Tipp hand Limerick the initiative and they never looked back

 

 

By Shane Brophy

 

 

If there is one thing about Tipperary at the start of championships, they are consistently inconsistent.

This was the worry coming into Sunday’s Munster semi-final was what Tipperary were we going to get, one hopping off the ground as they were at the same venue last year against Cork, or the one that fell to Limerick at the Gaelic Grounds the year before.

Well we got the latter as Limerick’s upper-hand over the Premier County continued and while the margin of victory was smaller than in the Munster Final between the sides last year, the dominance of the performance was even greater.

All is not lost for Tipperary and the fact they have gotten a bye to the second round of the qualifiers is of huge benefit as they have time to address the issues on the training field, particularly the sharpness of their hurling, which was uncharacteristically sloppy.

There was always the fear that Tipperary would play second fiddle in the physical stakes and that was only exacerbated by the miserable conditions of heavy rain and a strong wind that blew into the Blackrock End throughout.

While they were the same for both sides, Limerick are better built to cope with their sheer size, and the fact they had a game under their belt stood to them as well.

In that respect the decision by Tipperary captain Seamus Callanan to play against the elements in the first half made little sense. While the call would have been made by management to do so, it handed Limerick the initiative. If there is one team you don’t want to be chasing down a lead against it is this Limerick team because of the style of hurling they play, where they can squeeze the space for your forwards to play in, while then working the ball comfortably into space on the counter-attack.

 

LIMERICK       MATCH STATS            TIPPERARY

8                          Wides                             6

21                       Frees Conceded        18

18/25               Own Puckouts won 16/34

26/34               Scoring Chances       19/25

4                          Yellow Cards               3

0                          Red Cards                     0

 

The Tipp management were probably expecting the game to take some time to settle down and for Limerick to find their flow but after seven minutes Tipp were 0-6 to 0-1 down and already taking on water.

They also probably felt that Tipperary players would need time to settle into the game and would get better as it wore on but that never happened as the crisp touch and speed of decision making you always associated with the Premier County just wasn’t there. There is a difference between playing Offaly and Antrim in challenge games and training matches, to playing the favourites for the All Ireland in championship hurling and that proved to be the case.

From an early stage the touch was off and then they did manage to move the ball, the passes were slower compared to Limerick who were slicker are crisper in almost everything they did.

Padraic Maher, the one player that usual sets the tone for Tipperary, was subbed off for the first time in his championship career highlighted the struggles all over the field. It was disclosed afterwards that the half back had missed three weeks training because of injury and you could see that in his play.

That they were also down the injured Patrick Maher and the not fully fit Dan McCormack, who was restricted to a bench role, suggested the management didn’t want to take any more experience from the side but in the modern game, players that are not fully fit are easily exposed as Maher was here, with his mistake leading to Limerick’s second half penalty which ended any hopes Tipperary had of mounting a comeback.

Whether if Tipperary had to have taken the wind in the first half and posted some kind of a lead on the scoreboard, probably wouldn’t have changed the outcome as Limerick just seemed to have every avenue covered.

In the first half when Tipp had to try and work the ball up field, it only played into Limerick’s strength of crowding out the middle to make things difficult and put the Tipperary ball carrier under pressure. The Tipp players struggled to break tackles and even when they did, they were slow to get the ball away.

This was in comparison to Limerick who moved the ball so quickly and had so many options, the ball was gone before a Tipperary player could get in a tackle, a trend that is becoming a regular occurrence in the games between the sides in recent years.

The one aspect Tipperary do struggle in compared to many teams is lack of pace and that was cruelly exposed once more. As Limerick were athletic, Tipperary looked to have water in their boots such was the difficulty in finding space. It was only when Michael Breen was introduced in the second half that the Premier County had anyone that looked like getting away from their man and causing a threat while Dan McCormack brought his usual guile. But apart from that Tipperary were well beaten in almost all positions, maybe apart from Jake Morris who took his 1-1 very well.

In advance, the match-ups were going to be all important and no matter what Tipperary tried it didn’t work. Ronan Maher was in trouble from an early stage with Aaron Gillane; Barry Heffernan was given the man-marking role on Gearoid Hegarty but inside three minutes the Limerick man ghosted cross field into twenty yards of space for an easy point. Sean O’Brien was touted as a form selection from training but he couldn’t get out in front of Graeme Mulcahy or Peter Casey, but his piece of skill in denying a first half goal for Aaron Gillane was one of the few bright spots on the day.

Alan Flynn was expected to tail Cian Lynch but Limerick threw a curve-ball and played him at centre forward with Kyle Hayes moving to wing back and Limerick didn’t miss a beat. Even the usually excellent Brendan Maher struggled on Tom Morrissey.

In games like these between two of the blue blood teams, if one side doesn’t bring their best they can get steam-rolled and that is what happened and the Tipperary management have a lot of thinking to do in advance of the round 2 qualifier to get things back on track.

A fit again Patrick Maher and Dan McCormack would certainty be a help but that will be off-set by the continued absence of Seamus Kennedy who is only getting the knee brace off next week while Barry Heffernan limped out late with a hamstring injury that, considering the shorter nature of the championship, could be the end for his this year.

Will the Tipperary brains trust think this is the time for an infusion of energy into the team? Certainly, you would expect a response from the experienced members of they squad but even they could do with a little help in the form of youthful exuberance. Mark Kehoe was the only player to make his senior championship debut on Sunday but he found the going tough and at this level not only have you to be physically sharp, but mentally also in failing to take an easy point scoring chance early in the second half which would have been Tipp’s fourth on the trot and would have been a momentum builder, instead he carried it too far and lost the ball from where Limerick went down the other end where Peter Carey was fouled late and Limerick got their first score of the half to relieve any pressure that might have been building.

After his scoring heroics in last years championship, Seamus Callanan was held scoreless but his vision and precision of pass for Jake Morris’ goal was outstanding in what was one of the few times Tipperary forwards got the Limerick backs turned with Niall O’Meara and Jason Forde also fairly peripheral in open play, although Forde’s free-taking was superb as usual, particularly into the City End in the first half.

It was a mixed day for Brian Hogan who pulled off two fine saves in the second half but his puckouts weren’t convincing, however, he wasn’t presented with many options to play the ball into space relatively comfortable from where Tipperary could move the ball up the field and it’s an issue more teams are becoming aware of.

While Tipperary have shown themselves adept at responding positively from heavy defeats in the past, the trend of their difficulties against this Limerick team is a concern going forward, particularly if they were to meet again down the road in an All-Ireland semi-final or final. Another performance like this and Tipperary’s reign as holders of the Liam MacCarthy Cup won’t last too long more but the hope it when we next see them in action on Saturday week that in a backs to the wall scenario they will come out fighting. That’s all there is at this stage. There is much of last Sunday’s performance that can be fixed in the short term in terms of first touch and sharpness. After that it is whether father-time is beginning to catch up with some of the players that have brought Tipp some great days over the last decade. We’ll just have to wait and see