Greater edge needed to withstand pressure

It’s never a good time to be on the end of a heavy loss to a rival but if Tipperary are to be competitive come championship, this is a silver lining game that may stand them in good stead.

You could sense by the body language and demeanour of manager Colm Bonnar in the aftermath that even he was surprised at how behind his side are of Waterford in certain aspects of their play. Crucially there is time to rectify it and with their league status now out of their hands in terms of making a semi-final,

Tipperary’s championship preparations start this week. In the old league format, there used to be anything up to six weeks between the end of it and the start of the championship which teams usually did their best work on the training field and whatever happened in the league was quickly forgotten once the first championship ball is thrown in. Tipperary have to hope that is the case because this defeat to Waterford highlighted areas that need to be addressed, before they return to Walsh Park in just over five weeks’ time for the opening round of the championship.

1-28 is another massive score to concede and if you take in last year’s two defeats to Waterford in league and championship, and the Munster Final loss to Limerick, Tipp are conceding massive tallies. Not only are they struggling to cope with the running game of opponents, when the ball is sent in direct, they are coming under pressure as well, with James Quigley having his hands full with Michael Kiely but the Kiladangan clubman stood up well.

This is where workrate remains an issue, not that Tipp aren’t working hard, but not to the level of the really good teams at the moment who are always on the move and thinking a step ahead in terms of what to do with the ball and providing a support option to the man in possession. There were times in the game when if Waterford were in the mood, they could have push for more goals as they appeared to have Tipp outnumbered in their own defence which should never be the case.

With the way inter-county hurling is at the moment, physicality is so important, and this is an area Tipp have been falling short in for some time. Tipp aren’t a small team by any means, but they get pushed around too easily. To see Brian McGrath hit three times before conceding a free for overcarrying isn’t a good sight to see as not only was he outmuscled, he, also had no options after the first hit to lay the ball off to.

In his playing days, Colm Bonner was by no means the best player on one of the great Tipperary team of the last eighties and early nineties, but he brought a warrior spirit and drained everything out of himself, and he needs to get this out of the group of players at the moment. There is too much of a niceness in Tipperary, players that have all the skills, but there isn’t enough of an edge to their play, with or without the ball, apart from Cathal Barrett who was again outstanding in a losing effort on Sunday.

If you were to assess this Tipperary team as an opponent, there is nothing to frighten you. Yes, they are a very good team if you allow them to play, as Waterford did in the opening twenty minutes when they went 0-9 to 0-3 ahead with Michael Breen and Mark Kehoe to the fore. However, when Waterford upped the intensity, inspired by Stephen Bennett’s goal, they couldn’t stay with the home side.

Tipperary’s struggles at the moment are two-fold, one is getting their hands on the ball enough, and secondly, when they do, how do they break down their opponents.

Firstly, goalkeepers Brian & Barry Hogan are in a tough spot in terms of puckouts and last Sunday Tipp retained only fifty percent of their own restarts. That is very low in a modern context and with the half forward line under pressure once more, Tipp need to devise a way to get the ball into play more securely, and maybe going with quicker puckouts is the way to do that so they can get the ball moving before opponents get set defensively, the more open the game, the better it plays to Tipperary’s strengths.

In terms of the attacking play, for the third time in four league games, Tipp failed to find the net, and not only that, are struggling to create chances. The only one of note was from Jake Morris midway through the first half, admittedly from a Waterford mistake with John McGrath playing him in but was inches wide.

This is another aspect of where Tipperary’s intent could be better, as Jake Morris epitomised as he always looked to take on his man and go for the jugular. Mark Kehoe showed promise with four points from play, but in at least two of those he was one-on-one with the last Waterford defender and didn’t look to take him on, as he has the ability and power to. He can be given the benefit of the doubt as he is still only trying to establish himself in the team and he along with Conor Bowe, Jake Morris, and Michael Breen eleven points from play between them. It was the more experienced forwards that struggled, with Jason Forde missing chances you wouldn’t associate him with and John McGrath who looked off the pace in his first league start, with his first touch not up to its usual standard.

Tipperary have used thirty players in the league campaign so far with one game to go against Antrim and the risk of giving players an opportunity as Colm Bonner has said was his aim, it prevents a starting fifteen for the championship from revealing itself.

Midfield is a particular concern, although Barry Heffernan showed glimpses of being effective there, but you feel he is a bigger asset as a wing back. However, Tipp are overloaded with wing backs, including Paddy Cadell and Alan Flynn, who both played at midfield and again the game seemed to pass them by, and maybe need to go back to areas they prefer in the half back line, and considering Seamus Kennedy, Robert Byrne and Dillon Quirke are there too, six into two does go, if as we expect Ronan Maher is centre back where he impressed in this losing effort.

Much for the Tipperary management to ponder as time begins to run out for a clear picture to emerge as to their best line-up for championship.