game they stayed in Limerick coat tails until the break 1-12 to 1-7 but despite the best efforts of James Young 5 points they lost heavily 3-23 to 2-11. The second game was away in Scarriff and again Laois stayed with their opponents until half time, 0-14 to 0-7, but even with James Young scoring 1-10 Laois lost 1-25 to 1-15. Laois did cause 1 surprise in the third round of games with a 1-17 to 2-13 win over Offaly. Laois dominated the first half and lead 1-10 to 1-6 at the break the goal coming from Eoin Holohan. Offaly did close the game down but an injury time James Young point sealed a win for Laois and gave them their first points of the 2008 League. However they came back to earth last weekend with a hammering from Galway. Galway led 4-13 to 0-04 at the break with a hat-trick of goals from Niall Healy and did not let up after the break to win 6-26 to 0-8. Ger Farragher got 2-11 in a very easy win for Galway.
Tipp and Galway are the only unbeaten teams to date in Group 1B however due to Galway hammering Laois they have +40 to Tipp’s +28 scoring average. Limerick have the same points as both Tipp and Galway and their scoring average is +27. These 3 teams are guaranteed to qualify although Tipp have a chance to finish top as Limerick and Galway meet each other on Sunday. The most recent news with Tipp is that Paul Kelly has switched clubs and is now with O’Loughlin Gaels in Kilkenny city. Tipp’s most recent game was last Sunday’s draw against Clare. Unlike the Sunday before this was one that Tipp let slip. Tipp were 4 points up with 10 minutes to go and Mark Flaherty with 3 frees and a Fergal Lynch point levelled the game. However Tipp could have won it when Philip Brennan managed to bring down a Shane McGrath point effort that was heading over the bar. Still I am sure that Liam Sheedy would have taken League playoff spot and 4 games undefeated before the League started.
A number of aspects of Tipp’s play that will worry the management cropped up again last week; the concession of frees. Mark Flaherty scored 10 points from place ball and 3 of Clare’s last 4 points came from frees. Tipp failed to close out the game when in a winning position. The poorness of the half forward line again. Daragh Egan scored 1 point and was taken off, Kerwick failed to score and was also replaced while John O’Brien failed to score. It was left to the midfield, Shane McGrath 1 and Woodlock 3 points and the full forward line 1-5 to get the Tipp scores.
Sunday will present a very different game for Tipp given that Tipp are qualified for the play off stages they will be anxious to get straight through to the semis and avoid an early season meeting with Cork in the quarter finals. However for this to happen Tipp need to run up a good score against Laois and hope that the winner of the Galway Limerick game only does so by a small margin. I am sure that Sheedy will use the game to give the few players like, Callinan, Diarmiad Fitzgerald, and Michael Webster who have been injured or not played much to date some much needed game time. So Tipp to win easily but just miss out on the semi final spot due to points difference.
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Clare v Tipperary 16-03-08 Knocknagow
Tipp and Clare play in round 4 of the National Hurling League on Sunday in Cusack Park Ennis at 2.30. The game is referred by Michael Wadding of Waterford. The last league meeting between the sides was in 2005 in Thurles when Clare won 1-16 to 0-15. Clare lead 1-8 to 0-6 at the break due to an Andrew Quinn goal. Tipp struggled for most of the second half and actually were behind by 9 points and reduced the gap to 3 but Clare were always in control and won by 4 points. The last meeting between the sides in Ennis was in 2004 and also resulted in a Clare win 1-20 to 1-15. Tipp got the first goal of the game through John Carroll but Clare dominated until the interval and 1-13 to 1-8 at the break their goal coming from Frank Lohan. Clare were always in control in the second half and won in the end by 5 points.
Tipp have played 3 games to date and sit on top of the table with 5 points. Despite drawing with Galway last Sunday it was definitely a point gained. Tipp played all the second half with only 14 men after wing forward Ryan O’ Dwyer was stupidly sent off for a high shoulder charge and played against a gale force wind. On top of this Tipp were without; Declan Fanning, Corcoran and Lar Corbett due to injury before the game and Hugh Moloney, (in his first start of the year), after only 10 minutes. The changes led to some major restructing of the Tipp side, with Alan Byrne coming in at wing back, Pa Bourke at corner forward, Seamus Butler to full forward. Pat Kerwick replaced Hugh Moloney. It was the backs who took all the credit after the game and rightly so. Paul Curran once he settled into the game kept Iarlath Tannian well under raps. Conor O’Brien and Buckley did all that was asked of them. Conor O’Mahony scored 5 great long range frees in the first half when Tipp had the massive wind advantage, and didn’t give David Forde a sniff of the ball in the second half and won the crucial free at the end that Kelly pointed. Shane McGrath also had a good game at midfield and scored 2 crucial points.
On the negative for Tipp Alan Byrne was poor and gave away a few crucial frees. Once Hugh Moloney went off the half forward line looked rudderless. Ryan O’Dwyer did himself no favours with his sending off. The full forward line were at a hiding to nothing in the second half as Eoin Kelly had to come out to the centre forward. Both Pa Bourke and Seamus Butler got no ball at all in the second half. Indeed most of the scores in the second half came from further out with Shane McGrath and John O Brien getting crucial Tipp points. The last 20 minutes were all Galway and Tipp can thank the poor free taking of Ger Farragher for the point gained. Eoin Kelly was quiet and missed a free to draw the game at the death but to his credit when Conor O’Mahony was fouled in midfield he shouldered the responsibility and went out and equalised for Tipp.
Clare have played 3 games to date and have only 1 win to show for their efforts. Their first game was a high scoring effort in vain against Galway losing 2-24 to 3-17. Clare were not helped when debutant David Barrett was shown a straight red after only 3 minutes. Galway dominated for most of the game and lead by 14 points at one stage. Clare did pull it back late on with 3 goals from frees from debutant Mark Flaherty which gave the scoreline a respectable look. In the second game Clare after a struggle beat Laois 1-25 to 1-15 with Mark Flaherty again on fire with 1-12, (10 points from frees). This game was Tony Carmody’s first of the year. With Colin Lynch and Brian O’Connell dominating midfield Clare had a 10 point win. Last Sunday Clare lost to Limerick in the Gaelic Grounds. Clare totally dominated the first half but due to inaccuracy and some great saves by Brian Murray they only lead by 0-7 to 1-2 at the break. The Limerick goals came from O’Shaughnessy and Seannie O’Connor and they always looked in control through the second half and eventually win 2-15 to 0-12.
To date Clare have blooded a few new players in with Mark Flaherty who racked up serious scores in the 3 games to date the most impressive, Jonathon Clancy has also impressed to date. They still have a number of more experienced players with the likes of Niall Gillingham, Frank Lohan and Colin Lynch. They will be especially disappointed with the Limerick game as they dominated the first half but once Limerick got their first goal their spirit seemed to collapse. Mike McNamara will be hoping that he can get the likes of Gerry Quinn and Tony Griffin back into the fold if they are to do anything this year.
Given Tipp’s point last Sunday and the way the other games went a single win out of the next 2 games would definitely guarantee Tipp further League involvement, given that Tipp’s last game is against Laois Tipp have the chance on Sunday to give some of the fringe players a serious try out. The likes of Tommy and Diarmaid Fitzgerald, Darragh Hickey, Seamus Callinan and Darragh Egan have seen very little action to date. Clare with only 1 win to date and 2 poor performances to date badly need to win this one in front of their own fans.
The Tipp team was picked last night and is as follows:
Brendan Cummins.
Eamon Buckley, Paul Curran and Conor O’Brien.
Eamon Corcoran, Conor O’Mahony and Benny Dunne.
James Woodlock and Shane McGrath.
Pat Kerwick, Darragh Egan and John O’Brien.
Eoin Kelly, Tommy Fitzgerald and Willie Ryan.
The team shows 5 changes from the side that drew with Galway. Eamon Corcoran is restored at wing back in place of Alan Byrne. In light of the poor performance of the forwards the last day there are 4 changes, with Pat Kerwick, Darragh Egan, Tommy Fitzgerald and Willie Ryan replacing Ryan O’Dwyer, Seamus Butler, Pa Bourke and Hugh Moloney. According to media reports Hugh Moloney will be out for a few weeks due to his shoulder injury. The backs could not be faulted for their heroic display last week and with Declan Fanning still out injured they pretty much picked themselves. The midfielders are rewarded for their good work last week by retaining their places. In the forwards both Darragh Egan and Tommy Fitzgerald get their first Tipp League starts of 08. Both these players were prominent for Tipp at underage level and now get the chance to deliver. Darragh has been on the fringes of the Senior panel for a number of years and given the weak area of centre forward for Tipp to date, the number 11 jersey is there for the taking. It is a bit harsh on both Pa Bourke and Willie Ryan as no ball went into them in the second half last Sunday but given Willie Ryan’s displays of last year he is well worth of a starting berth.
Given the results Clare have had to date they badly need to win this game. A win for Tipp would secure a semi final spot so both teams have a lot to play for. This will be a good test for Tipp especially to see how the Conor O’Brien will cope with Mark Flaherty who has been scoring for fun to date. Also the battle at midfield between Colin Lynch and Brian O’Connell against the lighter but hard working McGrath and Woodlock will make for interesting viewing. However given that Tipp have changed a third of the side and have a debutant at full forward I expect that a Clare side under pressure to deliver at home will rise to the occasion and win by 3 points.
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Galway v Tipperary 09/03/08 Knocknagow
Galway and Tipp play in the third round of the National Hurling League in Pearse Stadium Galway on Sunday at 2.30. The last League meeting between the sides was last year in Pearse Stadium when Galway won 0-26 to 3-13. Paul Kelly goaled for Tipp in the first half but Galway still lead at the break; 0-12 to 1-8. A series of Galway points saw them go 20 to 1-10 ahead after 50 minutes until an Eoin Kelly goal brought Tipp back into it. With 5 minutes to go Tipp goaled again through Paul Kelly and the score was down to 3 points, however Galway powered ahead and got the last 3 points to hold out for a deserved win over a poor Tipp side. Tipp also lost the 2006 meeting when Galway won 3-11 to 0-12 in Thurles with the Galway goals coming from Ger Farragher, David Tierney and Richie Murray. Tipp’s last win was in 2005 3-16 to 0-19.
It is 3 weeks since the last set of League games and in that time the Loughmore players have become available to Tipp, although it remains to be seen how many will actually make the final cut. Galway will be without Damien Hayes and Joe Canning as they do battle in the club final. Galway won their first game with a high scoring 2-24 to 3-17 win over Clare. Galway lead comfortably throughout with goals from Aonghus Callinan and Ger Farragher made it 2-15 to 0-8 midway through the second half. Although Clare did get goals from frees Galway held on. In their second game Galway lead comfortably at the break 0-11 to 1-3 and would have been further ahead only for some bad wides. 2 second half Offaly stunned Galway and it took 2 late Ger Farragher points to level the game. Both sides also had players involved in Fitzgibbon cup duty last weekend so it remains to be seen how many will actually line out on Sunday.
Tipp have played two games to date and won both of those fairly well. One view is that Tipp are going far too well for so early in the year and will be burned out once the serious end of the Championship comes around during the summer. The other view is that there are so many players in contention for places that one bad performance in a League game in February could put a player out of the running. Certainly Liam Sheedy is taking this League seriously and with Tipp not in Championship action until June this is a wise option. The end result of this League campaign should be two fold for Tipp, build up a winning mentality and also getting a number of players blooded into the Tipp way of playing and that if a regular does get injured/loses form come the Championship then there is a ready made and capable replacement on the line ready to fill in.
The starting teams will be announced later in the week. If Liam Sheedy continues his previously stated policy of getting 2 players for every position then there can be a good few changes to the Tipp side. Of the injuries received during the Limerick game both the Drom boys are back in training while Conor O’Mahony, who went off at the break with a virus, is also back in training. Of the long term injuries Daragh Egan is back with his club although it remains to be seen how long it will be before he is back playing for Tipp. Paddy Stapleton and Alan Byrne may be in line for a place in the defence while Darragh Hickey, Joe Caesar, John O’Brien and Pa Bourke will all be vying for a starting berth in the forwards.
Galway away on Sunday will be a step up in class for Sheedy’s side. While Galway have experimented a lot with their teams to date neither Ger Loughnane nor the Galway hurlers will want to lose to Tipp. They will also have been stung in only drawing with Offaly and a win against Tipp on Sunday would put them on 5 points and top of the table. A win for Tipp on Sunday and a win in the last game against Laois would guarantee Tipp’s progression to the knock out stage, irrespective of what happens against Clare in Ennis next Sunday.
Over the last 2 years the League encounters between these sides have been both high scoring and entertaining and hopefully Sunday will not be an exception with both sides having lethal scoring forwards, Ger Farragher and Eoin Kelly who were on song in both their games to date. I expect that Galway on their home patch will just about edge this game although there will not be too much between the sides at the final whistle.
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Tipperary v Offaly (10-02-2008) Knocknagow
Tipp and Offaly open their 2008 National Hurling League Group 1B campaigns with a game at Semple Stadium Thurles on Sunday at 2.30. The ref is James Owens from Wexford. The last league meeting between the sides was the 2006 League Quarter Final also played in Thurles. Tipp got off to the better start with Eoin Kelly and Webster goaling in the first half for Tipp to lead 2-7 to 1-8 at the break. 2 Offaly goals, 1 from Brendan Carroll, levelled the game with 10 minutes to go. However late Tipp points from Webster, John O’Brien and Ken Dunne sealed a Tipp win 2-21 to 3-14. Offaly’s last league victory over Tipp was in the opening game of the 2004 league when a late Rory Hannify goal led to a 1-15 to 0-17 win in Birr.
Offaly will of course be without the Birr players as they prepare for another tilt at the All-Ireland club title. Tipp also will be without the Loughmore players. Offaly are under new management with former Offaly great Joe Dooley now the manager. To date they have done well in the Walsh Cup beating Down, in Down, in the quarter final. Offaly featured a young side with 4 debutants and were rewarded with a 2-12, goals from Daniel Currams and Francis Kerrigan, to 1-4 half-time lead after being assisted by a strong wind in the first half. Second half goals from Kerrigan and Joe Brady secured the Offaly win. In the semi final Offaly overcame Wexford 1-12 to 0-11. The turning point in the game was the sending off of a Wexford player midway through the first half after which Offaly hit 4 unanswered points to lead 8-5 at the break. Offaly goaled through Currams and late points from Joe Bergin and Brendan Carroll won the game for Offaly. The Final was played last Sunday against Antrim in Belfast and lost 3-9 to 2-7. Offaly lead at half time with the aid of a strong wind and goals from Diarmuid Horan and Francis Kerrigan, but Antrim finished strong to run out 5 point winners.
Tipp are once again under new management with Portroe’s Liam Sheedy handed the reigns, he along with Michael Ryan, Upperchurch and Eamon O’Shea, Kilruane started early with training resuming on 10th November last. Despite all the upheavals and ructions in the squad last year there appears to be only minimal changes to the squad. Of course with a number of players playing with their colleges, Darragh Egan, Thomas Stapleton, Alan Byrne, Shane Maher, and the 2 Fitzgeralds, long term injuries to John Devane and Danny O’Hanlon, Hugh Moloney out of the country and the Loughmore players out it will not be until the last few league games in March that the final team and squad will appear. The main players from last year who are not involved so far this year are John Carroll, Paul Kelly and Francis Devanney. It is good to see John O’Brien back after being out injured most of last year.
Tipp have played 5 games to date in 2008. A very easy victory over Dublin in a challenge on the 6th January; 4-23 to 1-12, with Eoin Kelly scoring 3-5 from play and first senior starts for Paddy Stapleton and Joe Ceasar. Tipp also retained the Waterford Crystal Trophy. In the quarter final they easily defeated UCC 1-17 to 1-5 with the Tipp goal coming from Seamus Butler; Kerwick, Caesar and Corcoran were the best for Tipp. Tipp beat CIT in the semi final 4-14 to 0-15. Tipp were in cruise control throughout with the full forward line of Eoin Kelly, 1-9, Lar Corbett, 2-0, and Pa Bourke, 1-3, doing all the damage. In the final Tipp faced Waterford in Templemore; again it was the full forward line that did all the damage, Kelly 2-5, Lar 1-0 and Pa 0-2. Tipp had 2 goals within the first 6 minutes and were never in danger against a Waterford side reliant on the frees of Eoin Kelly. With the Tipp backs totally on top Tipp kept Waterford at arms length and Eoin Kelly’s second half goal finished the game. Final score 3-13 to 0-13 with Eoin Kelly captaining the side. Tipp’s final match was last Saturday against Wexford. Tipp played a number of the players who were ineligible for the Waterford Crystal games, notably the 2 Fitzgerald’s, and players who did not feature 2 weeks ago against Waterford. Wexford held the upper hand throughout and lead by 6 at the break despite a goal from Seamus Callinan. A second half goal from Darragh Hickey narrowed the game but Wexford pulled a way to win 1-19 to 2-12. One item of note was that Gerry Kennedy came off with a hand injury and was replaced by Portroe’s Darren Gleeson.
It will be interesting to see how Tipp approach the league. Given the brittle nature of the squad last year this team needs to start winning and keep wining games. During the Waterford Crystal Sheedy mixed the team well between the old guard and giving lads a run out. New players who played include; Paddy Stapleton, Joe Caesar, Pat Kerwick and Seamus Callinan, while players just on the scene last year Ryan O’Dwyer, Gerry Kennedy, James Woodlock, Eamon Buckley, Darragh Hickey and Pa Bourke got good game time. A big advantage with Sheedy is that he knows a lot of the younger players having been the Tipp minor manager in 2005 and 2006 that combined with still playing senior hurling with his club means that he has got a very good look at a lot of the players around the county. However too much should not be read into the games to date as 2 were against college sides and Waterford, were without a number of their marquee players, having only returned from their team holiday and have not started team training yet. Remember Tipp won this competition last year and look how the season played out!!
The Tipp team was picked last night and is as follows:
Brendan Cummins.
Eamon Buckley, Declan Fanning and Paul Curran.
Eamon Corcoran, Conor O'Mahony and Brendan Dunne.
Joe Ceaser and Shane Maher.
Pat Kerwick, Ryan O'Dwyer and John O'Brien.
Eoin Kelly, Lar Corbett and Pa Bourke.
The last meeting between the sides was in Thurles in the qualifiers last June, (Tipp won 2-17 to 2-13), and the Tipp teams shows 9 changes from that side! There are 3 changes from the Waterford Crystal Final, with Shane McGrath still not recovered from his leg injury picked up in that game. He is replaced Shane Maher. The other changes see Conor O’Mahony who missed the last game with illness restored to centre back with Declan Fanning returning to his All-star position of full back. The final change sees Pat Kerwick at wing forward for Seamus Butler who is dropped. There are 2 debutants with Killenaule supplying both Pat Kerwick and Joe Caesar to bring their county senior representation to 3.
It is good to see Brendan Cummins restored although the injury received by Gerry Kennedy made it a no brainier. The full back line looks strong although all 3 prefer the full back position! Eamon Corcoran rolled back the years in the Waterford Crystal games and hopefully this will continue. It remains to be seen if Benny Dunne will make the Championship 15 as his looseness means he is better suited to centre back even though he was badly exposed there last year against Brian Geary. Conor O’Mahony seems to be in pole position to claim the No. 6 shirt. The midfield partnership is new. Again id have question marks about Shane Maher although I think he is better suited to midfield rather than wing back where he played at the latter stages of last year. In my opinion Ryan O’Dwyer should be the Tipp centre forward, while he is not going to score 1-6 a game, he will burst up play and when he gets the ball puts his head down and tears straight at goal. It’s good to see John O’Brien back while he does not get through a lot of work he will always chip in with 2-3 points a game. Pat Kerwick impressed in what I have seen so far but will need a few games to settle into the pace of intercounty hurling. The full forward line looks a lethal scoring threat. Eon Kelly looks a lot slimmer and hopefully is back to his best after last year. Lar Corbett seems to have shrugged off the hamstring injuries which severely limited his game time over the last few years. Pa Bourke needs the League to get into intercounty hurling, remember he is only 2 years out of minor and I am sure that he will be delighted that his minor manager of ‘06 is on board.
With both sides having new managers and missing a few players due to club commitments it will be interesting to see how this game pans out. Neither side has impressed in recent years and both have fallen down the pecking order in their respective provinces so the aim of the league will be to get a few new players, get a settled team and get confidence back into the side ahead of the summer Championship. It should be borne in mind that Offaly are missing a lot of their better players from Birr especially the Hanniffy’s. Tipp have named a strong line up and Liam Sheedy seems to be setting his stall out from the start. The Tipp players will have to impress Sunday as they know the likes of Gerry Kennedy, the 2 Fitzgerald’s, Hugh Moloney, Seamus Butler, Shane McGrath, James Woodlock, Willie Ryan, Darragh Egan, Darragh Hickey, Conor O’Brien, Paddy Stapleton and Seamus Callinan are all on the sideline waiting to get game time. Sheedy needs Tipp to get off to a good start so a win on Sunday is critical. Tipp having been in training for 3 months, have picked a very strong team and should have enough to come out ahead in this one by 3-4 points.
Knocknagow
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Tipperary v Limerick (17/02/08) Knocknagow
Tipperary and Limerick meet in Round 2 of this years National Hurling League on Sunday in Thurles at 2.30. The game is televised by TG4 and is referred by Diarmaid Kirwan of Cork. The last meeting between the sides was the final part of the “trilogy” in Limerick in last year’s Championship which Limerick won after extra time 0-22 to 2-13 and went on to make the All-Ireland Final. The last League meeting between the sides was last year in Nenagh where Limerick won 2-13 to 0-16. Limerick went ahead early through a Shaughs goal and Tipp were heavily dependent on Eoin Kelly’s frees as the sides were level at the break 0-10 to 1-7. A superb goal from an overhead pull by Ollie Moran effectively sealed the Limerick win, despite Eoin Kelly scoring 12 points. In the 2006 League a late Redser goal drew the game 2-15 each. Tipp’s last League win against Limerick was in 2005, 4-14 to 3-11, in the Gaelic Grounds.
Limerick have been fairly low key to date this year. They did not partake in the Waterford Crystal due to being on holidays. In their first League game they fielded a fairly weakened side and still had too much in the tank and overcome Laois in the Gaelic Grounds. Limerick led 1-12 to 1-6 at the break due in main to Pat Tobin, who finished the day with 1-7 from play. Shaughnessy took over the scoring in the second half and his 2 goals effectively buried the weak Laois resistance. Shaughnessy ended with 2-6 as Limerick won 3-23 to 2-11. Best for Limerick were Lucey, at full back, Paudie O’Dwyer, Tobin and Shaughnessy. Limerick are without Brian Begley who has trouble with a knee injury although he is expected back soon and Brian Geary who will be out until at least out until the start of the Championship with a cruciate knee injury. Mark Foley has only recently returned to training.
Tipp had a 17 point win over a Birr less Offaly side. They threatened Tipp early on with 2 sloppily conceded goals and the game was nip and tuck mid way through the second half until Eoin Kelly and Joe Caesar goaled and Tipp took control to run out easy winners; 2-25 to 2-8. While Liam Sheedy will be happy with the contribution of the forwards, 18 of the scores from play, and all of the forwards scoring from play he will not be pleased that Offaly were able to score 2 goals. The full forward line looked impressive last Sunday with Lar Corbett showing for the ball, Pa Bourke, who seems to have bulked up since last year, fighting and winning a lot of ball, and Eoin Kelly winning and taking his goal superbly. Declan Fanning’s fumbles led to both Offaly goals and while he improved in the second half he will need to start well on Sunday. The last quarter performance, while impressive, has to be weighted against Offaly’s collapse. Liam Sheedy came out during the week and stated that he wants to have 2 players for every position, in order to achieve this he needs to get to the latter stages of the League.
The Tipp team was picked last night and is as follows:
Brendan Cummins.
Eamon Buckley, Declan Fanning and Conor O’Brien.
Eamon Corcoran, Conor O'Mahony and Brendan Dunne.
James Woodlock and Shane Maher.
Seamus Butler, Ryan O'Dwyer and Pat Kerwick.
Eoin Kelly, Lar Corbett and Willie Ryan.
The team shows four changes from the side that beat Offaly last Sunday. In comes Conor O’Brien in place of Paul Curran at corner back. James Woodlock replaces Joe Caesar at midfield. While in attack Seamus Butler and Willie Ryan replace John O’Brien and Pa Bourke. The Tipp changes were effected by injury with both Gerry Kennedy and Shane McGrath deemed not fit to start. Limerick have made 5 changes to their side David Bulfin in goals, while Maurice O'Brien in at wing back. Wayne McNamara midfield, while Hugh Flavin and Paudie Brown start in the forwards.
I am surprised that Shane Maher remains in midfield given the other range of candidates; Diarmaid Fitz, Shane McGrath and Benny Dunne. Having come through Fitzgibbon Cup action yesterday Conor O’Brien gets his first start of the year. Seamus Butler gets a chance from the start on Sunday at wing forward. From what I have seen of him he does his best hurling at either midfield or corner forward. Willie Ryan was one of the better Tipp players last year and ended up as our top scorer in the Championship, and while Pa Bourke will feel aggrieved at being dropped there is thankfully very stiff opposition for forward places.
It is difficult to see how Sunday’s game will go. Both sides won their opening games by large scores and both will have eyes for further on in the year. Tipp will have to be wary especially of Limerick full forward line who scored at will against Laois. Another factor that should be taken into account is that both sides have had players playing in the Fitzgibbon Cup this week. While both sides have been training since November Tipp have more hurling matches played. It is always pleasing to see the Tipp forwards scoring but tightening up at the back is needed and stop conceding sloppy scores. The match will probably be decided by the full forward lines as both are in rich scoring veins. Thankfully with the weather for Sunday ok and pitches in decent nick it should lead to a good match. Tipp will probably have the greater hunger on Sunday to gain revenge for last years Championship defeat/debacle and should have enough firepower to win a tight game on Sunday by 3-4 points.