Minors aim to keep the Tipp flag flying into another All-Ireland Final

GAA: Electric Ireland All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship Semi-Final Preview

By Shane Brophy

TIPPERARY v CORK

TUS Gaelic Grounds, Limerick

Saturday, 13th June

Throw-in @ 2.00pm (E.T.)

Referee: Niall Malone (Clare)

Just as in 2022 & 2024 when their senior counterparts had a short championship campaign, it is up to the Tipperary minors to keep the Blue & Gold flag flying high as they prepare to take on Cork in the All-Ireland semi-final on Saturday.

Manager James Woodlock and his backroom team (minus Conor O’Brien this year) were apart of those successful campaigns and similar to the seniors who seem to only find their groove every second year, it is the same at minor level with Tipp winning their third Munster title in five years last month.

“Because the other teams are gone, obviously we’d like to give Tipp people something to shout about and they tend to like the style of hurling we play. Tipperary fans are always engaged at minor level as they like to see who is coming,” said the Tipperary manager ahead of the game.

Tipp enjoyed perfect Munster campaign with five wins from five, and if they are to go on an win an All-Ireland title, it could be all Munster opposition in front of them, starting with Cork on Saturday, while Limerick take on Galway in the second semi-final in Ennis later in the day.

However, Tipperary will have it all to do to even think about an All-Ireland Final, not just overcoming great rivals Cork, but also dealing with the four-week break since the provincial final win.

“The Munster campaign ended with three matches on the trot so we needed the time off,” admitted James Woodlock.

“Then the Celtic Challenge kicked in as well so after the end of the Munster campaign it gave us an opportunity to freshen the panel and give lads game time in the Celtic Challenge.

“The four weeks actually flew but we hope we are ready for Saturday for a rejuvenated and changed Cork side.”

Cork finished third in the Munster round-robin with two wins and two losses, one of which was to Tipperary at FBD Semple Stadium in round 3 on April 17th, 2-17 to 0-16. While the final scoreline was decisive, for forty minutes there was little between the sides with the Premier boys outscoring the visitors 1-8 to 0-2 in a strong finish, climaxed by five unanswered points in the closing six minutes.

Prior to that, it was never plain-sailing, and at times, Cork looked the more likely winners, but Tipp’s tenacity, and the elimination of earlier handling and striking errors, tipped the scales in their favour.

In the All-Ireland series since Tipp won the provincial final, Cork have enjoyed wins over Wexford and Kilkenny, which sees them match sharp and full of momentum according to Woodlock.

“One of those wins was against Wexford was won in the last five minutes really and then they beat a really good Kilkenny team that I had seen in a Leinster final. They really blew them out of the water in the quarter final,” he said.

“They are different team since we last played them with only three players that are in the same positions with players moving to different positions or new players coming in which shows they have a very strong panel as well.

“What we produced in Munster was good enough to win Munster but it won’t be good enough to win an All-Ireland semi-final.”

Tipperary might have been deserving Munster champions with their unblemished record but it was far from plain sailing in all their games, particularly both contests with Limerick, including the provincial final in which Tipp emerged 3-16 to 0-18 winners but it was a much closer than that.

“Limerick closed down a lot of the areas we would have targeted and it turned into a real war of attrition and so to eek out a result was great for the lads, which we had to do in the Gaelic Grounds as well.

“We’ll need that and more on Saturday to get over the line against an improving Cork side,” Woodlock added.

When at full strength, the Tipperary team has been very consistent through the championship, starting with Eoin Connolly who is assured between the posts. Daniel Groome is a physical presence at full-back with corner-backs Colm Ryan and skipper Conor Collins hugely impressive in the campaign both in terms of their defensive duties and distributing the ball.

The Tipp half-back line is physically imposing in Oisin Kennedy, James Finn and Travis McLoughlin although they can tend to take on too many shots, particularly when have so many potent forwards to get the ball into.

Shane Ryan and Hugh Healy have been workhorses in the middle of the field with Ryan more of a scoring threat with Healy tending to be replaced on forty minutes to replenish the energy in the middle with the likes of Ciaran Gantley.

Conor Kennedy, son of 1996 All-Ireland Minor winner Michael ‘Bonny’, had his best performance of the campaign in the Munster Final, as did Eanna Tucker while the four weeks will have benefitted Chris Dunne to shake off a calf issue which saw him miss two of the round-robin games as his free-taking is very accurate.

Tipp’s trump card is their inside forward line, provided they get the service having scored fourteen goals in the five games so far, with Zack O’Keeffe in particular having a finishers mentality, many of them set-up by KJ Dunne who is too unselfish for his own good at times but his willingness to constantly take on his opponent is electric.

Conall Morrisson has been Tipp’s star man in the campaign so far with 2-17 from play in four games he has started, not just his accuracy but his ability to win his own ball.

Rian McGrath, Ollie Roche, Josh Moroney, John O’Meara and Sean Burke have also come on and contributed with a real competition for places.

Tipperary hurling could do with a boost and the minor hurlers have the potential to provide it but a team is never more vulnerable than coming off a lengthy break, particularly facing into a team they have previously beaten, and are also coming in with momentum. Cork were in the same position Tipp were last year and came a cropper in the semi-final but the Tipp management have been there are done it before and if they fire on the day, it will take something special for Cork to topple them.