Tipp look ill-prepared for championship demands

By Shane Brophy

It started out brightly, but in the end it was grim!

When Noel McGrath stood over the eleventh minute penalty, if converted Tipperary would have landed themselves into third place in the “as things stand” table to qualify for the All-Ireland Series, with Clare already well ahead of Waterford in the other game. For a brief moment, the miracle was on but inside sixty seconds it was gone.

The fact that not only did the penalty come back off the post, Cork then swept quickly up-field to where Alan Connolly shrugged off two Tipp defenders to fire to the net.

A six-point swing from what could have been a seven-point lead was then one and you could feel the belief sucked out of every Tipp person on the field and in the stands, the latter what few of them as there were more Limerick fans in for the under 20 final than Tipp had for the marquee senior game.

It summed up what has been a wretched campaign for Tipperary. The optimism from the opening round performance in the loss to Waterford has proven to be a false dawn, and even that doesn’t look as good in hindsight considering their subsequent struggles.

Much like the Clare home game a month previous, there were few redeeming features from a Tipp point of view, they got the start they wanted, playing at a high tempo in both defence and attack.

However, it petered out rather quickly as once the first Cork goal went in, Tipp were routed 2-14 to 0-6 for the remainder of the half.

The intensity they brought to the Limerick performance was marked absent. Cork’s calling-card is their pace and even allowing for that, Tipp were so sluggish in their movement, giving the Cork players so much space on the ball, they’ll rip any one apart.

As good as Conor Lehane was with his eight points, seven from play, I’d say he never had an easier game as a glove wasn’t laid on him, by whoever was detailed to mark him as he seemed to be moving all over the place.

In almost every area, Tipp were short. They don’t look a championship match fit team. They aren’t unfit per-say but right around the field they didn’t have that spring in the step over the first five yards that is so vital in hurling, and that has to be put down to the team trainer of why they aren’t hurling fit.

Even after fifteen minutes, the gulf in energy between the two sides was obvious, no more so than Darragh Fitzgibbon soloing through unchallenged before firing through a partially unsighted Barry Hogan for Cork’s second goal.

If you aren’t hurling fit, you’ll struggle to stay with an opponent in terms of a defender, or create a half yard of space which is vital if you are a forward, as you’ll always be under pressure, and even with that Tipp did still score 1-24, but considering Cork scored 3-30 and both sides hit ten wides each, it indicates a game more akin to a challenge match which is what is descended to, even prior to have time as Tipp just didn’t have it in them to close Cork down, and the rebels could do things as their ease.

I would never question the willingness of any Tipperary player to work hard, but it looked as if they were unable to, again that lack of hurling championship level fitness and speed. To their credit, they played to the end as you would expect any team to do, even the well-beaten ones.

There’s no doubt that the losing run has sapped a lot of confidence from the squad and when you see the likes of Alan Flynn, losing his cool and ending up being sent off, following an off the ball incident, you know everything is not well. He’s not that type of player but the frustration not only of the game, but of the whole year, boiled over and it was through the Tipp defender it happened.

There were few redeeming elements, the full back line of Cathal Barrett, Ronan Maher and Craig Morgan were manful despite wave after wave of Cork attacks.

Dillon Quirke brought the heart and desire of a youngster, but more is required. Conor Stakelum took the game to Cork all through and is a leader to build around for the future, while up front Noel McGrath was exceptional once more with Jason Forde and Jake Morris doing well and in normal circumstances their contributions in a 1-24 haul would be noteworthy.

But that they aren’t is a reflection of where the Tipperary senior team are at the moment.

It was always going to be a difficult campaign with a new management, shorn so many experienced players, and young players that opted not to commit. However, of those that remained, there is enough quality there to be producing a much better level of performances witnessed in this championship.

If Tipperary right the ship in the short term, it will likely be many of these players that will be central to it, but they need help. Their style of play is stale and is lacking energy. The one thing you need in modern hurling is pace, and while not every hurler has to be a Usain Bolt, just look at Clare and how they have turned even the most immobile players into fast effective ones.

The players seem unsure about the game they are being asked to play,the half backs especially being dragged all over the place.

Tipperary hurling is probably at its lowest ebb since 2007, exiting the championship is one thing, but doing so in such a disjointed manner leaves a lot of questions for the players, management and county board to answer in the coming weeks and months.

The problem is, they can’t be addressed for the moment as Tipp’s year isn’t officially over as they could still have one more game if Kerry were to defeat Antrim in the MacDonagh Cup final, a game no one wants, certainly not Kerry as they would deserve to come into Munster on merit, and certainly not Tipperary who are a mentally broken panel at this point.