Green shoots evident for Tipperary hurling on winter's day
Tipp impress in 12-points defeat of Galway
Who saw that coming in Salthill last weekend?
It might be stretching it to suggest there’s an air of doom and gloom surrounding the prospects of the Tipperary senior hurlers for this season, but by the same token there’s hardly any great level of expectation that silverware can be claimed or even finals reached.
For the time being at least, there were very welcome signs of encouragement on Sunday when the team shot out of the blocks in the opening round of the Allianz National Hurling League with a comprehensive 12-points defeat of Galway at Pearse Stadium.
Irrespective of the strength, or rather the weakness of the opposition, Tipperary impressively stood up to the challenge in difficult conditions, with the elements blowing in from the nearby Atlantic Ocean on a wet and windy day in the City of the Tribes.
Even allowing for the harsh weather that has battered the country since the turn of the year, the pitch was in a very poor condition, the game being played on a testing surface, which less than 24 hours previously had hosted the National Football League game between Galway and Armagh.
It wasn’t a day for ground hurling, as the ball invariably got stuck in the treacle-like surface, none more so than when Declan McLoughlin scored one of Galway’s late consolation goals, with the ball stopping dead in the turf as Tipperary goalie Rhys Shelly advanced.
If anything those late goals only put a respectable appearance on the scoreline, so dominant were Tipp for much of the game. They led at half-time by 1-13 to 0-9, and it really looked like it was going to be their day 14 minutes into the second half when Gearoid O’Connor showed great skill to dig out a chance for a goal that put them ahead by 2-16 to 0-11.
It was a day when relative newcomers such as Darragh McCarthy, Andrew Ormond, Sam O’Farrell and Dylan Walsh made their mark. In difficult conditions for freetakers, McCarthy scored 1-6 from placed balls, including a goal from an expertly-taken penalty.
Walsh scored 1-3 from play. The game was in its infancy when he brought a superb save out of Galway goalie Eanna Murphy, shortly before he scored an eyecatching point from a tight angle while under pressure from a Galway defender.
Nine minutes from the end of normal time, he produced a lethal finish for the third goal, followed by a spectacular point from the left side of the pitch, after he had been operating on the right for most of the game.
Walsh has been performing at a consistently high level for his club Ballingarry for some time now, and if his club performances are anything to go by he could be even more effective in a wing forward position.
Elsewhere, Willie Connors won the man of the match award for a display of great drive and industry while Gearoid O’Connor, Michael Breen, Eoghan Connolly, Craig Morgan, Alan Tynan, Andrew Ormond and captain Ronan Maher also produced wholehearted performances.
Nevertheless, it was only the first game of the league at the end of January and no one will be getting carried away, not least manager Liam Cahill.
He said afterwards that he was delighted with the “new energy” introduced into the team by the debutants.
“The guys stood up really well physically. We are on a journey with this group and I am very clear as to the direction it is going. The pace of it, we do not know yet, how quickly it’s going to move.
“Today it was evident that we’re going in the right direction with the new players that were on view. We’re in a time where there has to be big leadership. I have to show it, as well as the players and the county board, it’s a collective. We had the leaders out there today, and we have to be brave with decisions and bring through a new generation of players and get back to the top table as soon as possible.
“I’m going to get to the end of the league with a good, settled team”.
He said that unless they slackened, the players who had performed against Galway were “in pole position” for places in the team.
Liam Cahill said that 15 new players had been introduced into the panel, and he would like to give them as much exposure as possible over the course of the league. He said there were big games coming up, adding “we will learn a lot as this league continues”.
Captain Ronan Maher said that while the win over Galway was a great start, they would “knuckle down again” and focus on the improvements that needed to be made.
“Hopefully we’ll have a good crack off it this year.The young lads gave us great energy today,” he added.
Tipperary will have a chance to maintain the momentum when they entertain Wexford at FBD Semple Stadium at 3.45pm on this Sunday, February 2.
The Tipp footballers, meanwhile, who had an encouraging draw in their first game away to Carlow on Saturday night, play their first home game in Division 4 of the Allianz National League when they entertain Longford in Clonmel Sportsfield at 2.30pm this Saturday, February 1.