Once more into battle

By Shane Brophy

A lot has been made of Tipperary’s support, or lack of, in recent years but they’ll be in FBD Semple Stadium in their thousands this Sunday for their crucial final round robin game of the Munster Championship against Waterford.

With Tipperary having their bye in the final round the following Sunday, the players and management will be keen to get their business done in terms of qualifying for the next stage themselves, rather than sweating for a week and relying on favours from others.

It’s pretty simple, win and Tipp will finish in the top 3, and possibly get to a Munster Final depending on other results. A draw could also be enough, but it would then require Cork beating Waterford in the final round as Tipp’s score difference is so poor, they would lose out in that scenario if they end up tied with Waterford or in a three-way tie. A loss as Tipp are out.

Following the thrilling win over Clare, there was an initial burst of ticket sales for this Sunday’s game with almost 20,000 sold for the Semple Stadium encounter, with Munster Council anticipating a crowd of between 25-30,000 for the this virtual knock-out clash.

And with a full house guaranteed at the TUS Gaelic Grounds when Limerick host Cork later in the afternoon, it will be another bumper Sunday of Munster hurling, with the weather playing its part with the sunny conditions set to last also.