Tipperary vs. Kilkenny All-Ireland Semi-Final, Croke Park, 19th August

[seafoid]

If Lar spends his time trying to get Walsh sent off he will be left out of this game.  Should spend his time winning ball and Tommy will have to go to him instead.

Lar did a good job marking Tommy though! Kept him quiet for most of the game.

Obviously Lar was to pick up Tommy but Kilkenny had other idea's and Tyrell was to pick up Lar. No one side wanted to back down, but the only winner was kilkenny in this exchange as Lar did very little bar upending the keeper for the Tipp goal.

Tipp line should have been doing more to get Lar into the game when those shenanigans were going on, not to mention placing Bonnar Maher in to full forward, he's a ball winner more so than a finisher and was needed more out the field..

Cody got his match ups right with TJ Reid, Fogarty getting serious joy off their opposite numbers before changes were made a weakness in Ryan I've always had doubts about.

The ref will be lambasted from pillar to post, but it was near on impossible for him to referee that game today, he had to apply a bit of common sense as opposed to the rule book or it would have ended up 10 a side. Maybe a few reds would have settled the encounter down, but there was loads of jabbing et all but no real dirty pulls that would have warranted a straight red. The one handed pull by Paudie Maher along the sideline, I'm not so sure about as a one handed pull isn't a foul any more than a two handed pull and possibly made it look worse. He did have a dig a Shefflin later on, but Shefflin knew he'd bigger fish to fry in the coming weeks and didn't respond (this time).

Thoroughly enjoyed the first half, but when Kilkenny pulled away in the second and emptied the bench with 10 minutes to go i nearly felt sorry for Tipp.

Galway have it all to do again, but I'm sure that's the way they'd like it to be.

It would be great to win an all Ireland beating all of the old firm one after the other. But I'd settle for beating the cats twice any day. 

[johnneycool]

I thought it was a bit anarchic but without any realy malice. Pushing and shovign when holding hurls might look bad, but there's very rarely any physcial harm in it.

As for Walsh, he plays tough and hard, constantly on the edge, but how often has he ever pulled a really dirty stroke like Maher yesterday or Benny Dunne three years ago?!

A good few times. Broke the hurl over a Wexford lads legs as he was going away from him was a standout one. Tommy is cute enough and was messing around with Dunnes helmet before Benny let fly at him.

[gallsman]

I thought it was a bit anarchic but without any realy malice. Pushing and shovign when holding hurls might look bad, but there's very rarely any physcial harm in it.

As for Walsh, he plays tough and hard, constantly on the edge, but how often has he ever pulled a really dirty stroke like Maher yesterday or Benny Dunne three years ago?!

A good few times. Broke the hurl over a Wexford lads legs as he was going away from him was a standout one. Tommy is cute enough and was messing around with Dunnes helmet before Benny let fly at him.

That one gets trotted out quite a bit. Even if true (I'm not saying it's not), there's a world of difference between, as you say "being cute", and letting fly like Dunne or Maher.

People were screaming that Walsh should have been sent off last year when the ref got a cut nose. There were about ten hurls flailing about, nothing particularly vicious. Walsh's was the on that maged to catch the ref, so immeidately the cry goes up that he should have been dismissed.

[johnneycool]

I thought it was a bit anarchic but without any realy malice. Pushing and shovign when holding hurls might look bad, but there's very rarely any physcial harm in it.

As for Walsh, he plays tough and hard, constantly on the edge, but how often has he ever pulled a really dirty stroke like Maher yesterday or Benny Dunne three years ago?!

A good few times. Broke the hurl over a Wexford lads legs as he was going away from him was a standout one. Tommy is cute enough and was messing around with Dunnes helmet before Benny let fly at him.

That one gets trotted out quite a bit. Even if true (I'm not saying it's not), there's a world of difference between, as you say "being cute", and letting fly like Dunne or Maher.

People were screaming that Walsh should have been sent off last year when the ref got a cut nose. There were about ten hurls flailing about, nothing particularly vicious. Walsh's was the on that maged to catch the ref, so immeidately the cry goes up that he should have been dismissed.

It does get trotted out quite a bit because it beggared belief that he didn't even see a yellow for it.

Little Tommy has led a charmed life with referee's IMO.

[Last Man]

The Kilkenny fans on the Hill have been a problem for a while and I brought it up about them meself a few years ago.  The thing about it is, they, like supporters from my own county, are a very small minority. A few years ago stewards had to move in and form a barrier between them and other supporters, after they arrived in late on AIF day and started pushing their way down from the back of the Hill.  They need to be sorted out.

The other thing that amuses me about the Cat's is the amount of them that have Premium tickets and who sit inside watching the game on TV - FFS !  I brought a fella from Tipp one day and he stayed in and drank about seven pints of smithwicks and when I came in after the game he said "Shure t'would have been a great game to be at.

I'm a great admirer of Walsh when he hurls but how he is not sent off more often is a mystery if today is anything to go by. Granted the ref should have sent Maher off for a wild swing when the game was over. the linemen and umpires really need to be more active.

In the end it was men against boys. this is the best hurling team I've ever seen and henry is so far the greatest I've had the joy of watching but i fear for hurling with all the off the ball stuff that was let go today and i'm not on about the 1st 5 minutes of sorting out which was to be expected. I had my son at the game and lets be honest I won't be encouraging him to pick up a hurl if he is expected to take the abuse that was dished out off the ball today.

Ara it wasn't that bad. The first five minutes aside you have to expect a few wallops during any game of hurling. Watch next weeks basketball match and see the difference. Don't bother Tommy and Tommy won't bother you is what Cody would be thinking I'd say.

Was in Kilkenny town last AIF day having a few pints and watching the game. 2 locals started boxing at the front door of the pub and it spilled outon to the street, a few others got involved and proceeded to pull the metal poles from the partition around the outside tables and beat each other with them. One guy was knocked out cold and others well cut up. another eejit proceeded to throw magners bottles through the front windows and he wasn't fighting .
We got out of there sharpish.

[gallsman]

He threw the stick back at Corbett more than once yesterday. Not hard enough, if you ask me though.

What was the story with Corbett coming out late for the second half? Was that more "tactics" or was he just caught short?!

[imtommygunn]

I thought it was a bit anarchic but without any realy malice. Pushing and shovign when holding hurls might look bad, but there's very rarely any physcial harm in it.

As for Walsh, he plays tough and hard, constantly on the edge, but how often has he ever pulled a really dirty stroke like Maher yesterday or Benny Dunne three years ago?!

A good few times. Broke the hurl over a Wexford lads legs as he was going away from him was a standout one. Tommy is cute enough and was messing around with Dunnes helmet before Benny let fly at him.

That one gets trotted out quite a bit. Even if true (I'm not saying it's not), there's a world of difference between, as you say "being cute", and letting fly like Dunne or Maher.

People were screaming that Walsh should have been sent off last year when the ref got a cut nose. There were about ten hurls flailing about, nothing particularly vicious. Walsh's was the on that maged to catch the ref, so immeidately the cry goes up that he should have been dismissed.

It does get trotted out quite a bit because it beggared belief that he didn't even see a yellow for it.

Little Tommy has led a charmed life with referee's IMO.

I'd agree. Sure every time you see a rerun of a Corbett goal 2 years ago all you can see is Walsh's hurl flying at him.

The helmet pulling stroke which Dunne lost the rag at was shocking.

He's absolutely brilliant but wish he would cut that stuff out - he can play without it.

Tipperary tactics were shocking yesterday as already talked about. Corbett could have been a real threat and instead he was just a joke. To come out of retirement for that was a waste of time.

I had to laugh at Maher too - always riling up. He turned round at one point and it was King Henry. He didn't shift him so handily!

People talk about conditioning with football teams - you'll not get much better than that KK team. The main difference in my view was how physical they were rather than, just, pure hurling. Tipp also have slipped this past few years for some reason. With a young(ish) team that shouldn't really be happening.

[nrico2006]

Paul Curran should have been sent off for chucking the hurl at Reid yesterday, and Tipperary somehow got a free when one of their players ripped Richie Powers helmet off by the face guard.  Still dunno why the free was given against him as he wasn't holding onto the ball or laying on top of it.  Maher should have also seen red for his pull. 

[seafoid]

Things must be very brónach in the home of hurling today. It is a long time since the blue and gold were pasted by 18 points by their neighbours.

[Croí na hÉireann]

Unreal atmosphere at the start of the match in Croker yesterday, especially when the melees started. Can't remember the last time I experienced noise like it. The only black mark on the day were the KK "fans" on the Hill. Shame on them, at the time I presumed it was lads coming in who wouldn't have been aware of the minute's silence.

The Lar and Tommy Walsh sideshow became fairly evident to us early on. I'd love to know what Lar was saying because he had the helmet turned in towards him any time I checked in on them. To be fair to Tommy he didn't take the bait or adjust his line of vision once from the game. He was lucky though not to be spotted doing a "Ritchie Hogan" early on. He got a fair amount of mentions in the queue for the jacks at half time anyway. I wonder how staged Lars late introduction to the second half was as it coincided with Tommy being near the tunnel and he gave him an almighty dunt.

Was disappointed KK pulled away in the second half, nobody saw that coming at ht. My MOTM was Brian Hogan or Hogie as the man behind kept roaring, KK are a different team with him holding the center. Rice will be a big loss at midfield the next day although Buckley did well when he came in. Can only see a KK win at this moment in time. Galway better be hoping there'll be more than hurls broken in Nolan Park in the next few weeks.

[AZOffaly]

Unreal atmosphere at the start of the match in Croker yesterday, especially when the melees started. Can't remember the last time I experienced noise like it. The only black mark on the day were the KK "fans" on the Hill. Shame on them, at the time I presumed it was lads coming in who wouldn't have been aware of the minute's silence.

The Lar and Tommy Walsh sideshow became fairly evident to us early on. I'd love to know what Lar was saying because he had the helmet turned in towards him any time I checked in on them. To be fair to Tommy he didn't take the bait or adjust his line of vision once from the game. He was lucky though not to be spotted doing a "Ritchie Hogan" early on. He got a fair amount of mentions in the queue for the jacks at half time anyway. I wonder how staged Lars late introduction to the second half was as it coincided with Tommy being near the tunnel and he gave him an almighty dunt.

Was disappointed KK pulled away in the second half, nobody saw that coming at ht. My MOTM was Brian Hogan or Hogie as the man behind kept roaring, KK are a different team with him holding the center. Rice will be a big loss at midfield the next day although Buckley did well when he came in. Can only see a KK win at this moment in time. Galway better be hoping there'll be more than hurls broken in Nolan Park in the next few weeks.

dickheads.

And for the first time ever I saw a row at a gaa match. On the hill as well, in the vicinity of them bucks. There were about 9 or 10 involved, and it was harmless enough, but there were a fair few punches thrown before sanity intervened and lads were escorted away by friends. The Cops and Stewards arrived on the scene only 10 minutes late.

[Croí na hÉireann]

Dickheads is right. Was the row shortly after the catcalling? You'd have trouble keeping your composure if you were in the vicinity of that, whether from the opposition supporters or your own.

[homeofhurling8]

I mentioned on another thread that the Munster final in 84 was the lowest I've felt as a Tipperary supporter and it was up to yesterday afternoon.

First off congrats to Kilkenny, the finest team to have played the game in my lifetime, unbelievable levels of skill, physicality and drive, in years to come we will look back on this set of players and consider ourselves lucky to have seen them in the flesh.

Babs wrote in his book that winning an All Ireland changes players, some players it changes for the better, the feeling of winning becomes addictive and drives them to redouble their efforts , some players it changes for the worse, a Celtic cross in their arse pocket and the adulation of the masses is enough for them, it makes them "soft" unwilling to put the effort in and unfortunately its difficult to spot which camp a player falls into until they have won their All Ireland, i would say their are a good few of this current Tipp team who are in the latter camp, whoever takes over from Deccie and co next year will need to make significant changes to the panel.

Its too early for a post mortem, i will have a look at the recording tonight, i doubt it will get any better on the second viewing, one thing though, i think some people on here and elsewhere are being a little harsh on Deccie and Lar for the tactics yesterday, ok it didn't work but as they say the definition of madness is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result, i wouldn't be too hard on the management for trying something different.

[johnneycool]

I mentioned on another thread that the Munster final in 84 was the lowest I've felt as a Tipperary supporter and it was up to yesterday afternoon.

First off congrats to Kilkenny, the finest team to have played the game in my lifetime, unbelievable levels of skill, physicality and drive, in years to come we will look back on this set of players and consider ourselves lucky to have seen them in the flesh.

Babs wrote in his book that winning an All Ireland changes players, some players it changes for the better, the feeling of winning becomes addictive and drives them to redouble their efforts , some players it changes for the worse, a Celtic cross in their arse pocket and the adulation of the masses is enough for them, it makes them "soft" unwilling to put the effort in and unfortunately its difficult to spot which camp a player falls into until they have won their All Ireland, i would say their are a good few of this current Tipp team who are in the latter camp, whoever takes over from Deccie and co next year will need to make significant changes to the panel.

Its too early for a post mortem, i will have a look at the recording tonight, i doubt it will get any better on the second viewing, one thing though, i think some people on here and elsewhere are being a little harsh on Deccie and Lar for the tactics yesterday, ok it didn't work but as they say the definition of madness is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result, i wouldn't be too hard on the management for trying something different.

I'm all on for trying something different, but when it stops being effective (basing it on Lar's assumption that it was working ok in the first half) then you've got to call a halt to it and go for plan B.
The failure to see that it wasn't working is what I'd be miffed at.

You have a point about lads winning a celtic cross and that it changes them and that's maybe affected Tipp in terms of the team that won in 2010 maybe had their heads full of shíte about how great they were and the future was theirs.
Contrast that with someone in Kilkenny with one celtic cross, they're almost nobodies, 'another bale on the trailer' to coin a phase trotted out by John Power once. One Celtic cross isn't enough for a Kilkenny hurler, you need three, four or five to even get a look in as a great hurler and therein lies the difference.

Another thing, this isn't the same Kilkenny team that started it back in the early 00's. Barring the odd exception like JJ delaney, Tommy Walsh, Shefflin, this team has changed along the way and will possibly need to evolve again but that doesn't look to be beyond them either after yesterday.

[seafoid]

I mentioned on another thread that the Munster final in 84 was the lowest I've felt as a Tipperary supporter and it was up to yesterday afternoon.

First off congrats to Kilkenny, the finest team to have played the game in my lifetime, unbelievable levels of skill, physicality and drive, in years to come we will look back on this set of players and consider ourselves lucky to have seen them in the flesh.

Babs wrote in his book that winning an All Ireland changes players, some players it changes for the better, the feeling of winning becomes addictive and drives them to redouble their efforts , some players it changes for the worse, a Celtic cross in their arse pocket and the adulation of the masses is enough for them, it makes them "soft" unwilling to put the effort in and unfortunately its difficult to spot which camp a player falls into until they have won their All Ireland, i would say their are a good few of this current Tipp team who are in the latter camp, whoever takes over from Deccie and co next year will need to make significant changes to the panel.

Its too early for a post mortem, i will have a look at the recording tonight, i doubt it will get any better on the second viewing, one thing though, i think some people on here and elsewhere are being a little harsh on Deccie and Lar for the tactics yesterday, ok it didn't work but as they say the definition of madness is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result, i wouldn't be too hard on the management for trying something different.

HoH

It is very hard to win 2 all Irelands and the country will forever have the gratitude of Tipp hurling for the 2010 final.
Losing like that is hard but Tipp have a decent record underage and they'll be back.