Tipp serve notice with clinical winning start

CAMOGIE: Glen Dimplex All-Ireland Senior Championship Group 2 Round 1

Tipperary2-19

Dublin 1-6

Report: Thomas Conway at The Ragg

MATCH DIGEST

Player of the Match: Cáit Devane (Tipperary)

SCORERS - Tipperary: Cáit Devane 2-6 (0-2 frees), Eimear McGrath 0-5 (4 frees, 1 45), Grace O’Brien 0-4; Casey Hennessy 0-2; Róisín Howard, Eimear Heffernan 0-1 each.

Dublin: Aisling Maher 1-4 (0-2 frees), Grace O’Shea, Ashling O’Neill 0-1 each.

After the ecstasy of winning the Munster Championship, the question was whether Tipperary could channel the energy of that landmark success into their All-Ireland campaign. The answer was a definitive yes, they could indeed.

They didn’t just beat Dublin last Saturday evening, they beat them in style. In effect, they had the game wrapped up by half-time, entering the dressing-room with a luxurious twelve point cushion. The complexion of the scoreboard - 1-12 to 0-2 - could hardly have been more one-sided. So too the trajectory of this game.

From the get-go, Tipp stormed their city visitors, stifling Dublin with the type of criss-cross, quick-movement camogie that is fast becoming Denis Kelly’s playing philosophy. Tipp were all about style in those opening thirty minutes, and that style was best evinced by their second minute goal - a majestic act of collective brilliance, neatly packaged together by a quartet of Tipp players. Julieanne Bourke fed the ball to Karen Kennedy, who departed on one of her quintessential trailblazing runs up the wing. Kennedy zipped a diagonal across to Róisín Howard, who supplied Cáit Devane with a handpass at just the right moment. And Devane did the rest, rifling the ball past Eabha Mooney and ensuring that Tipp had the most perfect of starts.

Further points would follow: a McGrath 45, a gem from Róisín Howard swept over from way out by the side-line; a duo of well-taken scores from the imperious Grace O’Brien. By the fifteenth minute, Tipp were 1-6 to 0-1 in front, firmly in control, absolutely commanding in every department. Dublin simply could not cope.

Tipp’s movement was sublime, their aggression and tenacity at just the right level, their shot selection almost always pitch perfect. As first-half performances go, this was as good as it gets, against a side which really and truly would have hoped for better. Dublin only scored twice during the opening period - an early free, and a 26th minute point from Grace O’Shea. At this level, that simply isn’t good enough.

Tipp in contrast, were at a different level, a different pitch, inhabiting an entirely different universe to this Dublin side. Tipp are, in essence, All-Ireland contenders. You can call them that now, speak about them in those terms. Saturday’s performance reinforced that reality.

With the outcome already a fait accompli, Tipp’s second-half performance was always going to be about consolidation. Spectators expected to see subs, to see what other forces Tipp had within their ranks. And on the subs came. Clodagh McIntyre didn’t score but her vivacious presence alone was enough to energise the Tipp attack. Mairéad Eviston, last year’s Munster Club Player of the Year, also made an appearance. She looked confident and assured. But by the time Eviston arrived this game had long since fizzled out.

Dublin, for their part, were slightly better during the second period. They managed to generate a couple of well-orchestrated attacking moves, finally providing a ball supply to their inside forward line, which had been starved of possession during the first-half. Sure enough, that inside forward trio of Grace O’Shea, Ashling O’Neill and Aisling Maher demonstrated that they too could play camogie, slotting all of Dublin’s 1-6 between them, Maher the leading light. She would finish with 1-4, including a neatly taken goal as the game entered the final stretch.

Whatever about those three, the rest of this Dublin outfit were simply not up to it. They were beaten by a better side last Saturday, a side which has spent months honing a fine-tuned game plan which revolves around quick passing and fast movement.

Tactically, Tipp were a level above. Technically, they were also superior. By the time Cáit Devane scrambled home their second goal as the game entered stoppage time, Tipp were well on course for victory. There was just no stopping them, and no stopping Devane in particular. Her second-half performance was typically Devane-esque - marked out by some brilliant sharpshooting from either side of the field. She would finish with 2-6, 2-4 from play - an awesome total, from a player who regularly defies the laws of physics to land points from all sorts of ludicrous angles.

But beware. Devane and co. will not be given such vacuous space when they visit Wexford in Enniscorthy on Saturday week. Tipp have ignited their championship campaign in the best way possible, but there are greater challenges to come. Fortunately, this Tipp side looks ready to embrace just about any challenge at this moment in time. They’re in that kind of form, and right now, it feels like the sky is the limit.

TEAMS – Tipperary: Caoimhe Bourke (Drom & Inch 7), Julieanne Bourke (Borris-Ileigh 8), Clodagh Quirke (Clonoulty-Rossmore 7), Eimear Loughman (Clonoulty-Rossmore 7), Karin Blair (Cashel King Cormacs 7), Karen Kennedy (Thurles Sarsfields 8), Aoife McGrath (Drom & Inch 7), Teresa Ryan (Borris-Ileigh 7), Casey Hennessy (Clonoulty-Rossmore 8), Róisín Howard (Cahir 8), Caoimhe Maher (Burgess-Duharra 7), Eimear McGrath (Drom & Inch 7), Grace O’Brien (Nenagh Éire Óg, 8), Cáit Devane (Clonoulty-Rossmore 8), Eimear Heffernan (Knockavilla-Donaskeigh Kickhams 7).

Subs: Clodagh McIntyre (Lorrha 7) for Heffernan (42); Mairead Eviston (Drom & Inch 7) for Quirke (50); Caoimhe McCarthy (Thurles Sarsfields 6) for E McGrath (50); Niamh Treacy (Drom & Inch 6) for Maher (52); Mary Ryan (Moneygall 6) for A McGrath (55).

Dublin: Eabha Mooney (7), Abby Ryan (6), Orla Gray (6), Zoe Couch (6), Claire Gannon (6), Eve O’Brien (7), Hannah O’Dea (7), Muireann Kelliher (7), Gaby Couch (7), Leah Butler (6), Elyse Jamieson Murphy (6), Ashling Gannon (6), Grace O’Shea (7), Ashling O’Neill (7), Aisling Maher (7).

Subs: Aoife Heffernan (7) for Murphy (27); Aoife Heffernan (7) for Butler (HT); Jody Couch (6) for Kelliher (HT); Issy Davis (NR) for O’Dea (42); Jennifer Moore (6) for Davis (47 inj).

Referee: Liz Dempsey (Kilkenny)