Goals remain Gold

KILLINAN END

To speculate, as this column did last week, that goals would matter in the All-Ireland semi-final was hardly pushing the rhetorical boat out. One of the oldest adages in hurling is that goals win games. Nothing new to see here. However, rarely can that old saying have been so starkly demonstrated as in this Tipperary-Kilkenny match. To give Kilkenny their due they went close enough to defying gravity. When you're operating at a significant goals deficit in a championship game winning becomes virtually impossible.

Consider our 1973 version against Limerick when we scored eleven points more than our opponents but conceded four goals more. Some 23 years later, against the same opposition down in Cork, we scored nine points more than them but conceded four goals. If this one sticks in Kilkenny's craw like those ones did with us then we can have some sympathy for them.

Those of a Black and Amber persuasion who are blessed with the wisdom of years might recall the remarkable 1959 All-Ireland final against Waterford when Kilkenny hit the net five times to Waterford’s single goal. Larry Guinan’s last-ditch effort earned Waterford a deserved reprieve and led to a replay which delivered their second and last All-Ireland Senior hurling title. When the goal statistics are stacked against you like that survival is almost miraculous. Against a Tipp team with such voracious appetite for battle it was no foundation for victory. That Kilkenny came so close is a credit to them.

Some of the fawning over TJ Reid is lazy and performative. No need for half the excitement when he performs routine actions or scores. When everything is unbelievable nothing is unbelievable. But credit where it’s due - what he did do on Sunday was keep Kilkenny ticking over with a flawless free-taking performance. This is – contrary to the fan-boy view of his world – not a given either. He missed a couple of vital frees late on in last year’s semi-final against Clare, certainly the difference in what was a two-point game. Ní bhíonn saoi gan locht – nobody is perfect, but his immaculate free-taking on this day made fouling a costly business.

Indeed, had Tipp displayed the same capacity from frees the finish would have been more comfortable. Eoghan Connolly’s great gaiscí from the placed-ball in Munster were not repeated on this day and Darragh McCarthy’s radar developed a glitch, though it was fully functional when he reacted and showed impeccable touch to score a difficult first-half goal. Toome would not be famous for its parlour-hurler conveyor belt over the decades but Darragh will need to tidy up the loose hurley. No better man either, though the second yellow card was harsh and not helped by the probably unnecessarily pained reaction of Eoin Murphy.

Apart from the goals count, the most remarkable aspect of the day was that Tipp’s display was fitful and inconsistent yet when they were in full swing Kilkenny struggled to cope. A full 3-11 from play in the first half was a remarkable return given the first quarter of an hour. It shouldn’t have come to that - John McGrath was denied a remarkably blatant free straight in front of goal when he was bear-hugged by a Kilkenny defender. There is no end of credit due to Conor Stakelum and Eoghan Connolly for keeping the scoreboard active during difficult times in that first-half. And then there was the beautiful striking of Jason Forde – talk about ‘cometh the hour, cometh the man’; what a score he got from under the Hogan Stand. Think Joe Canning v Tipp in 2017 without the accompanying swooning from the punditry.

In his post-match interview, Noel McGrath referenced 2019, the semi-final against Wexford, and the similarities. One of the hallmarks of that semi-final was Tipp’s almost complete shut-out of the Model County in the last twenty minutes. This time they held Kilkenny to two points in the last thirteen minutes of the game when it was really in the melting pot and the Black and Amber had a numerical advantage. Ironic too that Alan Tynan’s pickpocketing job was done on a man, Paddy Deegan, who should not have been on the pitch at that time. Fate has a funny way of mocking sometimes.

The early stages also mimicked the 2019 final. While Kilkenny were on top and scoring, they never threatened to pull away largely due to John McGrath’s goal. When we started humming up front in was a different game. Jake Morris was unfortunate with his shot for goal and if Andrew Ormond had our gift of hindsight he’d have gone further with his effort and involved John McGrath who was tormenting Huw Lawlor from pillar to post.

In the context of the eternal bragging rights this victory will stand out having lost a player as the game entered the home straight. The arm-swinging exhortations from Jake Morris after his equalizing score in the sixtieth minute seemed to reverberate through the Tipp support giving off the message that this one was still achievable. It is a message that will not grow stale over the coming week.