All-Ireland hurling final....Kilkenny V Tipperary...Thoughts and opinions..

Great display from Tipp. I hadn't realised how much KK rely on King Henry until today. Lar Corbett and Noel McGrath were fantastic and Callanan coming in hit two points to steady the ship when KK were on top. Very unlike KK to lose their way in the last 5 minutes but they pucked several aimless balls into the half forward line that Tipp cleared up with ease. Fantastic final from start to finish.

Game of inches really.

Eddie has a chance in the first half, timed his stroke a fraction of a second too late and ball floats harmlessly wide. How many times does Eddie miss them?

Lar done the other end, catches a 50/50 ball over the head of Hickey, turns BANG, back of the net. Immediate six point turnaround.

Second half, John O'Brien cutting through the heart of the Kilkenny defence, simple point on, spots the onrushing Lar and instead of taking the easy point gives it outside and Lar is equal to it again.

Same thing down the other end, Richie Power in yards of space with minutes on the clock, two Kilkenny men in acres of space but Power opts to put it over when a clever pass would surely have resulted in a goal.

Kilkenny don't normally make those mistakes, least of all Eddie Brennan and Richie Power but the weight of history playing in a man's head makes him do funny things I suppose. Wasn't to be but it dosen't make Kilkenny any less of a team.

Clever tactics from Tipp also
KK in recent games have gone for jugular early - Tipp clearly set out a plan where they would not concede goals - In the first half with one exception if KK got moving inside the 45 Tipp would concede a free - Tactic worked even better when henry missed an easy one and Power missed two easy ones - In the first half the ball was never in play for more the sixty seconds

The Puke wrote:Goals win games, and as i said in the build up they would need at least 2 more than the cats...Better team won but it was closer than the scoreline showed...Kilkenny were a rabble come the last 5 minutes and it isn't too often you see them taking off 4 of their starting forwards....Lar Corbett was excellent when he got on the ball and is a shoe in for MOTM....Eddie Brennan and Hickey looked like shadows of their former selves.....

eddie Brennan hit the ball three times in the entire match.

So did lar Corbett.

I shall return with a fuller analysis.

OMAR wrote:Clever tactics from Tipp also
KK in recent games have gone for jugular early - Tipp clearly set out a plan where they would not concede goals - In the first half with one exception if KK got moving inside the 45 Tipp would concede a free - Tactic worked even better when henry missed an easy one and Power missed two easy ones - In the first half the ball was never in play for more the sixty seconds

Interesting spot Omar. When Larkin and Reid ran at the Tipp defence in the first half, it caused headaches and ultimately led to the Power goal. But yes there did appear to be a clear tactic to defend in numbers and foul/frustrate when the Cats got within scoring range.

We will forever wonder though what if the Eddie of 2008 got the chance he had in the first half, would he have scored it? In my opinion, Cummins was helpless, roof of the net, no doubt about it. Today, his mind was not in it and he mis-timed his stroke. Power, probably Kilkenny's best all year failed to spot two of his team-mates in acres of space. Tommy and JJ were rarely in it as well bar the odd Tipp ball directed to their half-forward line. Tipperary did well to limit the influence these guys had on the game just like against Waterford when Browne and The Brick were bypassed with nearly every Tipp attack.

Finally, Cody. I felt he was very hasty in taking off Taggy, Eddie and TJ. Mulhall and Hogan are very good but not in the league of the players they replaced. Okay, so Eddie hadn't been playing as well as we are so accustomed to but lets remember what he's capable of. Kilkenny hit a lot of long balls in Power's direction in the last fifteen minutes and many broke, who knows with Eddie's eye, what he could have pounced on? And then there's the Shefflin thing. As Thomas Clarke once said, failure to take a risk is a risk in iteself but was the Shefflin gamble a calculated risk? Looked to me like Cody was worried and played the Henry card in hope rather than expectation.

Very exciting game and, as mentioned above, much closer than the final score make out. Tipp, however, took their chances in front of goal whereas Kilkenny wasted several opportunities for a green flag by either hitting a point or mis-hitting the shot. The physicality of the game meant that skilful hurling wasn't going to be on display throughout but moments of class passing from Tipp resulted in some superb scores that were a pleasure to watch.

Awesome stuff from start to finish.

Not sure about Tipps tactics in some areas - short puckouts were a disaster when they were more than holding their own on the long ones. But credit to Sheedy & Co for the way the team were prepared. Mentally, physically they were spot on and they were fired up to the last - on the legal side. Some great performances all round and to kick on with two quick goals when KK levelled at 1-10 showed they didn't lack belief. KK were very disappointing but Tipp must get credit for that - they gave them no room. Some of the goals were excellent and Lar is a shoe-in for MotM!

ps Is this the first time that both All Irelands were won by back-door teams?

What was Tennyson thinking hurling the.. hurl.. at LC?? If it had struck him he was off and it was only early in the second half!

Jonsmith wrote:What was Tennyson thinking hurling the.. hurl.. at LC?? If it had struck him he was off and it was only early in the second half!

Yes - rush of blood. Mind you Lar took a fair few steps! But his finishing was superb today. I see ads for Tipperary water on RTE tonight - jaysus are they mad or what! Tipp backs gave away too many silly frees but were awesome all the same. The younger lads were immense and if they stay focused have to be odds on for the U21.

The person who had the biggesy shocker today was ...none other than ... Mr Ger Canning. I lost count of the amount of times he said Tipp instead of KK and vice versa. The guy does nothing for the excitement at all - I reckon MM would bring more. Ger is probably a nice guy but he doesn't cut the mustard. I felt sorry for Michael Deignan.

Jayo Cluxton wrote:The person who had the biggesy shocker today was ...none other than ... Mr Ger Canning. I lost count of the amount of times he said Tipp instead of KK and vice versa. The guy does nothing for the excitement at all - I reckon MM would bring more. Ger is probably a nice guy but he doesn't cut the mustard. I felt sorry for Michael Deignan.

He has bee like this for years, the man is an embarrassment for years....Should be given the chop, Darragh Moloney did the football the other week and did an excellent job, would like to see him get a few more games, only ever seems to comentate on the Dubs

The Puke wrote:He has bee like this for years, the man is an embarrassment for years....Should be given the chop

Do they not have something like a referee's assessor? Jaysus anyone who knows anything about the GAA knows he's a beaten docket.

Jayo Cluxton wrote:

The Puke wrote:He has bee like this for years, the man is an embarrassment for years....Should be given the chop

Do they not have something like a referee's assessor? Jaysus anyone who knows anything about the GAA knows he's a beaten docket.

Eamonn Sweeney had a very cutting piece on him in the Sindo the week after the kilkenny v cork match, Moloney and Morrissey did the two football semi-finals after it....co-incedence, maybe!

Pauric Lodge is fairly good on Radio 1 as well the odd occasion I have heard him, surely to god they should give someone elsea chance

Aye heard Lodge and he's good alright. Even Brian Carty isn't the worst (if a bit anal at times!).

Jayo Cluxton wrote:Aye heard Lodge and he's good alright. Even Brian Carty isn't the worst (if a bit anal at times!).

His and Jim Carney's voices go through me.....Gives me ire listening to them....We have a lad here on Clare FM, Syl O'Conner, also the county PRO and he is excellent, great man to call a game.....pure class act....

Yeah there are good lads in local stations ... probably not the D4 flavour though ..

Warmest congratulations to Tipp posters, sami, hag and Cheese if he appears here, and the sensible ones everywhere.

a well deserved win, enjoy it.

This game wasn't won today. I was at the quarters in 2007, Bab's last game, and wexford beat Tipp.

They have worked amazingly hard in the 3 years since to improve and today was the reward.

I was the voter who backed tipp to win, i knew they had it in them and now suddenly the gloom and doom of ten in a row is over thank you tipperary, kk have been the best ever and great champs, however yesterdays game levels the playing field a bit!

Congrats to all of tipp especially the posters on here.

Well done Tipp and to all stonethrower posters. Were the better team on the day. Sheedy has done a great job and now it is time for Babs to shut it.Kilkenny fabulous team and will be thereabouts again next year.

yeah well done tipp - the goals won the game had tipp not been as ruthless in going for goals i would have imagined kk would have hung on in there.

sheff was a massive loss on the day prob should not have started and when the free taker changed he missed a few prob was not expecting to be hitting too many i suppose.

What did I tell ya Boxty, Kilkenny, wet days and All Ireland Finals dont go well together.

Absolutely no one can say Tipp didnt deserve their victory yesterday even though it kills me inside to say it.
I think Kilkenny should have prepared for this All Ireland without King Henry when they discovered his cruciate was gone. I was very disappointed Kilkenny overall especially Hickey, Tyrell, Tennyson, TJ(2nd Half), Larkin(2nd Half), Taggy and Eddie Brennan.

The movement of the Tipp forwards was class and they took their scores brilliantly.
Another tactic I saw some of them using especially Seamus Callinan was holding onto the defenders hurl before the ball was hit to them.


I think RTE should have Eddie Moroney doing the commentary.

it was a fantastic game of hurling and you have to give great credit to the Tipp management and players - to a man they stuck to the game plan which was to harass KK from the very outset. They hurled brilliantly and were far and away the better team. The whole Shefflin 'should he or shouldnt he have started is irrelevant, Cody was right to start him and it was unfortunate that he only lasted for 12 minutes but Tennyson lasted the whole game with a similar injury. Look at KKs other big players Walsh JJ etc none of them played to their potential because they werent allowed so there is a fair chance had Shefflin stayed on the whole game the result might not have been any different.

My MOTM would have been Tipps No 7 Maher - i thought he was immense and if memory serves me right he had a fairly decent game in last years final.

What odds would you get on KK doing another 3 or 4 in a row. They are not finished yet and will be back with a bang next year.

hurlingguru wrote:. I was very disappointed Kilkenny overall especially Hickey, Tyrell, Tennyson, TJ(2nd Half), Larkin(2nd Half), Taggy and Eddie Brennan.

The movement of the Tipp forwards was class and they took their scores brilliantly.

Winner takes all HG...Personally I thought Tyrell had a great game, thundering challenges, surging bursts forward etc...Tennyson got 7/10 from me as did Larkin who was the only KK forward to adopt the direct run approach. The others mentioned by you were, in the main, missing in action...Brennan has been poor this year, the old "eye" has been out for a while but I wouldn't write him off yet.
The loss of Shefflin was immense. When they found their rhythm and got a foothold in the game, they missed his leadership, his steadying influence and his pinpoint delivery. They became dis-jointed and hence drove aimless balls all over the shop...
Not to take from Tipperary. They arrived with a steely determination and a solid game plan that they stuck to and it proved to be good enough. Corbett was on fire and their backs, to a man hurled solidly. A high intensity game, tremendous clashes, great scores, adequate refereeing and good sportsmanship made it an 8/10 game.
Boxty's travel plans worked to a tee. Noble pre-game feed and a lock of pints (vastly overpriced), 2 good games and a safe return told all.....

Well done to Tipp never thought they would get back to the same level they did last year..I was quite surprised really- and they just got the breaks on the day, the cats got them last year.. I believe the pressure of 5 in a row got to the cats in the end....Cody made a few bad calls, put after winning 7 All-Irelands no one could question him really..I believe Cody will stay steady the ship and depart after winning Liam in 2011..

I was at this and doubt very much I will experience an atmosphere like it again for a long long time. Well done to both sets of supporters and two great teams for making it such a great occasion. The standing ovation from everyone for Shefflin is something that will live long in the memory and it was a privilege to be a part of it.

Tipp were outstanding from no's 1 to 15 and a lot of credit must go to Liam Sheedy for having them tuned up to perferction. They learned from last year and took the goal chances that came their way. Noel Mgraths setting up the 2nd goal for Corbett was sublime and Corbett himself turned in the 'perfect' corner forward performance on Sunday, gave a masterclass in finishing. Eoin Kelly was immense again and Callanan's two swift points when he was introduced were the essential moments in the game I thought that finally broke Kilkenny. Tipp's midfield of Shane MgRath and Brendan Maher in particular had massive games but the nuts and bolts of what made Tipp the better side on Sunday was their defense. Curran, Stapleton, Fanning, Paudie Maher, young Cahill and Conor O Mahoney these are the lads who laid the foundations for glory. They never let Kilkenny settle for a second.

Cody's decision to start Shefflin was obviously a mistake but that was not the reason they lost. Poor showings from the likes of Hickey, Brennan, Cha, and subdued dispays from Walsh, Tennyssonn(mistake to start him too imo) and Fogarty left them looking fragile in a way we are not accustomed to. The cracks were ruthlessly exposed by a Tipp side who were hellbent on making sure there would be no repeat of 2009. Ritchy Power tried but he is no Shefflin alas, and Larkin and Rice did ok for KK as well. Outside of JJ Delany, Micheal Fennelly and Jackie Tyrrell though no one from KK played t the maximum. These three were immense. Jackie Tyrell has everything a great defender needs and I though he was the only real leader who stood up for KK on the day. He has serious aggression but in the right mould, perhaps Tommy Walsh and John Tennysonn might take a leaf out of his book when their not too busy flinging their hurleys around the place.