Connors impact is key to Kiladangan revival

By Shane Brophy

If you are one of those people that likes a flutter on club GAA matches in Tipperary, backing the draw is always an investment that has a chance of paying off and it did so again on Sunday as 64 minutes of playing time failed to separate Kiladangan and Thurles Sarsfields in the county senior hurling final.

And so, for the third year in a row (it would have been four as the 2020 final went to extra time and not a replay due to Covid) a replay is required and on the balance of the game, few could argue that both sides didn’t deserve it.

However, there will have been a little more relief in Kiladangan as they were chasing the game for the most part against a Thurles Sarsfields that had the greater spark to their play and always seemed to have options on the ball, whether it was long or short.

To Kiladangan’s credit, they stayed plugging away and it was in the final quarter they finally got to play more on their terms, inspired by Paul Flynn’s goal as he went onto have another inspired county final performance, finishing with 1-3 from play.

His 45th minute goal was a clinical finish to a move out of defence with Declan McGrath and Sean Hayes running through the heart of the Sarsfields defence. It was one of the rare times that the games most influential player, Ronan Maher, had been sucked out of his sweeper position, which had caused Kiladangan so problems until then.

In Thurles’ run to the final, the regular question asked is why do opposition teams allow Ronan Maher to play that free-role? Well, it’s one that Sarsfields create as Cathal Moloney dropped from midfield to centre back to man-mark Billy Seymour, allowing Maher the sweeper role. To counter-act that, Kiladangan would have had to push their extra man into the forwards, and essentially play seven forwards and leaving just five defenders which would have been suicide against a Sarsfields attack that thrive on space. Instead, Kiladangan kept their extra man in place at the back, and interestingly for them, looking ahead to the replay, it was Willie Connor’s positioning as their free-man in the second half which helped turn the game back in their favour.

Fully fit, Connors is a starter on the team, but injury has seen him reduced to the role of impact sub but not even the Kiladangan management would have expected to be forced to send him in after just 21 minutes when John O’Meara was forced off through injury. Connors has played much of his club hurling in midfield and attack, but the management opted not to tincker with their line-up too much with Connors coming in at right half back, and getting forty minutes into his legs without any repercussions should see him start the replay.

What Connors did bring in his sweeper role in the second half, similar to Ronan Maher, is his ability to use the ball well, his vision to make the right pass is up there with that of Noel McGrath, and from where Kiladangan got traction, particularly working more of the ball through the middle where Declan McGrath, Tadhg Gallagher and Sean Hayes did a lot of hard running, and it yielded more dividends as the direct ball failed to do with Dan O’Meara and Bryan McLoughney peripheral.

Billy Seymour was again Kiladangan’s leader in attack and even in the first half when they struggled to win possession, he was able to use his physicality to win frees. Cathal Moloney did such a good man-marking job that Seymour only had two shots at goal in open play, but one was the score of the game late in the contest from a very acute angle.

That last fifteen minutes is what we will hope to see more of in the replay on Sunday week where as both sides tired, mistakes started to happen, plus players began to take more risks with possession and it turned into a real up and down the field battle. Prior to that it was a game of wits, as both sides were careful not to hit in too much aimless ball, and as such led to a cagey game for long spells, which lacked excitement for the disappointing crowd of just 5,454 for the showpiece game of Tipperary club hurling.

As relieved Kiladangan were to get a second chance, Thurles Sarsfields will be a little disappointed as they were on the front foot for so long as their workrate really unsettled Kiladangan. They had some chances late on to add to their tally but didn’t take the shots on which will concern manager Padraic Maher, despite Darragh Stakelum, Stephen Cahill and joint-captain Aidan McCormack being their leading performers.

When Michael Kennedy’s final whistle sounded, a number of Thurles Sarsfields forwards collapsed to the ground in sheer exhaustion with the effort given while Kiladangan players to a man looked as if they could have played on longer, and one wonders if fitness had a part to play in their final quarter improvement. It might just be an optical thing, but Sarsfields players looked more deflated than Kiladangan players at the final whistle but the two week gap to the replay will ensure both teams will be primed for what has the potential to be an even better game.