Noel McGrath was to the fore in Tipperary's fightback

Tipp stopped thinking and played on instinct - BACK MAN'S JOB column

After three halves of championship hurling, we finally have something to shout about again!

The second 35 minutes of the game last Sunday was the first time since the All-Ireland in 2016 that I felt like we wanted the game more than the opposition. Make no mistake about it, hurling careers on the pitch, as well as on the sideline, were in the balance at half time, but what a reaction.

Reacting was actually what Tipp stopped doing in the second half. I have no doubt that players were physically working as hard as they could in the first half, but it was just very disjointed when it should be like a fluid chain of events. In Tipperary, we are best when we play on instinct and that’s what happened after the break. Dan McCormack played nearly completely as a midfielder in the first half and with our mainly long deliveries, that left our five-man forward line with a serious issue. Our forwards have fantastic attributes but only Seamus Callanan has head-turning pace. This left a big problem when trying to contain the Cork backs moving the ball up the field through the lines, which they looked to have been trained brilliantly for. They could effectively play with Mark Ellis and Christopher Joyce as joint centre-backs, one picking up the breaks before releasing to the other in open space. I’ve played against Cork on good days and bad, they are a nightmare when let build their play from the backline, a legacy no doubt left from the Donal O’Grady inspired 2004/05 All-Ireland winning teams.

 

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