Elements are there for Tipp to go the whole way

Ordinarily a nine-point victory in an All-Ireland quarter final would lead to difficulty in terms of dampening the hype on a team going into a semi-final but Tipperary have come out of Saturday’s win over Galway in the best shape possible.

By Shane Brophy

Firstly, they put the Galway hoodoo in terms of losing the last three championship games to the tribesmen to bed.

Secondly, they ended a three-game losing run in All-Ireland quarter finals 2020, 2021 & 2023, two of which came at the hands of Galway.

Thirdly, for the first time in the championship this year, there was an expectation on Tipperary. Their form going into this game was better than Galway, but they have the uncanny knack of following up a poor performance as was the case in the Leinster final, with a positive response, and for the first half on Saturday they did to a point, without clicking fully.

It's to Tipp’s relief that they didn’t as they still managed to create openings on too many times in the first half to be concerned about, but generally the final pass or poor touch let them down.

To Tipp’s credit, when they were breached, their last ditch tackling was superb, forcing the turnover without resorting to fouling, but like the Clare game, they did foul when they had to, without doing do deliberately and risking a black card. Better to concede a goal than a point!

However, that Galway found these pockets of space will be a concern and is one of the reasons why Tipp are in a good space going into a semi-final, one of the plenty of areas to improve on.

When the game was a game until the 59th minute when Oisin O’Donoghue’s second goal in three championship games, finally killed off any hope of a late Galway revival, Tipp looked a good bit better than their opponents. When they were on it, Galway couldn’t live with them.

While Andrew Ormond picked up the official man of the match award for his general play, along with his five points from play, Rhys Shelly must have run him close. The goalkeepers late first half save to deny Kevin Cooney was huge as a goal at that stage would have given Galway a massive fill-up going into half time.

He will be disappointed with how he dealt with Declan McLoughlin’s shot by trying to catch it rather than control it on his hurley for Galway’s late consolation goal but overall, his contribution was huge, particularly his puckouts in the first half which were extremely accurate and were the starting point for numerous Tipperary scores, particularly to the left half forward position where they feasted on Sean Linnane.

Tipp were incredibly slick in that first half in possession with Ormond, Morris, Forde, and John McGrath all filling their boots while by the 23rd minute, all six starting forwards had scored.

The only one who didn’t score from play was Darragh McCarthy who found the going tough with the experienced Padraic Mannion and the tigerish Darren Morrissey, but the twenty-year-old will learn a lot from this experience, and the intensity needed as the stakes get higher.

Despite scoring 1-28, Tipp did leave plenty of chances behind them, with fourteen wides and being denied three goals by Darach Fahy saves, plus the inside forwards struggled to win their one-on-one battles for possession, despite some decent quality ball being delivered in. Another area to improve

Out of possession, while Tipp’s workrate was high, there were still too many occasions where Galway had too much time and space to get the head up and pick a pass. However, their tendency to overplay the ball and force the risky pass would haunt them as at least five Tipp points in the first half came from Galway giving up the ball cheaply in the middle third and were punished ruthlessly for it.

Tipp allowed Galway to have the mid-range puckout to the wing for most of the contest but from there they put the pressure on, more often than not setting traps, offering Galway the possibility of a risky pass which they took with Tipp stepping into cut it out. However, it’s a risk better teams will punish Tipp in, but was sufficient on this day.

This was a good Tipperary performance, not a great one. There was a sluggishness to it for spells in what was a lifeless game for long stages, maybe an element of the Laois game still in their legs, but also the energy-sapping tension of being in a knockout gamethey were expected to win.

Tipperary have made progress this year so it would have been a massive let-down if their year ended last Saturday. There is a bigger prize in an All-Ireland semi-final, but Tipp can hurl a little freer as the pressure will be more on an experienced Kilkenny side.

One thing Tipp do now have in their armoury is an effective bench, Darragh Stakelum and Oisin O’Donoghue impacting the scoreboard, the latter with his second goal in three games, clinically despatched but owed everything to the precision of the pass from Noel McGrath, who could have easily taken his own point but saw there was an opportunity for more.

That team ethic has been notable aspect of the Tipperary team all year, including the Munster game against Cork when they didn’t throw the towel in despite playing the whole game with fourteen men.

Again, in this game, when Galway threatened to get on a run, Tipp didn’t panic, highlighted by their response to the Colm Molloy goal, Rhys Shelly’s pinpoint puckout to Andrew Ormond who offered himself by making the run into space, getting on the ball before firing over from the wing.

As they have shown throughout the championship, Tipp have the ability to respond positively from set-backs, a trait that will serve them well in what they hope will be two more games that lie ahead.

Peter McGarry’s inclusion at midfield to make his first senior start, league or championship, was risky and it didn’t work out, thankfully not at a cost. It was similar to Ronan Maher’s debut against Galway in 2014 where the game can just pass a player by and are taken whipped off at half time. The St Mary’s clubman has come on a lot this year and will benefit from the experience.

However, that McGarry was trusted to start in such a big game is a boost to the entire panel that if you are performing in training, you will get a chance and it should only intensify the competition for places to get on the team and the matchday 26 going forward.

Not many would have predicted Tipperary to be in All-Ireland semi-final at the start the campaign, and with both Limerick and Clare out of the race for Liam, there is nothing to suggest Tipp should be content with being in bonus territory. They have the ability, belief, confidence, and the tradition, to go the whole way!