After the highs of the previous week it was back to lowly earth this time for Tipperary GAA. The footballers took a heavy hit from Tyrone while the U21 hurlers came up just short after a disastrous opening spell against Limerick.
That U21 defeat makes for unpleasant reviewing. We expected better from the winning minor class of 2012. The logic of natural progression suggested that we had solid hopes but logic and hurling sometimes don’t mix.
We watched in disbelief as this one got away from us so early. Just seconds in and Cian Lynch had whipped one past Paul Maher. Dithering in the Tipp defence had created the opening with Lynch losing his marker to first-time the finish.
It was the opening salvo in what was to be a torrid twenty minutes or so. Bewildered Tipperary fans watched in dismay as their side was taken apart by the energy and initiative of the locals. By the time wing forward, Robbie Hanley, dispatched their second goal the scoreboard read 2-8 to 0-2, a twelve-point span that would ultimately prove unbridgeable.
It was disturbing viewing for the small troupe of Tipperary fans who made the journey. Their team looked disjointed and rudderless. Seldom has a Tipperary team shown such poor first touch. Only full back Michael Breen and full forward, Colin O’Riordan, were manning up to the job as required.
And yet despite all the angst of that opening spell Colin O’Riordan’s two goals had reopened the contest before the break. Had John McGrath beaten goalie, David McCarthy, on another great opportunity before the interval then most of Limerick’s great industry would have been undone.
Still at just five adrift we were very much within striking distance for the second period. We got level in that second half but could never nose ahead. The key moment was probably the save by goalie McCarthy off Ronan Maher. It will surely be among the stops of the season in any grade. Tadhg Gallagher did post a fine individual goal but Limerick’s third, put in by Tom Morrissey, was critical in getting them over the line.
On balance Limerick deserved to edge it. My colleague John Kiely had them well tuned and they hit Tipperary on a night when very few enhanced their reputations. Michael Breen stood apart as an exception with a display that will surely keep alive the debate about his best position with the seniors. Colin O’Riordan’s first half was also commendable though he seemed to run out of pep in the second spell. Otherwise you could pick individual items from Tom Fox or Tossy Hamill or Stephen Cahill or a few others but overall it was one to forget.
The Munster wins by the seniors and minors have probably cushioned the U21s from some of the more stinging criticisms. Successes elsewhere make it easier to gloss over this one though I’m less benign because I feel this was a grade where an All Ireland was definitely on offer.
Team manager, T.J. Connolly, I understand, stepped aside afterwards. In some quarters he’ll take the heavy flak though there is a strong view that his task was a frustrating one with so many of the panel tied up either with the senior hurlers or the footballers. There isn’t much a manager can do if players are unavailable to him and the evidence of this game would certainly suggest that they played like strangers. The withdrawal of Sean Maher from the panel some time ago was clearly unhelpful too.
When you view this defeat beside Waterford’s exit to Clare it does suggest that having players from other panels is often a major hindrance at U21 level, a grade that overlaps with so much else. It all left me recalling a corresponding fixture way back in 1982. Tipperary had won the three previous All Ireland U21 titles and sent a star-studded fifteen down to the Gaelic Grounds for what many thought would be a routine Munster semi-final win. We had eleven of the ’81 side on duty including seven of the senior team yet the record will show a 2-12 to 1-7 win for the Shannonsiders.
I’m interested in Peter Creedon’s comments after the football defeat to Tyrone. ‘Fellas will have to play nothing but football and park everything else’, he’s quoted as saying. Mind you the U21 football manager was saying the exact opposite earlier in the year. Anyway Creedon’s comments were prompted, I presume, by the perceived toll hurling took on Colin O’Riordan as well as the injury sustained by Steven O’Brien in an U21 hurling game. In these cases hurling was seen as football’s enemy so in future the Cork man wants the players to abandon all hurling activity. Indeed. Perhaps somebody should remind Peter that this is Tipperary.
However, before we get too outraged at the remarks let me just add that I agree with Peter Creedon. He’s on the button here. The only correction I’d make is to slightly modify his comments by saying that players will have to play either hurling or football and park everything else. This dual mandate simply doesn’t work. At senior level it doesn’t happen anymore and I’d suggest that it shouldn’t happen at U21 or minor either. Teenage lads want to keep their options open but in the interests of both codes they should be made select one. It’s good that this has come from a football man so let’s go with P. Creedon’s wise suggestion.
Meanwhile the home fires keep burning as our club affairs tick away in the background. I headed off for Templetuohy on Sunday evening last for the clash of champions. County champs, Sarsfields, played Mid champs, Drom/Inch, in the divisional semi-final. A football affair – not again! – delayed matters so they had to put on the lights before the hurling ended.
It was a game that shed some light too on our county championship race. With Paudie Maher missing for Sarsfields one felt that here was a big opportunity for Drom to put one over on their urban neighbours. Well, they didn’t, and the Blues look the team to beat once more this year.
Interestingly Sarsfields put Denis Maher man-marking Seamie Callanan and by unanimous verdict the Sars man won that particular head-to-head. With Callanan muted the Drom attack lacked a cutting edge, so even without the burly presence of Paudie Maher in the way they made little headway.
It was still an interesting game throughout. Sars’ led by two at the break and by the end of the third quarter one felt that perhaps Drom were slightly edging a very finely balanced game. But that was to reckon without a spectacular twist as the match entered the final ten minutes.
First Ritchie Ruth set up Pa Bourke for a smashing goal and then Ruth himself lobbed goalie, Damien Young, for a second. Two points quickly followed – game over in a blistering few minutes. David Collins got a goal back from a free but Sarsfields had done the business impressively.
The return to form of Pa Bourke was a feature of the game. Since being dropped from the Tipp panel his form dipped alarmingly but this was more like the Pa of old. Incidentally I understand he was approached about rejoining the Tipp panel earlier in the year but declined.
Lar Corbett was man-marked by Drom’s Liam Ryan and here’s an interesting outcome. I mislaid my notes from the game but from recollection I think Ryan, the backman, out-scored Corbett, the forward, by three points to two. Traditional roles are no more, it seems, in hurling.
Finally that relegation business in Dundrum on Friday evening brought a decent crowd to the West Tipp venue. As expected Holycross survived principally because they found the route to four goals. Otherwise Cappawhite matched them in general play. Thomas Costello took a heavy blow to the head in the first half and seemed to be groggy for the remainder, which didn’t help Cappa’s cause.
I’d give Cappawhite credit for a really feisty resistance; they certainly didn’t roll over in this one. It’s still bitterly disappointing for them to take the drop. Holycross should never have been in this predicament and that’s one for them to solve. It’s disappointing too to hear these transfer rumours that are doing the rounds; hopefully they’re without substance.
P.S. My mood at the U21 game wasn’t helped by sitting near an obnoxious Limerick man – a foul-mouthed moron in a green jersey. I suppose they’re in every county; just my luck to be sitting close-by this one.
By Jonathan Cullen Thu 23rd Jul
