They couldn't be separated the first day but who'll be wiser for the experience of what was an epic clash, Kilkenny or Tipperary? Two JOEs argue the case for either side.
Alan Loughnane says... How good was the drawn game? For three years in a row, the best hurling game of the year has been reserved for the All-Ireland final. Three draws in three years, nobody could have written that script but I just think that Kilkenny will have gotten a little bit more out of the draw than Tipp will have.
Most people would have expected a Kilkenny victory when the sides met two weeks ago, but on the day Kilkenny were lucky to get off the hook. They played poorly by their lofty standards in the drawn game and Tipperary could easily have snatched the game away from them in the closing minutes.
But, although Kilkenny did play poorly, great credit has to be given to the Tipperary forward line who were outstanding on the day and probably thought they had done enough to sneak a win in the game. Both sides struggled badly in defence; will they be able to sort out these problems for the next day?
As I have discussed in previous Burning Issues, Brian Hogan is not the player he once was and he was caught out badly by Bonner Maher for the first goal of the game. However, he is the best option that Kilkenny have in that position and he is still without a doubt a fine hurler.
Cillian Buckley mopped up a mountain of ball but he missed a couple of easy touches and got turned over more than once. More will be expected from him this weekend and he will be anxious to cut out the mistakes from his game.
Joey Holden has had a good year so far for the Cats but he will have been disappointed with some of his play against Tipp. His striking let him down a few times and he simply did not get the distance required at that level in his clearances. It was probably one of the main reasons that Brian Cody substituted him in the second half.
I expect Padraic Walsh to start on the team the next day, either at wing-back in place of Holden or at wing-forward instead of his namesake Walter. Either way, I think Walter will get the chop but the jury is out on whether or not Cody will make a change in his half-back-line as well.
The real question that has emerged from the drawn game is can the Tipp forwards produce such a tour de force for the second time in the space of a month? That is what is required from them if they want to be crowned All-Ireland champions again.
In the drawn game, it’s difficult to believe that the forwards could have played any better. John O’Dwyer, Noel McGrath and Bonner Maher at various times played remarkably well and caused a good deal of problems for the Kilkenny backs. Seamus Callanan was in and out of the game due to the sticky marking of JJ Delaney, but still managed to pop over five crucial points from play.
During the entire game they struck just three wides which is truly incredible shooting. In the cauldron of an All-Ireland final, to have the composure to strike with that accuracy will give them confidence coming into the replay. But, confidence or not, they are unlikely to reach such highs again. The Tipp forwards were on their game that day and anyone who has ever played sports knows what that feels like. Things seem to work out and you can just go onto the pitch and express yourself.
But alas, that kind of luck doesn’t last forever. Tipp will surely strike more wides the next day but I still think Kilkenny will get their goals and that is what will win the match for the Cats. Plus, Michael Fennelly will surely have a better game the next day out which should even up the battle around the middle third of the pitch. Expect positional switches between him and Richie Hogan all day.
Kilkenny to win by four.
Conor Heneghan says… A consensus that has been doing the rounds ever since the epic draw between Kilkenny and Tipp a few weeks ago is that Kilkenny are better set for the replay because Tipp’s forwards can’t possibly play as well as they did first time out.
Fair enough, maybe there’s some merit in that because it’s only when you look at some of the stats that you realise just how good the Tipp forwards were first time out. After all, never have umpires had to raise a white flag for a single team in an All-Ireland Final more than the 28 times they did three weeks ago.
All of Tipp’s starting six forwards scored from play. Three of those starting forwards – John O’Dwyer, Seamus Callanan and Noel McGrath – scored four or more points from play. Tipp converted 29 of the 35 scoring chances that came their way and recorded a measly three wides in the entire 70 minutes.
Such a remarkable display of efficiency might not be possible to repeat but surely the fact that they were able to do it in the first place is a huge source of encouragement for the Tipperary players ahead of the replay on Saturday, especially against a side that had tightened up at the back significantly since the first game against Galway when they should have been out of sight well before the dramatic finale.
Well enough as Tipperary played the first day, however, they could so easily have registered an even better total had they converted more than one of the goal chances that fell their way. In case one might forget, Tipp missed two penalties, Lar Corbett hit the post with what would have been the goal of the season had it gone in and both Gearoid Ryan and Bonner Maher had gilt-edged chances that could and probably should have led to green flags being raised.
Had Tipp taken two, maybe even one of those opportunities, the chances are the game would have swung in their favour but the fact that they’re creating them in the first place is a huge positive; if they weren’t Eamon O’Shea would have reason to be worried.
I like to smugly remind my colleagues in the office that I had backed Tipp to come good as far back as their defeat to Limerick in Munster as long as they started to show some character and leadership. As they have been since that day, those qualities were very much evident once again in the drawn game; certainly there’s not many teams that would have come back against Kilkenny in the manner in which they did in the dying stages.
Furthermore, the quality of some of the points they scored in the last ten minutes – I’m thinking of Jason Forde’s effort with his first touch after coming on, Paddy Stapleton’s point and John O’Dwyer equalising score from a ridiculous angle – spoke volumes for their ability to execute the most difficult of skills under the most extreme pressure.
Tipp will have some concerns of their own ahead of Saturday. What will they do if Richie Hogan goes to centre forward and Michael Fennelly to midfield? How do they keep a tighter leash on Richie Power and TJ Reid? Will Brian Gavin be as lenient as Barry Kelly was with regard to some challenges that were physical in the extreme?
It could be argued that Kilkenny have greater scope for improvement but Eamon O’Shea will have learned from the first game that his charges are well able to cope with Kilkenny, well capable of beating them and are in pretty decent shape as it is.
And that’s not a bad place to be in at all.
