A round robin within a round robin

GAA: Munster Senior Hurling Championship Round 2 Preview

By Shane Brophy

TIPPERARY v CLARE

FBD Semple Stadium

Sunday 24th April

Throw-in @ 2.00pm

Referee: James Owens (Wexford)

The 2022 Munster Senior Hurling Championship may well be in its infancy but from weekend one it is playing along expected lines.

With All-Ireland champions Limerick and a red-hot Waterford getting off to winning starts last Sunday, it more than justified the belief that they would take two of the three spots from Munster for the All-Ireland Series.

That leaves the other and this Sunday’s game between Tipperary and Clare has the feel of a first game of a round-robin series, within the round-robin format, also including Cork.

No one knew what to expect from Tipperary prior to last Sunday and if offered a four-point loss beforehand and some green-shoots to take into the game with Clare, the majority of supporters would have taken it, but in the aftermath, it could have been so much more.

Taking something from Walsh Park was always going to be a bonus as the greater pressure on all counties is to win your home games and for Tipperary the focus is on them to get the win today to have their hopes of still being standing after May 22nd still in their own hands.

No one likes moral victories but in the circumstances Tipperary’s four-point defeat to Waterford can be classed as one provided Tipp take positive learnings from it. In the first half, their workrate was superb, particularly in attack in forcing Waterford turnovers and converting them into scores. The four-point half time lead didn’t reflect their superiority and that is the rock they perished on as you knew Waterford would enjoy a purple patch.

However, purple patches against Tipperary are becoming very costly in recent times, Tipp went from four up to six down in eleven minutes last week. In 2021, Tipp were outscored 1-10 to 0-1 in the third quarter against Limerick in the Munster Final, and in the subsequent All-Ireland quarter final against Waterford, went from one to seven points down in the third quarter before fighting back.

Tipperary’s character is unquestioned, as we saw in all three games where they fought back but they are sustaining too much damage during their down periods, and it is ultimately costing them in the big games.

In terms of the performance, it was the new faces in the likes of James Quigley, Craig Morgan, Dillon Quirke, and Mark Kehoe, that impressed most, while it was some of the more established players you would have hoped for more from, Noel McGrath excepted who was superb and hurling supporters should relish the opportunity to see him in action while they still can as he is a magician on a hurling field.

In terms of team selection, you wouldn’t expect too many changes. Dan McCormack would appear a likely starter considering his impact off the bench against Waterford with Alan Flynn the likely man to drop out.

The other interesting conundrum would be over Conor Bowe. He was taken off with a hand injury at half time but is a slight doubt for the game, and if so, it would open the door for Patrick Maher, Ger Browne or most intriguingly John McGrath.

Bonner Maher came on at half time against Waterford and as we know from his long career, he gets sharper and better the more minutes he gets into his legs, but one wonders whether his greater impact will come by starting games, or coming off the bench.

Ger Browne certainly provides legs and with the impact the new faces brought last weekend, he would give more of that, but the case for John McGrath is very strong. Okay, he might not be the fastest, but his hurling brain is as quick as anyone’s, and if Tipp are to beat Clare, they will do it with hurling first, and by using the ball to its fullest, and having both he and his brother Noel on the field together could be the difference.

Tipp have some momentum to carry over from last Sunday, as even the players and management probably didn’t know what they could do until they tasted the white heat of battle. They have also blown off the cobwebs in having a game under their belts and that is an advantage. Clare will come in fresh but in the short history of the round-robin format in 2018 and 2019, the team that came in off the bye into round 2, lost of both occasions; Waterford against Clare and Limerick against Cork, so the Banner have to defy those odds as well.

However, as quiet as things were in the build-up to the start of the championship in Tipp, they have been likewise in Clare, but they are used to it, are comfortable handling it, and also use it to create a siege mentality to generate a performance.

In Tony Kelly, they have the best hurler in the country and a player that can win a game on his own so a man-marker for him would appear likely with Cathal Barrett or Craig Morgan best set for that, while in Shane Meehan, they have a young player with pace and an eye for goal.

Clare are a solid if unspectacular side, apart from Tony Kelly, but they play in the mould of their manager Brian Lohan who gets every ounce from them, but one wonders if the loss of Diarmuid Ryan, Aidan McCarthy and Mark Rodgers through injury might be too much to overcome.

And with it being the first of two games for Clare in Thurles (they play Cork here too because of Ed Sheeran) before finishing up with two home games, a win for the Banner on Sunday would set them up perfectly to qualify at the expense of Tipp and Cork. And with how last years meeting played out in the TUS Gaelic Grounds with the controversial penalty awarded in Tipp’s favour, maybe it will balance out in Clare’s advantage this year and that the same referee is the man in the middle in James Owens is indeed a strange appointment and hopefully is a game that won’t be decided by a refereeing decision.

This is a must-win game for Tipperary on a number of fronts, including having the head-to-head tiebreaker over Clare if they finish on the same number of points at the end of the campaign. With a trip to Limerick to come, Tipp’s best chance of qualifying for the All-Ireland series is by winning their two home games so the pressure is really on to claim the two points on Sunday.

Ahead of this Sundays round 2 game in the Munster Senior Hurling Championship, Colm Bonnar has named his team to face Clare.

1 (GK) Brian Hogan Lorrha

2 Cathal Barrett Holycross-Ballycahill

3 James Quigley Kiladangan

4 Craig Morgan Kilruane MacDonaghs

5 Dillon Quirke Clonoulty/Rossmore

6 Ronan Maher Thurles Sarsfields

7 Seamus Kennedy St Marys

8 Dan McCormack Borris-Ileigh

9 Barry Heffernan Nenagh Éire Óg

10 Jason Forde Silvermines

11 Noel McGrath Loughmore-Castleiney

12 Michael Breen Ballina

13 Jake Morris Nenagh Eire Óg

14 Mark Kehoe Kilsheelan-Kilcash

15 John McGrath Loughmore-Castleiney

16 (GK) Barry Hogan Kiladangan

17 Ger Browne Cashel King Cormacs

18 Robert Byrne Portroe

19 Paddy Cadell JK Brackens

20 Alan Flynn Kiladangan

21 Paul Flynn Kiladangan

22 Enda Heffernan Clonoulty/Rossmore

23 Patrick Maher Lorrha

24 Brian McGrath Loughmore-Castleiney

25 Gearoid O'ConnorMoyne-Templetuohy

26 Conor Stakelum Thurles Sarsfields