The league launch may have been smooth sailing against Dublin but by now the ship has hit choppy waters indeed.
Another late, late defeat leaves the fans frustrated and the team facing a very hazardous trip West next week. Galway’s need matches ours so the stakes will be high at Salthill; a likely relegation dogfight with Cork faces the losers.
The neutrals will have considered it good entertainment but for Tipperary fans the result colours everything. Austin Gleeson’s booming late winner was a costly curtain call for Tipperary. Salvaging the league from here will be very difficult.
Afterwards Mick Ryan seemed to make light of the setback; just one of those things – no big deal. “We weren’t overwhelmed”, he said, as if that was a major plus. Overwhelmed is what happens Kerry against Wexford; as league and championship contenders we don’t expect to be overwhelmed.
What the comments seem to overlook is the fact that this has become an unhealthy habit for Tipperary – part of a pattern. It was the same script in Nowlan Park, the same in last years’ All Ireland semi, the same in last year’s league semi. The list goes on. Put bluntly we don’t do tight finishes in Tipperary. There’s something flaky at the heart of Tipperary hurling.
The withdrawal of Seamie Callanan and the unavailability of Jason Forde were negatives going into this clash but let’s not forget that Waterford were operating without two of last year’s All Stars, Maurice Shanahan and Tadgh de Burca.
By now we’ve become familiar with the Waterford method. It’s built around fitness and mobility where positions are interchangeable. In fairness Tipperary coped well with the demands in the opening half where our work rate was commendable forcing several turn-overs whether through lost possession or penalties for over-carrying.
‘Bubbles’ was busiest keeping our scoreboard ticking over, mostly with frees. Agonisingly, though, we were denied a consolidating goal when ‘Bonner’ once more failed to beat the goalie after pouncing on a break. Still a mini surge by Tipperary approaching half time left us four-up at the interval.
And yet despite the comfort of that position there was some hand wringing on the Tipp side. What was Darren Gleeson thinking on that rash foul and then the display of petulance, which brought the free in front of the posts and resulted in a yellow card for the ‘keeper? It could have been worse if he managed to hit the referee with the ball.
‘Bubbles’ too can count his blessings after a wild pull that in truth deserved a red card. Becoming more physical has been a mantra of the new management but legitimate physicality requires discipline, not wild infringements that could leave us short-staffed. Still the evidence of the first half overall was pleasing enough. There had been no major encroachment at our defensive end and on the balance of play we were edging the game; it was not dissimilar to the Munster final pattern last summer.
The second half, however, brought a significant shift in trend. Waterford intensified their efforts. They’re fit, fast and physically strong. Through much of that second half their intensity seemed to be wearing us down. We went almost twenty minutes without a flag as they chipped away at the lead and then hit a game-changer.
Tomas Hamill won’t enjoy watching Tom Devine’s goal. He chased his man out towards the Old Stand but then got rounded with ridiculous ease. Once away, Devine showed a clean pair of heels to both Hamill and Ronan Maher before giving Gleeson no chance with the finish.
Watching that little cameo I was reminded of a club match some months ago when an old time student of the game kept reminding me of advice he once received about full back play: ‘the ball might pass you, or the man might pass you, but the two should never pass’. I suspect J.J. Delaney embraced a similar philosophy. Hamill has done well in general play since his promotion but that sequence could yet be the reason why we’ll see a return of James Barry to full back by summer time.
That goal seemed to be the game changer but this second half had further twists and turns in store for the six and a half thousand viewers. Eventually Waterford went four-up and it looked a done deal before Tipperary finally manufactured a rescuing goal; Kieran Bergin’s pass set up John McGrath for a sublime finish just inside the left post. Earlier Niall O’Meara had failed to find the same spot on yet another missed goal opportunity.
Nonetheless Tipperary had suddenly found some reserves and had wrestled back the lead. Critically ‘Bubbles’ failed to convert a ‘65’ which would have added security against Waterford’s late push. And it was here that the old fallibility returned as we failed yet again to see out a tight game. In the end the Deise found a levelling score in a Patrick Curran free and then came that big hit from Gleeson for the winner. Incidentally was it a free? Watch the video replay and Philip Mahony’s spectacular crash to the ground. The only contact may have been with another Waterford player.
And wasn’t it a bit rich of Eddie Brennan on the Sunday night programme to focus on a softish free to Paudie Maher and conveniently ignore the most crucial free of the entire game. Once a ‘cat’ always a ‘cat’. In the end it was another galling defeat for Tipperary, the latest in that ever-extending sequence. Mick Ryan has spoken about the lessons one learns in defeat so I’m wondering what he takes from our last two fixtures. The high ball into our attack seems a crude tactic, especially when we don’t have the aerial ball winners in our forward division. John McGrath has taken his chances well in recent games, ‘Bonner’ improved this time from the Nowlan Park experience and ‘Bubbles’ was our top scorer. Otherwise there wasn’t much to praise in attack.
Midfield too has issues. Michael Breen did much that was positive, including one fantastic point, but then at times looks very raw and impetuous, which are precisely the qualities that keep him away from full back. Brendan Maher’s dip in form is worrying.
At half back Paudie enjoyed a better outing this time, though not without a few typical mis-placed clearances. What about Ronan at number six, an option touted some time ago in this column? Against Waterford’s unorthodox system it is difficult to assess though I think he did enough to merit further exposure in that role. Barry Heffernan is a nice hurler though whether or not he has the hard edge for this level is another matter.
On the sideline there’s growing criticism of management’s slowness in making changes. Fifty minutes had passed before we made the first of just two adjustments on Sunday last. Against that I’m not too sure who else off the bench would have improved matters. Here’s a worrying stat from last Sunday: we scored a mere two points from open play in the second half. Our attack was problematic last August and it remains so. New management – same issues.
Anyway Galway at Salthill next Sunday now assumes massive importance. We’re both on just two points so everything is at stake. Galway will be ‘away’ to Waterford in their final game while we entertain Cork at the Stadium. It’s all to play for.
Our record in Salthill is impressive though given Galway’s erratic nature you never quite know what to expect. Their manager, Micheal Donoghue, was a key player in Tipperary’s backroom set up last year so he won’t lack for knowledge of our players. Being the first meeting of the counties since last August will add spice to the game.
I’ll end this week on a provocative note. On Sunday evening last a texter sent me a quote from Johnny Rotten which seemed uncomfortably apt for the occasion: “I really do think that the crowning glory of the Sex Pistols is that we’ve always managed to disappoint on big occasions. When the chips were down we never came through”. Is that to be the epitaph of the present generation of Tipperary hurlers? We await a response in Salthill.
