Inside Track

Hurling’s force of nature sweep Tipperary men aside again

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Inside Track with John McIntyre

THE All-Ireland hurling final replay at Croke Park on Saturday evening was a different kind of animal to the epic drawn encounter and it was largely played on Kilkenny’s terms.

Again, it produced another riveting contest, but the Cats rarely allowed Tipperary the kind of space they had thrived in three weeks previously in maintaining their modern-day dominance over the county’s arch rivals.

Records fell all over the place at GAA headquarters. It was Kilkenny’s tenth All-Ireland title in 16 years; their seventh in ninth seasons; Henry Shefflin became the first hurler to win ten senior medals; JJ Delaney and Tommy Walsh reach nine; while Brian Cody leads the Noresiders to a tenth All-Ireland triumph under his watch.

Saturday’s replay success also underlined why Kilkenny have been a law unto themselves over the past 15 years. This great team’s long established attributes of savage commitment, intensity, manic desire and unrelenting work ethic were all at the core of their latest victory over Tipperary. They took hooking and blocking to new levels of defiance and though it’s hard to credit given all that they have won, Kilkenny had a clear edge in hunger over Eamon O’Shea’s chastened troops too.

What makes Kilkenny’s latest championship achievement all the more phenomenal was that many neutrals thought that they were a spent force after last year’s quarter-final exit to Cork in Thurles. They looked a battle weary outfit that day; had earlier lost a replay to Dublin in the provincial campaign; while Cody had to take a break from sideline duties due to illness. Furthermore, Kilkenny hadn’t even played in Croke Park in 2013 and, putting all those things together, it was easy reach the conclusion that they, at least, faced a couple of years in transition.

Against that background, Kilkenny’s immediate renaissance this year is nothing short of amazing, but this team has never conformed to normal standards. In 2014, they have won everything: the Walsh Cup; the National League; the Leinster title; and now the county’s 35th All-Ireland championship. Their longer serving celebrated in Croke Park on Saturday evening as though they were just after winning their first Celtic Cross. This was one against the head.

Kilkenny were admittedly stretched at times in the opening half of Saturday’s replay, but they reached the interval only two points behind before going on to largely dominate the second-half with the switch of the previously subdued Colin Fennelly to full forward a key move. The Power brothers, Richie and John, also burst into life and it was their goals in the final quarter which sent Tipperary over the edge.

In fact, Kilkenny ought to have won by more. Opposition goalkeeper Darren Gleeson made a couple of critical interventions while Seamus Callanan’s second goal in the 69th minute was more the product of a lucky break than Tipperary cutting the Kilkenny defence apart as Lar Corbett had done in setting up Callanan’s opening goal seven minutes from the break. You could argue that Brendan Maher and company were the better team up to half time, but they were too goal hungry and spurned a couple of routine point-scoring opportunities in the vain pursuit of rattling the Kilkenny net.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

 

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