A point is better than nothing

By Shane Brophy

On the face of it, this appears a disappointing start for Tipperary in their quest for promotion from division 4, but if you break it down, failing to beat Waterford isn’t all that surprising.

For the fourth successive occasion in the league, Tipperary haven’t gotten the better of their Munster neighbours, going back to 2008, with two defeats and two draws.

Another draw was as much as Tipperary deserved from this encounter, particularly as they lived off scraps in terms of the ball for much of the second half, where it was Waterford on the front foot.

Off the back of a poor 2021 which saw Tipperary relegated to division 4 for the first time since 2014, a win would have been welcome, to generate some positive momentum and when they moved 0-5 to 0-2 after 22 minutes, they had the platform to kick on, but they failed to take control of the game thereafter.

However, this isn’t the Tipperary team of 2020 that won the Munster title. Too many players have moved on through retirement and other reasons and it has left the cupboard a little bare in terms of experience and quality. Six players made their National League debuts in Fraher Field and blooding new faces, as well as trying to win games, is always a difficult juggling act, so the fact Tipperary still managed to leave with at least a point wasn’t the worst result in the world.

Playing Waterford on home turf in the first round of the league is probably the worst time to play the Deise, as they come in enthusiastic for the new campaign, and maybe it was that freedom to express themselves saw them get better as the match went on while Tipperary found the going tough. To Tipp’s credit, when they fell behind for the first time on 48 minutes, they picked things up and managed to get their noses back in front but failed to see it out.

The first round of the National League rarely generates good football and that is how it proved with both sides turning over the ball very cheaply, with handling errors throughout. However, you would have hoped Tipp would have had enough quality to get the win but creating openings in an attacking sense is an area of concern.

Tipp managed just four points from play, with Conor Sweeney again their only go-to forward and late in the game when they needed him, he stepped up. However, he needs more support, but also, they need to attack much quicker. Tipperary’s attacks were too laboured with not enough pace but into carrying the ball which made is easier for Waterford to get back and set-up defensively. It took the arrival of Luke Boland and Robbie Kiely in the second half to inject some intensity into the play.

There were areas to be pleased with, Tipperary won all bar two of their own kick-outs, with much more movement in allowing Evan Comerford short options to get the ball into play. However, it was in the contested kickouts that Tipp struggled a bit, however, they were without Steven O’Brien and Jack Kennedy through injury. Conal Kennedy and Stephen Quirke made up the midfield pairing on the day and were solid.

Indeed, a theme of the game where Comerford and his Waterford counterpart Aaron Beresford spent much of their time away from goal, pushing up when the ball was at the other end of the field, almost as fly-goalies to create an extra outfield player at times, however, there were some hairy moments, including a late first half Tipp free which Sean O’Connell played ball towards his own goal, but it went straight out for a 45 which Waterford turned into a score.

O’Connell was one of the sextet on debut, the former Kerry underage captain who has transferred to Loughmore/Castleiney in recent weeks, and only became eligible after a Mid intermediate championship game was scheduled last Thursday night as he had to play competitively for the club before he could wear the blue and gold. It is early days to make judgement on new players, but O’Connell was solid in his first start from centre back but with a license to push forward with Kevin Fahey sitting as the sweeper, despite wearing number eleven, where he did play more of the game in the second half.

Eanna McBride was called ashore early, although he is the latter is in the middle of a colleges campaign at the moment, and kicked a good first half point in a solid debut. Willie Eviston fitted in confidently in the full back line while up front, Mullinahone duo Martin Kehoe found the going tough and was called shore before half time, while Mikey O’Shea was lively in the first half scoring and has potential to build on it.