National Hurling League success is highly desirable for Tipperary

League games between Tipperary and Clare have been noticeably scarce in recent years. Sunday’s semi-final clash at Portlaoise will be the first meeting of the counties in league action since 2019.

With the group rounds completed, this is the business end of the league. The stakes are high, there’s a national title on offer and all the while the championship is edging ever closer. From here on the temperature rises.

The league is often dismissed as inconsequential. Don’t believe it. It’s the second biggest hurling prize on offer and for a county like Tipperary, without a win since 2008, it’s highly desirable.

Our qualification for this semi-final was in the balance last Saturday. Galway pushed Limerick to the limit. Another point for the Tribesmen and we were gone. Indeed, they had a legitimate claim for a late free, which was ignored by a referee who seemed anxious to embrace the draw - luckily for Tipperary.

It’s worth remembering the maths of the situation. If Galway had managed to win by a point, then Tipperary would have needed to thrash Antrim by at least 31 points in order to edge out Limerick from the knock-outs. In the conditions that seemed an unlikely possibility.

I’m not sure if the Tipperary players knew in advance that a simple win (or draw) was sufficient to earn semi-final qualification. Their hurling certainly didn’t indicate a team on a score-building mission, albeit conditions were very difficult.

It was a poor game, the poverty of the hurling matched only by the poverty of the GAAGO coverage. I rarely have to call on this streaming option and after Saturday’s game I’ll be using it even less. When you have to wait for Monday’s newspaper to find out the subs that were introduced and who they replaced, then it tells all you need to know about the commentary.

On top of that the camera work reminded me of those 1980s video recordings of matches. At times it’s like watching toy soldiers in the next field.

On a related issue, TG4 offers excellent service but both they and RTE could improve coverage immensely with a few improvements. Why they persist in showing replays of even the most routine scores is beyond me. Often when they go back live you’ve missed the puck-out and the play is at the other end of the pitch.

And then there are the long-angled shots where everything is so distant.

Anyway, Tipperary did the needful at Corrigan Park, though without any frills. First half progress was modest in tough underfoot conditions. Sean Kenneally pitched in with a brace of points and Jason Forde was mostly assured on the frees. Aodhan O’Brien offered Antrim’s only scoring response.

We waited for a goal to consolidate the position and it nearly came when Paddy Cadell put Jake Morris through. However, the handpass was deemed a throw, despite camera evidence that it was as legal a pass as you’re ever likely to see in the modern game.

This is what you get when the association refuses to tackle the problem. It’s another part of the great pretence in the game, a pretence in the shape of tokenism. It didn’t matter in this game but in another it could decide the outcome.

Eventually Morris had his goal when set up by the hard-grafting Conor Stakelum. An eight-point lead at the interval was major against an Antrim team operating off very depleted resources.

The trend continued in the second half. Antrim did have a goal chance but failed to avail of the opportunity. Near the end Darragh Stakelum set up the second major for Morris and the closing margin was fifteen.

Having to travel up on the morning of the game and playing in such challenging conditions meant that it was not an occasion where Tipperary could put on an exhibition. Still, even with due allowance being made, this was pretty dismal hurling.

Jason Forde got man-of-the-match; Jake Morris, with 2-2 from play, had as strong a claim. Gearoid O’Connor didn’t play because of a concussion concern following the Limerick game. Eoghan Connolly’s arm injury comes with bad timing a week after Seamus Kennedy’s cruciate tear was confirmed.

Team selection for the Clare match will, as ever, be instructive of management thinking. After all the trialling and testing over the winter months one wonders what new material has emerged. Little enough, perhaps.

Barry Hogan is tipped for the goalie position for this Sunday in his tit-for-tat duel with Rhys Shelly. Messrs (no pun) Maher, Morgan, O’Mara, Bowe and Breen are likely to start in the defence but the number six slot is far from certain. Robert Byrne was there last weekend and may again be seen as the best option if Bryan O’Mara is kept on the wing.

The position of Cathal Barrett is unclear. A fully fit and focused Barrett would be a huge asset to the team but both those requirements are needed.

In attack Morris, Forde and O’Connor seem definite starters and thereafter there are options to complete the forward formation, as well as midfield. I would assume Conor Stakelum and Alan Tynan will also be there. Mark Kehoe is still recovering from injury.

Eoghan Connolly seems likely to miss out because of that elbow injury but Willie Connors should be back at midfield. The McGrath brothers, Noel and John, are also in the frame, as is Dan McCormack for a variety of roles.

Clare come to the game with solid credentials. In the stronger Group A of the division, they topped the table with four victories and just one dropped point to Wexford. Wins over Kilkenny, Cork and Waterford represent a strong showing by the Banner, probably stronger than anything we’ve produced in Group B.

Interestingly, however, the bookies have Tipperary listed as very marginal favourites for Sunday at odds of 4/5 versus 5/4 for Clare. The Banner got to this semi-final without the help of either Tony Kelly or Shane O’Donnell, so there will be much interest in when that pair returns.

Our record against Clare over the decades is impressive. The counties have played on 57 previous occasions with Tipperary winning 41, losing 13 and drawing three times. The last 10 meetings saw Tipperary win 6, lose 3 and draw one.

The present Clare side has a strong mix of youth and experience. The defence is usually anchored by Conor Cleary and John Conlon while in attack David Fitzgerald is in a particularly rich vein of form at the moment. Peter Duggan has been making an impact too in recent games alongside the likes of Aidan McCarthy and Mark Rodgers. It’s a potent mix, even without Kelly and O’Donnell. Players like Adam Hogan and Darragh Lohan are part of the younger generation making an impact.

Our last semi-final meeting with the Banner was back in 2014 when Tipperary prevailed by six at the Gaelic Grounds, before losing the final to Kilkenny after extra time. The counties have met in six previous semi-finals, with Tipperary holding a five-one lead; our only semi-final defeat to Clare was in 1987, when the Banner went on to lose the final to Galway.

I see it as very much a 50/50 game. The championship may be a main priority for both counties but, I’ve no doubt, each would love to capture league silverware. The last of Clare’s four league wins was in 2016. Tipperary share the top of the roll of honour with Kilkenny on 19 titles. Let’s hope the quest for a 20 is still alive come Sunday night.

P.S. Grateful as ever to SO’D, the GAA’s finest statistician, for the details of past encounters.