One of the best Tipperary minor teams not to win an All-Ireland title
Much to admire about Tipp throughout the season
I’m reminded that Justin Timberlake had a hit song titled ‘What goes around, comes around’. I doubt if the American ever heard of hurling, but that idiom kept swirling around in my brain on the way home from the All-Ireland minor final last Saturday.
Flashback to 2022, July 2 at Nowlan Park, where Paddy McCormack volleyed home a late, late winner in the corresponding minor decider. It was a steal, one that left Offaly gutted after their match-long display deserved better. By Saturday evening last the wheel of fate had turned full circle. We now understand how Offaly must have felt.
This was painful. Afterwards James Woodlock said we did everything bar win the game. Indeed. After leading all the way into added time, it was the cruellest of blows to be downed by two late substitute strikes. Gavin O’Brien, brother of senior player Shane, wiped our lead with the goal and John Ross O’Reilly delivered the coup de grace with the winning point. It was a stunning finale.
The modern game is obsessed with statistics but at times they can prove meaningless. All the evidence pointed to a Tipperary edge in this game. We had more possession and more scoring chances. Depending on your source we had around 40 or 41 shots at goal against somewhere between 28 to 30 for Limerick. We hit 18 wides against Limerick’s 13. We dropped five shots short against one from Limerick. We had three clear unfinished goal chances against Limerick’s disallowed one.
And yet Limerick won the match. At its core the game is simple: whoever puts most scores on the board wins the contest. Limerick were more economical; Tipperary were wasteful. Let’s not overcomplicate it beyond those basic facts.
Some of the pre-match narrative around Tipperary was unwise. I suggested in preview last week that our margin of victory in the Munster final was flattering. A small turn of fate could have made all the difference. That turn happened on Saturday.
The first half illustrates the point. We had the better of the exchanges and looked like going to the break with a decent cushion on the scoreboard. Yet two events pre-interval changed the picture dramatically. First, Conall Morrisson brought a great save from the Limerick goalie, who, remember, had fumbled one over his line in the Munster final. Zach O’Keeffe appeared to have a simple task of returning the rebound into an empty net. Unfortunately, the player somehow tripped up and pushed the ball out wide. It was a cruel mishap for the player who did well to be in the scoring position.
That incident was then compounded when Limerick won a late (softish?) penalty. Shane Waters dispatched the shot and the home side went in just three adrift when it might have been nine. Such are the vagaries of the game.
That Limerick goal just before half time was a huge moment in the match. It meant they galloped off to the dressing room with the roars of their majority home following ringing in their ears. In emotional value the goal was worth much more than the nominal three points.
Indeed, I’m not convinced about this gung-ho attitude around going into the lion’s den in the first place. We volunteered to go to Limerick rather than opting for neutrality. It might have worked two years ago in Nowlan Park but in many aspects that game was an outlier. Players of this age bracket especially need all the emotional support they can get.
Our first-half goal was a real cracker with KJ Dunne setting up namesake Chris for an emphatic finish; but the failure to find the net in the second half proved critical. We were hanging on, marginally ahead, for most of the second period but ultimately managed a mere six points (just four from play) in that half hour. That left us vulnerable to Limerick’s late swoop.
In every other game we hit at least two goals and averaged three. That dip on Saturday was fatal. It seemed as if once the goals deserted us, we somehow baulked at getting points. Too often the wrong choice was made, whether shooting from impossible angles or searching for goals when points were on offer.
Even the final play of the game was frustrating when that sideline cut flew wide. In my head I was screaming, don’t go for it, it’s a low percentage chance. It would be far better to play it short, hold possession to try and work a scoring opportunity or perhaps win a free. Keeping the ball in play was an imperative.
Anyway, one has to have huge sympathy for these young players who gave us such fantastic entertainment throughout the campaign. They lost just one match and have to be content now with Munster medals. Limerick lost three games and are All-Ireland champions. Such is the system.
It’s little consolation but they will probably go down as one of the best Tipperary minor sides not to win an All-Ireland title. There was much to admire about their play throughout the season. From the brilliant defending, epitomised by the likes of Conor Collins, to the attacking flair of Morrisson, the Dunnes and company, we’ll surely see much more of several of these players in future years. Hopefully this harsh experience will harden their resolve for the future.
With the last chance of All-Ireland succour gone in a bleak year for Tipperary hurling, it’s back to the bread and butter of club championship fare, where the pulse is already starting to quicken. In a tight schedule the divisions are playing off their championships at speed. So much for those who would narrow their window even further.
Interestingly, I was reminded on Sunday that the bookies have installed Holycross as pre-championship favourites for the Dan Breen ahead of Loughmore, Nenagh, Sarsfields and Toomevara, who make up the top five.
Those odds on Holycross won’t have weakened after their exciting win over Drom/Inch on Sunday in the Mid series. It was by far the better of the two games at Boherlahan, one which went to extra time before Holycross held out for a narrow win.
They started poorly, going seven-down in the opening ten minutes before a fine inter-linking movement from outfield sent Tadhg Gould through for a well-finished goal. Against the wind they were still four-down at the break, with Maidhc Fitzpatrick and John Campion in fine form for Drom.
The second half brought Holycross improvement with the likes of Cathal Barrett and Bryan O’Mara tightening things at the back, Tiernan Ryan becoming more prominent outfield and Robbie Ryan proving a real handful in attack. Eoin Craddock hit their second goal. They should have won it in the hour but Drom stayed persistent and Cormac Fitzpatrick eventually pointed the leveller from a free.
However, they had enough in extra time to see it out by three points. Seamus Callanan was on and twice had frees saved as they went for broke. Drom are 9/1 in the betting stakes; Holycross are 5/2.
The second game was a bore. Upperchurch, back up in senior championship after last year’s All-Ireland heroics, were well below requirements against a much slicker Sarsfields. The game was goal-less and for the most part devoid of excitement.
A few stats sum up events. Upperchurch relied almost entirely on the brilliance of free-takers Gavin Ryan (from distance) and Luke Shanahan (closer in). They didn’t score from play in the first half against the wind and only managed 0-3 in the second period with it. Sean Griffin hit 0-2 and Niall Grant 0-1. No forward scored from play.
Sarsfields, without Ronan Maher this season, had 10 different scorers against four for Upperchurch. Sars’ won by nine. Enough said.
Meanwhile, All-Ireland semi-finals occupy space this coming weekend in a games schedule that’s being dominated by football. It’s been a poor hurling championship thus far, so we crave two thrilling semis. Will we get them? Please surprise us because few will bet beyond a Cork/Limerick decider.
Traditionally, Galway always had the potential to produce one of those unexpected displays to take out a fancied opponent. They come in here as Leinster champions, with the likes of Cathal Mannion and Conor Whelan back in top form, but their season overall has been patchy – and it was Leinster-based, which involves a heavy asterisk.
Cork seemed to discover yet more new players in their quarter-final demolition of Offaly. The displays of Alan Walsh and Hugh O’Connor were eye-openers to those of us not familiar with them. Unearthing new gems has been Ben O’Connor’s main contribution since taking charge.
Everything considered, it’s difficult to see Cork exiting at this stage.
Similarly, Limerick are riding high at the moment. Clare have done well to get back to an All-Ireland semi-final but with mounting injuries and notable defensive frailties, it’s difficult to see them holding the Shannonside wave at bay. Eibhear Quilligan bailed them out the last day against Dublin but the Limerick shooters will be more lethal if the same chances arise.
Hurling badly needs Clare and Galway to show up this weekend. At the minimum let’s hope for sustained uncertainty.