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Post by kerrygold on May 23, 2019 7:57:52 GMT
Are the bandwagon hoppers in Dublin getting bored? Dublin have a hard core hurling support but it probably numbers less than 5000 Seems like a small following considering the level of interest in the small ball in the Capital.
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Post by dc84 on May 23, 2019 11:19:59 GMT
Dublin have a hard core hurling support but it probably numbers less than 5000 Seems like a small following considering the level of interest in the small ball in the Capital. Yeah it's small alright I think playing in Parnell has an effect also feels like a smaller occasion. Its very comparable to cork football really even when they were good the support wouldn't be anything like the hurlers
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Post by Mickmack on May 23, 2019 13:18:28 GMT
Dublin have a hard core hurling support but it probably numbers less than 5000 Seems like a small following considering the level of interest in the small ball in the Capital. I wouldnt say the level of interest is great really. Try talking hurling to most Dublin football fans and its like playing handball against a reek of hay.
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Post by Mickmack on May 23, 2019 22:58:26 GMT
By Peter McNamara Sports Correspondent
Wednesday, May 22, 2019 - 04:09 PM When you watch a match back for a second time, you become aware of a million more nuggets of information you might have missed while witnessing a contest in real-time.
That, of course, is no revelation. Obviously, when a person is caught up in a game as it is going on, you might not notice the less apparent details.
After all, we are only human and trying to keep tabs on what is happening in front of you with 30 players on a field is not the easiest of tasks.
And last Sunday, at the Gaelic Grounds, it was obvious that the likes of Eoin Cadogan, Mark Coleman and Alan Cadogan performed outstandingly well for a resurgent Cork.
Earlier in the year, I argued the return of Alan Cadogan might be the missing piece to the Rebels’ evolving jigsaw given his absence last year robbed John Meyler of a player with a unique attacking spark.
So when it became apparent he would not be available for the meeting with Tipperary last Sunday week, concerns grew about the Leesiders’ ability to overcome the Premier.
Then, when news broke in the ground that Bill Cooper would also have to miss out in the opening round, the pendulum swung in the favour of Liam Sheedy’s outfit.
The Cadogans and Coleman correctly have gotten the plaudits for wonderful contributions against Limerick. Ditto the ever-dynamic Daniel Kearney.
And more and more people are beginning to realise the importance of Cooper. It’s taken some commentators and fans alike time to appreciate his worth, but they are catching up.
But, aside from those names, there were two others that performed critical roles for the Rebels in the seven-point defeat of John Kiely’s side.
And I only really took this in on playback of the game.
First, the excellence of Niall O’Leary was massively encouraging as – and the dog on the street knows this – Cork’s full-back line has been shaky in recent years.
And it was at its shakiest in Pairc Ui Chaoimh last Sunday week.
Yet, there was a hint of a Wayne Sherlock about O’Leary’s display. Now, one swallow never made a summer and all that, so we get that he has a world of work to do to ever truly be compared to a player of Sherlock’s calibre.
However, just in his body language and driven approach, you could see a little bit of Sherlock in the way he operates.
If O’Leary is one-quarter of the player Sherlock was, Cork have a potential gem of a corner-back on their hands, and one that will improve with game-time, you would think.
I have been waxing lyrical about the potential of this team for months now, especially with the U21s of last year trying to push on and become regulars at senior level.
And the likes of the Castlelyons young man has to give Cork supporters hope that there is something really stirring within this senior group because they are fearless and incredibly confident individuals.
Declan Dalton’s two late scores are another case in point to support that theory. The white flag he registered from under the covered stand was an audacious effort, the kind of shot you only attempt if you have absolute conviction in your capabilities.
Of course, I could be horribly wrong and these players do not kick-on in their careers.
Nevertheless, I am convinced this group is the real deal.
Yes, they only won one match and must now back it up against Waterford.
What changed in a week for Cork hurlers?
Yet, I would be extremely surprised if they fail to beat the Deise, based on what we have seen from Paraic Fanning’s outfit so far in this competition.
Back to that playback of the Limerick-Cork encounter, though.
And the other man whose performance was also brilliant in an understated context was that of Mark Ellis.
We all adore hurlers and footballers that light up matches with their finesse in possession and capacity to produce moments that almost make us double-take.
Yet, without players like Ellis, the attacking artists in teams will not thrive.
Like Cooper, Ellis brings a presence and balance to a key sector of the field. Very rarely will you see Ellis do something flashy. But then, that is not his job. What he does is defend like a warrior and develop plays into midfield. At his best, Ellis, alongside Cooper, would have to be considered one of two of Cork’s most important players.
Of course, Patrick Horgan is, by now, a legend of the code in Cork. And is the Leesiders’ most vital presence offensively.
However, in the overall scheme of things, peak Ellis and Cooper are also essential cogs in the wheel.
Kyle Hayes, who often contributes three or four points per game for the Treaty, was contained to the point he only raised one white flag.
And when the game, as it regularly does nowadays, became disjointed in the second half, Ellis did a job on whichever player needed to be picked up coming through that central channel.
A similar Cork performance when Waterford roll into town should yield a victory in the region of five-plus points.
Still, it is the game away to Clare which will be difficult.
However, if Cork go on now and get out of Munster, the Rebels could really thrive in the open expanses of Croke Park.
One step at a time, of course, but Meyler’s unit are motoring.
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Post by Mickmack on May 23, 2019 23:00:54 GMT
Another is Aiden Walsh. I though he put in a great selfless performance v Limerick.
4 into 3 wont go. One from Cork, Limerick and Clare to lose out. Tipp will probably make it.
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Post by MrRasherstoyou on May 25, 2019 11:12:40 GMT
It would be a great story if Clare were to come along this summer and win Munster and All Ire, six years on from that amazing August and September that promised so much for the future.
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Post by Mickmack on May 26, 2019 16:38:59 GMT
I turned on this game on 40 mins with Galway 5 ahead and Donal talking about Wexford needing a goal.
Davy got banned to the stand for abusing the linesman then and suddenly Wexford are on fire.
By the 62nd minute they were level at 14 each.
Wexford went ahead but Galway levelled it.
Jason Flynn got a fine point but wexford levelled with a massive point.
Good game now with 68 mins gone.
Wexford went for a goal on 72 mins when the lead point was simple but they missed it.
In the last minute Galway got a lineball but there was no Joe to take it. The final chance fell to Chin but he missed it.
A draw.
Galway look miles off the pace.
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Post by veteran on May 26, 2019 16:49:26 GMT
Whenever Wexford are in trouble you can be guaranteed that Davy Fitz will make his ritual, boorish entrance to remonstrate with the officials. It worked again today with Wexford getting some very soft frees thereafter.
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Post by glengael on May 27, 2019 11:32:12 GMT
Looking at the video replay it looked like he did have something to complain about. A foul on a Wexford player went unchecked and apparently something similar had happened in an earlier League game.
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Post by Annascaultilidie on May 28, 2019 9:45:25 GMT
Looking at the video replay it looked like he did have something to complain about. A foul on a Wexford player went unchecked and apparently something similar had happened in an earlier League game. A Newstalk reporter put it to him that maybe the officials didn't see the incident and he stormed off like a child.
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Post by dc84 on May 28, 2019 10:34:06 GMT
Looking at the video replay it looked like he did have something to complain about. A foul on a Wexford player went unchecked and apparently something similar had happened in an earlier League game. A Newstalk reporter put it to him that maybe the officials didn't see the incident and he stormed off like a child. Ah he is great entertainment in fairness! You won't get much corporate *e talk out of him
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Post by Mickmack on May 28, 2019 21:34:48 GMT
www.rte.ie/sport/results/gaa/2019/6154/fixtures/Waterford v Limerick Walsh Park Clare v Tipperary Cusack Park, Ennis Limerick. Tipp, Cork and Clare should all have something to play for after next weekend Its all points to sparks flying between Limerick and Clare on the 9th June in the Gaelic grounds
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Post by Mickmack on May 28, 2019 21:41:01 GMT
Whenever Wexford are in trouble you can be guaranteed that Davy Fitz will make his ritual, boorish entrance to remonstrate with the officials. It worked again today with Wexford getting some very soft frees thereafter. He did it in the 2013 final replay v Cork after the ref gave about 3 dodgy calls in a row to Cork No more dodgy calls went against Clare in that game It may not be nice to watch but it is effective at times
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Post by Mickmack on Jun 1, 2019 10:27:20 GMT
Jackie Tyrrell: Mentally soft Limerick learn hurling world a fickle place Subscriber only Even the All-Ireland champions must accept that distractions can get to everyone Fri, May 31, 2019, 06:00 Jackie Tyrrell
On this Sunday nine weeks ago, we had the ultimate Phoney War take place in Croke Park when Waterford and Limerick met in the league final.
Go back and watch it and that’s what strikes you, how it rivals those early months of World War II for its lack of intensity, savagery and real purpose. A national title was on the line but you wouldn’t know it.
Limerick and Waterford played out a timid and lacklustre league final that day. It had an inevitability about it long before James Owens blew up. Limerick did what they had to do and did it for long periods in third gear, almost yawning as they went.
The hurling world is a fickle place. Nine weeks ago these were the top two teams in the league. All their plans were running like clockwork, everything they wanted out of the spring had come to pass. That’s partly why we saw such a nothing game in the final – Waterford were happy enough, whatever happened. And Limerick were happy enough to take advantage.
The concerning thing from the Cork game wasn’t just that they lost Look at the two of them now. Both of them are staring down the barrel of the gun. Limerick really need a win, Waterford really, really need a win. Losing just isn’t an option for either of them.
We constantly get reminders not to get too carried away in sport, for good or for bad. In the space of seven days, Cork turned their performance levels upside-down and went to the Gaelic Grounds and nailed Limerick to the wall. That’s in just seven days – imagine what can happen in nine weeks.
Think of where Limerick were after they left Croke Park that day nine weeks ago. They were after walking a league title. Everyone kept telling them they were the best team in the country, that they had handled being All-Ireland champions perfectly, that they had the deepest panel and the fiercest competition for places. What could possibly go wrong?
Now look where they are. Going to Waterford needing a win, first and foremost. But needing as well to arrest the doubts that have to have crept in after the Cork game. Maybe it was only a blip but they don’t know that for sure yet. If they’re not doubting themselves at this stage, if they’re questioning everything, then they’re in real trouble.
No favours The nature of this year’s league actually did Limerick no favours. It was diluted from start to finish. Once nobody was getting relegated and nobody was getting promoted, everybody went into it easing off on the throttle. If it had been one of the hell-for-leather leagues like we’ve had for the past five or six years, then Limerick would have been stress-tested more than they were.
As it was, they lost one game at home to Cork and were held by Clare on the last day of the group stage when they were already guaranteed to top Division 1A. After that, they beat Laois, Dublin and Waterford to lift the trophy.
How many dogfights were they in? How many games did management come away from knowing they have this problem or that problem to solve? How could they know, one way or the other, where they were at going into the Munster championship?
One thing jumped out at me, screaming mental softness The concerning thing from the Cork game wasn’t just that they lost. It was that Cork were able to dismantle Limerick’s simplistic but highly-effective gameplan. Limerick’s half-back line is the most crucial line on the team and the source of so much of their power and momentum. But this was the poorest I have seen them perform in a number of different categories.
They never created the platform on which to build attacks. They did not deal well with the deep roaming roles of Daniel Kearney and Luke Meade. They didn’t drop back to cut out the space for Patrick Horgan and Alan Cadogan. Most surprising of all, they were so poor under the high ball which is their bread and butter.
These are mental errors. They come from poor communication, a lack of focus, switching off. If Daniel Kearney has found space in a pocket by drifting away from Diarmaid Byrnes, it’s because Byrnes hasn’t got onto his midfielder or wing-forward to make sure Kearney is being picked up. Same with Luke Meade on the other wing.
Mentally soft Limerick were mentally soft in this game. There’s no other way to describe it. It really looked like they went in believing their own hype. That’s understandable, given how well everything had been going for them, but only up to a point. Waterford have to be alive to any sign of it on Sunday. If it’s still there, Limerick are in trouble.
Here’s how it translated to the pitch. One thing jumped out at me, screaming mental softness. Think back to the start of the second half and a couple of routine long puck-outs from Anthony Nash. These weren’t the laser missiles from Nash that go 70 yards at head height, they were just ordinary long puck-outs coming out of the sky midway between the 65 and the edge of the D.
Job number one for Limerick is to recalibrate mentally, to head down to Walsh Park as the hunter again The first one bounced about 30 metres out. Alan Cadogan came out from corner-forward to collect it and after a short solo run, he played a nice handpass to Luke Meade who was looping out around him. Simple score for Meade.
Now, that can happen. It’s no big crime to lose your positioning for a puck-out once in a while. I rewound it a few times to try and work out whose mistake it was and I actually couldn’t tell who was supposed to be attacking the ball in the air – that told me that their initial set-up was the problem. Okay, fine. Just fix it for the next one.
The next one was the killer. It came less than a minute later and it landed in exactly the same spot on the pitch in exactly the same way. Nash went long, the ball bounced, and Cadogan was out to it again. This time he wheeled to his right and took his own score.
Alarm bells That second point rang huge alarm bells for me. Limerick’s half-back line is usually so imperious, so full of leaders and organisers and communicators. How could they let something like that happen twice in the space of a minute? It felt to me like cast-iron proof that they weren’t mentally prepared for the game.
Those mistakes weren’t happening last year when Limerick were ravenous in every match, in every contact, on every puck-out. The only thing that has changed in the meantime is they’ve become All-Ireland champions.
Hype is like the devil. There’s a bit of it in everyone. It happens in every successful career at some stage because everyone is human. No matter how hard you try, a part of you ends up thinking you have it sussed. But you never have this game sussed.
In 2012, we got blown away in a Leinster final by Galway. Hype wasn’t the only reason it happened but it was in the mix. We were All-Ireland champions, we had hammered Dublin a few weeks beforehand and we were invincible. But not for long.
Galway blitzed us. We didn’t know what was going on. I didn’t know who I was marking, I didn’t know where I was meant to be on the pitch. Tommy Walsh hit two of the craziest sidelines balls of his life straight to Galway players. Think about that – one of the greatest players in the game making such a basic mental error.
We were punch drunk, all over the place, completely run ragged. Before I knew where I was, I was sitting in the Crowne Plaza looking at a beef dinner I didn’t want wondering what the Jesus happened in the last few hours.
When you are All-Ireland champions, it’s so hard to keep that edge. It’s so difficult to be always in that mind-set of hunting teams down and proving points to people. At a certain stage, you feel you don’t have anything left to prove.
How could Limerick feel otherwise after last year? They won one of the best All-Ireland championships there has ever been. They were tested at every turn and they came through it all. Then they strolled through the league. Imagine how hard it would be to convince yourself you still have something to prove after that.
Exceptional requests It took me years to work out the best way of approaching it. Striving for the extra per cent, keeping the head down and staying out of the spotlight is impossible. So you have to limit it to exceptional requests and circumstances.
Everywhere you go, you’re the person people want to talk to. In a small gathering, you’re the main focus – or you feel like you are. At the All Stars, in your work environment, you’re in situations where nobody is asking you to prove anything when it comes to hurling. All they want is their own small connection to an achievement that is already in the past.
You get asked to all sorts of events, weddings, parties, functions. You’re now a pin-up in hurling terms whether you like it or not. You could go around with a scissors in your pocket cutting ribbons and opening businesses if you wanted. All distractions. And all the way through them, everyone is nice to you and nobody is testing you.
Look at Shane O’Donnell, who had to deal with all manner of crazy sideshows after the 2013 All-Ireland. That’s the world you’re in now and it’s great and you owe it to yourself to embrace it. But you have to come back and hurl to following year too.
It takes a mental toll. No two ways about it. Going all those months without hardship, without anyone testing your hunger, it can absolutely make you mentally soft without you knowing it. All the advice in the world from former players only tells you the half of it. You have to go through it to understand it.
We find it very hard as a society to say no to requests for our time. We live in small counties in a small country and everyone knows everyone so we all worry what people will think of us. What I found over the course of my career was that saying no became a very important skill I was able to develop.
“Sorry, no, I just can’t do it.” It might sound harsh and to some people in the outside world, it might come across in a way that you don’t mean it to. But it’s your time and your career and nobody will look after it if you don’t. Otherwise, any mental slip you make has a habit of showing up at the worst possible time.
None of this has to be fatal for Limerick. Far from it. In time, they might come back and tell us that the Cork game was the best thing that happened to them. They will have had some harsh conversations and even harsher training sessions over the past fortnight. Job number one for them is to recalibrate mentally, to head down to Walsh Park as the hunter again.
If they do that, they can get their season back on track. If they don’t, I wouldn’t rule out a surprise from Waterford.
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Post by glengael on Jun 2, 2019 10:26:51 GMT
2 big games in Munster today. Limerick may just get back on track and I wouldn't go against a draw in Ennis.
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Post by Mickmack on Jun 2, 2019 16:36:23 GMT
the subplot to Munster hurling is that Tipp are well better that the others and Waterford are weak.
Its boils down to Clare, Cork and Limerick chasing two slots.
Limerick v Clare next weekend will be pivotal now.
Tipps skilllevel is incredible and when they adopt KKs workrate they are unplayable.
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Post by kerrygold on Jun 2, 2019 17:35:13 GMT
The Munster hurling championship is epic now. It would even be more cut throat if only the eventual winners progressed in the championship.
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Post by Mickmack on Jun 2, 2019 17:44:52 GMT
todays game were terribly disappointing
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Post by kerrygold on Jun 2, 2019 17:49:17 GMT
Cant see Tipp being too disappointed
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Post by Mickmack on Jun 2, 2019 17:53:23 GMT
Jackie Tyrrell called it as he saw it afterwards... Clare were shocking.
Waterfords never got going.
The four teams in action in the league finals in both codes that day in Croker are not exactly firing on all cylinders..
Kerry, Mayo, Limerick, Waterford.
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Post by kerrygold on Jun 2, 2019 17:56:36 GMT
I don't think Limerick will be put to bed too quietly this year.
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Post by Mickmack on Jun 2, 2019 20:26:21 GMT
going by today you would say that the 3 coming out of the round robin will be Tipp, Cork and Limerick.
Clare have to deliver next weekend.
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Post by Mickmack on Jun 3, 2019 10:33:48 GMT
Brendan Cummins: 'Clare and Waterford in dire straits, but how they adapt will define their fate' Brendan Cummins
June 3 2019 2:30 AM
Different problems, the same results, and by now we have all the proof we needed that both Waterford and Clare have serious underlying issues.
The question today is whether those problems can be solved on this current path, which, to me, looks like a dead end.
The issue for Waterford is twofold: on the pitch they're devoid of ideas and inspiration, while off it it's become a self-fulfilling prophecy for players that Páraic Fanning's plan won't work.
They were used to a certain style and he tried to change it, but to do that you need a clear vision of what the new world will look like. The waters got muddied and when that happens players don't invest the energy needed to make your plan work.
Since the league final there's a toxic atmosphere around their set-up: there are all sorts of rumours about meetings after matches, discontent in training. The net result is players have downed tools in their last two matches and you can't see anything else but another long day against Cork.
The sure sign of frustration was the lack of discipline yesterday, erupting into the strikes by Pauric Mahony and Maurice Shanahan.
If they stick with Fanning he'll have to do serious corrective surgery, coupled with a clear strategy - they have the players, but 2020 is a long way off.
I saw it with Tipperary in 2003. Michael Doyle came in after Nicky English but he was gone that September. Why? It's a lot easier to replace a manager than 30 players.
We had a meeting and the question was asked: Are we going to be a better team at the end of next year if Michael is in charge? The cold decision was no.
I have sympathy for Fanning in his first managerial role, but the vision hasn't been clear and players look confused about their roles.
That was Tipp last year, but you have to credit Liam Sheedy for their transformation; the players were always there but they've been woken from their slumber.
Learn more The contrast between Tipp and Clare was laid bare yesterday. The Banner butterflies weren't flying in formation in Cusack Park and, to me, Clare have been coached to death. They're trying to play the perfect game of hurling, which doesn't exist.
I wrote a few weeks ago that the reason I didn't think they'd get out of Munster is they turn the ball over too much. I thought they'd learn from the league but they haven't. They're still more vulnerable with the ball and coming out the field than when the opposition start from their goals.
Look at yesterday: they concede a goal, then go short to the wing-back on a puck-out, who had his back to the opposition goal. It's high-risk stuff giving the ball to a player who's static with both shoulders facing you, because when he gets it he hasn't a clue what's behind him as he turns to go out the pitch.
When you meet Tipperary and they push up and go nose-to-nose, there's no room to breathe. Short puck-outs to defenders with feet planted facing their own goals is a recipe for disaster. No lessons were learned from last year's semi-final against Galway when this strategy was picked apart in the opening 15 minutes.
Yesterday, when Clare did have the ball they tried to run it through the lines using handpasses, but Tipp, in contrast, hit crisp balls to hand.
I'm sure Clare will have one of their famous video sessions this week; they'll dissect it and then dissect it again, but the reality is you need to give players freedom. If they aren't given the freedom to work out things by themselves they get paralysed, and that's three teams already that Tipp's style has paralysed.
For Tipp, there's no grand puck-out strategy. Sheedy will give players a sense of what they're trying to achieve and allow them to go out and do it. The hooking and blocking is their bedrock, from numbers 10 to 15, and there's no way Liam will take his foot off the gas before the Limerick game. He doesn't know how.
Clare's Championship, meanwhile, hangs by a thread. To turn things around I'd like to see them play three players inside, and all should be within 40 yards of the opposition goal at all times. Two in the penalty box and one on the edge of the D: John Conlon, Shane O'Donnell and Aron Shanagher.
That's how Cork beat Limerick: everyone else gets back out the field and works like dogs to get the ball into those three. You still have 12 behind the ball which satisfies the defensive mentality, but you have a threat and when the ball goes in, it goes in deep.
I'd fear for Clare now. They may have a lifeline, unlike Waterford, but with their current approach it's hard to see them avoiding a similar fate.
Irish Independent
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Post by Mickmack on Jun 3, 2019 13:52:46 GMT
Anthony Daly
I’ve had better weekends. Spurs and Clare. Big dreams. Big plans. All ending in dust.
I’m a long-suffering Spurs fan but I let the defeat on Saturday night quickly wash over me because I’d have gladly settled for a Clare win yesterday instead.
Learn more I had the weekend off. I was supposed to be working on The Sunday Game yesterday but it’s not too often you get to swap roles with a King.
Henry Shefflin agreed to switch to last night so that I can cover for him next weekend.
My best friend Paraic Russell was at home from Leeds so I wanted to spend time with him.
Another good friend, Niall McMahon, had his 40th on Saturday night so I watched the match with five loyal Spurs fans, and about 60 diehard Liverpool supporters.
It was bonus territory for me. I love the craic on Twitter about Spurs but my main focus was always on Cusack Park yesterday.
I was expecting a big performance from Clare but the disappointment was all the more acute given the expectation beforehand, especially at home in what we all expected to be our fortress again.
Well Tipp didn’t just sack the place, they blew it to smithereens.
Maybe we all read too much into Clare’s opening day win in Walsh Park, especially after Waterford’s capitulation down there yesterday.
Using horse-racing parlance, our line of form certainly wasn’t as positive as we thought it might have been.
Clare were off the pace. Tipperary were far better but the row between Tony Kelly and Brendan Maher early in the second half largely summed up the match for me. Kelly upended Maher before Michael Breen arrived and milled Kelly as a reprisal.
The Tipp lads were more aggressive all afternoon, but it was smart aggression. They weren’t wild.
Ger Loughnane was a great advocate for saying that wildness was stupidity.
Loughnane never wanted us to back off, particularly against Tipperary, and to always be the last aggressor in any rows when you were trying to lay down a marker.
That was always our aim as a Clare team in my time under Loughnane.
Tipp set the agenda from the word go. Clare matched them early on in scoring terms but, as the game progressed, and Tipp stretched further ahead, I felt Clare’s tactics were baffling.
Usually, Clare are heavily dependent on Shane O’Donnell and John Conlon inside but they were being completely beaten, and the second half mirrored the league game when the sides met in January.
Did Clare learn anything from that match? It didn’t look like they did because Clare just rammed the ball down on top of Paudie Maher again.
The game was over after Tipp’s third goal but playing a sweeper by that stage made no sense.
To be honest, I’m sick of listening to managers and pundits about systems, and that includes the present Clare management.
I understand all that stuff but it drives me demented when teams are leaning on them too heavily.
Tactics have a place but there has to be a middle ground too where you fight and go to war with the opposition.
Clare didn’t do any of that yesterday and, to make matters worse, if Clare had a system, it blew up in their faces.
Tipp were willing to sacrifice Brendan Maher going as a man-maker on Tony Kelly.
That allowed Clare to get more men deep, and create more space in the centre of their attack, but when the horse had bolted, Clare closed the gate by shoving Colm Galvin back as a sweeper.
In fairness to Liam Sheedy, he usually gets most of his match-ups right, but Clare didn’t match them on the chess board.
The Tipperary forwards are extremely flexible. John McGrath can play in the corner, at full-forward or out on the wing.
Seamus Callanan can do the same, including centre-forward. Noel McGrath is even more fluid and adaptable.
John went to town when he changed to the wing but did management not have the confidence to say, ‘Davy, go out after him, back yourself’?
Clare never backed themselves after the opening quarter because they allowed Tipp to set the terms of engagement. Maybe all of us in Clare bought too much into the Park factor.
The Park is the Park but you need to give the crowd something for it to come alive and Clare couldn’t find any spark in the second half.
When Tipp started to run away with the match, Clare would have needed a bomb to get the place going.
It is a big setback for Clare but at least they have two games still to play, unlike Waterford who just have a dead rubber against Cork now on Saturday evening.
Waterford will try and salvage some pride and try not to make it into the meaningless fixture it now looks but, realistically, where do Waterford go from yesterday?
Their main big guns – Pauric Mahony, Tadgh de Búrca, Jamie Barron, Austin Gleeson – are playing nowhere near to the level we have come to expect off them.
Scoring ten points at home – and just three in the second half – is almost an embarrassment to, not only the team and supporters, but the effort put in by so many people to get championship games back in Walsh Park.
Waterford really look to be at crisis level. They could fall back on the sending off of Conor Gleeson in the first half against Tipp but there was no such buffer yesterday.
The slap in the face to their supporters was even harder to take with the way Waterford basically collapsed after Limerick’s first goal.
Limerick’s main men were back on track but all of the Limerick players look to have rediscovered that edge and that cause they needed after the Cork performance.
Their accuracy and stick passing was far sharper and crisper but John Kiely made a big statement from the outset by dropping Diarmuid Byrnes and Darragh O’Donovan.
Byrnes was a huge call because he has been one of Limerick’s main men.
Managements need to be similarly brave in Clare and Waterford now in the coming days.
A lot of soul searching needs to be done so I’d be inclined to pull the group around in a circle and get stuff out in the open.
Hard questions need to asked and answered, both of players and management.
Waterford need to start asking themselves those questions with the bigger and longer-term picture in mind, but Clare need to come up with the answers far quicker.
Because they’re going into the lion’s den next Sunday in the Gaelic Grounds.
And Limerick will be hell bent on revenge for last year.
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Post by kerrygold on Jun 3, 2019 15:15:08 GMT
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Post by Mickmack on Jun 7, 2019 7:24:13 GMT
By John Fogarty GAA Correspondent
Thursday, June 06, 2019 - 06:50 PM
Few if any All-Ireland champions were measured for coffins as much as Tipperary in 1992. Cork, letting their neighbours off the reel twice having been seven points up in the previous year’s drawn Munster final, had them sized up from a long way out. And goals from John Fitzgibbon and Tomás Mulcahy confirmed the retribution in Páirc Uí Chaoimh.
Fuelled by Canon O’Brien’s declaration before the game that Cork’s jersey represented the blood and bandages and Tipperary had “a big yellow streak” running through theirs, his players dumped Babs Keating’s side out of the Championship on June 7. There would be another two weeks of longer evenings but Tipperary were gone.
Learn more Having beaten Limerick in Ennis last year to reach the provincial final, Clare mightn’t be seething as much as Cork were 27 years ago when they arrive in the LIT Gaelic Grounds on Sunday but the carrot dangled in front of them is weighty. The combination of an expected home win for Cork over Waterford the evening before and a fourth consecutive Championship victory for the Banner over their neighbours would mean Limerick’s reign is over on June 10.
Falls from grace even more premature than Tipperary’s exit in 1992 include Cork’s in 1967 (June 4 loss to Waterford) and Tipperary in 1966 (June 6 defeat to Limerick). In that latter season, a hat-trick of goals from Éamonn Cregan ended Tipperary’s three-in-a-row ambitions at the first hurdle.
But a Limerick exit this weekend would be most stunning of all, bearing in mind their show of strength in claiming the Division 1 title and the widely-held assumption that they were carrying on from where they left off last season.
But how has it come to this, particularly as Limerick sit relatively pretty in second place in the Munster SHC table, after a handsome 20-point win away to Waterford in their second game and boasting a plus 13-point score difference? A combination of head-to-head differentials and scheduling is the short answer.
By 6pm on Sunday, it might all have turned out to be just a bad dream but for now it’s a clear and present danger. John Kiely himself acknowledged as much earlier this week when speaking of the “new level of importance” attached to the upcoming derby and almost calling on Limerick supporters to forgive the home performance against Cork and get behind the team now when it matters most.
Their fine record against Limerick aside, Clare may take comfort from knowing they have the ability to bounce back from disappointments such as the hosing Tipperary gave them in Cusack Park last weekend.
Having lost to Cork despite being eight points up towards the end of the first half of last year’s Munster final, they blew Wexford away in their All-Ireland quarter-final. And they went on a winning three-game run following their opening day reverse against Cork.
Not many expected Limerick to find themselves on this precipice but there were two standout naysayers. In December, Anthony Daly wrote in this newspaper of how his suggestion Limerick might not make the top three in the province went down like a lead balloon at a function in the Woodlands Hotel in Adare.
John (Kiely) knows how difficult it will be to even come out of Munster next year. It’s going to be such a bearpit that when I asked the question, ‘Will Limerick even come in that top three next year?’ it was greeted by jeers and boos from around the room.
“I’ve no doubt that this Limerick group will win more All-Irelands but it’s doubtful if it will be in 2019. Limerick know that every other team will be keen to do them down, to topple them off their lofty perch.”
In February, Jackie Tyrrell spoke of his concern that Limerick were going too good, too early and that was before they claimed the league crown. “I wouldn’t be really getting too carried away by Limerick just yet. It’s a long year. I don’t see them winning the All-Ireland this year, I really don’t. They’re nearly going too well for me now. I would be wrapping some of those lads in cotton wool and holding them back a bit.”
Since the introduction of the backdoor no defending All-Ireland champions have been knocked out of the following year’s competition in June. Clare, after drawing their initial qualifier bout with Wexford on July 5, came the closest in 2014 when they were beaten by Liam Dunne’s team seven days later.
Kiely this week spoke of the Limerick’s epic battle with Clare in ‘96, of being a substitute on the day in the Gaelic Grounds and the vivid memory of Ciarán Carey’s winning score. That season’s was the last knockout championship. Sunday may as well be just that for Limerick.
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Post by Mickmack on Jun 8, 2019 8:24:47 GMT
Cork should beat Waterford today.
In that happens, Limerick must beat Clare tomorrow to stay in the championship.
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Post by Mickmack on Jun 8, 2019 10:08:21 GMT
By Anthony Daly
Saturday, June 08, 2019 - 12:00 AM
There was a famous photograph taken in 2000 at a Leinster U21 final, shortly after Offaly had dethroned Cork to reach the All-Ireland senior final, where they were due to square up to Kilkenny again. Anyway, some fella got a notion to make a statement and he chose a slogan across his jersey to broadcast it. ‘Munster hurling my arse.’
The TG4 cameras picked it up and a host of media outlets ran with the story, all loaded with the intent of bigging up Leinster ahead of Munster hurling. Offaly had been All-Ireland champions in 1998 but, after Clare and Tipperary had contested the first all Munster All-Ireland final in 1997, many Leinster folk were only dying to fire a shot back across the Munster skies as soon as the opportunity presented itself.
Learn more Even though we’re all the one hurling community, there will always be some degree of rivalry between the provinces, and I’ve detected little traces of it over the last couple of weeks. The Leinster Championship has been as tight as a drum. The Munster Championship has been a washout.
That is the primary narrative but don’t anyone tell me that Galway-Wexford, or Dublin-Wexford were classics. They were both draws but, even though Clare were beaten by 13 points last weekend, there was still far more quality in the opening quarter of that match that in any of the Galway-Wexford game.
I’m saying it now with the benefit of hindsight, but I genuinely felt that Munster might struggle to produce the same drama as it did in 2018. Apart from second-season syndrome, could we really have expected as many dramatic comebacks and Hitchcockian subplots for the second year in a row?
Teams are studying each other to death now but the system has its flaws too. The sequencing still isn’t exactly fair when you look at Limerick and Clare’s scheduling of three games in 14 days. With Waterford as good as gone, Cork may have the opportunity to do a number on them this evening and sky-rocket their scoring difference, which could yet be crucial if three teams end on the same points.
Five of the six wins to date have been secured by the away team, which is the biggest turnaround from last year, but it’s been even more surprising how Clare and Waterford have taken such hidings in what they – and everyone else – expected to be fortresses.
I thought that Walsh Park was going to be a game-changer, both for Waterford and everyone else, but it looks now to have been more of a distraction than anything else. Waterford nearly made too much of it, by assuming that the opposition would be intimidated by the venue. I never felt Walsh Park suited this team but Waterford have almost looked spooked by the pressure of having to play at home.
Waterford have to show some pride now, anything, but while saying they’ve already thrown in the towel is too strong a description, they look like a side just willing the season to be over. I heard one horror story of a prominent player maybe not even making himself available for selection this evening. It’s doubtful that you can resurrect some level of performance from that morbid mental state within the squad. I expect Cork to load their full-forward line, blitz Waterford early, and to secure an expected win.
I was at a Permanent TSB breakfast morning in Limerick during the week. TJ Ryan was sitting at the table beside me when I said, ‘Sunday is big for us, but it’s far bigger for ye. Because if ye lose….’ I left the sentence hanging for effect but TJ, and everyone else in Limerick, doesn’t need to be told of the apocalyptic implications of defeat. For the All-Ireland champions to be knocked out, in front of their home crowd, by Clare, would be complete doomsday scenario stuff.
It seems a long, long time ago now since we went into the Gaelic Grounds as All-Ireland champions and Ciarán Carey sent us packing. The dynamic is slightly different now in that Clare still have another chance but this is old-school knockout stuff for Limerick. One shot, miss, and it’s all over.
Limerick will be pumped to the gills but the Clare boys will be psyched up to their eyeballs. There has been a dark cloud over the county all week after the Tipp performance but the Clare crowd will turn up in big numbers. The rivalry is fizzing again and the place should be rocking.
I’m sure there was some hard talking done amongst the Clare squad this week but most of the answers they’re looking for are not too hard to find; silly fouling, poor decision making, the ball coming back off the post and nobody near Seamie Callanan.
Limerick were seriously impressive last weekend, even if Waterford were atrocious, but do they stick or twist now? Does Paddy O’Loughlin start, or do they reintroduce Diarmaid Byrnes for his experience? The flipside to that argument though, is that the Byrnes situation underlines the massive depth which Limerick have, and Clare don’t.
I’m hoping in my heart that Clare can come out and deliver a performance befitting the occasion, and what it demands of the players. Clare showed last year that they are good enough but it will take more than just skill, heart and character because, apart from the motivation to avenge last year, Limerick look to have the edge back. Praying I’m wrong again but it looks like the odds are stacked the Treaty’s way.
Tomorrow’s game in Nowlan Park is one of these fascinating sub-plots in the ever-twisting Leinster story. It appears that Galway have to win and, yet, whether they do or not, they will still definitely have to win in Parnell next weekend to make sure of qualification.
That gives them some sort of leeway but Galway still won’t want to be taking any chances. What adds even more intrigue to the sub-plot is the scent of blood in Kilkenny’s nostrils. Galway look like a wounded animal, slightly staggering in the dark forest, maybe having lost their way a little, and the Kilkenny beast can sense the kill.
After losing twice to Galway last year, one of which was a hiding, Kilkenny would like nothing better than to cut Galway open, especially in front of their own crowd baying for fresh blood.
This isn’t the Kilkenny of ten years ago, who could cut your navel in the first ten minutes, and then watch you bleed out for the remainder of the match. Galway were All-Ireland champions less than two years ago but this team isn’t that team, or it certainly doesn’t have the confidence or conviction which carried Galway to that title.
I wasn’t impressed with them against Wexford. You could sense the despondency and frustration around Salt-hill that evening. I saw it first hand from talking to a few Galway supporters in the hotel afterwards. That air of negativity, which too often crippled Galway in the past, was palpable again. It seems to have gripped the players and they need to smash their way through whatever it is that’s holding them back.
Too many guys are just not performing, especially their big guns - David Burke, Conor Cooney, Gearoid McInerney, Padraic Mannion, Cathal Mannion. Guys who have been on the periphery like Jason Flynn, Brian Concannon and Niall Burke didn’t do it the last day either but it’s difficult to get traction in a team when so many players are below par.
Galway have lacked that killer instinct and ruthless edge but they have been off-kilter in so many areas too, especially free-taking. I saw Niall Burke lasering over frees for Oranmore last year. Jason Flynn and Conor Cooney are solid free-takers but the malaise is just reflecting the general lack of confidence around the team.
Galway will have to be better than they have been but they should be. Joseph Cooney looked gassed after 45 minutes against Wexford but he’ll have benefitted from the two extra weeks of training.
Daithi Burke, who was only coming back from injury for the Wexford match, will be sharper too It could still take just one spark for Galway to explode again and this could be the game of the weekend. Kilkenny have big names coming back from injury. TJ Reid and Colin Fennelly have been on fire. You’d have to fancy them at home but, this match is so hard to call, that I wouldn’t rule out a draw.
After Dublin’s 12-point win against Carlow last Sunday, Wexford’s baseline target this evening will be to surpass that margin. Carlow aren’t a goal-scoring team but I don’t see Davy Fitzgerald reinventing the wheel. He will still probably have Kevin Foley sitting as a sweeper but I’d expect to see Paudie Foley, Matthew O’Hanlon and Shaun Murphy bombing forward at every opportunity. You could see Lee Chin closer to goal with Conor McDonald. It could be a patient day for Wexford, one of those evenings to knock over 1-25 or 1-26, while conceding very little at the back.
Either way, Wexford will get the job done with plenty to spare. Finally, the Joe McDonagh Cup is really ramping up in intensity and drama this weekend. In many ways, the competition has been more exciting than the Liam MacCarthy Cup.
The great pity is that the Joe McDonagh has had such little profile, which is why it’s great to see today’s games between Kerry and Laois, and Antrim and Westmeath, being shown on GAA Now. The exposure is fully deserved.
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Post by Mickmack on Jun 9, 2019 14:43:00 GMT
Brilliant match between Galway and KK. One point win for Galway but you cant but admire KKs resolve.
Galway were poor v Wexford but they are back with a bang. And Joe watching on.
Paul Murphy got two yellows. Big moment and shows that leaving a defender on the field when on a yellow card is risky.
KK must go to Wexford next sunday. Massive game. Galway away to Dublin. Dublin could win that if Galway feel they have done enough as they are on 5 points now. Great round robin in Leinster this year.
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Post by Mickmack on Jun 9, 2019 16:28:41 GMT
Waterford and Clare well off the pace this year which made the Munster round robin a non event. Limerick are buzzing now and the final game v Tipp should be a dry run for the Munster final. Clare will be hoping that Limerick beat Tipp in the final game as it would mean that Clare and Cork would end up on 4 points should Clare beat Cork in the last game....and Clare would grab the third spot ahead of Cork due to winning the head to head game. Clare dont look good enough to beat Cork though.
Should Tipp beat Limerick and Clare beat Cork, then three counties would be on 4 points and scoring difference would eliminate Clare in that scenario.
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