A plan comes together

MATCH ANALYSIS

By Shane Brophy

Tipperary MATCH STATS Cork

1st Half 2nd Half 1st Half 2nd Half

9 6 Wides 5 5

6 4 Frees Conceded 7 9

13/22 17/25 Scoring Chances 17/22 2/13

0-9 2-9 Scores from Play 1-12 0-2

18/22 3/7 Puckouts won 14/22 15/23

15 23 Turnovers won 19 10

0 0 Black Cards 0 0

0 2 Yellow Cards 1 3

0 0 Red Cards 0 1

In elite sport, when you sit down and devise a plan for an opponent, it’s always a gamble whether it works or not. Tipperary had a plan for Cork in the second round of the Munster Championship, but it was torn up inside sixty seconds. On Sunday in the All-Ireland Final, the plan came together!

The general feeling beforehand was if Tipperary could get it to the 50th minute and be in contention, they would be in with a great chance, instead they had Cork in such a vice-like grip, there was no way back for the raging hot favourites.

When Darragh McCarthy and John McGrath goaled twice in the space of seven minutes coming up to the hour, Tipp were double-digit leaders, and yet still you wondered if it was enough. Such are the wild scoring swings in hurling this year, plus victories for teams with fourteen men, we were expecting some kind of a Cork response, but it failed to materialise, or wasn’t allowed to.

The rumour mill was in overdrive on Saturday and Sunday morning of a possible late change, and while Liam Cahill has done it in a couple of games this year, he wasn’t going to do it in All-Ireland Final, unless forced to through injury or illness.

It’s fair to say you wouldn’t want to play poker with Liam Cahill as you wouldn’t know whether he was being straight or bluffing when he, last week, referred to being annoyed by the perception that he ever set up with a sweeper. He was being genuine, but was he was getting a message to Cork that ensured they wouldn’t plan for it.

There is a first time for everything and on Sunday, it was the culmination of this Tipperary team fully grasping the modern way of hurling, being brave on the ball, taking risks in possession, and trusting their ability. Traditionalists might not like playing an extra-man at the back, a sweeper, a plus-one, call it what you like, but sometimes needs must and the Tipperary brains trust threw a curve ball at Cork they hadn’t seen in the past from them.

Bryan O’Mara, as the plus-one, wasn’t a surprise as he is a superb reader of the game, but placing Willie Connors at wing-back was, particularly on Declan Dalton as he was giving away considerable size, but as the saying goes, it’s not about the size of the dog, it’s about the size of the fight in the dog, and there are few that get the better of the Kiladangan man in a battle.

He was superb, arguably on one of Cork’s key players who tortured Tipp on Leeside and against Dublin in the semi-final. Connors not only won the battle but broke his spirit epitomised an early second half duel when Dalton was slow to get off the ground, initially it was thought he was injured, but it was because mentally he was broken, a portent of what was to come.

It wasn’t just that Connors was felt as the right man to stop Dalton, it was also the why.

Bryan O'Mara was the plus-one, but he leaned between positions four and seven, which is where Dalton and Brian Hayes generally play into, saying to Cork, 'play into here if you dare.’

It forced Cork into more 50-50 battles on the other flank where Tipp hoped Eoghan Connolly’s physicality would get the better of Diarmuid Healy, but it didn’t go completely to plan there as the Cork youngster pilfered three points from play while Shane Barrett’s influence from centre forward came from that side, including his goal right on half time.

Generally, when a team goals on the cusp of the break, it’s a key moment to go in at half time with a shot in the arm. From a Tipp point of view, while Liam Gordon immediately blew the half-time whistle, just beforehand you would see captain Ronan Maher and Michael Breen immediately revving the troops to dig in, not knowing if there would be another play. They were ready.

Cork’s currency this season has been goals, particularly in bunches, so half-time came at the right time for Tipperary as their opponents weren’t able to take advantage of it.

Depending on the outcome, there are also small moments which are seen as crucial, such as Patrick Horgan’s missed free early in the second half, in an area Declan Dalton generally shoots from and had nailed one in the opening half.

Rhys Shelly’s inclusion in the team since the Clare game has also been a game changer, his full repertoire of puckouts on show, particularly at the start of the second half when he was able to get Jake Morris and Andrew Ormond into the game in a ball-winning sense, and from primary possession, Tipp showed their class in converting 17 of their 25 chances.

Tipperary were mixing up their game better, probably too direct in the opening half and won few of the second balls in the forwards. However, they still peppered the Cork full-back line until they finally cracked under the barrage with John McGrath completing his own personal comeback for the year with 2-2, also winning the penalty for Darragh McCarthy who had a redemption day of his own with 1-13, 1-9 from placed balls, ten out of ten in that regard.

While Ronan Maher was a deserved official man of the match, McCarthy is our selection considering what he had to overcome, not just from the semi-final, but also in his two previous games against Cork, and it was surprising that Cork opted not to play Sean O’Donoghue on him once more. With all that, to score 1-13, nail every placed ball from all angles and distances, at the age of nineteen was a remarkable contribution.

Leading 3-23 to 1-17 on the hour mark with Cork down to fourteen men, the game was as good as over, as Tipp people looked on in disbelief at what was happening. The Tipp players were almost on auto pilot, they never relented up to the final whistle when Noel McGrath’s point put the tin hat on it.

The defence weren’t content to yield anything to Cork in the closing, important in the context of the years to come and getting the psychological upper hand over the rivals. They were led in that regard by Ronan Maher who was immense. Putting him on Cork’s most influential forward, Brian Hayes, was a masterstroke in terms of hammering the hammer. It also played to Maher’s strengths, particularly under the high ball with his two catches in the second half psychological daggers to a wilting Cork side.

Tipp also enjoyed the rub of the green, four times Cork hit the woodwork, the first of which ended up with Tipp’s first goal at the other end, Patrick Collins’s heavy touch in bringing the ball down over his crossbar allowing John McGrath to nip in. Payback for 1984!

Sometimes, it’s just your day and your year!