Tipp ‘Lynched’ but happy with the showing.
by Noel Dundon (Tipperary Media)
We got the performance but not the result.
In truth, the performance was what most Tipperary supporters would have been looking for as they faced for Páirc na nGael for round 3 of the Allianz National Hurling League. But you know, when it’s in the melting pot and heading towards the finish line, you want to win it. Especially against Limerick.
Didn’t happen in the latest clash between the sides and we really are awaiting a victory over the neighbours for some time now – just getting over the line seems to be a problem, but you would have to say that the intensity levels reached by Liam Cahill’s men further suggests that they are in a different mode this season.
The damaging aspects of the game are easily identifiable. Misplaced passes around the middle third in the first half contributed to five Limerick points. And, Diarmuid Byrnes hitting those long range missiles in the second half were also very hurtful. When the pressure came on in the last quarter or so we ended up going long in the hope of a break – the breaks didn’t come as Limerick mopped up almost everything.
Cian Lynch played a big part in this victory with the number of possessions he notched up. But my God, how many times did he throw the ball? Lynch uses the hand more often than the hurley – mind you he used it in that tangle with Bryan O’Mara. How a card was not shown was quite incredible, especially when yellows were being brandished for far far less.
There are a lot of positives to be taken from this game from a Tipp perspective. A clean sheet with no Limerick goal chance of any significance; the showing of Sean Kenneally; the continued good form from placed balls of Darragh McCarthy; the workrate of Craig Morgan and Willie Connors, though the latter was guilty of some very poor shooting despite finding his range a few times; another forty minutes under the belt of the returning Seamus Kennedy; the continued growing presence of Jake Morris, though he too hit some bad wides to match some fine shooting.
But perhaps the most positive thing to be taken from this latest trip to the west was the manner in which Tipp stood up to Limerick. They relished the challenge – none more so than Ronan Maher whose affront to the advancing Kyle Hayes in the first half stopped him in his tracks and eventually saw Hayes depart through injury. This was Tipperary saying NO – you will not walk over us or through us. You will not bully us and if you do get through us, you’ll earn it. It’s a while since we have seen that – we need to see far more of it.
The building blocks continue to be added to the 2025 project and this will be essential as we head towards mid-way through the league. Four points from six leaves us in a comfortable position and with a weekend off now ahead of the visit of All-Ireland finalists Cork on Saturday, February 22nd, it will give the management time to breathe deep, assess things and then go after those next two available points.
The footballers can pick up points next weekend as they go on the road to Waterford. It’s never easy to defeat the Deise on home turf, but Philly Ryan’s men go with momentum behind them and confidence within them. Win this game and with a home tie to London to follow, Tipp will go into the second half of the league with promotion in sight. A great position to be in
Coleman stoked the Galway fire vs Tipp.
The tragic passing of former Galway midfield hurling star Michael Coleman occasioned great sadness in Tipperary. A man who had a major influence on that fine Galway team upon which Tipperary broke itself time and again in the late eighties and early nineties, Coleman was a general who led by example and dominated the sector time and again.
However, his genuine approach and decency as a player, and person, never earned him the wrath of the Premier supporters, which is more than can be said of some of his colleagues. Michael Coleman was very highly regarded and the warm tributes paid to him by those who hurled against him was evidence of that – Tipperary’s Joe Hayes paid a lovely tribute, outlining the education he received from his opponent on more than one occasion. Sympathy to the bereaved. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.