The View: Dashing Deise leave Tipperary with much to ponder

Without doubt the Tipperary senior hurlers have been given a wake-up call as their Allianz National Hurling League campaign enters its final phase.

The journey south to Walsh Park, Waterford will be repeated in six weeks time and much will have to improve in the Premier play if the result of Sunday’s clash is not to be repeated also.

Mind you, for sections of this match, one could be forgiven for thinking that Tipperary had it all worked out. They were showing plenty of initiative as they took the game to Waterford, but big hits cost them - had Jake Morris goalled in the 24th minute after he was put through by John McGrath, Tipp would have been back in front.

Instead, they were left light headed from Waterford’s 1-6 without reply as they went from six down to three in front. In fairness, Tipp did stop the rot for a time, but still went in in arrears at the break having played with the stiff breeze. The signs were ominous.

Perhaps the two points immediately after resumption gave some false hope and by the 16th minute mark, with Conor Bowe having flashed over his second point, there was just one in it. In fact, Tipp should have been in front - referee Lyons inexplicably calling back for a free when John McGrath had put Alan Flynn through on goal.

But then, the tsunami. Waterford put on the afterburners and hit a whopping ten points without reply - Tipp were dead and buried.

The worrying aspect of this period was the lack of ability to win dirty ball. Waterford won rucks all day long and though Tipp did enjoy some line breaks in the opening half, it was Waterford who showed the greater dash and pace all over the field.
Pace is another worry for Tipp. Defensively, we had great difficulty with dealing with Waterford's fleet footed attackers - and remember the Ballygunner contingent were not included in the Deise line-up on the day.

Up-front, pace is not exactly in abundance either - Jake Morris' jinking and shimmying causes a flutter of worry in the backline, but apart from that the Waterford rearguard was not troubled too much in terms of giving best to goal chances.

Goals are in short supply for Tipp right now- one goal in four games tells its own story. Green flags are as scarce as a litre of petrol on sale for less than €2, but that can change in the blink of an eye and it is an element the management has identified as something which needs to be tended to.

So, what’s to like about Tipp after four games of the league? For starters, we have seen a lot of players getting game time and opinions are firming up on a lot of those - that's what the management have committed to doing and in fairness, unless a strong squad is in place with players having had experience of big games, they will be at nothing come championship time.

There are green shoots appearing - Mark Kehoe and Conor Bowe emerged with kudos from this game; Micahel Breen fired four points from play from wing forward; Jake Morris has certainly taken on greater responsibility in attack. Twenty one points is not bad shooting in March, especially when one considers we went nine minutes in the first half without a score, and twenty minutes in the second half without troubling the umpires.

Ronan Maher, Cathal Barrett and James Quigley did most to stem the Waterford flow, but considering the volume of ball raining down on them in that last quarter it was always going to be hard to hold out.

Fouling is an issue though - 12 points given away from placed balls just will not do and tackling in a smarter fashion has to be a priority.

Tipp will achieve greater intensity in their play over the coming weeks and that will improve them. The trouble is, so will all the other teams.

The main thing to remember from a Tipp perspective is that what happened last Sunday will have little bearing on April 17.