Easter Sunday rising needed.
By Noel Dundon
It’s Munster senior hurling championship time again and the hopes of all counties are at their maximum a few days out from throw-in. Some of those hopes would seem to be more realistic than others and from a Tipperary perspective there are mixed views on where this side stands – the last round of the Allianz National Hurling League suggested the side was in rude good health, but the decider in Cork against the hosts suggested otherwise.
So, where are we really? Well, this Tipperary panel of players assembled by Liam Cahill and his management team have been gearing up for April 20th for a long time – that date has been etched in the mindset and while other games have taken priority at different stages, that championship first round was always going to be D-day.
The hope is that the league final was an off-day and one which the players will have put behind them at this departure. Certainly, Tipperary have gotten a lot from the league campaign with quite a few players getting game time and staking a claim for a place on the pitch. And, the further on the league went, the closer we came to a championship team playing in championship-like tempo. Cork certainly upped the tempo on Leeside and we were unable to contain them, but one would hope that by the time we travel south again for the second round, we will be in better shape to stem the Rebel tide.
We need a rising on Easter Sunday – a rise in tempo, in application, in intensity and in drive. We need to see Tipperary really taking the game to Limerick and letting those Treaty boys know that they are in a game from the very start. That means hitting hard, being in the faces of John Kiely’s men, cavorting with the line without crossing it, and taking every single opportunity which presents itself.
Most pundits will have Limerick down as favourites and that will suit Tipperary just fine. They have pledged to make FBD Semple Stadium something of a fortress and the league performances were all very positive in this regard. But, Sunday will be different gravy and if Tipperary are not on it from the throw-in, Limerick will provide the roast to go with that gravy.
Getting something from this game would be a wonderful start to the championship campaign and it would certainly recalibrate the thinking as far as Tipperary is concerned -the popular view is that Cork, Clare and Limerick will be the three teams to emerge from the province and being honest it is hard to argue with this thinking. But, there are always unexpected results in the championship and that’s what Tipperary must believe. They must believe that they can get a result from one of the games against the three fancied sides, and then take down Waterford in the final round of the round-robin when they visit FBD Semple Stadium in the final round.
So, considering that the Clare and Cork games are both away, the emphasis has to be on getting a big result on Sunday next. It might seem very unrealistic to be touting the Limerick game as the one to snatch a victory, especially when one considers the kind of defeats we have suffered at the hands of our neighbours. However, it is also true to say that Tipperary have given Limerick plenty of problems over the years as well and sooner or later, the breakthrough will come. Hopefully that might be next Sunday. If not, they go again a week later in Cork.
Let’s hope we get a great Tipperary following in Thurles on Sunday and let’s hope that the players can bring the kind of performance which will give those supporters plenty to cheer about. It will be one hell of a challenge but the feeling would be that they are ready for it.
Siege of Ennis needed for Tipp footballers.
The Tipp footballers go again at the weekend when they take on Clare in Ennis in the Munster senior football semi-final. It won’t be a simple task for Philly Ryan’s men but he will lead his young side into the Cusack Park cauldron well aware of the fact that as underdogs they must get a lot right from the very off if they are to harbour ambitions of making it to the provincial final. Clare are a step ahead of Tipp in terms of development and status, but there is nothing like a championship clash to level opposing sides. Can Tipp lower the Banner? We’ll see.