It was a case of mission accomplished for Tipperary on a day when our incentive far outweighed Cork’s. The subsequent coin toss sends us to Ennis on Sunday week for the quarter-final after Clare’s significant win over Limerick, who once again remain ensnared in division 1B.
It was quite an odd game in many ways, certainly lacking the blood and thunder of a knock-out fixture. Cork had little to play for beyond traditional pride and I think it showed in much of the game’s texture, which was loose and lacking intensity. It was only when Callanan arrived for the second half that the blood pressure raised a notch or two and Cork became a mite more urgent as they faced a real thrashing.
For Tipperary the win was necessary and after a slow start always looked likely to be achieved with something to spare. The wides tally, sixteen in total, hindered our progress so potentially it could have been outright embarrassing for Cork. It’s probably better that it wasn’t; we don’t want to hand them an extra incentive for May 22 when something entirely different can be expected.
The stand out contributor in the first half was undoubtedly Michael Breen with those booming four points; there’s a dash and energy to everything he does, which lifts the entire team. Together with Brendan Maher we seem to have hit on a very potent midfield combination, which is welcome news.
Three-up at half time was certainly a long way from conclusive so we needed something more urgent on the restart to fully put this game to bed. The management clearly thought so too with the introductions of Callanan and Dan McCormack. Callanan and Stephen McDonnell had their getting-to-know-you moment at the restart and that little injection of tension worked to our benefit. For the next twenty minutes we outscored Cork 1-8 to 0-2; game over.
The first goal was a slick item, John McGrath setting up Niall O’Meara for an emphatic finish. By now it had all drifted very one-sided with Tipperary popping points at will. Callanan initially seemed keen to resume as he left off last August but eventually settled for a few points to ease himself back into action. He has some ground to make up in terms of sharpness so his return is timely.
The Cork goals spoiled the party a little for Tipperary. Pat Horgan flashed in the first when latching onto a breaking ball. He has that goal-scoring threat; James Barry did extremely well in the first half to deny him with a great block and flick away. For the second goal our defence was stretched again before Paudie O’Sullivan beat Gleeson on his right post. Was it blockable? Possibly, though in fairness it was hit from close range and to the awkward side of a right-handed goalie who has to bring the stick across his body.
In between those two Cork goals Michael Breen hit Tipperary’s second, a proverbial rocket showing the forwards how it’s done. An apostolic twelve was the final margin – emphatic without being too crusading. On a day of such a comfortable win there were, inevitably, many displays to admire. Michael Breen and John McGrath, the two finds of this league thus far, probably vied for top rating but others weren’t far behind. The management has put an emphasis on work ethic and team captain, Brendan Maher, certainly exemplifies that policy. He was again immense on Sunday.
At half back Ronan Maher was one of the busiest players on the pitch. He reads the game well and nobody is more available to take a pass and send a long delivery into attack. His brother Paudie again had a big game on Sunday, making a few great catches with just the one misplaced pass this time. To his credit he has recovered well from the Kilkenny game.
Barry Heffernan has done better than I expected and on present trends has put himself right into the mix. He’s strong in the air which is a feature we often lack. The full back line too did the business on Sunday; Barry was excellent, Conor O’Brien must have pushed himself up the pecking order yet again, and Barrett was, well, typical Cathal; he loves to burst out with the ball and skip by tacklers.
In attack John McGrath was the leading light, he’s really making a major mark this spring. Niall O’Meara too is showing lovely touches, John O’Dwyer ended top scorer and Noel McGrath chipped in effectively too though both had radar problems at times. Callanan and Dan McCormack enhanced the attack when introduced but one suspects Kieran Morris and Adrian Ryan will struggle to hold their panel places. The return of Jason Forde and ‘Bonner’ Maher will give the management real options in attack.
Overall then a comfortable afternoon for Tipperary against struggling Cork for whom the absence of Seamus Harnedy was a heavy loss. In general it’s been a patchy league for Tipperary with the five-game series bookended by handsome wins but containing problematic games in between.
Before leaving the game a brief comment on the refereeing. I had no issue with his judgment on frees in general but those yellow cards became an irritant. He flashed yellow on ten occasions, six to Tipperary players. I guarantee you many of those incidents won’t even merit frees come championship time. Then there was the issue of inconsistency which I won’t even waste space on.
Speaking of refereeing I note that Fergal Horgan is in the firing line this week after the Limerick/Clare game in Ennis. Clare’s goal was an obvious point of controversy. It raises an issue that I have referenced in this column before, namely, the advantage rule. Put simply this rule is badly flawed and is going to lead to more aggravation until it’s rectified.
May I quote once again a key clause in the rule: “If a player/team who had been awarded an advantage commits a foul within the 5 second period then the free shall be awarded against him for the subsequent foul”. So, if a player bearing down on goal is fouled and gets advantage but then over-carries the ball a free out is the correct decision. The problem is that referees countrywide don’t implement the rule, probably because it’s flawed and unfair.
Furthermore others use a misreading of this rule to justify wrong decisions. An example was Joe Canning’s goal against Tipperary two weeks ago. He took 7/8 steps before striking, but the lazy attitude from commentators is that, well, he was being fouled. Under the present rule if he’s being fouled and gets advantage but then over-steps the correct decision is a free out.
The rugby folk have got it right. When an infringement is committed advantage is allowed but if the player with advantage then commits a foul, such as a knock-on, the referee goes back to the original offence and awards the penalty. It’s simple and easy to police unlike the GAA version.
Anyway the league quarter-final is going to be challenging. Clare got their big break last Sunday with promotion to 1A so the shackles are now off and they can have a go at further progress in the knock-outs. We’ll do well to come out of Cusack Park with a win and if we succeed then Kilkenny await in the semis, unless Offaly pull off the shock of the century. Ultimately we’re paying the price now for those league defeats in the middle of the series.
Finally this coming Easter Monday sees a strong Tipperary interest in the post-primary schools’ finals at Semple Stadium. The big one features Ardscoil Ris and St. Kieran’s for the Dr. Croke Cup but the curtain raiser involves the Abbey CBS and St. Louis of Ballymena in the ‘B’ final for the Paddy Buggy Cup.
The Abbey is going for a third win in this grade, following the triumphs of 1992 and 2002 so hopefully it won’t be third time unlucky. Ballymena come with a big reputation; they’re the ‘A’ winners in Ulster and had a comfortable semi-final victory over St. Raphael’s of Loughrea.
There’s an interesting historical precedent; the Abbey’s sole All Ireland football win was against the same Ballymena School back in 1998. More of the same please. Good luck to them.
