Posts Tagged ‘Tipperary’
Last Sunday’s All Ireland quarter final between Tipperary and Galway has raised the bar in terms of quality for the year, but if any game this year is likely to match that Croke Park clash for intensity and quality, there’s a good chance that it will be tomorrow night’s Munster under-21 decider in Thurles between Clare and Tipperary. With Galway hurling at a low ebb and their under 21′s shorn of a lot of their better performers from recent seasons, the winners of this clash are by far the most likely winners of the All Ireland title, and the bookies have made it clear who they expect to progress into the All Ireland semi-finals, installing Tipperary as 2/5 favourites.
Both these counties came back from difficult situations in their Munster semi-finals, eventually justifying favouritism after Cork and Limerick put in very good efforts at upsetting the odds. Tipperary in particular looked to be in real trouble after conceding seven points on the bounce midway through the second half, only to salvage extra time and eventually go on to take the honours in extra time. Clare looked weak in the opening stages against Limerick and fell behind early on, but they reeled their neighbours back in by half time and then edged a tit for tat battle that lasted throughout the second half.
Many Clare Supporters felt that their team lacked zip in the early stages due to having played at senior level the weekend previously, and that’s a handicap that Tipperary will have to overcome this weekend. Lar Corbett’s late winning score was invaluable to the under-21 management in that it meant that this team was coming in on a high without having had to go through the ordeal of extra time, and every one of the under 21 players in the senior line up put in a very solid display of hurling. As obstacles go, having played last Sunday should not prove too severe.
Of much more relevance however is the fact that this Clare team have had some time to work together and to develop as a coherent unit, time that Liam Sheedy could not afford to grant to the Premier county under-21′s. Many of this Clare panel are already well used to each other from playing together in 2009, however there are also a lot of new recruits in this lineup and the extra nights of training together will be hugely beneficial. At senior level there is a big gulf between these two counties, but at under 21 that gap narrows significantly. Both these counties have plenty of representatives at senior level – but for Tipperary, the under 21 players are adding depth to the team – in Clare, the younger hurlers are the leaders of the senior team, with guys like Caimín Morey, John Conlon and Darach Honan all star names on the Banner senior squad.
With more training under their belts, the experience of winning in 2009 and a big open playing surface that will suit their extremely mobile forward line, Clare have every reason to believe that they can give Tipperary a thorough examination of their hurling tomorrow evening. 2/5 is way too short about a side that granted, was an excellent minor team three years ago, but also showed against a relatively unheralded Cork team that they have a lot of improvement to do yet. A 3pt bet on Clare at 9/4 to beat Tipperary in the Munster under 21 hurling final is the recommendation of this column.
The rivalry between Galway and Tipperary remains one of the more celebrated in the GAA, and one that this column incorrectly assessed earlier in the year when suggesting that a close game was likely in the league tie between the two sides. In what was very much a game of two halves, Tipperary held Galway to a single point in the second half and wound up the easy winners, 2-17 to 0-14, despite trailing by four points at half time. That turned out to be Galway’s only defeat in the National Hurling league, but as we later found out, Kilkenny, Cork and possibly even Waterford were keeping plenty in reserve during their meetings with the Tribesmen.
Galway went on to win the National Hurling league, but their form in the championship has been very unspectacular and following a direct formline through either Offaly or Wexford, Tipperary seem well placed to enjoy a comfortable win in this weekend’s All Ireland Quarter Final meeting at Croke Park.
With ten minutes to go in last year’s All Ireland hurling final, Tipperary looked like they were on the brink of breaking the Kilkenny stranglehold on the Liam McCarthy cup. Ten minutes later, Kilkenny had struck for two goals and the Tipperary players lay heartbroken on the Croke Park grass, honourably beaten after coming very close to an historic win. At that stage, everyone presumed that one final push in 2010 might be enough to see them over the line and win their first All Ireland since 2001.
That may yet be turn out to be the case, but some ten months later it’s remarkable how one defeat in the Munster Championship has led to such an overhaul of the team most considered to be the number one contenders for the ultimate hurling accolade. Among the more eye catching decisions for Sunday are Shane McGrath’s move to centre forward, David Young moving to midfield after a man of the match performance at wing back in their previous match, and the absence of Seamus Callinan, who was one of the most exciting prospects in the game last year.
Nothing brings out the romantic heart in GAA scribes quite like a Munster hurling clash between Cork and Tipperary, so expect to be bombarded with flowery prose as the first truly heavyweight clash of the GAA championship seasoned is previewed by publications all across the country this week. The somewhat underwhelming nature of the football matches so far, dominated as they have been by the arbiters rather than the players, will only heighten the appetite for some good old fashioned timber shattering amidst the white heat of Munster championship. While Barry Kelly might not be best loved by many Munster hurling supporters, many of whom perceive him to pay too much deference to Kilkenny (a view this column does not share, it should be noted!), he is still likely to allow plenty of physicality and as such escape the wrath of the paying supporters, unlike many of the football referees so far.
Rebel county followers may take issue with the idea, but until the Corkmen manage to get their hands on the Sam Maguire trophy, or at least overcome their near neighbours in an All Ireland series match, they will always be a level below that where Kerry and Tyrone now dwell. Neither the Kingdom nor the Red Hand men have set the country alight with their form this Spring, but every football fan in the country knows that the nation’s two heavyweights are keeping plenty in reserve for the championship.
Jack O’Connor and Mickey Harte won’t have lost too much sleep over their respective losses to Mayo and other counties, but tonight’s meeting in Omagh is another matter entirely, with both counties likely to be extremely keen to put down a psychological marker in a match that could easily be repeated in August or September.
The moderate form of each county so far adds an extra weight to the match in that the loser will find themselves in real relegation trouble in the last weekend of the league. Tyrone will be playing for their lives against Dublin irrespective of what happens tonight, while a loss for Kerry would leave them playing in a straight relegation shootout against Monaghan. Of course Kerry would be favourites in any such match, but it’s not a scenario Jack O’Connor would like his players to be in.
However while all these connotations are in play, the simple fact is that form is not the kind of thing that can be turned on and off, and poor as Kerry have been, they have at least earned the two wins that they did secure over Derry and Galway. Tyrone were second best against Cork in the one win they have secured and unless they improve by a significant factor this week, they could find Kerry too much to take. Kerry at 5/4 are an excellent value bet and should be taken to a 2pt stake.
Of the other football fixtures this weekend, there is one other match where the odds and the form don’t match up – and that’s Armagh versus Tipperary in Crossmaglen. Tipperary have only taken three points from their five games so far this year, but they were competitive in every fixture and could easily have taken the points last weekend against Donegal if they had got some kinder treatment from the referee.
Armagh have been solid but unspectacular in their five league games and Peter McDonnell has a lot of work on his hands if he’s to restore the Orchard County to the status of All Ireland contenders. Right now they look like a division two team, no better, no worse. Tipperary too look more at home in this division than many might have expected and while Armagh should win this tie, odds of 2/7 are way too short. A 1pt bet on Tipperary at 10/3 is an appropriate speculative punt this week.
Moving now to the hurling, and there is another very live outsider hurling in division one this week. Dublin’s win over Tipperary got a lot of hearts racing in the capital but their subsequent loss to Offaly dragged their supporters back down to Earth. However it is a measure of the progress that has been made in the capital that people were genuinely disappointed that they failed to beat Kilkenny last weekend instead of being pleased that they hurled very competitively.
Cork’s renaissance this Spring has seen them installed as short odds to win in Parnell Park this week, but these odds appear to underestimate how consistent Dublin have been in recent years. Parnell Park is now a venue where even the best hurling counties fear to tread and whatever about Kilkenny or Tipperary trading at 4/11, there is no logic to Cork being at that level, irrespective of how much they appear to have improved. A 2pt bet on Dublin at 5/2 is well worthwhile in a game where odds of 6/4 would seem to be a lot nearer the mark.
Being honest, ever since the results from last week, Off the Ground was keeping an eye out for one fixture out of this weekend’s football matches that dripped with the potential for good value. To my immense shock and not inconsiderable disappointment, the bookmakers actually ignored history, tradition and all that stuff, and appeared to have more or less priced the game accurately.
I refer to the NFL division two encounter between Tipperary and Meath this weekend. The bookmakers have a ridiculous track record of overestimating Meath, underestimating Tipperary and failing to appreciate the importance of home advantage to the Royals – and of course the converse to that argument, which is quite how poor they are away from the familiar surroundings of Páirc Tailteann. Being truthful, I fully expected to examine this week’s prices, note a 7/2 or 3/1 beside Tipperary, circle it and advise a very large investment. Instead, a much more moderate 7/4 has been chalked down. Still good, but much shorter than it would have been even a year ago, despite both sides being more or less the same.
So far this year, Tipperary have played very competitively against Laois, struggled against a much more powerful Kildare team and secured an excellent draw in Newry. Meath scraped home against Armagh despite conceding three more scores than they took themselves, struggled in Newry and almost got nabbed by an understrength and woefully off-form Westmeath outfit.
Unlike previous years when the National Football League opened under the glare of Croke Park lights with thousands in attendance, this year the powers that be chose to set the NFL off with a lot less fanfare. Fixtures such as Kerry vs Dublin and Derry vs Tyrone could have been harnessed to create a sense of occasion, but overall there was no grand opening, so to speak.
The same certainly could not be said of the hurling. This Saturday night the undisputed big two counties in the game at the moment go head to head in a game that should get any small ball enthusiast salivating at the prospect. Last year Kilkenny and Tipperary went head to head in both the National Hurling League final and the All Ireland final, and in both instances supporters were treated to a humdinger of a match, with Kilkenny winning out both times. A large crowd is likely to make the trek to Tom Semple’s field in the hope of similarly competitive action this weekend, with TV cameras also on hand.
The forgotten match between these two counties last year was their meeting in Nowlan Park in the round robin stages of the league towards the end of March when Kilkenny laid down a marker with a 5-17 to 1-12 hammering. The nett result of these three results is that Kilkenny will feel that whether the game is close or not, whether they lead or trail coming into the closing stages, they should have the upper hand – and for that reason, this Saturday night’s fixture is a lot more meaningful to Tipperary than it is to Kilkenny. Of course Brian Cody would never admit it, but deep down the James Stephens man knows that a loss or two in the league tends to knock the complacency out of his players and that there is no danger of his side ever feeling inferior to Tipperary, so a win is not really as important.
For Liam Sheedy, he knows that the longer his team go without beating Kilkenny, the more of a mental block it will become to ever do so. His team have done a lot of great work to get to the stage that they’re at, nipping at the heels of the greatest team that has ever played the game, but if they don’t take out Kilkenny soon, it will all be to no avail. Nobody remembers second best, least of all in a county with a tradition like theirs. Tipperary also know more than most how psychological factors can take hold and become genuine stumbling blocks. Tipp spent many years hurling really well in Munster before crumbling in Croke Park and it took a pathetic performance from Limerick last summer to allow them to shake that monkey off their backs and the last thing they need is another simian passenger mounting their shoulders.
Of course there is a world of difference between needing to win and being able to, but on that level too, this game seems primed for a Tipperary success. Many of Kilkenny’s frontline hurlers didn’t see any Walsh Cup action, while the absence of the Ballyhale contingent will be an issue for them as well. Home support and a greater degree of familiarity with floodlit hurling should be of huge benefit to Tipp this weekend and even allowing for a couple of absentees, greater hunger and a good level of home support should push them over the line.
A 3pt bet on Tipperary to beat Kilkenny at even money is recommended for Saturday night’s fixture.
Preseason form is rarely given too much credence at the best of times, but a Walsh Cup where Kilkenny lose to both Offaly and Laois is unlikely to be regarded as anything other than a meaningless knockaround by most observers. Suffice it to say that this columnist, a long suffering Offaly man, didn’t feel the need to celebrate Offaly’s win over the Cats to any great degree and it’s probably reasonable to assume that over in Laois it’s the opening rounds of the league, where Kildare, and more importantly Clare, visit Portlaoise in rounds one and two that will be occupying Niall Rigney’s thoughts.
There is no doubt that the Kilkenny team to play Tipperary in Semple Stadium will be wholly different from the unfamiliar group who took the field against the two midland counties, but nonetheless it’s unreasonable to expect any team, even one as good as this Kilkenny side, to slip back into the groove without having played a lot hurling together so far.
Two days remain until the final hurling championship match of the season and whatever else one could accuse the bookmakers of, they certainly aren’t lazy in providing a plethora of betting opportunities for those looking to end the season on a high. Every aspect of the game imaginable (and indeed some well beyond the average imagination) has been assessed and priced, with the result that there are some very interesting wagers out there for those willing to look beyond basic match betting.
Over twenty games later the All Ireland Hurling championship is now down to two teams, and it would be difficult to argue that we are left with anything other than the best two teams in the championship. Galway, as always, threatened to offer more resistance with a handful of decent league performances and an excellent championship display in Tullamore against Kilkenny, but once again September has rolled around and it is the Galway minors, not seniors, who will be hurling in Croke Park on the first Sunday of the month.
