Inside Track
Tipperary need something special to floor The Cats
Inside Track with John McIntyre
IT may be hard to believe in the context of Kilkenny’s current summer dominance over Tipperary, but there was a long time in history – from 1937 to 1967 in fact – when the Cats couldn’t get to grips with the blue and gold at all in the championship. To put it mildly, there has been a serious shift in the pendulum of power over the past 15 years.
Since 2002, Kilkenny and Tipperary have clashed in the championship nine times and the Premier county’s sole triumph came in the 2010 All-Ireland final when three goals from Lar Corbett in a swashbuckling team performance ended the ‘Cats drive for five’. In the immediate aftermath of that game, there was loose talk that Tipp could go on and win three of four titles of their own.
It hasn’t happened. Kilkenny gained revenge in the 2011 decider when they were quicker out of the blocks, annihilated their arch rivals in the following year’s semi-final before also accounting for Tipperary in a qualifier at Nowlan Park in 2013. The teams renewed final rivalry 12 months later and though John O’Dwyer was agonisingly off target with a late free to carry the day, Kilkenny came out on top in the replay by 2-17 to 2-14.
Naturally, Kilkenny’s current dominance is not sitting well with the Tipperary hurling fraternity and though long serving midfielder Michael Fennelly will be a huge loss to the champions after rupturing his Achilles tendon in their titanic replay win over Waterford, Brian Cody’s men are still going to take some removing from their lofty perch as they prepare for a staggering 16th All-Ireland final appearance in 19 years.
To put into perspective, the contrasting fortunes of both counties since 1970, Tipperary have only managed five All-Ireland titles since while Kilkenny have savoured ultimate glory on 19 occasions over the same period. The Cats have really thrived under Cody’s leadership as he plots to bring home the Liam McCarthy Cup for the 12th time. We have never seen domination like this before on the inter-county GAA fields as successive Kilkenny teams display a manic desire for battle.
Most neutrals are of the opinion that Tipperary can turn the tables in Sunday’s showdown, but Michael Ryan’s squad will have to show a big improvement on their semi-final win over Galway. The Munster champions stumbled over the line thanks to late goals from O’Dwyer and John McGrath, but for large tracts of that match they were unconvincing and the Tribesmen had them in real trouble. Their midfield struggled as the game evolved, while Tipp’s two corner backs Cathal Barrett and Michael Cahill, who admittedly were both excellent on the ball, struggled in the aerial combat.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune
Tyrone will come out guns blazing but Galway will weather the storm
Inside Track with John McIntyre
SOMETHING very odd happened to Tyrone in the Ulster championship in early April. On their home turf of Healy Park, they were doing nearly everything expected of them when leading Monaghan by five points at half-time. You couldn’t say for definite that the match was done and dusted, but the 2021 All-Ireland champions were in pole position.
You would have expected them to drive on against an honest if limited Monaghan outfit. Instead, Tyrone didn’t score for the opening 16 minutes of the second-half and in an enthralling finale, were left stunned by defender Ryan’s Toole’s stoppage-time goal snatching the honours for the Farney men on a 2-17 to 1-18 scoreline.
A couple of weeks later, Monaghan themselves had exited the Ulster title race when Derry comfortably got the better of them (1-21 to 2-10), leaving us more puzzled than ever by Tyrone’s dramatic decline since overcoming Mayo to claim Sam barely 20 months previously. Last year, they crashed out of Ulster by 11 points to Derry and subsequently came up six short against Armagh in the All-Ireland qualifiers.
Against that background, their recent loss to Monaghan shouldn’t have come as a surprise, but it did. Tyrone may have made a shambolic defence of the All-Ireland title, but there is still a lot of quality in their ranks. They have an adventurous ‘keeper in Niall Morgan, while the long-serving Peter Harte, Darragh Canavan, Darren McCurry, Cathal McShane, Conor Meyler, Mattie Donnelly, and Conn Kilpatrick are all top-class performers when in the mood.
There’s hardly been a word about them for the past six weeks. Tyrone are lying low, desperately trying to rediscover the verve and cohesion which took them all the way in 2021. Their pride is on the line. It makes them dangerous opponents for Galway in the opening round of All-Ireland group matches at Pearse Stadium on Saturday.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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Connacht Tribune
Galway footballers are shaping like a team which could go all the way
Inside Track with John McIntyre
GALWAY footballers won’t get much credit for their easy victory over Sligo in Sunday’s Connacht Final in Castlebar, but when a team achieves something that hasn’t been done for 20 years, perhaps we should be a little more appreciative of the Tribesmen retaining the JJ Nestor Cup for the first time in two decades.
To be honest, if Galway were to live up to their standing as serious All-Ireland contenders, they needed to be doing a number on Sligo. In this year’s National League, the counties were three divisions apart and though Tony McEntee’s team achieved promotion and were on a nine-match unbeaten run, a serious rise in class faced them at MacHale Park.
Granted, Sligo made a bright start with three points in the opening five minutes from Pat Spillane, Sean Carrabine and the accurate Darragh Cummins, but they would only manage two more by the break despite having the wind behind them. Though wing back Luke Towey was catching the eye with his runs up-field, Galway rarely looked under pressure.
Sligo were bravely committing numbers to the middle third, which meant they were a little light in numbers around their own posts. They couldn’t afford to lose possession coming out of their own half, but that’s what happened in the build up to Galway’s second goal. Damien Comer overturned Cian Lally and from his counter-attack, Matthew Tierney expertly finished to the net at the near post.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Connacht Tribune
Leinster hurling race so predictable but skin and hair flying down south
Inside Track with John McIntyre
IS the Leinster hurling championship something of a sham compared to its Munster counterpart? Everybody knows who will end up in the provincial final in the east, but nobody knows the two teams who will feature in the ultimate battle for supremacy down south.
All-Ireland champions Limerick aren’t guaranteed to even make it out of the province, never mind reach the Munster final, after their narrow loss to Clare in Saturday evening’s epic at the Gaelic Grounds. Everything is still on the line for the five counties involved, although Waterford are again under serious pressure after losing their opening two matches.
In Leinster, there is little of that drama. Galway and Kilkenny are miles ahead of the rest; the only thing at stake is whether Dublin or Wexford – they meet in Croke Park on Saturday – will be the third team to emerge for the All-Ireland series. It’s a game which is hard to call. Wexford are going backwards while Dublin look callow as Micheál Donoghue is trying to build the nucleus of a new team.
Though Antrim are improving – they held the Dubs to a draw and only lost to Wexford by four points – the men from the Glens would be out of their depth in Munster; while Westmeath are proving cannon-fodder for everyone else. Since Galway headed east in 2009, they have clashed with Kilkenny in seven Leinster finals and another showdown is inevitable next month.
In contrast, every match in Munster is virtually do-or die. When Clare rolled into Limerick last Saturday, they knew another defeat after losing to Tipperary in the opening round would leave them on the precipice of exiting the championship. There’s a real dog-eat-dog appeal about all the games. In Leinster, there are two big hounds, and the rest are chihuahuas.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.