Third quarter lapse ultimately proves costly for Tipp footballers

Tipperary v Carlow Match Analysis

By Stephen Barry

Tipperary could’ve rescued a draw at the death against Carlow. Where they lost the game came much earlier.

It all escaped Blue & Gold control in the 23-minute stretch between the 31st & 54th minutes, in which time Carlow scored nine points without reply.

For the first nineteen minutes of the second half, Tipp didn’t even register a shot at the posts. The knock-on effect of that lapse robbed the hosts of their best attacking platform.

The Premier prospered when facing Carlow restarts. They stole 14 of the Barrowsiders’ 24 kick-outs. In the first half, they kicked seven points off nine attacks from that source.

But without the opportunity to press up on new keeper Ben McCarron, Tipp couldn’t develop any attacking thrust. The Carlow no.1 would later become the hero when saving Seán O’Connor’s penalty.

The defensive turnovers, which were a notable feature of Tipp’s first-half performance, also fell away. They became wasteful on the ball. Tipp had seven possessions in that scoreless start to the second half. Twice, they overcarried the ball. Three times, they passed straight to an opponent. Twice more, they were caught wandering down blind alleys and stripped of possession. The lack of options and poor decision-making were characteristic of that spell.

Once O’Connor broke their duck after 54 minutes and Tipp were able to press up, the next opposition kick-out was booted out over the sideline. Another soon followed. From there, they were back in the contest, but they were chasing.

“So far this year, we've done quite well in terms of our use of the ball. We didn't have that today,” reflected Niall Fitzgerald.

Their position had looked strong approaching half-time, when Tipp held a wind-assisted 1-11 to 1-4 lead. They had shaken off Ross Dunphy’s goal and motored seven clear.

But rather than adding another two or three to set an imposing target for Carlow to chase, they allowed the visitors to take three back. The two-point free gifted to Chris Blake, which originated from an over-ambitious pass into a mass of red, yellow, & green jerseys before a careless foul, was particularly damaging.

Equally, the Carlow goal came about when Tipp couldn’t secure a turnover and the ball fell for unmarked dangerman Mikey Bambrick.

“Charlie (King) had the ball in his hands and got turned over and then they had the ball back in the net,” said Fitzgerald.

“Then we had a turnover just before half-time where Cian Smith saw something and he went for it and it just didn't come off. They came back up the field and there was a two-pointer. There are two turnovers, five points. We didn't have enough done in the first half.”

That seemed to take the wind from their sails even before facing into the second-half breeze. Fitzgerald pointed to a lack of “energy” on the resumption, adding: “We were very flat. It was really disappointing. We fed them with turnovers.”

When Tipp did gain a foothold, they converted just three of their ten second-half shots. Carlow won the half by 0-10 to 0-3.

Earlier, with the wind at their backs, Tipp targeted two-pointers, but four misses inside the first twenty minutes sapped some momentum.

Post-match, Fitzgerald bemoaned a couple of contentious calls. A second viewing validated his objections. James Morris was wrongly penalised for a brilliantly worked handpass to escape trouble. His protests saw the ball advanced by referee James Regan. The same 50-metre penalty was applied against the otherwise impressive Morris in second-half stoppage time. Both were punished by Blake points.

Meanwhile, Seán Murphy was blessed to escape without conceding 50 metres for failing to hand the ball back with ten minutes remaining. To add to Tipp’s frustrations, the same man ultimately intercepted the subsequent attack.

Earlier, O’Connor could’ve had cause for complaint after being brought down from behind as he approached the goal. A free was awarded, but the referee deemed no cynical play had occurred, and no card was issued.

On the other hand, Tipp will need to brush up on their adherence to the 4v3 rule. Twice in the second half, they kept just two men forward. One was fortunately overlooked. The other coughed up a two-point free, which was missed.

The final forty minutes detracted from some of the positive work performed early on. Tipp’s tackling produced some good dispossessions, including a couple of super efforts each by Morris and Paudie Feehan. The captain was also centrally involved in the goal, the penalty, and Mark Stokes’ two-pointer.

An O’Connor steal after a short kick-out resulted in Steven O’Brien’s two-point free. Tipp robbed three further short kick-outs. Two delivered points by Smith. The third saw Smith attempt to send Daithí Hogan in on goal, only for McCarron to intercept. The Clonmel Commercials corner-forward scored five points from six first half shots but didn’t get a kick at the posts thereafter.

O’Brien’s tremendous goal originated from a robust Kieran Costello tackle. It also displayed the possibilities from the occasional long delivery into a full-forward line mismatch.

Fitzgerald namechecked Emmet Moloney for his bench impact, while Killian Butler was also influential.

Tipp have finished one spot below Carlow in each of the past two seasons. If they replicated that this year, it could yet mean promotion. To do so, they need to revive their ambitions with a win away to Longford on Sunday.