Tipperary hurlers' championship defeat by Waterford had an end of an era feel

Some past Leaving Certificate students will be familiar with a Julian Barnes novel entitled The Sense of an Ending. That book’s title was swirling around in my head on Saturday evening last after watching Tipperary’s exit from championship 2021.
Coming in the same week as our minors also bowed out to the Deise – 1948, I’m told, was the last time Waterford did that particular double – there is an unavoidable end-of-era feel to events. At both ends of the spectrum, minor and senior, there are issues to be faced so these are testing times for Tipperary with much to mull over and, hopefully, rectify in the months ahead.
The senior exit wasn’t entirely unexpected. Performances this year have been spotty, good in patches like the curate’s egg, but not the complete deal. The league loss to Waterford was an ominous sign. Even the win over Clare was a bit fitful, as we backpedalled in the final phase of the match.
Add in the second half against Limerick in the Munster final and you get the picture of a team performing in fits and starts and never quite catching the fluency of past campaigns.
It was similar again on Saturday. We made a hesitant start but then the two-goal blast from Seamie Callanan brightened the picture considerably. Mind you, they were individual items coming somewhat against the run of play and certainly not the result of sustained pressure.
Noel McGrath did superbly to set up the first of the goals and the second will be rated a defensive error by Conor Prunty. Thereafter the full back made amends with a dominant display.
As expected, Waterford were full of running, coming in waves at Tipperary and eventually the cracks began to appear. Before long Jack Prendergast set up Austin Gleeson for their first goal and Dessie Hutchinson finished the second later on in what was a rip-roaring opening half.
Tipperary were well in it at this stage, though the wide count was an obvious negative. Bubbles hit some trademark points, Forde too on target. Barrett was locked in a ferocious battle with Hutchinson. We went in a point down at half- time but it was a game still very much in the melting pot.
Seamus Kennedy replaced Barry Heffernan at half-time and the big talking point from the third quarter was the curious case of the penalty. Strangely the match official saw something that nobody else copped. Even repeated replays of the action failed to notice anything untoward that would merit the sanction.
We got a lucky break from a referee against Clare but since then we’ve been on the receiving end of poor officiating.
Stephen Bennett dispatched the penalty and it was a major deposit in a third quarter, where our championship hopes seemed to fade badly.
The management responded sharply with substitutions and to the team’s credit there was a battling rally in the final quarter, which came tantalisingly close to saving the day. Mark Kehoe was easily the most influential of the subs on a day when John McGrath could have been the hero.
Point by point we nibbled away at the lead. Ronan Maher was now a towering figure in defence; Barrett getting the better of Hutchinson; Paudie doing the business as usual. A goal would have been major and one of the many regrets afterwards was how close we came on several occasions, only to be out of luck.
One of the best chances fell to Callanan, who mishit and the ball bobbled wide across the face of the goal. Twice John McGrath was foiled. On the first effort he might have taken the ball to hand and either turned to his left side or stepped back inside to evade the block.
Incidentally Mark Kehoe was clearly upended after he got that pass away to McGrath but this time there was no penalty decision. When your luck is out your luck is really out.
John McGrath did better on the second goal chance, throwing the defender with a little shimmy before stepping inside before the shot was brilliantly turned over by goalie O’Brien. Normally you’d expect McGrath to give the goalie no chance in that situation but it probably reflects the reality of a player struggling to regain form and not being as lethal as he would normally.
A goal there would have tied up the game in injury time and anything was possible. Without it, Waterford found the encore, with substitute Montgomery careering in for the clinching score.
Our regrets then were many. The missed goal chances on top of the wides tell a story of lost opportunities. There’s probably a worry there for Waterford too. If they continue to cough up so many chances other opponents won’t be as generous.
In a year of controversial rule changes there’s a point worth making from that second half. In one of his many inputs Mark Kehoe at one stage cut in from the left corner and was fouled outside the penalty area. Herein lies a major flaw in the cynical foul rule. Because he wasn’t pulled down or tripped the decision was just a normal free, which Forde pointed. Yet it was a cynical foul that denied a goalscoring opportunity. The rule needs adjusting.
Overall, it must be conceded that Tipperary’s performance wasn’t either sustained enough or clinical enough to carry the day. There was a patchy element to it that will always leave you vulnerable at this stage of the championship. The latitude we afforded Waterford at times was very damaging and ultimately you can’t squander so many scoring opportunities and still expect to be ahead.
Where to now for Tipperary? When previewing the championship some months ago I suggested that this was a last toss of the dice for Liam Sheedy and this particular team. I’ve seen nothing in the meantime to change that view.
I suspect the manager will step away from the job and two or three players will likewise retire. Tide and time, as they say, wait for no man and there was clear evidence this year that several of our past heroes had lost some of their former capacity. It can show in small details like the loss of that half step of pace, the fractionally slower reaction, the less sure striking, the handpass astray or dropped. Small differences but at this level everything counts.
There has been criticism of the manager’s reluctance to introduce new blood but I’m not fully convinced by the critics. If Sheedy was satisfied that some of the younger guys were better than the established players they’d have been starting.
If, as I expect, the manager retires then the board will face a major challenge in appointing a successor. Liam Cahill is obviously top of everyone’s list but he’s otherwise occupied at the moment and may see unfinished business in Waterford, depending on how the remainder of the championship pans out.
All of this must be seen in a wider context too. Our minor defeat earlier in the week raised a few eyebrows with some people, though for others it was no surprise. The first half display particularly was worrying as we seemed to be way off Waterford in the basics of the game. A few second half substitutions and a few late goals put a kinder gloss on matters but there was still no denying the emphatic nature of this result.
Taken in isolation it might not be seen as too much of a deal but for some it underlined the shortcomings of our underage structures. There are people in the background who have been saying this for some time but their views have mostly been overlooked. I suspect that may be about to change.
The general perception in Munster is that Cork and Limerick are the brand leaders when it comes to underage development structures and that counties like Tipperary are lagging well behind. Liam Cahill’s underage achievements have clouded the true picture somewhat but events of the past week may have helped to clarify matters. It’s a topic on which we should hear more in the coming weeks and months.
Meanwhile we can only look on as neutral observers when the semi-finals of the championship take centre stage this weekend. Waterford are rank outsiders in the betting but they’re in a strong position to have a real cut at the reigning champions.
Conor Gleeson is back and the team is in buoyant mood, with plenty of past encounters to inform their approach to Limerick. They’ll have neutral support too. It should be a fascinating watch.
The other semi-final sees Kilkenny and Cork listed as evens, which pretty well sums up how difficult it is to assess this one. I wasn’t fully convinced by Cork’s win over Dublin but then again you wonder about Kilkenny’s whereabouts at this stage. It’s down to the form and fate of the day, surely.
Finally, Joe Canning’s retirement led to many generous tributes during the past week for one who’s universally regarded as among the all-time greats of the sport. He certainly hurt Tipperary on different occasions, that winning point in the 2017 semi-final is still a haunting memory. He had it all as a player, the complete package. I certainly haven’t seen better in my lifetime. He leaves some void in the Galway team.
P.S. I enjoyed a great evening last week in the company of the O’Dwyer clan over in Carrigeen in Clonoulty. Neil, former Kickhams full back and grand uncle of the multi-talented Orla O’Dwyer was home on visit from Los Angeles. The Clonkelly connection makes us neighbours’ children so the tracing was endless.
It was great to finally meet up with Neil, who keeps a close eye on happenings hereabouts.

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