Tipperary's expectations lowered after an underwhelming hurling league campaign

Given their respectable record in the earlier rounds I had expected Antrim to come to Thurles with some intent. They didn’t. They had all the appearance of a team out to enjoy their weekend trip to Tipp and not bother too much about the hurling.
Their team selection set the tone, resting the goalie, full back and their leading scorer from earlier rounds. Neil McManus had scored 4-29 to date in the league, 3-6 of that coming from open play. Clearly Antrim were fulfilling a fixture here with their minds firmly focused on their relegation play-off against Offaly this weekend.
In one sense it’s hard to blame them since there was nothing at stake in the game, though taking a thirty-point battering is no preparation for a crunch relegation tie either. We had a number of irrelevant games in the hurling league at the weekend, which suggests that the present format badly needs reforming.
From a Tipperary perspective then the game must be read in its context. It had all the intensity of a warm-up for a training session. In fact, I’ve no doubt that there’s regularly far more engagement in Morris Park, where Seamie Callanan got his thumb fractured, than we saw in Semple Stadium on Sunday.
Still, Tipperary can only play what’s put in front of them and they went about their task here in a businesslike manner. James McNaughton had the two initial points for Antrim but then the floodgates opened.
Tipperary were goal-hungry, perhaps aware of their shyness in that department to date and anxious to atone. They seemed to ignore point opportunities and instead hunted for goals, Mark Kehoe the lead huntsman.
The first breach came as early as the third minute, Forde the finisher after good approach work by Heffernan and Kehoe. Next it was the turn of Seamus Kennedy, raiding from half back, which seems to be a feature of the team’s approach this year. Michael Breen batted in the third and then Kehoe helped himself to a pair.
All of this, it must be said, was executed against an utterly naïve defence and a goalie who didn’t make a save all day. Outfield looseness helped too as players had the time and space to place their deliveries conveniently for the likes of Kehoe, who took on his man at every opportunity.
Five majors before half-time effectively put this tie to bed. Antrim’s best response came with five minors from play by midfielder Keelan Molloy. Who was marking Molloy? It’s probably an old-fashioned question in terms of the modern game and its fluidity of movement and, guess what, I gave up trying to find out. At times he seemed to be shadowed by Barry Heffernan, then it was Dan McCormack but Dan seemed to be playing deep, and then Noel McGrath was drifting outfield.
In the ebb and flow there was nobody bothering with Molloy for much of it and to his credit he took maximum advantage to end up the top point scorer from play.
The second half was bookended by two John McGrath goals. The Loughmore man had struggled a bit to get into the action early on but those finishes showed his potential near goal. The stream of points into the Killinan end was relentless – as were the wides. By my account we hit fourteen astray in the second half alone, most of them dropping outside the right post.
Antrim’s response? Pretty tame, to be honest. They were awarded a penalty midway through the second half when Seamus Kennedy unwisely grounded the forward near goal to earn a black card. However, James McNaughton’s shot was poorly hit and Brian Hogan had little difficulty keeping it out.
Tipperary’s rearguard was eventually punctured near the end when Domhnall Nugent availed of some hesitancy to poke the ball inside the left post. In the circumstances you could hardly even call it a consolation.
From Tipperary’s perspective, I guess it was a bit of target practice but thereafter you’d struggle to find any value in the game. It did allow the management the opportunity to introduce a few more players such as Enda Heffernan.
Probably the biggest buzz generated was the arrival of Bonner Maher at half-time in place of Michael Breen, and not Barry Heffernan as the PA confidently told us. It’s been a long rehabilitation for Bonner and one has to admire his dedication to get back to this level at 32 years of age.
He looked trim and fit, getting in some characteristic hustling. The crowd was willing him on to get on the scoresheet but he hit several chances astray. He was never a noted point-scorer, his value comes in other facets of trench warfare.
So, Tipperary do the needful and there was never going to be much hope that other results would facilitate our semi-final ambitions. In fact, neither result that we needed came to pass, with Kilkenny too strong for Waterford and Dublin never likely to slip up against Loais.
It all sets up enticing semi-finals now this weekend. Cork will be slight favourites against Kilkenny and likewise Waterford are the bookies’ fancy to take out Wexford. The closeness of the championship may be a slightly inhibiting factor but all four counties have compelling reasons to chase a league title.
For Liam Cahill, in his third season with Waterford, the need to claim silverware of some sort is becoming that bit more urgent. Raising the profile of the Deise and getting to finals is all very fine but eventually there’s an imperative to win something.
Darragh Egan, in his first year with Wexford, has enjoyed a remarkable bounce, going straight to the semi-finals unbeaten. It has been a dream introduction to inter-county management. Now comes the need to deliver something. In a county starved of success for so long – their last league win was in 1973 – a league title would be enthusiastically celebrated in the south east.
Cork’s need is entirely different. For such a title-rich county their latter-day famine has been hard to stomach, so to take a first league title since 1998 would be welcome evidence that things were starting to turn again.
As for Kilkenny, well Cody always chases the league as a desirable prize, second only to an All-Ireland, so don’t expect any softness of approach there.
Overall, the cross-provincial pairings mean that there will be no shadow boxing ahead of the championship, at least not for these semi-finals. The final might be a different matter.
As for Tipperary we can merely watch as interested neutrals. It’s been an underwhelming league campaign so the one certainty is that Colm Bonnar isn’t burdened with high expectations as he heads into five weeks of a build-up to the championship.

Above: Mark Kehoe shrugs off the attentions of Antrim’s Conor McCann to set off on another run towards goal in last Sunday’s Allianz National League game at FBD Semple Stadium. Picture: Harry Murphy/Sportsfile

As for the footballers, the hope of extricating themselves from division 4 remains alive after Sunday’s win over Carlow. Division 4 is no place to be and their fate is in their own hands now, where it’s essential not to slip up against London at the weekend.
They were clearly the stronger side in this encounter, getting away early with some great points from Mark Russell, Mikey O’Shea and Conor Sweeney. The injury to the latter was a worry but they stayed strong to see out the desired result.
The exodus of more than half the attendance from the Stadium following the hurling game has drawn flak from some predictable quarters. The charge is lack of respect for the football team.
It’s a futile complaint. Followers feel no obligation to support any side and will follow where they experience entertainment and get a buzz. Sadly, modern Gaelic football often leaves people bored. There were times on Sunday when Carlow had possession and the entire Tipperary team was back inside its own 45. There were moments when you had 29 players inside the Tipp 45, the Carlow goalie left in splendid isolation at the other end of the pitch.
The pattern of play then featured endless lateral passing by Carlow before the ball is eventually turned over by the massed defence and then Tipp have to slow things down as players funnel back up the field.
That’s the modern face of Gaelic football; it’s not peculiar to any individual county but it’s certainly not pretty when played that way.
Finally, the GPA media ban was in force in Thurles on Sunday as part of this campaign to get extended allowances for players. Croke Park offers expenses for four training sessions/matches per week and the GPA wants this extended to an unlimited number of sessions.
For an organisation like the GPA that’s already unpopular with the public, this seems like a most unwise war to wage against Croke Park. After a report in 2018, jointly commissioned by the GAA and GPA, recommended reducing the number of training sessions to improve the sport/life balance it seems very strange for the GPA to be now seeking payment for five, six or more sessions.
For me the GPA embodies many of the worst aspects of elitism. It represents a tiny proportion of the playing population and its main focus appears to be on money and extracting as much as possible from Croke Park, something at which it has excelled up to this point.
Croke Park needs to stand firm here. Actually, I see the media ban as a great benefit. Many of those interviews are mere cliched prattle offering nothing of interest. Better off without them.

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