Cork vs Tipp

[Billys Boots]

Webster with the well timed mullock

Boots theory #28: No team will ever win an AI senior title without the capability of implementing this particular set-piece, when appropriate. 

[homeofhurling8]

Jesus,where did that come from ?

Like most Tipp supporters i headed in to Thurles saturday evening expecting a defeat,hoping for a performance but expecting a defeat nonetheless.

A few quick observations,

I think Bt was a little harsh on Gerry Kennedy,he has his faults,particularily under the dropping ball imho but i doubt Cummins would have been out as quick as Kennedy was when Deane had his goal chance,it would be very harsh on the lad now if Cummins were to replace him for the Wexford game.

Fanning was solidity personified,Declan has been a revelation at full back he still struggles to make room for himself to strike though but i made him man of the match by some way,he was ably assisted by his two corner men,Buckley is quickly becoming our find of the year,Byrne wont forget his championship debut in a hurry !

O'Mahoney was excellent again,what was McCarthy thinking placing Ben O'Connor at centre forward ?

I would agree with bt about Eamonn Corcoran,he was very loose early on,Cronin was giving him a hiding,he had a storming second half though but he certainly wasnt man of the match imho,i've been saying for a couple of years now that he is too loose,if you look at his stats over the last three years he concedes a lot of scores to his direct opponents,he is an outstanding hurler though,the little flick to Hickey for his point was pure class,i personally think he would be better in centrefield now,hopefully Tom Stapelton will develop into a viable option for wing back next year.

Shane Maher had a fine game on the wing,his swing is a little on the agricultural side at times but he is a solid option to have,a better option at left half back than the looser Maloney imho.

Our centrefield pairing were over run for the first 15 minutes,Babs had Shane McGrath warming up after 10 minutes but Maloney and Butler started to get on top eventually and both went on to have fine games,especially Maloney imho,Butlers radar was a little off at times and he needs to lift the head a bit more and look at other options rather than shooting on sight but he is developing into the hurler that his club performances over the last couple of years suggested he could be.

Benny Dunne was a revelation,he didnt give Curran a minutes rest,i've never seen our captain so fired up for a game,he was very animated in the warm up and was noticeably vocal throughout the game but just like one poor game doesnt make Curran a bad player one good game doesnt make Benny our saviour,he isnt a centre forward and never will be as long as i have a hole in my arse but credit where its due he had a stormer on Saturday(thats just for bt !)

I was very impressed with Hickey,he was by a country mile our best forward on Tuesday night in the u-21 and had a fine game on saturday night also,he is an infinitely better sticksman than Ryan O'Dwyer and is very competent under the dropping ball,a rarity for a Tipp half forward these days.

Devanney and Webster were the least impressive of our forwards,Webster is custom made for the rock and struggled to make any impression,i would suspect that saturday night will be the last time he starts for Tipp,Egan made a big difference when he came on,his point was an absolute peach,Devanney just doesnt have the hurling for this level,he's a game lad but thats not enough.

Lar was Lar,a mixture of the sublime and the ridiculous as we have come to expect,he scored three cracking points but did his usual fumbling,foostering and one handed rising routine at various times,his pace over the first ten yards is electric and he is a good finisher,is he finally on the cusp of becoming our new Fox to Kelly's Nicky God ?,its a question we've been asking for six years now.

Im not sure what to make of Willie Ryan,he is as slow as a funeral but thats two fine games for Tipp in his last two outings,he took both goals with aplomb on saturday night and is an excellent freetaker but something is missing and im not sure what it is,a bit of Toome devilment perchance?

It looks like the three wise men will have some selectorial headaches over the next few days ahead of the Wexford game,we've had some horribly bad luck with injuries this year,i reckon a fully fit panel would be a force to be reckoned with,something along the lines of..

Kennedy

Buckley Fanning Curran

Stapelton/Maher O'Mahoney Fitzgerald

Corcoran McGrath

Butler Eoin Kelly John O'Brien

Paul kelly Daragh Egan Lar Corbett

Subs..Cummins,Carroll,Hickey,Benny Dunne,Maloney,Woodlock,Willie Ryan,Pa Burke etc..not bad eh ?

I would guess that with the injuries Babs will start on Sunday with..

Kennedy

Buckley Fanning Fitzgerald/Byrne

Corcoran O'Mahoney Maher

McGrath Maloney

Carroll Dunne Corbett

Butler Kelly Ryan.

I would start Hickey instead of  Ryan with Corbett moving in to the corner but i doubt Babs will.

[Durlas Eile]

How's the form lads? I'd agree with a lot of what ye said.

My own take on it.

A great night at the match and some night in Thurles afterwards. The Centre was rocking as was every pub on the Square later. The look on my 5 year old nephew's (at his first match!) face when the final whistle went as the Old Stand erupted! The look on Big Dec Fanning's face when I hopped on his back to celebrate! In fairness the Cork people couldn't have been more sporting. Credit to them. The last time I can remember such an atmosphere was at the final whistle of the 01 Munster Final.

Honestly, hand on heart I couldn't see that performance coming. What made it so pleasing was the fact we did it when most required.... with our backs against the wall at 8-3 down and minus Curran, Fitzgerald, Woodlock, McGrath, Carroll, John O'Brien plus Paul and Eoin Kelly. 2-13 from play without the Boy Wonder!

I gave Fanning MOTM. The guy played from the front, kept cool throughout and was still going strong at the end. He could have batted for the Cork goal but sure these things happen in a match.

I'd leave Kennedy there BT. No point in replacing him now. I think he had feck all chance for the goal. His puc outs are immeasurably better than Cummins'. The midfielders clear off and our half forwards come out to collect a low ball he hits with a bit of top spin. Fair enough he should have done better for the goal against Offaly but Cummins has made his fair share of mistakes and is weak when a shot is close to him on his left side. I thought Kennedy did brilliantly for Joe Deane's goalbound shot. For what it's worth,I think Babs wants his own men there, people who feel they owe him something and not the other way round.

I thought the backs as a unit were brilliant. I was worried about Byrne and Maher on the one flank of defence but bar a couple of iffy moments in the first 15 for Byrne they were great thereafter. O'Mahony was superb at CB and when Tipp goaled Corcoran really settled into the game. His hand must be sore from catching and clearing balls in the second half!

Midfield cancelled each other out but we got a hold of here when McGrath came on.

Seamie Butler, Larry and Benny really led the way up front. Both Corbett and Butler have serious turns of pace and when they're let roam around and not confined to the corner they take a lot of watching. Butler's point on the run towards the Old stand off the hurley was a gem. The Cork half back line were on the back foot for 50 minutes and didn't like it one bit. O'hailpin got fair narky and had a swipe at Hickey. He miscontrolled one ball out over the sideline at the end when Cork were looking for the equaliser.

Fair dues to Willie Ryan, he made Cusack look a novice for the first goal and was smart enough to hit the ball into the skiddy turf for the second. He has ice in his veins in front of goal this boy! He has a nice turn of pace too BT.

To be fair to Webster he needs 3 or 4 games in a row if he's going to do anything of note. He's like Brian Begley in this regard. He won't be a bad option to lob in like a grenade in the last 15-20 minutes of a match. I'd throw Egan in there next Sunday. Carroll and Egan acquitted themselves well when they came on.

I'm delighted for the whole set-up and particularly for Babs who had absolute neanderthals abusing him. Whatever about this year, himself Leahy and Tom Barry have laid a great foundation for the future. That must be 13 or 14 players that have debuted so far this year. Amazingly Corcoran and Corbett were the only 2 left from 2001 to start on Saturday.

Babs is too long on the hard road to make a slip up this week in our preparations. I'd say the aches and pains of playing 6 weeks in-a-row will melt away after down Cork's colours on a Saturday night in Thurles. Wexford will need to do some rearranging of their team to get back on track. Their first touch and basics were abysmal against KK and Meyler's man-management doesn't look great to me. Wexford have taken some serious hidings over the last number of years from the likes of Clare, Cork, KK. If we get ahead early I don't think they'll have the stomach for it.

Tiobraid Árann abú!

[bottlethrower7]

Lads, a couple of quick points. Fair enough about Kennedy. Hes a fine keeper, and bar the odd mistake, is doing grand. I just don't get the impression he inspires the lads in front of him the way the ballybacon giant did. And his free-taking was definitely a bit wayward, but thats only a small point.

Ye certainly could have fooled me about Willie Ryan. He looks as slow as can be to me. Kelly is slow too though, so maybe thats how future generations of Tipp corner forward stars are going to be moulded. Skilful as hell but can't run to save their lives. Declan Ryan has a lot to answer for!!

It was the best all-round Tipp performance I'd seen since the 2002 semi-final. Now, the acid test is, will they be able to cut it 2 days on the trot. They won't need to be as good to beat Wexford, but if they think Wexford are a soft touch, that could be their undoing. Everyone is going on about how Wexford is the handier of the 2 draws Tipp could have gotten. I'm sure Wexford are thinking likewise about Tipp.

HOH, fair play praising Benny. You'd better go and lie down after that, just in case he plays well again the next day!

[the ship]

your right  larry and seamus butler slow as a week and you hickey's a tortoise. dont you worry  we wont be taking wexford lightly,
as for youn kennedy he is doing fine.

[GalteeMountainBoy]

What to do next......

I think Gerry has the Number 1 shirt for keeps now, barring a complete tooplish against Wexford. There is a concern about him taking ball to the chest, but thats the style of the lad, I wouldn't damn him for it, no better frontman then Deccie Fanning to be there at full back in any event.  Ken Hogan was like that and got away with it more often than not (Galway 1993 I'll concede to ye), Brendan is more aerial, high catches etc..., again a different style. What Gerry brings to the table IMHO is bravery, shot-stopping and a ability to take instruction in terms of puck-out strategy. We're blessed with the goalies in Tipp and the moment, Kennedy , Cummins and young Matthew Ryan as well.

The big question mark in terms of keeping the six backs that started against Cork, all on for Sunday will be Diarmiud Fitzgerald's fitness. On pound for pound merit you'd have him shading one of Alan Byrne and Shane Maher, on form the men that started against Cork deserve to be picked. Fitzy has had a few knocks this year I think Babs will want him 100% before selecting him.

I can't see Seamie Butler kept at midfield for Wexford, it was a masterstroke to have him there for Cork, perhaps to exploit the absence of the hard running Kenny. I have massive time for Butler, any lad who had has had more false starts to his inter-county career than Linford Christie had in his entire career, and to keep coming back deserves great praise. There's great stuff in the three Drom men on the Tipp team, Paudie's hard graft has yielded a harvest.

I'd like to see Willie, Larry, Benny and Butler all start in attack, perhaps give young Hickey another outing, did nothing wrong the last time. The Boy Wonder's fitness is another worry, now that we are in "winner takes all" stakes, the luxury of resting guys isn't available, but he needs to be at at least 90% to feature I would have thought.

[bottlethrower7]

The big question mark in terms of keeping the six backs that started against Cork, all on for Sunday will be Diarmiud Fitzgerald's fitness. On pound for pound merit you'd have him shading one of Alan Byrne and Shane Maher, on form the men that started against Cork deserve to be picked. Fitzy has had a few knocks this year I think Babs will want him 100% before selecting him.

I always rated Diarmaid Fitz far more highly as a wing back than a corner back. If ye've the choice, I'd play him there.

[AZOffaly]

Maybe him at number 5 and Eamon Corcoran in the middle of the field?

[the ship]

fitzgerald is better at wing back he is too one sided for corner back

[bottlethrower7]

fitzgerald is better at wing back he is too one sided for corner back

woah, is this you actually agreeing with me on something? Whats that all about?

[Billys Boots]

Whats that all about?

Even you have to be wrong sometimes BT! 

[the ship]

fitzgerald is better at wing back he is too one sided for corner back

woah, is this you actually agreeing with me on something? Whats that all about?

occasionally you talk sense   

[bottlethrower7]

Whats that all about?

Even you have to be wrong sometimes BT! 

aye, first time for everything and that 

[bottlethrower7]

....as for gerry kennedy he has done very well since he came in.

ship, do you wish to revise this? I think saturday more than proved me right.

[the ship]

made one mistake