Tipperary Hurling Tipperary GAA Premierview

CLARE - THE FINAL ANALYSIS 2001



Undoubtedly the big news story of the hurling decade of the 1990s was the arrival of Clare as a major hurling power. In the space of a short dramatic few years they went from being a popular team, in the sense that a “new” team will always attract popularity, to being the most controversial outfit in the history of the sport. However, no matter what is said about them, whether it be negative or positive, it has to be said that this Clare team defined their era, and even though not the most successful outfit of the ‘90s, they certainly will be the team which will be most readily associated with the decade in years to come in the minds of hurling followers.

Clare's stock was pretty low at the start of the decade, and while an All-Ireland minor final appearance in 1989 appeared to bode well, this team ultimately failed to produce a rich harvest of senior players. In hindsight, the very earliest evidence of a Clare resurgence was in the 1993 Munster championship first round at Ennis against Limerick. On the day that Kerry beat Waterford, Ger O’Loughlin ran amok as Clare surprised a Limerick team that was itself on the way to greater things. It is now history of course that Clare, under the guidance of Len Gaynor, went on to shock the League champions Cork in a low-scoring semi-final, before losing heavily to Tipperary in the Munster Final. This team was reconstructed significantly over the next couple of years, after another Munster Final defeat to Limerick the following year, but much of the core of the team learned valuable lessons during ’93 and ’94. Of course, the other major development was the departure of Len Gaynor as manager, the accession of Ger Loughnane to the position, and the putting in place of the management triumvirate that was ultimately to be at the helm when Clare finally made the breakthrough.

Sean Hehir, the former Clare wing-back, and team-mate of Loughnane, said recently on Laochra Gael that Loughnane enjoyed a fair amount of luck during his tenure as manager, and certainly he called on some of that inn the 1995 Munster semi-final, when Clare beat Cork with a goal at the death, having struck 20 wides during the game. In fairness, though it has to be said that it was only a late Cork goal, that had necessitated Ollie Baker’s intervention. One of Clare’s outstanding performances came in their next game against Limerick, when Ger Loughnane’s unlikely post-League Final prediction came true. A narrow but deserved win over Galway put them into the final against an Offaly team which was defending its title, won in the most extraordinary circumstances against Limerick the previous year. This was one of the worst All-Ireland Finals I have seen, with the closeness of the scoring being its only saving grace. Jimmy Barry Murphy commented on the poor standard of the fare in this game after having watched the game some months later on TG4, and was surprised as he had enjoyed the game at the time, but outside of the immediacy of the live match, and in a more objective setting, he was less than impressed. Offaly certainly has the winning of this game, and in my opinion this is the All-Ireland that would have really put Offaly on the map as a huge hurling force, rather than a transient force which appears sporadically. The game was there for them, especially after they scored their second goal, but the forwards just couldn’t put the scores on the board, and much of this inability was due to insipidness on Offaly’s part, although Clare did defend with admirable zeal and tenacity.

It is now history of course, that Clare’s crown fell in the 1996 Munster semi-final to a late Ciaran Carey point. The great contrast in standards between the Clare defence and attack was never more apparent than in this game. Clare held Limerick scoreless for a fifteen-minute period in the second-half but still couldn’t put them away. The two Clare central attackers, P.J. O’Connell and Conor Clancy were substituted, but such was the pressure on Limerick, that only the brilliance of Gary Kirby kept them afloat. Jamesie O’Connor, Fergus Tuohy, and Ger O’Loughlin all chipped in with excellent scoring contributions, and when Clare scored four unanswered points they looked capable of pulling away but remarkably failed to score from play in the last fifteen minutes. Clare’s inability to shut out this game was perhaps the first sign of a short-coming that was to make life very difficult for them over the next few years, even against teams which would never achieve anything close to Clare’s reputation.



1997 goes down as Clare’s greatest year, certainly in terms of achievement. They were probably better the following year, but didn’t achieve the ultimate glory. Their opening game in the ’97 championship against Cork was won by a late Stephen MacNamara goal, in a game where Clare substituted half of their forward line, and Seanie McGrath and Brian Corcoran had outstanding games for Cork. The final was won against Tipp at Pairc Ui Chaoimh, and is considered a game that Clare won comfortably, despite the three point gap between the teams at the end. However, on close inspection it was not the most perfect display from Clare. Tipperary played into Clare’s hands by playing the clearly out-of –sorts Colm Bonnar at centre-back, and this also caused major problems for Raymie Ryan on the right flank, who played his last championship game for Tipp that day. Clare ran into a 0-10 to 0-2 lead and were dominant in every sector, but amazingly a mere fifteen minutes later the teams were level at 0-13 each. It was amazing that such a turnaround could occur in such a short time. Declan Ryan was outplaying Sean MacMahon significantly at this stage and was directly or indirectly responsible for many of Tipp’s scores, but the inability of the Tipp full-forward to physically compete with their powerful opponents meant that this amazing rally ultimately failed to a strong Clare finish. Once again, Clare made three substitutions in the forward line. This also was the day when Anthony Daly announced from the victory podium that Clare had come down to Cork on a mission “to show people that we are no longer the whipping boys of Munster”. This was a comment which went against the grain for some Tipperary people, and was considered by many as unnecessary triumphalism. Clare of course, would point to Nicky English's smirk in the '93 Munster Final, but whatever was unfairly read into this by Clare, at least it was spontaneous, while surely Daly's speech must have been pre-prepared to some degree anyway. After-match jingoism was an integral part of Daly’s contribution as Clare captain, and in a way it exemplified the high-octane maner in which this Clare team approached everything. It is doubtful if there ever has been a team for whom the mental approach to the game has been so important, and were so prepared to be “in your face”.



Clare had a very comfortable win over Kilkenny in the semi-final, a typically brilliant DJ Carey goal being the highlight of the Cats’ performance. The All-Ireland final was a repeat of the Munster Final and Clare had a well deserved victory, with the final margin of one point being unrepresentative of the gulf between the teams. John Leahy’s late chance which was saved by Davy Fitzgerald, has already become part of All-Ireland folklore. In reality, the save was significant rather than technically great, as the ball had struck the ground twice and lost pace before it reached the goalkeeper. It was also struck across the goal, rather than to the "near" side, which made it more difficult to score even if the ball had been struck well.

The by-now customary replacing of half the Clare forward-line again happened, and we saw an example of the “dummy” teams ploy that the Clare mentors became very fond of using, when Niall Gilligan replaced the named Fergal Hegarty before the throw-in. It was a decision that didn’t sit well with Hegarty, as he felt if he wasn’t playing he shouldn’t be named, but Clare went ahead with the plan, even to the point of having sixteen men in the pre-match photograph.

Clare well deserved their All-Ireland victory, but an early sign of the loose cannon that was Ger Loughnane was in evidence on the Sunday Game that night. Ger, of course had by now become accustomed to swooning over every performance and game that Clare produced, and on this night of Clare’s greatest triumph, was in no mood to accept the calculated match analysis of Eamon Cregan. As far as Ger was concerned this was one of the greatest All-Ireland Finals, and Cregan’s suggestion that the game was somewhat short of great did not sit well. Cregan’s claim that the waving wide of Declan Ryan’s point was an incorrect decision wasn’t exactly music to Clare ears either, a sound to which Loughnane clearly is quite partial. It has to be said that Loughnane’s reaction was nothing short of disgraceful, and most unbecoming of an All-Ireland winning manager. The personal nature of his remarks about Cregan “minding his job in Tipperary” were in bad taste to say the least. It also was an indication that when in a difficult situation, the judgement of the Clare manager was questionable. This poor judgement was to prove costly to Clare the very next Summer.

The following year, 1998, is really a year that already stands out in hurling history, such was the roller-coaster nature of the Clare championship adventure. It also was the first evidence of the siege mentality from Clare, and indeed the were very much the authors of their own destruction in the final analysis. There wasn’t much sign of the tumult that was down the road when Clare over-powered a coming Cork team in the Munster semi-final. I personally consider this to be Clare’s finest hour. Liam Griffin suggested afterwards that Clare approached the game as if it “was the last hurling game ever”. Clare had lost the League semi-final heavily to Cork, and by all accounts the management was very disappointed with the performance if not the result. They certainly hit the ground running against Cork on this occasion and clearly set about “softening up” Cork in the early stages. Cork led most of the way in the early on, before being completely over-powered in the second period. It was classic Clare in many ways, selecting another dummy team with Brian Quinn and Alan Markham replacing Michael O’Halloran and Conor Clancy respectively before the throw-in. Another hallmark was the fact that they scored no goals, and substituted two forwards. They were fortunate with the defence they had, that they were able to overcome their poor goal-scoring capacity on so many occasions. However, this comment should no way detract from a great performance, described by the late Raymond Smith as “a display of power hurling that was as good as any seen at this famous ground in living memory”.

The Munster Final against Waterford ended in a draw with Paul Flynn missing a late chance to dethrone the defending champions. Brian Lohan, rarely for him, conceded two goals to his direct opponent (Anthony Kirwan), and as in the previous year’s final Clare had an eight point lead late in the first-half which they again lost. Clare claim to have been shocked at the aggression bordering on nastiness of the Waterford approach. Mike McNamara summed this up when he spoke of the half-time scene in the Clare dressing-room – “Our medical people were busy stitching fellas and taping fellas. Maybe it was something that was common in the dressing-rooms of teams that played against us, but we found it a most unusual sight”. Of course, you don’t have to scrape the surface of this sentiment too deeply to reveal that Clare saw nothing wrong with dishing out severe physical punishment, but would react badly to being on the receiving end. In a similar way to the Meath reaction to Cork’s tactics in the 1988 All-Ireland Final, the replay inevitably boiled over with confrontations taking place all over the pitch before the throw-in. Mike McNamara said that Clare decided to approach the game as if they were playing Tipperary, so certainly sparks were sure to fly!!

I’m not going to dwell on the rights and wrongs of the Colin Lynch affair, as it has been dealt with on so many occasions, other than to say that he did behave like a maniac before and during the throw-in. He was probably unlucky to get a three-month suspension, as many players have done worse things, and got away with them. Then again, players have been punished as severely, and in similar apparently “unfair” or extreme ways. Tipperary people will always point to the hefty suspensions handed out to Paul Delaney and Michael Ryan during 1995, even though the referee had adjucated there and then, and neither became the cause celebre that Lynch did. The Lynch business tends to over-shadow the mindlessness of Brian Lohan’s behaviour shortly afterwards, when with no apparent provocation he launched himself at Micheal White, and both of them got the line. One can only wonder at what must have been the scene in the Clare dressing-room immediately prior to this game, given the ferocity with which they approached the game! It has to acknowledged that some of the Waterford antics were not exactly within the spirit or the laws of the game either. Clare won the game comfortably, and this Munster Final replay can be seen in retrospect as the last fling of this Clare team. They never again reached the heights that they had during this campaign. It is now history of course, that Lynch incurred a three-month suspension, and Lohan a one-month ban, suspensions dished out on the Friday night before the All-Ireland semi-final against Offaly, but notwithstanding these losses, Clare remained the strong fancy for the McCarthy Cup.

The leadership qualities and judgement of Ger Loughnane during this time has to be seriously questioned. He famously went on Clare FM to give an interview in the week leading up to the semi-final, and it is remarkable that the interview was discussed at a meeting the night before, and nobody was prepared to shout stop. One way of looking at this is that Clare, through the persona of Ger Loughnane were entitled to express opinions, but with a disciplinary decision coming up it was hardly the smartest move. Certainly Clare have made no secret of the fact that creating an “adversary”, however illusory it might be, was an integral part of their efforts to reach the levels of motivation they felt necessary to practice their brand of hurling. But the reality is that irrespective of the rights and wrongs of the Colin Lynch affair, Clare achieved little by reacting so publicly and aggressively.

Of course, the yarn about the three priests in Croke Park was like something from the petty sessions pages of a local newspaper, rather than something which in any way gave Ger Loughnane a mandate to lash out at all and sundry. His fabricated story about meeting Pat Hartigan at the Galway races when Hartigan was out of the country, seems more surreal than ever with the passage of time. His claims that at a match in Dublin, Donie Nealon told Frank Burke of Galway that Lynch would get three months suspension, when Burke said he didn’t meet Nealon, and Donie said he wasn’t even at the game, casts a further shadow over Loughnane’s credentials on this issue. This whole episode is more difficult to believe than ever at this remove. Even Clare’s attempt to get the High Court to rule on the Colin Lynch issue, shows poor judgement on behalf of the Clare management. The reality is that given the quality of opposition ahead, Clare were eminently capable of winning the All-Ireland even without Colin Lynch, and certainly of beating Offaly without Lohan as well. One can only guess at the mental state of the players facing into the All-Ireland semi-final with

all these shenanigans going on. It is ironic that a management team which prided itself in preparing a team to the perfect pitch for a given day, was to serve them so badly on such an important issue. Had the issue been dealt with less publicly, it could have given Clare the sort of motivation that the always looked for. They were never going to change the world no matter how just they felt their cause was

Another issue which consistently caused problems for the Clare management was the necessity for them to constantly encroach on the pitch. They claimed that it was impossible to get their message across to the team, with the noise of the crowd. I hadn’t often heard this from team-mentors over the years, and haven’t really heard it since the departure of this management team either. Perhaps other management teams don’t feel the need to hold the hands of their team constantly. I recall Ger Loughnane walking straight across the half-way line during the 1997 Munster Final when crossing from the uncovered stand side of Pairc Ui Chaoimh, such was his disdain and disrespect for proceedings. It’s little wonder that during 1997/98, at least one of the Clare mentors always seemed to be serving a ban of some description. This ended up with the crazy spectacle of the Tipperary and Clare management teams sitting on a green bench in no man’s land between the dug-out and the playing area for the duration of the ’97 final.

Mention of the 1997 championship reminds one of another controversy in which Loughnane found himself embroiled. He mentioned to Jim O’Sullivan of the Examiner that in the upcoming semi-final between Wexford and Tipp, that Wexford’s rough-house tactics weren’t going to beat a Tipperary team. This was sensationalised a bit by the Examiner and caused a rift between Clare and Wexford, even though they never actually met in the championship! Mike McNamara interpreted Loughnane’s comments thus ; “I saw Ger’s comment as a statement that, irrespective of how rough the game gets, Tipperary will stand up to it, and anybody who knows Tipperary hurling knows that they couldn’t take a step backwards from a challenge even if they wanted to – something they’ve proved for over 100 years”.

In fairness to Loughnane he was unfairly dealt with on this occasion I suspect, but I also suspect that another manager of a team still in the championship may have been more circumspect even in “off the record” remarks to a journalist.

Yet another example of Loughnane’s volatile nature was his “open letter” to Liz Howard, the Tipp PRO, in the Clare Champion replying to some remarks she had made. It is fair to say that the reply was personalised, and over the top, and one has to question the leadership of the Clare county board, and their influence over the Clare manager. Surely, if Clare wished to take issue with remarks made by the PRO of another county, it should logically be the Clare PRO that would do so ? One wouldn’t have thought that it would be within the area of responsibility of the senior team manager. I believe that during this time Clare were not served well in the area of leadership at county board level. If they had been, a lot of anguish would have been avoided during Clare’s great era.

Clare made the unprecedented and incredible gesture of “retiring” the jerseys of Colin Lynch and Brian Lohan for the Offaly match. It was creating a sort of "martyr culture" around these players, and while they may have felt that Lynch was hard done by, Lohan’s sending-off and suspension (which could have been worse had his swinging hurley connected with Micheal White’s head) were self-inflicted and deserved. The jersey gesture really was a two-fingered salute to the authorities, and was to achieve nothing other than that to further distance Clare from whatever public sympathy they may have had.

Clare’s propensity to suffer major dips in their level performance from game to game surfaced in the Offaly game, when after a terrific Munster championship, they had to rely on a late Jamesie O’Connor free, after a decision which even Tony Considine described as “dicy” to give them a draw. The replay of course, is a game that should have been won. The error by Jimmy Cooney was unfortunate, even if the Clare ship was leaking badly after having - not for the first time - thrown away a large lead (10 points), to be ahead by just three when the referee blew for time.

The controversy surrounding the early finish, tends to obscure two huge errors by Jimmy Cooney, when he certainly should have sent-off Michael Duignan, for a crazy pull on David Forde. He was booked for that stroke, and escaped censure for a high tackle on the same player later, but he should have walked for the first offence ; if striking with the hurley is not a sending-off offence what is ? Johnny Pilkington should also have got marching orders for a disgraceful kick at a Clare player.

Of course, Clare lost the re-fixture in Thurles, and even then only a superlative performance from Stephen Byrne in the Offaly goal denied them victory. Despite Ger Loughnane’s suggestions that Clare had gone too far in 1998 and were a tired team, it is hard to avoid the conclusion that they would have won a richly-deserved All-Ireland, had they come out of Thurles with a victory. The previously mentioned swings in Clare’s level of performance might have caused them problems in the final, but they certainly would have been the hottest of favourites.

It was never to be the same for Clare after this, and it hard to believe that they have won nothing since that fateful replay against Waterford – a pyrrhic victory if ever there was one. They beat Tipp comfortably in a replay in 1999, after benefiting from one of the worst decisions I have ever seen on a hurling field, when the smiling assassin awarded Conor Clancy a penalty after he had carried the ball for 17 steps. It was a game Tipp should have had wrapped up anyway, and after having been 1-8 to 0-10 behind, and turning it around to go 0-15 to 1-9 ahead, it looked to be Tipp’s game. Some simple chances were missed by Brian O’Meara, and Paul Shelley, who was to prove an unlikely nemesis for Brian Lohan.

Tipp were pathetic in the replay, and gave Clare a boost by omitting Declan Ryan before the start. The Tipp performance was epitomised for me by Conal Bonnar, at one stage standing waiting for a ball to come to him, only to have it taken away by Alan Markham, and Fergal Heaney pulling on fresh air which led to Clare’s goal. Ger Loughnane has described this as Clare’s most perfect display, but surely you can only judge great performances in the context of competitive opposition.

The fact the Clare had slipped from the great heights of the previous year, was evident when they lost to Cork in the Munster Final, albeit to a goal which shouldn’t have been allowed. It would be very difficult to see this Cork team living with the ’98 Clare level of performance. Despite the slippage that had occurred, Clare still overcame Galway after a classic draw in the quarter-final, and took Kilkenny all the way in the semi-final. Clare’s forwards again proved to be their achilles heel, with three forwards being substituted in both games against Galway, and in the Kilkenny match.

If this All-Ireland semi-final was a bridge too far, then the 2000 Munster championship was never going to be a success story for Clare, and a further defeat in the 2001 championship must surely signal the end for this side as we know it.

So at this stage where do they stand, and how are they to be judged ?

It would be fair to say that they had one of the greatest defensive units that has graced the hurling championship. They had four all-time great defenders, in Brian Lohan, Frank Lohan, Liam Doyle and Sean McMahon. The Lohan-McMahon central defensive partnership can be favourably compared to any in history. There may be questions about Lohan’s prowess under a high ball, and one wonders about the problems that a Tony Doran, or a Joe McKenna might have caused him. He also had a tendency to be a little reckless at times, an example of this would be the pull across Henry Shefflin’s head, just before DJ Carey caught the high ball which led to him scoring the winning goal in the ’99 semi-final. One imagines that the Pat Hartigans or the Nick O’Donnells would have caught this ball, and the goal would have been averted. However, Lohan makes up for this apparent weakness in so many impressive ways, with ferocious intensity, a good clearance, terrific pace, and a never-say-die spirit. It is interesting to note that when DJ Carey scored a goal against Clare in the 1997 semi-final, Lohan covered a huge amount of ground to track across and almost blocked the shot down. Similarly, who knows how his lunge at John Leahy in the ’97 final may have affected the subsequent shot ?

McMahon was a terrific centre-half-back and must be one of the greatest long-range free-takers in the history of the game. Liam Doyle is rather like John Egan, the former Kerry footballer, in that anyone I ever hear speak of him calls him under-rated. I’ve heard this so often that I can say he’s not under-rated any more! A player that is definitely under-rated is Frank Lohan, but perhaps that is the inevitable lot of the corner-back. David Fitzgerald has made the occasional lapse, most notably and importantly in the 1995 All-Ireland Final, but I think few would argue that wasn't a very good keeper on most days.

Michael O’Halloran and Brian Quinn have served Clare well at corner-back, and Anthony Daly clearly was an inspirational figure for the team, but played his own game, to the detriment of his marking a bit too much to be considered as one of the great defenders. Then again, a cynic might argue that this could describe Brian Whelahan also, and he hasn’t done too badly!

The midfield was very aggressive and physical and was of vital importance to Clare. In fact the arrival of Colin Lynch in 1997, and the vast improvement in Ollie Baker, was the catalyst which took Clare from being just another strong contender, to being the team to beat. Lynch’s work-rate, allied to Baker’s solidity gave them a perfect midfield pairing, but one which remarkably hasn’t lasted the pace at all. The alarming decline in Ollie Baker’s performance seems to be irrevocable, and has taken dramatically from the aura which surrounded this pairing at their considerable peak.

The Clare forwards, to put it simply, were not good enough. They had one great forward, obviously Jamesie O’Connor, but after this they were constantly chopping and changing, and I suspect that a lot of the substitutions that were made, were done more in hope that something would happen rather as an execution of any grand plan from the side-line. Fergus Tuohy served Clare well, most memorably in the 1995 final, and Niall Gilligan has had a few good performances. One way to consider Clare’s forward line, is that they don’t really have a “classic” line-up, that you could rattle of the top of your head. Or certainly 20 years down the road, they won’t trip off the tongue on the way that forwards-lines of yesteryear would.

It was the standard of the forward line that prevented Clare from being considered one of the all-time great teams, in the way that the Tipp 1991 team fell short of absolute greatness because of defensive short-comings. I have often heard it speculated what a line-up you would have with the forwards of the 1991 Tipp team, and the backs from the 1997 Clare team, and certainly it is a prospect to savour.

It is claimed by many that this Clare team under-achieved, but two All-Irelands and three Munster championships was rich enough pickings for a team that probably had to work harder for success than any team before them. The facts remain that even allowing for the hard luck of 1998, Clare’s constant inability to kill off teams when they were in a position to do so was their biggest failing, allied to an inconsistency in their match-to-match performances. One of the side-effects of these short-comings was the amount of replays in which they became involved. This militated against greater achievement for a team such as this, which had to put such physical demands on itself to win matches. They threw away big leads on many occasions, and you always felt that they had to have 60% of a match to win it, as they weren’t a free-scoring side. People will rightly point out some big scores that Clare out up such as 0-21 against Cork in ‘98, and 1-18 & 0-20 against Tipp in ’97, but these scores tended to come from periods of absoulte dominance, in games where they were well on top, rather than as a result of a consistently prolific forward line. It shouldn't be forgotten either, that they also reaped incredible scoring rewards from the stick of Sean MacMahon. They were never a team to poach a victory, with opportunism, and instinct. Their game was all about momentum, and physicality. As Mike McNamara said “We realised that just to do as much as everyone else wasn’t going to be good enough, and we needed extra training, extra fitness, extra speed, extra strength – the whole lot”. This is an acknowledgement that some of the players were struggling at this level, in pure hurling terms anyway. They may well deserve to be considered the team of the ‘90s, in the sense that they were the most constant force for the latter half of the decade, but no more than that I’m afraid.

Much is made of the "golden era" of hurling that occurred during the 1990s. In historical terms the 1930s and the 1950s, are always referred to as similar eras for hurling. It seems to me though, that an essential ingredient for a period to get this title, is the arrival of "new" teams, and the temporary interruption of the dominance of the usual suspects. You had a period of extraordinary openess in Munster in the '30s, with five counties winning titles, and in the 50s, four counties were to come out of Munster, with of course, Waterford also winning an All-Ireland, allied to the arrival of Wexford's great team, while Galway too were also a major force for a few years.

I believe that the arrival of Clare, Wexford, Offaly, and Limerick, as provincial winners around the 1994-96 era, plus the extra promotion of the game from the new sponsors Guinness, and of course live TV on a much more widespread basis, all were factors in the media applying this moniker to the 1990s. In fairness, the counties mentioned coming to the fore, will naturally make for a better championship, as even during lean times Kilkenny, Tipperary and Cork, tend not to become uncompetitive for long periods as the smaller counties may do, and can be relied upon to ensure close and exciting matches.

However, I believe that there is evidence to suggest that the standards which applied during this "golden era" were not all that the media would have us believe. The "big three" plus Galway, had shared equally the previous eight All-Ireland titles, and could all be considered to be in a period of transition during the 1995-98 years. Wexford of '96 were in my opinion the poorest All-Ireland winners that I can recall, and even in the case of Offaly it is fair to say that the amount they won, and more importantly the manner in which they won it, hardly justified the media rating that they subsequently enjoyed. The Tipperary team that Clare beat in 1997 was a patchwork team, but was still good enough to beat Wexford, and give Clare a game of it. The Limerick and Wexford teams had a significant core of players, who had been easily beaten in previous years by other counties, and by the mid 1990s they were the teams to beat. This suggests to me a drop in standards.

I believe that when people look back, - outside of the "it'll be hell for leather" context of the time - and coldly analyse the hurling teams that ruled the roost during this era, it will adversely affect the reputation of this Clare team. But it has to be said that on their day, they were a most formidable outfit, and the behaviour of the principals from the county during this era, was pure theatre. Whatever way county loyalties may affect our judgement, we must acknowledge that they were the main players in a very colourful era for hurling.

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JECKYLL AND HYDE LIMERICK PAY THE PRICE ! 2001



When Justin McCarthy was previewing the Munster Hurling Final, he said “Tipp to win, but which Limerick will turn up” ? Would it be the Limerick that would hurl from the start or the Limerick which gave their opponents a head-start ? On last Sunday in Croke Park, the latter version of Limerick certainly turned up, and paid the price for their slow start.

Wexford came into the game with their reputation at an all-time low, or at least an all-time low for a team which had just qualified for and competed in a provincial final. The reputation of Leinster Hurling was also being slated from all quarters. The question at this stage is where does last Sunday’s result leave the arguments concerning Leinster hurling ?

As far as I’m concerned, the defeat of Limerick changes very little. Perhaps a Wexford victory over Tipperary will nullify all arguments, even if it sentences the hurling world to the horrendous prospect of an all-Leinster Final. Even allowing for a below-par Limerick performance on the day, and a huge improvement in the attitude and urgency of Wexford compared to the Leinster Final debacle, the Model County were extremely lucky to escape by the skin of their teeth, a fact acknowledged by their manager.

Even after conceding a superb goal to Rory McCarthy, and going five points down before they scored themselves, Limerick essentially lost this game in the five minutes before half-time. During this time, they conceded two goals from placed balls – one from a penalty which clearly wasn’t one - and despite having the better of the general play in the first-half found themselves four points in arrears at the break. At this stage, I felt the game was about whether Wexford could remain ahead by means of another unlikely goal, or if Limerick’s superiority would be manifested on the scoreboard.

Limerick out-scored Wexford by 0-10 to 0-4 in the second-half, which generally could be expected to swing a game in their favour. But then came a remarkably crude tackle by Clem Smith which led to Damien Fitzhenry’s late match-winning goal. It is amazing to think that Wexford scored only two points in the last 22 minutes, and still were within striking distance of Limerick when this late chance presented itself.

The Shannonsiders paid a huge price for five missed frees by Paul O’Grady. It was a very disappointing day on this front for him, sending four frees wide, and dropping another short on a day when he scored far more difficult chances, including a great score from play. Had O’Grady hit these five straight-forward frees, the score at the end of 70 minutes would have been 2-20 to 3-10, and Damien Fitzhenry’s heroics would have been irrelevant. People are quick to point out Limerick’s propensity for hitting wides, but in reality Wexford hit eleven wides themselves on Sunday, and had to rely on goals from three dead ball situations. It really would be hard to see Wexford troubling any of the remaining teams, or indeed to have survived the route which Limerick themselves took to the quarter-finals.

Great credit is due to Adrian Fenlon at midfield, Larry Murphy for two great points in the second-half when Wexford had no other ideas, and most particularly Darragh Ryan. If Ryan hadn’t kept such tabs on Brian Begley, Limerick would have won by fifteen points. A great effort by Ciaran Carey at midfield, not for the first time in his career, went unrewarded. Barry Foley, despite scoring a bullet of a goal, was guilty of a few very poor wides. For the benefit of the championship as a spectacle, it was a disappointing result, as Limerick seem to be a much more capable team than Wexford, despite Sunday's result.

The other quarter-final match was as farcical as expected, and it is impossible to evaluate Galway on the basis of this match. It is difficult to say whether Galway will beat Kilkenny even though the champions are a team vulnerable to an ambush if ever there was one. I felt that Tipperary would easily beat Galway, purely on the basis that the Tipperary forwards have improved a lot on last year, and Declan Ryan is capable of causing massive problems physically for the Galway full-back Michael Healy. However, playing Kilkenny may suit Healy’s style a lot better, and I suppose a Galway win would hardly qualify as a major shock. Galway had the beating of Kilkenny last year, but the concession of two soft goals, Eugene Cloonan missing an absolute sitter, Kevin Broderick hitting a post, and most remarkably of all conceding five late points to Denis Byrne, who has hardly struck a ball this year, all undermined their challenge.

If Mike MacNamara can bring the same qualities of resilience and aggression to bear in Galway as he and his colleagues did in his days with Clare, then certainly it’s an extremely winnable game for Galway, notwithstanding the huge loss of the Gantley brothers. I do have grave reservations about the Galway forward line though, and the forwards upon whom they will rely when the going gets tough, are Joe Rabbitte who is too one-dimensional to be consistently effective at the highest level, and Eugene Cloonan seems to lack the temperament to be looked on as a reliable match-winner, although he is well capable of causing Kilkenny problems as he will win a lot of possession. Kevin Broderick looked good last Sunday, but he has yet to prove a reliable forward at this level. If nothing else, I would expect Galway to up the physical stakes against Kilkenny, and it will be interesting to see how the champions respond, especially if the Galway forwards can back it up with scores.

Babs Keating suggested a number of weeks ago that John Carroll should be tried at centre-half-forward on the Tipperary team, and this is a rumour than seems to have taken root in the county. I personally believe that Tipperary will struggle to win an All-Ireland with Eddie Enright playing on the forty, as he doesn’t have the physical dimension to his game required in this position. Eddie certainly has a lot to offer Tipp, as he has been scoring freely in all games, but the team would benefit from a stronger and more aggressive player in this position. Carroll has played there in the League, and quite often at club level also, and is certainly worth a try. Carroll would bring shape and solidity to the forward line, plus an essential "defensive" dimension, even if he didn’t set the world alight with his hurling.

It is, of course, quite late in the day to be making a switch in such a key position but it exactly because it's such a key position that it needs to be done, and the fortunate thing is that even to get it wrong against Wexford would hardly be fatal, with the versatility of Carroll, and the ability to use five substitutes. The Tipperary attack ended up in a shambolic state towards the end of the Munster Final, even bringing Declan Ryan out to the number eleven position. Declan Ryan was a “once-in-a-lifetime” centre-forward, an enormously powerful man, with a sublime touch, incredible vision, plus unerring accuracy, but if he is asked to roll back the years at the business end of a Munster Final played in the most energy-sapping conditions, we can take it that Tipp have a problem. It is essential that the Tipp selectors get their team right for the semi-final, as it is a game that could give wrong impressions of players, as frankly it doesn’t look like the opposition will be too testing, unless they enjoy the generous portions of luck they had in the quarter-final.
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IT MUST BE TIPP !



Next Sunday sees Tipperary take the next tentative step towards a possible All-Ireland Final appearance. Six weeks after the narrow Munster Final victory over Limerick, Tipp now face Limerick’s unlikely conquerors, and the Leinster runners-up, Wexford. An All-Ireland semi-final appearance is a remarkable upturn in Wexford’s fortunes, even if it required only one major victory to achieve it. Certainly, before the championship draw, a lot of eyebrows would have been raised at the suggestion that the Model County would find itself 70 minutes from an All-Ireland Final in August. That’s exactly where Wexford are right now, and one can assume that whatever may have gone before, they will now see it as a massive opportunity, and will surely look on Limerick’s performance against Tipperary as a form guide which will give them much to be optimistic about.

This is the seventh occasion that these counties have locked horns at Senior championship level. The first time was way back in 1899, when a Tipperary team powered by the Moycarkey team of the time, and enhanced by the presence of many of the defunct Tubberadora club – now playing with other teams – had a comfortable 3-12 to 1-4 victory over Wexford. Remarkably it was to be fifty-two years before they crossed swords again. Of course, during most of these fifty-two years, Wexford was far more well-known as a football stronghold, and achieved a famous four-in-a-row between 1915-18. They did have a first hurling victory over Limerick in the 1910 All-Ireland Final and indeed two of their players Sean Kennedy of New Ross, and Paddy Mackey, a native of the Rower-Inistioge in Kilkenny, achieved the remarkable distinction of winning hurling and football medals. Even to this day, this achievement puts them in the company of less than twenty other players in GAA history.

By the time Wexford next appeared on the All-Ireland hurling scene they were rather a novelty, as even in football, their days of high achievement were far behind them. They had won the 1945 Leinster football title, when the team included Nicky Rackard, but when they qualified for the 1951 All-Ireland hurling final, it was their first All-Ireland appearance for thirty-three years. It is remarkable to think that in the years leading up to this final, Wexford actually had to wear a jersey of blue and gold hoops, as their famous purple and gold colours were considered an economic indulgence by the manufacturers of the day, in the post-war climate of financial rectitude. However, the set of hurlers that represented Wexford over the next decade were to ensure that the purple and gold were to become very popular indeed.

In the 1951 final, Wexford met a Tipperary team which was attempting to win their third All-Ireland title in-a-row. It was a very strong Tipperary team, and it is testimony to its reputation that with the exception of the centre-half-back, Pat Stakelum, the entire defence en-bloc was chosen on the Tipperary team of the millenium half a century later. Of course, Pat Stakelum would be regarded by many of his contemporaries as one of the greatest number sixes of them all, so it hardly damages his reputation being the odd man out. For the record, this defence read Tony Reddin (Lorrha), Mickey Byrne (Thurles Sarsfields), Tony Brennan (Clonoulty-Rossmore) RIP, John Doyle (Holycross), Jimmy Finn (Borris-ileigh), Pat Stakelum (Holycross), and Tommy Doyle (Thurles Sarsfields). Another name which stands out in this team was Mick Ryan of Roscrea, Tipp’s millenium centre-forward, who won county championship medals in Kilkenny with Dicksboro, and in Cork with St.Finbarrs. Bobby Ryan’s father and uncle, Tim and Ned, were also on that team, with Pat Stakelum also being Bobby’s uncle. The free-taking sharpshooter was Jimmy Kennedy, whose daughter Louise is now famous in another field, and the midfield famously was Phil Shanahan of Toomevara, and the teak-tough Sean Kenny of Borris-ileigh, whose brother Paddy was also a huge star at corner-forward, and one of the deadliest takers of a “21” that the game has known.

Wexford, primarily due to an unhappy day for goalkeeper, Ray Brennan went down to a ten-point defeat, but their display was not without major promise for the future. Nicky Rackard proved completely unmanageable in that final, finishing with 3-2 from play, and built a strong foundation for his great reputation, which ensures that his omission from the team of the millenium was cringe-inducing, and indeed diminishes the credibility of that team in my eyes. Of course, this Wexford team was laden with stars, the two other Rackard brothers made up a trio, which surely claims the distinction of being the greatest hurling brothers of them all. Nick O’Donnell achieved a reputation in the best full-back position which has stood the test of time, and though a big strong man, was essentially a “hurling” full-back lest it be assumed he mightn’t have stood out in any era. Ned Wheeler, at midfield, Tim Flood at corner-forward, and Jim English at right-half-back are other players from the Wexford team of the ‘50s to have left massive imprints on the game. Of course, Wexford’s day, even though unexpectedly delayed, was only a few years around the corner. A narrow defeat to a late Johnny Clifford goal in the 1954 final was avenged in ’56 when they defeated Cork to retain their title, and deprive Christy Ring of his ninth All-Ireland medal. During this time, Tipp met Wexford in the League Finals of 1955 and ’56, winning the first, and losing the second in a storm at Croke Park, when Wexford recovered a 15 point deficit to win by 5-9 to 2 –14, and win the first leg of the “double” in their greatest year, during which they also added the Oireachtas trophy, then a huge competition.

Wexford’s next major achievement was in 1960, when they inflicted Tipperary’s first All-Ireland final defeat in thirty-eight years, in what was considered a massive surprise. John Nolan, making his championship debut at wing-back, won the man-of-the-match award as Wexford romped home. Tipp got revenge in 1962, when two goals in the first eighty seconds didn’t prevent them having to scrape home with a late goal after Wexford had over-hauled them, in what is regarded as one of the best All-Ireland finals of them all. By the next time they met in a final three years later, Tipperary with some new blood added, in the form of Larry Kiely, “Babs” Keating, and Mick Roche, had evolved into a phenomenally strong outfit. Wexford had a young side, and were completely overwhelmed, doing well to keep the margin to twelve points, as Tipp won their fourth final in five years. The Wexford men had also taken a 20 point mauling in the previous year’s League Final at the hands of the same opposition.

Of course, the Model county made up for this in 1968, when the unexpectedly beat Tipp after a first half-performance which didn’t bode well for the remainder of the game. However, they dramatically over-turned an eight-point deficit for a deserved two-point victory, with Tony Doran, having been completely out-hurled on the “forty” by Mick Roche, moved to the edge of the square and scored two goals, one of which was ridiculously over-carried. Of course, this was Wexford’s last final victory until 1996, and that team, when in the course of trying retain their title ran into Tipp in the semi-final. Terrific performances by John Leahy and Declan Ryan among others gave Tipp a merited seven-point win, when it’s probably fair to say that they were under-dogs for the only time in history against Wexford.

Naturally, all of this will be academic on Sunday next when an All-Ireland Final appearance will be up for grabs. It is debatable how a six-week lay-off – during which time Wexford have had two games – will affect the Munster champions. The intensity of the Munster campaign should ensure that it is a worthwhile rest, and in the case of the Leinster men, they badly needed a game after the debacle of their game against Kilkenny. I wasn’t impressed by Wexford in the quarter-final, and thought they enjoyed a huge portion of luck, but it can be assumed that they will improve from that outing.

Tipperary have left a vacancy at midfield, apparently in the hope that Paul Kelly will be fit, and taking this at face value, one assumes that Conor Gleeson will be the likely replacement if they go for a direct switch. It is very difficult to see Tipp risking Paul Kelly at this stage, if he is not capable of lasting the full 70 minutes without further aggravation to the injury, and it would be folly to do so. Wexford have a similar doubt with regard to Declan Ruth, but he seems to be a safer bet than the Tipp man.

It is hard to predict anything other than a Tipperary win, as the evidence suggests nothing else. As I’ve said before Wexford relied heavily on dead ball situations against Limerick, and even after scoring four goals, and Limerick missing five scoreable frees, they still struggled to win. The reaction of the referee to the questionable tactics of Nicky Lambert, assuming he turns up on the edge of the square will be interesting, as will the reaction of the Tipp defence. Eddie Enright’s roving style will present of new sort of challenge for Liam Dunne, who prefers what might euphemistically be described as more attritional confrontations. Declan Ryan will hardly get much leeway from the Wexford full-back but his experience and craft will make him impossible to shut out for the entire hour. I would expect the Tipp corner-forwards and wng-forwards to have a very productive day assuming that the central attackers at least break even. The Tipp defence is eminently capable of shutting out the Wexford forwards, with Rory McCarthy and Larry Murphy seeming to present the greatest threat.



We can take it that as is Wexford’s wont, there’ll be timber aplenty flying early on, but if Tipp withstand that without excessive casualties, they should win this pulling up, if they are anywhere close to where they need to be to seriously challenge in the final.

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LEINSTER HURLING’S “SUPERIORITY” TAKES A BATTERING 2001


After four months of a rather uninspiring championship, we are left with an All-Ireland Final featuring Tipperary and Galway, who are meeting in a final for the first time since 1988, which of course, was also Galway’s last win in a final. It will be a refreshing pairing after the two all-Leinster ties of the last three years, and particularly the nightmare final of last September. The recent claims that Leinster Hurling was superior to everyone else and that Kilkenny were twelve to fifteen points better than all other teams in the country, have also been predictably shown to be hollow rhetoric. It was also rather unusual that it was the hurling semi-finals which were mediocre and over-shadowed by the refereeing, as these are factors which more usually are associated with the football side of the house.

Tipperary made heavy weather of beating Wexford, and indeed might have lost on the first day, despite looking as if they were about to destroy the Leinster runners-up. This is shocking really, as some of the Wexford play - particularly in the drawn game - was pathetic, and as poor as I’ve ever seen in Croke Park. However, Wexford, as against Limerick, showed an urgency and sense of purpose which they rarely displayed within the confines of their province, and even though they were out-gunned in the scoring department, and found themselves eight points down early in the second half, they at least were not conceding cheap uncontested scores as they had in the Leinster final. Tipp were not playing very fluently, and were earning what they got. Then of course, Larry O’Gorman stepped in for two amazing goals, and allied to Rory McCarthy’s effort, Wexford were in a potentially winning position from nothing. Sloppy defence almost cost Tipp dearly, and the benefit of batting high ball, to vigilant half-backs when under pressure, rather than attempting an acrobatic and risky catch will not be lost on the Tipperary full-back-line, after this experience. Even though Tommy Dunne might have won it for Tipp, late in the game, it was with relief that Tipp greeted the final whistle. The feeling was that what had happened was an aberration, which would certainly be put to rights in the replay, and so it proved. Despite the championship-winning style celebrations of the Wexford supporters after the game, it was impossible not to feel that Wexford’s “smash-and-grab” attempt, had failed rather than succeeded, as the better team was almost certain to come through in the replay. The replay will have done Tipperary the world of good, but it would have been unnecessary had the referee not incredibly given a free-out to Darragh Ryan, the Wexford full-back, after he had charged into Liam Cahill while in possession. It was the most blatant free-IN of the day, but Tipperary should be glad that this rather common refereeing inconsistency regarding the “charging while in possession” rule, gave them an extra game, as a second day to try out the John Carroll option at centre-forward, would be very beneficial.



The second game was ruined by the atrocious elements, and despite the levelling conditions, Wexford simply didn’t have the firepower up front to have a realistic chance of winning. They got their customary ten points, but with no goals this time, their luck ran out. It is amazing that their joint top goal-scorers, along with Rory McCarthy, are a wing-back, and goalkeeper ! Persisting with Nicky Lambert, and shifting their full-back down in the forwards in the second-half, just about sums up their lack of options, as does the bizarre and ineffective re-introduction of Martin Storey. Gong back for Martin Storey is rather at odds with the notion that Wexford hurling is in a wonderful state as Tony Dempsey tells us. Nevertheless, their fighting spirit was admirable and Tipperary may have reason to be grateful for that before the year is out, as Tipp will have gained valuable experience in these two games. I thought the outstanding player on the pitch was John Carroll of Tipp who had a massive game. The amount of work he got through was amazing, and he ensured that the Tipp half-forward line wasn’t eclipsed as it had been the first day. Eoin Kelly also deserves special mention, as does his brother Paul, although why Wexford decided to leave the entire left-flank of the Tipperary defence unchallenged and then hit the ball down there regularly, has me baffled. As Galway showed on Sunday, an extra man in hurling rarely needs to be significant, but Wexford seemed in such poor control of their game that they were just happy to get rid of possession much of the time, rather than concerning themselves with the next stage of proceedings. The other area of benefit for Tipp was the performance of Eugene O’Neill, whose goal-scoring ability was again demonstrated. Purely on merit he deserves to start in the All-Ireland Final, and one suspects that if he doesn’t it will be a decision based on the perceived tactical benefit of holding back a very good substitute to bring on, rather than as in the case of Denis Byrne last Sunday, bringing on somebody who wasn’t good enough to start in the first place.

The sendings-off have generated much column inches over the past few days, but Mitch Jordan’s sending-off was straight-forward, with him leaving Pat Horan no option. However, the dismissals of Liam Dunne and Brian O’Meara raise an interesting issue. On a strict interpretation of the rules, it was quite legitimate to give them red cards. Of course, there is a parallel tacit set of rules in action in hurling, and these sendings-off were certainly in breach of that particular code of practice. The difficulty with Horan’s interpretation in this case, is not that he was necessarily incorrect, but that applying that level of strictness consistently would ensure that there would be at least two or three red cards in every game, and certainly the Galway-Kilkenny game would have finished (and maybe started) at about eleven-a-side. The most annoying thing about the Dunne-O’Meara incident is the media comment since. Michael Duignan on the Sunday Game, Jim O’Sullivan in the Irish Examiner, and John McIntyre on the “Last Word” all suggested that the referee should have taken the conditions into consideration when judging this incident. This beggars belief ! The suggestion here is that it is quite okay to bury your hurley in somebody’s ribs, as long as it’s raining and underfoot conditions are appalling ! I don’t quibble with the general sentiment, I would have given the players yellow cards, but let’s at least try to have commentary which is intelligent and a level above pub-talk. It can hardly be argued that the were slipping and sliding into each other.



Galway’s win over Kilkenny on Sunday was by all media accounts a shock. However, this was a result which was on the cards for quite some time. I had predicted that Limerick would be the ones to benefit on the day it would dawn that the black and amber emperor had no clothes. Of course, Wexford dictated that it wouldn’t be the Shannonsiders, but as I said here a few weeks ago, even though we could only guess at Galway’s state, a win over Kilkenny hardly qualifies as a shock. I also suggested that “if Mike MacNamara can bring the same qualities of resilience and aggression to bear in Galway as he and his colleagues did in his days with Clare, then certainly it’s an extremely winnable game for Galway”. As they say this isn’t Rocket Science ! Anyone who has critically looked at Kilkenny, as this column did some weeks ago, could see that they were a mediocre team, and mixing that mediocrity with a ludicrously weak provincial championship, and a totally unmerited sense of self-worth and importance, they were as I also noted “a team vulnerable to an ambush if ever there was one”. A team like this Kilkenny team needs hunger as a basic means of survival, and with journeymen such as Larkin, Kennedy, Comerford, and Carter in the ranks, will struggle to get by without a major motivating factor such as they had last year when they faced the unprecedented possibility of falling apart on the big day three years running. On television before the game Ger Loughnane alluded to the cockiness of their supporters who were talking about the final on the way in, and indeed the Kilkenny People newspaper was hardly a paragon of reason either, referring to the Leinster final against Wexford as a “Ferrari against a Mini” ! How Brian Cody must have torn his hair out when surrounded by that sort of arrogance and self-delusion ? How Kilkenny could have gone with the sense of grievance and fighting spirit that their Leinster neighbours displayed in their All-Ireland series matches !

It was always going to be tricky enough for the defending champions anyway, given that Galway were an unknown quantity, at least in terms of this years championship ; and of course, those who weren’t in the same group of cheer-leaders as Liam Griffin and Ger Canning (and therefore didn’t refer to the Kilkenny full-forward by first name only) realised how easily Galway could have beaten Kilkenny last year. This time around, they were without the lumbering presence of Brian Feeney on the edge of the square, and the vigour with which their half-back-line and midfield imposed themselves on their opponents was alien to the “cricket on the village green” type tackling to which Kilkenny have been accustomed. Some journalists were surprised that Charlie Carter only got one point, but as we also pointed out on this forum, this is simply his average against non-Leinster opposition, so this surprise is borne of ignorance.



Enda McEvoy was bleating on about the sagacity of playing DJ Carey at full-forward in last Sunday’s Tribune, and described it as the “Position of Maximum Opportunity”. To those of you who may not know, this phrase was the brainchild of Charles Hughes the former director of coaching at the English Football Association, who championed the “long-ball” game. Now, it’s all fine and dandy to throw this theory at DJ Carey’s situation when things are going nicely, but last Sunday how Kilkenny could have done with a more realistic option at full-forward, where the ball could be pumped in indiscriminately, safe in the knowledge that the full-forward was capable of winning possession any which way it came. For DJ Carey’s optimum position to be full-forward, he needs quality ball (i.e. ball that suits HIM) consistently, and the fact that some Kilkenny people believe that it is his best position emphasises the “wrapped in cotton-wool” existence he has enjoyed over the past couple of years. In a seriously competitive environment, they would realise that “nice ball” is a luxury which cannot be presumed. The big full-forward has stood the test of time for good reason, and as Larry Holmes once opined when discussing Mike Tyson’s potential as heavyweight champion “small guys don’t last”. Kilkenny lacked options up-front when the tide was flowing against them, and the manner in which they were able to indulge themselves over the past couple of seasons, against poor opposition, had the inevitable sting in the tail when they were unable to respond once they found themselves in a serious match. Why they didn’t reshuffle their pack much earlier is beyond me, even if they probably would have failed anyway. Three points from play says it all, and but for the predictable and commendable efforts of John Power, they would have been all but white-washed.

From a Galway perspective, it has to be said that in may areas of the pitch they did not play particularly well, and against better opposition they would have struggled. Alan Kerins was guilty of a number of bad wides, as was Eugene Cloonan. Two points from play in the first hour would be considered poor return from play for any forward line, and Galway would certainly wish for a wider distribution of the scores. The first goal clearly was a fluke and perhaps goes some way towards making up for similar scores which Kilkenny benefited from against the same opposition twenty-two years ago. Galway were also fortunate that Cloonan’s second goal was allowed as he certainly impeded the challenging defender, and also seemed to drop the hurley in the process. It was a game in which Galway should have been a lot more comfortable, given the dominance they enjoyed in possession terms, but they will also be glad to win, while still giving themselves plenty of room for improvement. They are not short of areas on which to work, and there’s no doubt that they will be far stiffer opposition for Tipperary than would have been provided by the overfed sitting duck that was Kilkenny.



The refereeing in this game also aroused plenty of comment. The shemozzle at the throw-in, was straight from the Mike MacNamara school of hurling excellence, and if one was to apply the rules with the same stringency as had been done on the previous day, then Brian McEvoy (punching), John Power (striking with the hurley), and Liam Hodgins (kicking) would also have walked. By any interpretation, surely a yellow card or two would have been in order ? Eamon Kennedy should also have gone for the incident with Joe Rabbitte. Peter Finnerty was trying to work out whether there had been contact in this incident or not, but the rule states that “attempting to strike” is a sending-off offence. The level of contact should affect only the term of suspension, and not the initial dismissal decision. Greg Kennedy’s sending-off was unfortunate for him, as the Kilkenny player clearly slipped and the raising of the arm was purely a reflex action. However, it is not the referee’s job to guess a players intentions, but to adjudicate on the basis of what he sees, and therefore Kennedy had to go. Brian O’Meara’s case is being appealed, and on the grounds of inconsistency he has a very strong case, but I would not hold my breath on this one, and Tipperary should consider his availability for the final to be a bonus. He is certainly a player that Tipperary badly need as he is very strong and tireless, even if he hasn’t been having his best year. No doubt whatever perceived injustice there may be, Tipperary will take whatever decision comes their way with typical grace and decorum, and we’ll be spared the unseemly histrionics that their All-Ireland Final opponents demonstrated with their cause celebre twelve years ago.


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GAA DISCIPLINARY SYSTEM NEEDS A MAJOR RE-THINK. 2001



The Brian O'Meara saga has been the major talking point in relation to the hurling championship this week, filling that curious vacuum that generally occurs between the All-Ireland semi-finals and the week of the final itself. The business that took place at Croke Park on last Monday night was fait accompli, and despite the personal appearance of Brian O'Meara was never likely to be resolved in his favour outside of the appeal process. By all accounts this appeal is going to happen, although whether it will happen in time to have his case resolved - whether in his favour or not - before the hurling final is not quite certain.

There have been a lot of dubious arguments put up both for and against Brian O'Meara. One of them was put forward by PJ Cunningham in the Irish Independent, where he peddled the "he's an amateur and he's done a lot for the GAA" line. There's no doubt that this is true, but it is hardly the most cogent argument with which to defend the player. Another false argument is that provided by Liam Griffin when he talks about £25 to watch the game and how the entertainment value is diminished by unequal numbers of players. The difficulty with this point is are we supposed to turn a blind eye to any skullduggery that goes on in order to provide entertainment ? Everybody knows the score going into a game, that the referee is there to implement the rules, and frankly Griffin is short-changing the readers if this is the best he can come up with.

Dermot Crowe in last Sunday's Independent defended the decision of the referee, and called it a "landmark" case. There is no doubt that is potentially a landmark case alright, but for it to be remembered as such, it will have to fundamentally change the way referees interpret the rules ; otherwise it’s just an aberration which will become more unjustifiable as time passes. The rules themselves which govern the area of aggressive play mention by name offences such as butting, striking, kicking etc., plus attempting to do all of these as worthy of sending-off. Other rules under the same umbrella mention "rough play" and "dangerous play", and in practice these rules which are worded in this general manner, can of course cover the same offence as the ones specifically mentioned by name earlier e.g. striking with a hurley is surely also dangerous play. This apparent vagueness in terminology seems designed to give referee lee-way when it comes to writing their match report, so that the player will get a punishment commensurate with the offence, at least in the referee’s judgement. This seems reasonable as a badly timed swing of a hurley across the leg can hardly attract the same punishment as a hurley across the jaw, and this wording allows the referee to differentiate between offences, while remaining within the framework of the rules. The referee's report form is quite restrictive, and presumably in the interests of uniformity and consistency, the official is guided by the layout of the report so that the type of terminology used within the rule-book is adhered to by the person filling out the report. He is not given very much option to elaborate on incidents in his own words.

If the judgement of Pat Horan in the Tipperary-Wexford game is to become the accepted norm within the game, them this needs to be communicated by the GAA.

Communication, of course, is not exactly the forte of this organisation, and their inability - to give just one example - to put to rest the widespread belief that there is no defined tackle in Gaelic Football - even though they produce a rule-book which clearly defines it - is one of the many baffling aspects of the organisation. The ineffectiveness of the PRO Danny Lynch in this area among many others is amazing, although the attempts by the Referee's Association to discuss rules and refereeing decisions in match programmes recently are very worthwhile and admirable. The referees published a magazine back in the late 1970s which was designed to show their side of things, but it is better to discuss issue in the match programmes, as GAA magazines tend not to sell very well, and certainly won't be bought by those who most vigorously criticise the referees. Christy Ring once offered the opinion that television would “soften” hurling. There is no doubt that it has had this effect to a degree, although much of the “softening” that has occurred isn’t all bad. However, if the game is to become a victim of the interpretation of the rules of the kind that we have seen lately, then it is in danger of becoming that thing that our forefathers spoke of with such disrespect – “a parlour game”.

Some of the apparent inconsistencies in the treatment of Larry Tompkins and Tommy Carr are also difficult to rationalise without reference to some sort of transparent penalty system. Why suspend Larry Tompkins for three matches and Carr for 24 weeks ? There may well be a logic to these suspensions, and they may indeed be the product of some genuine system or other, but why is it not more open and public ? Essentially, I don’t have a problem with either suspension per se, as Tompkins really has no apparent self-control and is a nuisance on the fringes of the pitch, and Carr’s shockingly menacing approach to Mick Curley would not be treated as leniently in any other sport. This sort of carry-on must look stunning to a non-GAA person looking on ; I can think of no other sport where the referee has to put up with this, and where the manager feels obliged to spend so much time on the actual playing surface. The most bizarre aspect of the Carr incident was that some in the media actually suggested that this was one of these famous “turning-points” in a game, and that it somehow lifted the Dublin team – what rubbish ! The sooner that people like Carr and Tompkins who clearly cannot control themselves are banished to the stands the better. They could learn a lot from the hurling managers. Even Ger Loughnane was dignity personified compared to these fellows.



The prominence of Brian O’Meara’s story in the media reminds me a little of the notoriety which surrounded the Tony Keady case many years ago, which was similar in that it was in the build up to a championship outing against Tipperary. Last Saturday I took down this video-tape and watched the game for what must be about the fifteenth time since it was played. Every time I watch it I am more flabbergasted at the unfairness of the media coverage of the time, and the abiding “public house” view of the game that has lasted through the years and is fuelled largely by ignorance and bias. Firstly there is absolutely no doubt that both of Galway’s sendings-off were merited. Anybody who saw Conor O’Donovan being stretchered off in the immediate aftermath of McGrath’s kamikaze tackle would not question the sending-off, and it beggars belief that anybody could have seen anything wrong with the decision even at the time. The further reality is that Peter Finnerty and Eanna Ryan should also have been sent-off for striking Tipperary players on the head with their hurleys. The unbelievable aspect of this was that the referee booked both players. In other words, he saw or purported to see both incidents, as he didn’t check with a linesman. If he hadn’t seen the incidents, I could understand him doing nothing, but it was incredible if he regarded a hurley to the head as merely a bookable offence.



One of the most notable features of this match was the way Ger Canning was still feeling his way in the game of hurling. At one stage the linesman correctly gave a sideline ball to Tipperary after Peter Finnerty was shouldered by Nicky English, to the point where he lost momentary control of the ball, and let it go over the sideline as he was hitting it. Canning pointed out that the decision was incorrect as Finnerty was clearly still in play ! Unfortunately for Peter it was Croke Park and not Lansdowne Road, so the referee was indeed correct, as it was the positioning of the ball and not the player that counted. Canning’s commentary appears to have influenced a lot of the opinion on this game, as the actual TV pictures paint a different picture. Another example of decision where Canning seems to have affected thinking, was an incident where John Denton (correctly) gave a free against Brendan Lynskey for catching the ball three times, but Ger called it as a free for taking too many steps. He then made the cardinal error - (as Michael Duignan did this year on Tipp v Clare in the Colin Lynch incident) - of counting the steps in the action replay ! Of course he counted four ! This was pointed out in many newspapers on the following Sunday as being one of Denton’s errors, but of course had Canning and all the journalists watched the entire incident, they would have realised the notwithstanding the fact that the free was for a completely different offence, Lynskey actually took thirteen steps ! It is also hilarious to hear Canning (who in 1996 described the Meath-Mayo dust-up as disgraceful) call Finnerty’s chop to the head of a Tipp player “a little challenge”! He also described Nicky English as the “free man in attack” as his marker had been sent-off, even though he had immediately been picked up by Peter Finnerty.



Another thing that no journalist ever pointed out was the fact that a point scored by Michael McGrath should have been a free-out, as he hopped the ball in his hand illegally. Similarly a Joe Cooney point came from a line-ball which was incorrectly given to Galway ! Did our ever-vigilant and impartial media spot that one ? Not likely – no doubt many of them didn’t even want to know. The one and only blatantly incorrect decision that went against Galway was the referee’s failure to book John Leahy for a late pull early in the game. He really could also be genuinely criticised for allowing Bernie O’Connor the Galway selector to behave like a thug, walking around the pitch eyeballing Tipperary players. When you think of what some people – such as Kevin Heffernan in 1983 - have got hefty suspensions for, it is unbelievable that this fellow wasn’t taken to task over this outrageous behaviour. I believe that towards the end of this game that John Denton was intimidated by the Galway contingent, and let a few incidents go.



In general terms it is a disgrace the way John Denton’s name has been shamefully dragged through the gutter, usually by people who have little or no detailed recall of specific incidents that actually happened in the game – as opposed to what they think happened. There was a piece of revisionism done a few years ago by a journalist who was trying to suggest that the famous Dublin-Kerry game of 1977 was over-rated, which involved a detailed analysis of the accuracy of passes, kicks etc.. What a shame that such a journalist wouldn’t turn his attention to one of the most scandalously misrepresented matches in hurling history.

The other aspects of the game that really stood out were the way that Nicky English destroyed Sylvie Linnane, as he had done to Conor Hayes two years previously, taking five points from play. Also Conor Hayes’ complete inability – as in that year’s League Final - to cope with Cormac Bonnar. Certainly when Tipp played Bonnar at full-forward this Galway team’s number was up, and it is no concidence that Conor Hayes played his last game for Galway that day. If only Bonnar had started the 1988 All-Ireland Final on the edge of the square what a difference he could have made ! Indeed what a difference he would have made in 1984 and 1985 against Cork, but the marginalising of some players in those days is another story. Of course, the 1989 team generally had come on a ton from the previous year with the massive addition of Michael Cleary to the ranks, the further improving John Leahy even though he was still a long way off his peak, and the solidity of the greatly under-rated Declan Carr at midfield. One also has to marvel at what a midfielder Declan Ryan was in that season while he played there for Tipp.

Next week of course see the hurling final and will provide plenty to discuss.

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TIPP HAVE THE HURLERS BUT IS IT ENOUGH ? 2001



Things have changed dramatically since the pairing that will clash in Sunday's All-Ireland Hurling Final first met in the showpiece occasion. That was back in 1888, when they met in the 1887 final, which was the first ever championship played. That final took place at Birr and victory went to Tipperary. The teams have met in three more finals since that with Galway winning the last one in 1988. The 1958 meeting between the teams was unusual in the sense that it was completely overshadowed by the semi-final between the defending champions Kilkenny and Tipperary. Galway got a bye to the final that year as there was no team representing Ulster, and a remarkably low crowd of 47,276 attended the game in an era of gigantic attendances. In those days of course, up to 1965 in fact, the lower deck of the Cusack Stand was a standing area, and this naturally allowed larger crowds to attend. Those who stayed away wouldn't have regretted doing so, as there was an eleven-point margin between the teams at the end, with four first half goals for Tipperary ending the match as a contest quite early.

The teams had also met in the 1925 final when Galway were going through somewhat of a golden era. The had won the 1923 final, but lost the following year's final to Dublin, and despite beating Kilkenny in the semi-final, also lost the 1925 final to Tipperary. Johnny Leahy was the Tipp captain, and achieved a distinction equalled by Liam Fennelly in 1992, of having captained All-Ireland winning teams nine years apart. During this era Mick Gill made GAA history by becoming the only man to win two All-Ireland Senior hurling medals in the same year. He won the first with Galway and the second with Dublin against Galway. The second victory was the 1924 final, but as the 1923 final was unsurprisingly delayed because of the Civil War, both year's finals were played in the same year, giving this great midfielder a unique place in history.

As I said earlier things have changed hugely since those days and on Sunday both teams will be attempting to get off the mark in a new century. For Galway many would consider this to be their destiny as their progress at under-age level in the past number of years has been very impressive. Despite many minor successes, they have been disappointed with their most recent attempts to add a title at the more significant under 21 grade, but they have at all times proved very competitive and difficult opponents, and a consistent standard of performance at under 21 can often suggest stronger chances of Senior success, rather than simply producing a winning side every so often, surrounded by years of mediocre teams. This is the best chance Galway will have of adding a Senior title for a long time, as with the championship opening up with the enhanced "back-door" next year, reducing the absurd advantage Galway's geographical position gives them. Next year they will have to face the teams from Munster and Leinster much earlier and the days of their soft option seem limited.



The teams have had very differing paths to the final, and one imagines that Tipperary's more difficult passage will have brought the team on a lot. Galway had a good win over Kilkenny but there are still question marks over the team's ability to put big performances back to back especially given their lack of matches over the Summer. However, the is no doubt that their physical approach will be their calling card on Sunday, and if their forwards have it in them to improve a lot on the Kilkenny game they will certainly be in with a shout.



Of the two goalkeepers Brendan Cummins looks the sounder by far. Crimmins has made errors, such as last year against Kilkenny when he conceded a very soft Andy Comerford goal, and this year when he got away with another blunder against the same opposition. Some people have very enthusiastically tried to lay blame at Brendan Cummins' door for some of the goals that Tipp conceded against Wexford, but I still consider him a very safe bet, and that much of these remarks are implicitly a tribute to the massively high standards he has set. The Galway full-back-line is still hard to judge as such was the effort and industry of the Galway half-forwards and midfield that the inside back line wasn't well tested. I have severe doubts over the ability of Michael Healy to deal with a big full-forward, as was in evidence in his performances in the League semi-final against Declan Ryan when he was substituted, and in the All-Ireland quarter-final against Derry when he resorted to constantly fouling Geoffrey McGonigle. It is suggested strongly that Eoin Kelly will not remain away from the full-forward line for long if at all, and that Lar Corbett will operate at wing-forward. Corbett's pace would provide an some compensation for O'Meara's loss, as he has good ball-carrying ability - if not the same ball-winning ability-, and it is a notoriously difficult ploy to defend against. He will have to curb his tendency to try for scores frrm too far out though, and for ball-carrying tactics to be successful the player needs to be disciplined and a good decision-maker, when in possession, which suggests that a wiser more experienced head would be a better man for the job. Mark O'Leary is also a player who tends to move a lot and it will be interesting to see how the Galway half-backs cope with such a different style as compared to the Kilkenny forwards. I expect a huge performance from John Carroll and he will severely test the physical resolve of the Galway defence. Eugene O'Neill's nose for goals is a welcome addition to the full-forward line as well.



The performance of the Tipp midfield will be more important than usual with the loss of the physical presence of O'Meara from the half-forward-line and it can be assumed that many puck-outs will be dropped here since the obvious half-forward-line aerial ball winner is unavailable. Eddie Enright has taken on a new lease of life since his move to midfield and with the current form of Tommy Dunne, Tipp have a decided edge in hurling ability in this sector. However, as I have said before there is a tendency to overrate the importance of midfield as so much play can bypass this area, but the ability of the Tipp pair to compete with their eager Galway opponents for breaking ball from the respective half-back-lines will be crucial.



The Galway forwards will need a high level of improvement in their finishing from the last day, when in particular Alan Kerins was a culprit. Joe Rabbitte seems to be a very one-dimensional player and will certainly be used by Galway as a target man. He would be best employed in the full-forward line, and I wouldn't be surprised to see him end up at corner-forward. His big weakness is his distribution, and a tendency to charge while in possession, although few referees tend to penalise the latter. Cloonan scored 1-1 from play against Kilkenny but despite the media hype, his main threat still comes from his free-taking ability. I am not convinced that Kevin Broderick and Fergal Healy will make huge progress on their direct opponents, Costelloe and Corcoran respectively and if they don't, Mark Kerins will need a huge game. I feel that David Kennedy is capable of at least breaking even here.



Much criticism has been made of the Tipperary full-back-line and certainly there have been times when they have been under severe pressure, but is the Galway full-forward line the one to breach Tipperary's defence. A full-forward-line of Kerins-Cloonan-Healy ? A full-forward-line which scored so little off play against Kilkenny ? I don't see the same scope in the Galway forwards for scores and they tend to have to work exceptionally hard to put scores on the board.

They other major deciding factor on Sunday will the absolute commitment of the teams. Tipp will need to match the expected ferocity and physicality of Galway, and if they do, will Galway have another strategy ? Tipp let Galway off to a big start in last year's quarter-final and should have won the match in the end. I think that we can say that if Galway get the high-ground early on this year they won't be easily caught.

On the basis that Tipperary have a number of hard, close games under their belts, and seem to have more players capable of scoring, I would give them a slight edge. On the assumption that they will match the level of intensity that Galway will bring to proceedings, they should win on Sunday. Anything less than this will see Tipp in trouble.