Kilkenny v Tipp

[galwayman]

If Galway could get a few lads who can score long range points we could be there or thereabouts next year

Galway need a helluva lot more than that I fear.
Galway is full of players of a similar middling standard

[seafoid]

If Galway could get a few lads who can score long range points we could be there or thereabouts next year

Galway need a helluva lot more than that I fear.
Galway is full of players of a similar middling standard

Sure so were Tipp last year. A bit of momentum can do wonder for performance levels.

[Craigyhill Terror]

Yes I thought the ref had a great game and added to what was probably the best AI final Ive seen.

I thought the ref had a stinker and let Tipp backs away with murder in the first half (although I understand these were hard to see on the tv) also I thought it was against the rule book for a ref to ask an umpire about where a foul occurred.  Nearly had huge ramifications on the game.

Ref had a shocker on the big calls. Neither penalty was actually a penalty, though that's a moot point as they were missed, but how Stapleton stayed on the field after pulling Power's faceguard is beyond me.

[Kidder81]

No advantage in a penalty anymore, probably less than 50/50 chance of scoring now.

Unbelievable standard of play.

[theskull1]

What a day. Top quality hurling. Doesn't get much better than that. All Ireland hurling day is one of those days that shouldn't be missed. Met some hallions today. Made for a great days craic. 

[Minder]

What a day. Top quality hurling. Doesn't get much better than that. All Ireland hurling day is one of those days that shouldn't be missed. Met some hallions today. Made for a great days craic. 

Those Loughgiel ones aren't the worst 

It was fairly jaw dropping in the second half, the standard of hurling, the pace and intensity they were doing it at.

Actually not sure you could see a higher standard, we said that after 2009 I suppose & I think today surpassed it.

Regardless of where it stands in the pantheon, we should just enjoy it while we have it.

[Tony Baloney]

Eddie took a cheap shot at Barry Kelly on the Sunday Game tonight. KK mind games.

[Asal Mor]

Eddie took a cheap shot at Barry Kelly on the Sunday Game tonight. KK mind games.

Eddie Keher, Eddie O' Connor, Eddie Brennan. The conveyor belt is running well down there.

There were a few strange calls yesterday and Barry was lucky that last free tailed just wide. Think I'll watch the full game again today if I have time. There's no point in a highlights package for a game as good as that. 

[Asal Mor]

To be fair they were incredibly poor penalties, the first one in particular. I don't think we can say the penalty is unfair yet though it does appear to be. I think it is fine in distance terms but we could look at the amount of players on the line.

I agree they were poor penalties but when the Tipp players were running through the Kilkenny backs made no effort to play the ball and blatantly dragged them down. There's no punishment. Just having the keeper on the line would be ok for penalties but sometimes players get deliberately dragged down outside the box when they're though on goal(like Tipp's second penalty yesterday) so they'd need to look at that situation too.  As it stands, the best option for a defender is to drag an attacker down when he's running at goal rather than even risk trying a legit tackle that might let him in.

[maxpower]

Great match! Murphy v Maher was worth the admission alone never mind the incredible score fest! Thought if anything Tipp played the better hurling but Kilkenny have a serious workrate.

What's the story with Hogan, seemed to spend quite a bit of time stretching his calf in the last 15mins before coming off! Hopefully just cramp rather than a pull.  He was amazing second half

[orangeman]

I'm glad for everybody's sake that O'Dwyer's free tailed wide. It would not have been a fitting end to what can only be described as an epic.

Eddie did take a bit of a cheap shot at Barry Kelly last night. The free he didn't give Eoin Larkin was mind boggling.

[Applesisapples]

Barry Kelly let a lot go yesterday, on balance Tipp benefitted from a couple of howlers, but I think the result was fair. JUst when you thought last years final was awesome up steps another one. Fair play to both teams sport as it was meant to be. 82,000 spectators, on Sky TV and Joey Barton tweeting about it. How many mentions did it get on Radio Ulsters Sports Report emmmm lets see now, maybe after reporting on England's cricket team....ahh no not one fuc*ing word. The biggest event on the Island over the weekend doesn't justify a mention.

[johnneycool]

I'm glad for everybody's sake that O'Dwyer's free tailed wide. It would not have been a fitting end to what can only be described as an epic.

Eddie did take a bit of a cheap shot at Barry Kelly last night. The free he didn't give Eoin Larkin was mind boggling.

There was no call for Eddie to say that, although Kelly was initially pretty hard on Eoin Larkin and you got the feeling that he'd earmarked Larkin as a bit of a diver and his judgement was a bit clouded.
Tipp defenders do have a habit of throwing out the spare arm, and got away with a few yesterday, but that's all too common in hurling today by all teams.
The last free was a strange one, did he blow Hogan up for charging as that's the only thing I could think off?
Although initially I thought overcarrying, but on replay he didn't and released the ball as soon as he hit the deck.

Apart from that I think Kelly got far more right than he did wrong and allowed a lot of niggly stuff go and kept the game as high paced as was allowed. He's certainly improved as a ref from his early days blowing every farts end in the NHL Div2.

As highlighted by the RTE panel, the selection of Walter Walsh meant the high ball would be pumped into what must have been perceived a weakish Tipp fullback line under the high ball. TBH it was a tactic that did work to an extent but KK fluffed a few very good goal opportunities before TJ Reid did finally set up Richie Power for the deft little flick over Gleeson, very tidy piece of hurling to take that goal. Also the way Reid who initially was well marshalled by Barry, who had him where he wanted him, was on his catching arm as the ball was dropping only for Reid to spin behind him and come up on the other side where Reid had the advantage and take the ball as it dropped, crafty bollox.
At the other end Tipp were running the KK backs all over the place (something KK would be better known for) and were getting their match ups right with Bonner Maher picked up by all and sundry until it was decided that Paul Murphy would do the best job on him, and whilst Murphy did well Bonner Maher was still causing problems and dangerous throughout, some horse of a man for one man.
That battle was a microcosm of other battles all over the pitch, one man on top, then the opponent and so on, Paudie Maher was lording it for a while, then came Richie Hogan, rattled over a few points off him, then the change to bring on Mickey Cahill to do a marking job, very interesting game all the way through.
Thought Lar and big Callanan also contributed well and Lar was set to get a goal and nearly succeeded where it looked as if no goal chance was on. He exercised some of the demons from his last AI against KK, but they won't be fully exercised until the win is achieved in three weeks time.

Tipp won many battles yesterday, midfield being one area, and their defence were sound if still a bit susceptible to the high ball in and around the square, plus were picking off a lot of nice scores in their forwards throughout.
Cody and KK in my mind have more to mull over especially if Richie Hogan is struggling with an injury. The goals kept them in it when it looked like Tipp would pull away near the end of the first half, but no better man to pick the bones out of this game and come up with solutions than Cody.

[Canalman]

Didn't get to see replay or highlights of game but I thought the ref got the last free spot on.

By the way the sliotar is far too light for the modern game and scoring far too easy. Really have to either make it bigger or heavier imo.

For penalties there should be only the goalie on the line with the current "Nash Rule" kept.

[johnneycool]

Didn't get to see replay or highlights of game but I thought the ref got the last free spot on.

By the way the sliotar is far too light for the modern game and scoring far too easy. Really have to either make it bigger or heavier imo.

For penalties there should be only the goalie on the line with the current "Nash Rule" kept.

In agreement on both counts.

the sliothar does indeed need changing, it can be the same size and even the same weight, just change the responsiveness of the material used in its core. Its almost like one of the super balls you used to get as a kid that flew off the walls like a bullet.
That free at the end was something like 97 metres out according to the TV graphic and it was still over the height of the posts as it was dropping into the Canal End.