Waterford, the form team of the hurling league thus far, comes to Thurles on Sunday for what promises to be a fascinating round three of the series. The reigning champs have resumed where they left off last year so Tipperary’s credentials should face a stiff examination. Team selection will be eagerly awaited to see the management’s response to the Kilkenny defeat. Adjustments seem inevitable.
An alternative Tipperary selection played Na Piarsaigh last Sunday where the return to action of both Seamus Callanan and Kieran Bergin was the most significant feature. Both survived the game without ill effects which may well put them in the frame for Sunday’s selection. Callanan’s return would be especially welcome. There was a boyishness about our inside attack in Nowlan Park where Callanan’s goal threat was sorely missed. That game once again showed that squandering goal opportunities against quality opponents carries a price tag.
Bergin’s return too would enhance options around half back and midfield and given Waterford’s lively form at present we may need all available artillery. The focus then will be on how management shuffles the pack in the wake of the Kilkenny defeat There’s an injury worry with Michael Cahill who received a nasty ear wound in training. I’ve heard it likened to that suffered by Declan Fanning against Wexford some years back. If he’s unavailable it may open the way for Conor O’Brien or perhaps an opportunity for a Fitzgibbon cup hero like John Meagher to get his chance, though half back is probably the preferred position there.
At full back Tossy Hamill has done well since being elevated to the first fifteen. He’s been safe and solid thus far though some wonder if a faster pace will cause him problems. Mobility is certain to be tested by Waterford’s so-called ‘system’ so it could be an acid test for the new full back. There was general displeasure with our half backs against Kilkenny, especially the wing men. It will be interesting now to see what’s the fall-out. Ronan Maher is ready, perhaps, for a full return to the zone after his starring role in the Fitzgibbon. Might brother Paudie be left on the bench? Kieran Bergin could offer another option hereabouts or at midfield.
Daire Quinn seems to be the most vulnerable of the midfield pair who started in Nowlan Park so it will be interesting to see what formation we line up there. Interestingly Steven O’Brien played wing forward against Na Piarsaigh last Sunday. Our attack will surely face some readjustment also from the Nowlan Park formation. We’d hope to have Jason Forde back in harness though he had to retire injured in the Fitzgibbon final so it depends on the extent of that problem. It will be instructive to see if they persist with ‘Bonner’ at centre forward. Was Nowlan Park a blip more than a defining moment? Callanan’s return would certainly enhance this zone.
Then there’s the issue of Waterford’s style or ‘system’. We last played them in the 2015 Munster final where it took quite a while to break down their formation, the clinching scores only coming in the final moments. One assumes they’ll defend in numbers once again and then try to attack in waves. An over-focus on their ‘system’ often overlooks the fact that they’ve a lot of young, talented and uninhibited players. Maurice Shanahan’s red card against Cork in the last game will be a loss to them. Overall it promises to be a testing one. By Sunday evening we should know a little more about our present direction.
Meanwhile on the schools’ front it was a mixed week for Tipperary interests. Clonmel’s High School found the going tough against an exceptional St. Brendan’s of Killarney in the ‘A’ football final. However, there was better luck for the Abbey in the ‘B’ hurling decider where they had a butcher’s dozen to spare over Mitchelstown.
It was a butcher’s dozen but without any butchering. The Abbey laid down early markers in this one and bar a slight dip either side of the interval they dominated their opponents. The work rate of the Abbey lads was particularly noticeable and Mitchelstown found it difficult to get any traction in this contest.
On a pleasant if chilly day at Ballyagran the Abbey was a sweet, but not intoxicating, seven-up at the interval. They applied relentless pressure on the Cork school in that half and a steady flow of points resulted. Then came a supplementary goal neatly finished by Shane Neville to really underline the game’s trend. Incidentally the point of the half in that spell came from Daire Egan.
There was some Abbey concern after the resumption when Mitchelstown clawed back the lead to just four points. Briefly the game looked poised. In that context I’d give huge credit to the free-taking of Riain Doody who showed an ice-cool nerve to ‘nail’ a succession of points, all from some distance into the breeze. Those scores did most to discourage the Mitchelstown revival. Then we saw a rousing finish from the Abbey. Shane Neville goaled and then set up another for Cormac Maher to really ‘bury’ this contest. That was the cue for celebrations to commence though the day had one blemish when centre back Josh Ryan was red carded near the end.
By any reckoning it was an impressive win against a Cork school coached by Anthony Nash – his influence was surely seen on all those short puck-outs. There was a Tipperary presence on the Cork side with Fr. Sheehy’s and Skeheenarinka represented. Colin English from the Clogheen club was one of their best.
For the Abbey it was a third Munster title in this revised grade, formerly Corn Phadraig and now carrying the name of the late Tom Collum. The Bracken’s man may be gone but is certainly not forgotten. He did great work for schools’ games over many years and I certainly miss his regular phone calls.
The Abbey now moves on to an All Ireland semi in a bid to emulate their predecessors who won national honours in 2002 and 1992. They’ll face either Dublin champions, Ard Scoil Ris of Marino, or champions of the rest of Leinster, Scoil Mhuire, Johnstown. The pair play-off on Monday 7 next with the All Ireland semi then fixed for the following Saturday. Incidentally Johnstown are coached by Mullinahone’s Alan Curran.
The Abbey team contains four members of Liam Cahill’s extended county minor panel. Lattin/Cullen’s Shane Neville is in his third year with the minors and is clearly a key presence for the school. Cappawhite’s Riain Doody, with a Kilkenny background, is making an impact too as is Kickhams, Kieran Breen, and Golden’s Niall Heffernan – the latter showed one amazing piece of skill and composure last week, controlling, catching and laying off a pass in one sweet movement as he was falling. It was poetry in motion. His dad Mitchel played for Clonoulty.
Speaking of the county minors I note with interest that the management has this year laid down strict rules on the issue of dual players. Remember last year we had an overlap of eight or nine players, which served the interests of neither hurlers nor footballers. This time Liam Cahill and his selectors have decided that there will be no dual players on the hurling panel and they seem adamant that it’s a decision they’ll stick with whatever the consequences.
I applaud their courage. It’s obviously a decision borne out of harsh experience last year and they seem determined not to suffer a repeat this time. In the absence of leadership elsewhere it’s good to see at least one management team making a stand.
Incidentally I was interested to read Colm O’Rourke’s comments last Sunday on the dual player issue, which he sees as a far greater headache than fixtures or other burn-out elements. His solution: fix hurling and football games on the same weekend to force players to make a choice. Drastic? Perhaps, but there’s logic in his parting comment: ‘Better to look after the majority well and let the rest decide on what is their first sport’. I agree.
Finally Mary I of Limerick pulled off a famous first in the Fitzgibbon Cup last Saturday. There was a heavy involvement of Tipperary players on both sides. Mary I’s switch of Ronan Maher onto UL’s John McGrath seems to have been a crucial move in the outcome to a game that took double extra time to separate the teams. My rotten tomato award of the week goes to TG4 for showing boring election results instead of this hurling classic. Shame on them.
