Analysis: Was there any real winner in the Kerry v Tipperary 'contest' in Killarney?

Munster Senior Football Championship Semi-Final:

KERRY 0-25 TIPPERARY 0-05

From the very moment the draw for the All-Ireland championships was made months ago, there was never going to be any other winner of this Munster Senior Football Championship semi-final between Kerry and Tipperary or Waterford. And so it transpired at Fitzgerald Stadium, Killarney, on Saturday last, Kerry ruthlessly exposing the gulf in class in the province; the faintest of Tipperary’s hopes, of even a notable performance, snuffed out by the 20 minutes mark. Game over.

The efforts of the Tipperary team, whose game plan - and understandably so - in the main seemed to be the parking of the proverbial bus and putting 14 men behind the ball, were honest and committed and were as much as they could be against the reigning All-Ireland champions. The tactics were to delay the inevitable and attempt to keep a scoreline somewhat respectable by the end of the day. What margin merits it being called a success is subjective, but the bookmakers reckoned it might be about 18 points, in the end it was there or thereabouts, a whopping 20 points.

It would be too easy to say that the defeat was a reality check for football in the Premier County. It wasn't, that reality check had already been delivered during this year's league campaign when Tipp had failed to win a single game and were ultimately relegated to Division 4. If you are scoring an average of 12 points per game in Division 3, you’re very unlikely then to hit that benchmark against Kerry in The Kingdom, and it simply was never going to happen.

What transpired in Killarney was the sporting equivalent of a Roman amphitheatre of bygone ages but thankfully without any blood spilled and with ‘some mercy’ shown by the hosts. To an honest neutral it was a brutally one-sided non-event, difficult to be called a contest in the strict sense of the word. It left one wondering if there was any real winner here - certainly football wasn't - even the partisan followers of the reigning champion, appetites sated, had had enough long before the merciful final whistle sounded.

Tipperary gave it their all, worked tremendously hard throughout but simply ran out of energy and ideas over the last 20 minutes, as would be expected from being under the cosh so persistently throughout. Tipp didn’t score in the last 22 minutes of normal time and Kerry tagged on seven with some of their introduced subs bursting to stake their claims to a jersey. In all Tipp scored five points, only two coming from play and both from wing-backs, with the six starting forwards managing just a single point between them, a marked effort at that. Tipperary also kicked eight wides, a few of which should have gone over.

There is never anything achieved in berating amateur players who make huge sacrifices and efforts to wear the county jersey, and management and backroom staff who give everything also to the cause, and no one should. But one would seriously have to consider the value of the Munster Championship continuing in its present format, Kerry imminently to be crowned champions for the 18th time in 23 years since the turn of the century and for the 84th time in all. Okay, so Tipperary won a magnificent title in 2020, but it was their first in 85 years, Clare last won the province in 1992 and neither Limerick or Waterford have won it in the last century, never mind since 2000. Cork fill in the gaps when Kerry aren’t about but now ‘The Rebels’ haven’t lifted the trophy in at least 14 years and it might be another while yet.

There was an emptiness to proceedings at Fitzgerald Stadium, Killarney on Saturday. True, 6,939 mostly partisan Kerry folk turned up, many just to ‘see’ their All-Ireland champions, rather than witness a competitive football game. There was hardly a cheer of note all day, a few well executed Kerry points applauded, as the champions more in a Killarney jaunting-car trot than a full gallop, killing off the challengers with a thousand cuts even if a coup d’etat was never required. But, again one felt, if the real need was there, Kerry could have been more ruthless. The summer will tell more in that regard.

With 12 of last year’s All-Ireland winning team starting, including seven who were acknowledged with All-Stars, and their talismanic captain and 2022 Player of the Year David Clifford at full-forward, it was always going to be a long day to and from Killarney for the Tipperary team. Quite simply there was nowhere to hide against such class opposition, and to their credit, no one did. But Kerry possessed that special calibre of player as they always have, it’s what their club traditions and football DNA produces annually, perennially. They owned possession almost from the throw-in, they owned the kick-outs around the midfield area, they owned the ability to block advances and to take scores, 11 of their players were on target with four points coming from a counter-attacking full-back line. Yes, simply put, Kerry owned this game.

So, what now, for Tipperary footballers? It is the Tailteann Cup route for the second time and hopefully for more than a first-day exit this year. After relegation to Division 4 and this heavy defeat to Kerry, the management team will have a huge job to do to get the minds and bodies focused for that challenge. The summer will tell more in that regard for Tipperary also.