Title win should give group belief for more

By Thomas Conway

This title was a long time coming, a long time in the making, but it opens up a whole new world of opportunity for Tipperary.

Success, as they say, breeds success. And for years Tipperary were deprived of it. Season after season, they were forced to endure a series of agonising defeats and set-backs. Injuries to key players, namely Clodagh Quirke and Karen Kennedy, their two joint-captains, effectively robbed them of the solidity required to compete at top inter-county level in 2022. Now that both have returned, Tipp have effectively been reborn.

They’ve risen from the ashes of their set-back in the National League - during which they were deprived of a league final berth by the slimmest of margins - and stormed through the Munster Championship with effortless efficiency.

Last Saturday’s performance was as smooth and scintillating as manager Denis Kelly could have wished for. His side controlled the game from the get-go, startling Clare with three early points before tearing through the Banner with ruthless counter-attacking moves. Róisín Howard, their go-to playmaker, was irresistible. The Cahir woman reads the game like few others. She bides her time out around the middle third, floating into perfect positions before executing perfect passes at the perfect moment. Her camogie intellect is almost unparalleled, and the players around her feed off that intelligence. Howard shapes the play, then the likes of Eimear McGrath and Cáit Devane apply the finishing touches to each move.

But it isn’t just about those three. Throw in Grace O’Brien, Eimear Heffernan, and Caoimhe Maher, and you have yourself a potent forward line - two rows of players capable of inflicting untold damage on any side. On Saturday they demonstrated their ability, outmuscling and outrunning Clare for sixty plus minutes in an unrelenting show of force. By the time Heffernan whisked home Tipp’s goal in the 24th minute, there was already a sense that Clare had been defeated, that the Banner were ill-equipped to cope with the artillery barrage of the Tipp attack.

But this Tipp team is about so much more than just their forward line. Karen Kennedy turned in yet another imperious Player of the Match display, towering above everyone in her sector of the field and orchestrating the play from centre-half back. Behind her, Clodagh Quirke, Julieanne Bourke, and Eimear Loughman were touch tight, refusing to give the Clare forwards an inch of space.

There was a ruthlessness to the Tipp back line, a dogged, determined streak of ruthlessness that has characterised most of their performances over the course of this season. Certainly, the return of Kennedy and Quirke has given the team an extra edge, but the players around them have matured, and that is part of the reason why they ended up as such comfortable victors last Saturday afternoon in Thurles.

Defining moment

It is hard to pinpoint a defining moment in this game. Tipp were simply too quick, too slick, and too good all over the park. Eimear Heffernan’s goal will probably go down as the moment that Tipp pulled up the drawbridge, but even at that stage, the game was already headed in only one direction. The question now is relatively straightforward: can Tipp build on this landmark provincial success? Can they channel their newfound energy and exuberance into the All-Ireland series?

This Tipp team is both innovative and experienced. They have both the maturity and the creativity to challenge the top sides in the inter-county game - the Cork’s, the Kilkenny’s, the Galway’s. Some might speculate that it is too soon. After all, Denis Kelly is still only in his first season as manager. But if not now, then when? And if not Tipp, then who? Momentum is a powerful thing. Out of nothing it can create a juggernaut, an unassailable force. Tipp now have that sort of momentum, and if they use it wisely, there is no telling where this train might be headed, but Croke Park in early August is one destination that Denis Kelly will have in mind.

Tipperary can enjoy the next few weeks before they refocus for the All-Ireland Championship, starting at home to Dublin on 10-11 June before hitting the road for away games against Wexford and Kilkenny.