Unforeseen

IN ALL FAIRNESS

The greatest experiences in life are the ones that are unexpected, and what Tipperary hurling at senior level is experiencing at the moment is something very unusual indeed.

There’s always pressure when it comes to hurling in this county, but expectation levels were so low coming into this season, many people had made alternative plans for the early weeks in July, not expecting Tipperary to be at the business end of the Championship.

Well, those plans are being quickly rearranged this week, including former Tipperary All-Ireland winner Shane McGrath looking to trade tickets for the final round of the Open Golf Championship at Royal Portrush for All-Ireland Hurling Final tickets, as one of the greatest sporting turnarounds in a short period of time is one step away from being completed.

Column inches and online debates have been many about where the Tipperary support has disappeared to in recent years. To be fair, they weren’t getting much to support. The GAA isn’t immune to the modern supporter only showing up when things are going well. The die-hard supporter, who is there through the bleak days, are a dying breed.

Tipperary is renowned for the skilfulness of its hurlers, but what our supporters really love more than anything else is a team built on hard work, commitment, and pride in the jersey. It’s what made the rivalry with Kilkenny between 2009 and 2016 so frustrating when the cats had the upper hand largely, that we had as much hurling as them, but they had that extra bit of dog to get over the line, more often that not. Well, Tipp have bred that type of dog once again going on what we have seen in recent years through all grades with the Kilkenny tiger now a quietened to a house cat for the moment at least.

You could sense it building all last week, the colour around the county and the car flags up, things you only associate with already being qualified for an All-Ireland Final. The Tipperary supporters descended on the capital on mass, particularly the younger ones for whom this was probably the last chance to see their team in action this season as they will be priced out of the final. It’s a pity a certain allocation of tickets for All-Ireland Final day aren’t set aside for juveniles at reduced prices to allow more of them experience the showpiece event.

Those juveniles who were lucky enough to be at Croke Park on Sunday will probably have the love of Tipperary instilled in them for the rest of their lives because of what they experienced with the drama, not only of the hurling match, but also the camogie game.

To that end, it must have been some thrill for the camogie players of Tipperary and Kilkenny to be a part of that occasion. Going into extra time, at least half of the 60,000 attendance would have been in the stadium, the largest crowd any inter-county camogie player would have played in front of, considering their All-Ireland finals struggle to break 20,000 in most years.

The noise that greeted Clodagh McIntyre’s goal in extra time was something none of those players would have experienced, and the benefit of which is that many people would have been seeing a Tipperary Camogie team in the flesh for the first time, and will be enthused to go and watch them again, whether it be in the semi-final on July 26th or in the years to come.

Playing these quarter finals on the same bill as the hurling semi-finals is a huge exposure boost to the game, but one aspect I found distasteful was how rushed proceedings were after the match ended level in normal time. The game had barely finished at 2.50pm when the announcement came that extra time had to start at 2.55pm. The players and mentors barely at time to catch their breath to such an extent that when the ball was thrown in for the start of extra time, two Tipperary players were still putting on the helmets on the sideline before going back in. It was almost if Croke Park needed to get this match out of the way.

The reason the match started at 1.30pm was to allow the provision for extra time, providing certainty for the two senior hurling teams that their throw-in at 4.00pm wouldn’t be affected. The end of the first half of extra time was around 3.05pm but the players were barely in their huddle for a quick drink and a few words, as there always is, when you had the unedifying spectacle of one Croke Park official more or less trying to pull Tipperary mentors off the field and get the game going again. Do you think if this was a men’s team, would that same Croke Park official be as confident about getting them going again.

Extra time ended around 3.20pm, still plenty of time before the Tipperary and Kilkenny hurlers to enter the field around 3.30pm to begin their warm-ups for their game. If you want camogie treated properly, give them the same respect as the men’s teams.