Chances taken and chances misses - the tale of the All-Ireland semi-final

At the start of the year if you had offered Tipperary Manager David Power, that his side would preserve division 3 status in the Allianz National Football League; win the Munster senior football championship; and score 3-12 in the All-Ireland semi-final, he'd likely have taken your hand off.

So you see, ever before a ball had been kicked in last Sunday's clash with Mayo, the Premier County were very much in bonus territory.

However, what will disappoint Power, his management team and the players most, will be the fact that they didn't get to their expected level of performance in the game with the Connacht champions. Why? Because Mayo didn't allow them to.
Perhaps it's a sort of back handed compliment to Tipperary to see Mayo going for the jugular from the very start. James Horan knew that to allow Tipp any chance to settle into their game could prove fatal.

So, they went for kill from the word go by pressing and suffocating, causing mistakes and forcing turnovers at crucial times. Mind you, under the intense pressure – the kind of pressure the Tipp lads have not witnessed in a number of campaigns – the boys in blue and gold turned the knife on themselves with frightening frequency. A total of 3-6 was coughed up in turnovers – that total would win a hell of a lot of games alone.

Perhaps had the two early goal chances which fell to Michael Quinlivan and Conor Sweeney rattled the back of the Mayo net, a different type of game might have materialised – Tipp gained huge advantage with long diagonal balls into the danger area and this was to continue all throughout the game. Perhaps Mayo would have been forced to sit deep and mind the house more; perhaps they would have been less inclined to power upfield when they won possession; perhaps they would have tried other methods of ball retention from kickouts – Aidan O'Shea coming out from full forward for instance.

Instead, Mayo took their chances when they were gifted – three goals in ten minutes before half time, to go along with the one scored by Cillian O'Connor in the 10th minute, put the nail in the Tipp coffin. At 4-12 to 1-5 by the half way mark, the gap was just too big, despite the fact that Tipp fared far better in the second half.

In fact, Tipperary won the second half by 2-7 to 1-8 and in fairness the players never stopped pressing forward and trying for scores. They created goal chance after goal chance but were just unable to take enough of them – Brian Fox's lovely first half effort was eventually added to by sub Paudie Feehan and captain Conor Sweeney right at the end – Sweeney ended up with 1-9 to his name in total to cap a fine contribution to the semi-final cause.

We probably saw the difference between a division 1 side and a division 3 side in this game. Mayo had a greater physical edge, a hardened core which resulted in them winning the lions share of 50/50 balls. Indeed, they were relentless in the tackle and just managed to tie up Tipp at periods of this game when they needed to. Then, when they had possession, they came at Tipp in droves – half of their first half points total was kicked from placed balls indicating the level of pressure the Premier backs were under. They were forced to foul in order to prevent more dangerous scenarios playing out.

Mind you, it was a similar scenario in the second half when Tipp went hard at Mayo and ran them ragged through the middle – a black card for Lee Keegan and two yellow cards resulted, with points only accruing from potential goal chances. But, with the level of waste in terms of goal taking, perhaps the points option from frees was best after all. In total, Tipp created eleven goal chances, but only took three of them – that must surely give James Horan plenty to think of in the lead up to the All-Ireland Final, because one thing is certain, Dublin wont be as forgiving in front of goals.

Reallistically, Tipperary needed to have a lot to go right for them in this game if they were to create the shock that some had predicted. Instead, a lot went wrong and spectacularly so. But, that happens in games, especially when a giant meets a minnow – yes David slayed Goliath once, but how many kills did Goliath have before he got his comeuppance?
And so a season full of emotion, nostalgia, history and achievement came to a close – how fitting and poignant it was to see the entire Tipp squad, in silent reverence, watch on as captain Conor Sweeney placed a wreath at the spot where Michael Hogan fell 100 years previously. The Tipperary GAA family never forgets its fallen hero – Hogan would have been bursting with pride at his county mens achievements in 2020.

The key now is for Tipp to build on the success of 2020. It cannot be a flash in the pan; a one-off; a victory simply fashioned to align with the celebration of the past. It has to be for the present. And for the future. That's the big big challenge now and it will commence soon with the Allianz NFL and the bid to seek promotion to division 2. Because, that's where Tipp need to be if their challenge to the big guns is to endure.