Diminutive Hogan shines as host club retains 100% win rate

Tipperary v Antrim Match Analysis

By Stephen Barry

In late 1983, a few years after the stand and clubhouse were first constructed at St Flannan’s Park in Moneygall, the venue hosted two National Hurling League games.

Operating in Division 2 at that time, Tipperary achieved comfortable victories over Dublin by 2-11 to 0-12, in a game refixed from Nenagh at short notice, and Kildare (2-20 to 3-4).

Over the years, St Flannan’s Park has welcomed an American president and entertained countless club fixtures.

Now, one year shy of the centre’s 50-year anniversary, it enjoyed another first by accommodating the Tipp footballers. Thankfully, the 100% inter-county win rate continues to prevail.

The change of scenery is a relevant factor in grading the Premier’s four-point victory over Antrim.

Speaking before the league campaign, manager Niall Fitzgerald explained that Tipp would be moving away from club grounds and back to the comforts of Semple Stadium. That decision was reached after examining the data underlying previous performances.

This young team currently lack the physicality of others. To play to their strengths, they aspire to a fast, front-foot brand of football. That’s best achieved on the manicured Thurles sod.

The heavy Moneygall surface, which just passed a pre-match pitch inspection, was not what Fitzgerald imagined when drawing up their game plan.

However, Tipp adapted their blueprint to the circumstances. They controlled the tempo with slow attacks into the wind in the first half. From the throw-in, they held uninterrupted possession for three minutes.

Remarkably, Antrim only had six shots in that opening period. Across the entire afternoon, just thirteen of their attacks ended with an effort at the posts. They scored off eight of those, which is nowhere near enough to win any game of football under the new rules.

That much was a major win for a Tipp defence which shipped twenty scores in London the week before. Having coughed up 0-16 (0-13 from play) to the Exiles’ half-forward line, they held the Antrim half-forwards to one point.

Antrim played all bar the final two minutes of that wind-assisted first half with fifteen men. The foundations for Tipp’s victory had been laid in that stretch of 15 v 15 football, despite trailing 0-4 to 0-5.

John Carron’s off-the-ball red card irreversibly changed the outlook. The hosts could now attack and defend with an 11 v 10 advantage. Paudie Feehan was left free to dictate the tempo and provide an attacking pivot against a stretched defence. When playing 15 v 14, Tipp held the edge by 1-7 to 1-4. In the final two minutes of 15 v 13, they scored 0-2 to nil.

Daithí Hogan’s performance was the brightest spark. The pitch wouldn’t have appeared to be to the liking of the diminutive St Patrick’s prospect. Instead, he was in scintillating form, particularly when the numerical advantage created extra space for his pace to exploit.

Hogan scored 1-3, including one point from a mark after being picked out by Steven O’Brien. He assisted O’Connor’s two points from play and won pointed frees for O’Connor and Cian Smith. His fingerprints were all over 1-7 of Tipp’s 1-13 tally. Every score from play came through the youngster.

Hogan showed all the right leadership instincts by taking charge of possession for a finish. In a classy stoppage-time move, he initially used Feehan as a decoy before exchanging a one-two with the captain to draw the insurance free.

Overall, Tipp’s shooting efficiency remains a work in progress. Although they relied upon two-pointers to get out of jail in London, they beat Antrim while hardly attempting a shot from outside the arc.

Their need to diversify in attack persists. O’Connor, Smith, and Hogan contributed 0-17 of their 0-21 total against London. Against Antrim, they were the only three players to score. O’Connor and Hogan were the only pair to register from open play, combining for 1-4. The extra 0-9 came from placed balls. At the other end, disciplined defending limited Antrim to two scoreable frees.

Hogan carried his form in after netting the equalising goal to bring UL’s Sigerson Cup quarter-final with Maynooth University to extra-time.

The David Power-managed side featured four Tipp footballers, all of whom scored in the midweek victory: starter Charlie King (0-1), and substitutes Hogan (1-1), Micheál Freaney (0-1), and Killian Butler (0-1). The latter completed a memorable week by making his League debut off the bench. It demonstrated that Tipp have scorers, they just need to work them into the right areas of the field.

It should be noted that Antrim contributed significantly to their own downfall between two red cards, two frees that were advanced fifty metres for indiscipline, and five overcarrying calls.

There were two bizarre new-rule concessions: one for Niall Burns handpassing back to the Saffron goalkeeper inside his own half, and one when John McNabb gave away a tap-over free for taking too long over a kick-out.

Third-placed Tipp are now in a scenario where, if they beat table-toppers Carlow at home on Sunday week, they could reach the Division 4 summit.

The note of caution is that the Blue & Gold had a similarly promising start last year, going unbeaten for three games before losing their final four on the trot. Yet, that prospect of a promotion push will only spur on training in the intervening fortnight.