Getting the most out of Ronan and Noel key for Tipp

By Shane Brophy

There can be no holding back from Tipperary next Saturday evening as they need a positive result to keep their hopes of progressing beyond the round-robin stage of the Munster Championship in their own hands.

The challenge is significant, the All-Ireland champions in their own back yard, they themselves in the same boat with one point from their opening two games, with their final game to come away to Limerick whereas Tipperary face Waterford in Thurles.

The Banner County haven’t had a great season to date, just one win and a draw from eight league and championship games, but they have shown over the years when their backs are to the wall, that’s when they are at their most dangerous.

They haven’t been helped by injury with Conor Cleary and Diarmuid Ryan largely missing from the campaign so far, but both could play some part on Saturday, while this game was earmarked as the earliest possible one that hurler of the year Shane O’Donnell could return from a long standing shoulder injury, even his presence on the bench would be a huge boost to them. There is also doubt surrounding the availability of star forward Tony Kelly who missed the Waterford game through illness.

However, Tipperary cannot get sucked in too much by Clare’s issues. They will plan for certain eventualities, but for the Premier County, it is about performing themselves at a venue that has been a happy hunting ground in the round-robin so far with two wins from two in 2019 and 2023.

Indeed, much is made about Cusack Park being “Fortress Ennis,” but their record shows it is anything but from the eleven games played there going back to 2018, their record is six wins, one draw and four losses, two of them coming at the hands of Tipperary. Amazingly, the second of those in the opening game of the 2023 championship was the last time Tipperary recorded a win in the Munster Championship, since then drawing four and losing five of the games in the meantime.

For Tipperary, there will be at least one change to the side that lost to Cork in the last round with Darragh McCarthy ruled out through suspension. A like-for-like replacement would be either Andrew Ormond or Dylan Walsh bringing legs into the full-forward line. Then there is the aerial ability of Sean Kenneally who has featured little since his breakout league display against Limerick.

Jake Morris is also an option to start inside, but the likelihood is he will start at centre forward on John Conlon whom he performed well on in the corresponding game last season year and his pace and movement has the ability to benefit from the looseness of the Clare centre-backs approach to the position.

Anticipating there will be minimal change from the defeat to Cork, where the performance level wasn’t that bad, although not helped by playing with fourteen men for almost its entirety, the biggest conundrum facing the management will be over what to do with Noel McGrath.

The Loughmore/Castleiney clubman made a record 74th championship appearance off the bench against Cork and in his two championship games to date has been prominent on the ball when introduced. He looks fresh and in great shape so in a game where Tipp need to get a result, there is nothing gained by holding him back, you get the most out of him for the longest period of time. Yes, he might tire in the second half and could have to come off, but the 34-year old has shown, even with Loughmore/Castleiney last year, he knows how to manage his way through a game.

Centre back is also an issue with Ronan Maher’s poor run of form. He is not helped by the way teams have taken his greatest strength away under the high ball, not playing too much direct ball through the middle, and trying to pull him out of position. Consideration needs to be given over moving him to wing back where he would go toe to toe with Peter Duggan or Davy Fitzgerald, and late in the game move him back to centre back if Tipp are holding onto the lead and Clare are forced to play more ball down the centre. If they do go with that option, Bryan O’Mara has the skill-set and experience to play the centre back role from the start.

Ordinarily, with Tipperary on such a poor run in the Munster Championship going back four years, if you include the winless 2022 campaign under Colm Bonnar, the pressure should be at its highest to get a win, but there have been promising signs so far in the championship, including the performance in the draw against Limerick, enhanced a little in how the Shannonsiders performed in their win over Waterford last Saturday.

The Cork defeat is largely irrelevant considering the context it was played in with fourteen men for 76 minutes, although they stuck to the task and never threw in the towel. They created a lot of chances in that game, including three for goals that were not taken, but they will have to be this Saturday.

One area Tipp can improve in from the last game is in their defending, being more touch tight up against another lively set of forwards in Clare.

This has all the makings of an old-school championship clash where for the losers, their hopes of progressing will be as good as gone. Tipp have done a lot right this season but they don’t have a statement win, this would a great time to get one.