Kilkenny V Tipperary..Hurling Final 2011....04/09/2011.

It was a very good final. Really enjoyed it - epic battle.

Few points I will make:
1) Eddie Brennan was my MOTM - missed a goal chance in last year's final that he'd bury 9 times out of 10, would have put Kilkenny ahead at the time. Came back at 33 years and in his first championship match of the year, produces that. An exhibition in blocking, tackling and hooking and then in the last quarter, splits the Tipp defence open with the pace he was famed for years ago. Fantastic from Eddie - and after the three players named in paragraph 2, the best player on this Kilkenny side.
2) Tommy Walsh, JJ Delaney and Henry Sheffling are without doubt the greatest 5,7 and 11 to play the game. Magnificent performances from the three of them.
3) Colin Fennelly and Paul Murphy were outstanding and both should be gauranteed AllStars.
4) Kilkenny had their match-ups spot on - Hickey on Eoin Kelly, Murphy on John O'Brien, Walsh on Bonnar, JJ on Seamus Callinan, Hogan on Noel McGrath and best of all was Jackie Tyrell's performance on Lar. Lar's worst game since 2007.
5) Eoin Larkin and Richie Power have had better years but again produced the goods on the big day.

The four point winning margin flattered Tipperary and they did well to hang onto Kilkenny for the full seventy minutes. So many of their big names didn't perform but many blunders were made on the sideline, i.e. the Brendan Maher omission, John O'Keeffe on Shefflin for almost the entire first half and the substitution of John O'Brien late in the game.

Loyal2TheRoyal wrote:It was a very good final. Really enjoyed it - epic battle.

Few points I will make:
1) Eddie Brennan was my MOTM - missed a goal chance in last year's final that he'd bury 9 times out of 10, would have put Kilkenny ahead at the time. Came back at 33 years and in his first championship match of the year, produces that. An exhibition in blocking, tackling and hooking and then in the last quarter, splits the Tipp defence open with the pace he was famed for years ago. Fantastic from Eddie - and after the three players named in paragraph 2, the best player on this Kilkenny side.
2) Tommy Walsh, JJ Delaney and Henry Sheffling are without doubt the greatest 5,7 and 11 to play the game. Magnificent performances from the three of them.
3) Colin Fennelly and Paul Murphy were outstanding and both should be gauranteed AllStars.
4) Kilkenny had their match-ups spot on - Hickey on Eoin Kelly, Murphy on John O'Brien, Walsh on Bonnar, JJ on Seamus Callinan, Hogan on Noel McGrath and best of all was Jackie Tyrell's performance on Lar. Lar's worst game since 2007.
5) Eoin Larkin and Richie Power have had better years but again produced the goods on the big day.

The four point winning margin flattered Tipperary and they did well to hang onto Kilkenny for the full seventy minutes. So many of their big names didn't perform but many blunders were made on the sideline, i.e. the Brendan Maher omission, John O'Keeffe on Shefflin for almost the entire first half and the substitution of John O'Brien late in the game.

Thought it was a brilliant game myself, the intensity of the cats in the first twenty most teams would have been down by 12/13 only for luck that tipp wasnt!

The standard was way down on the last two Finals. Tipp never got their game going yet still managed to outscore Cats 1-16 to 2-12 from the 16th minute to the end. Kilkenny played well but looked out on their feet towards the finish and were there for the taking yesterday. JJ was immense and their big game players stepped up as they always do. It was their slow start that killed Tipp and clearly they were not right mentally going into the game, O Sheas loss to them in this regard is incalculable. Yesterdays Final proved that these two teams are certainly not as far ahead of the chasing pack as many would lead us to believe.

mossbags wrote:The standard was way down on the last two Finals.

Kilkenny forged their way into an early lead, contained with ease any potential threats and the confidence of Cody's sectoral decisions were well founded...I's say Cody got his strategy about right, trusted his own judgement and got to the winning post in time.
Kilkenny were visibly running out of steam near the end, but as Mossbags or someone says, their big players all found their groove and hurled well.

Despite my assertions early in the year that Kilkenny are finished, they stepped up yet again.

From Global GAA...Brian Gavin on his misfortune.

"If I was standing back a couple of yards and he hit someone in the head, I would have had to take action," he said. "Eoin Kelly was fairly quick to tell me who hit me. 'It was Tommy, Brian, it was Tommy, it was Tommy!'"

If its' possible, Eoin Kelly has diminished further in my opinion with this revelation....

This won't go down well in Tipp

Sep 10, 2011KILKENNY DOMINANCE NOT REFLECTED ON SCORE BOARD
Going into last Sunday’s All-Ireland final, there appeared to be two main points of view among the pundits regarding the game’s final outcome. On the one side there were those who favoured Kilkenny on the grounds that they would want it more than Tipperary; on the other side were those who favoured Tipperary on the grounds that they were younger and fresher and would have the legs going into the final stages.

In the end, there is no doubt that Kilkenny’s desire was greatest, as reflected in an overall superiority in the number of plays of 203/178, a level of territorial domination which they maintained in both halves. However, of even greater importance was the superior quality of the Cats’ play. Under our system where plays are rated on a quality range of 1-5, Kilkenny’s average of 2.34 was way ahead of Tipperary’s 1.97. Of 24 plays which were awarded a quality rating of 4 or 5, Tipperary only accounted for 4.

Kilkenny’s territorial dominance was achieved despite playing second fiddle when it came to winning puckouts. Tipperary won most (65%) of Kilkenny’s puckouts and the majority (54%) of their own. But then last year the roles were reversed, with Kilkenny winning the majority of both sides’ puckouts, but losing the game.

The overall balance in terms of plays was reflected in the difference in the number of shots at goal managed by both sides, with Kilkenny getting in 30 to Tipperary’s 20. Yet in the end, Kilkenny’s territorial domination was not reflected on the scoreboard. The main reason for this was the fact that the Cats’ shooting was not on a par with their general play. They only converted 63% of their shots, compared with Tipperary’s extraordinarily high conversion rate of 85%.

Indeed, with the scoring so close, those who expected Tipp to have the legs were nearly vindicated, as they stormed the Kilkenny citadel in the closing stages and were a little unfortunate not to get the second goal which would have made for a grandstand finish. However, once again it was the team with the better attitude which got the breaks, and overall it would have been an injustice had Kilkenny not won this game.

In doing so, they had some towering performances, with no less than eight players getting a quality points total of 30 or more, of whom five got over 40. By contrast, only two Tipperary players got into the thirties, neither of whom came even close to 40.

In our report on the 2009 final, we suggested that Tipperary were too preoccupied with running with, and passing the ball, and needed to be more direct in their play. Since then, and especially this year, they have gone overboard in the opposite direction, being fixated with lashing the ball in the direction of the Kilkenny goal at every opportunity. This might work if you are hitting the ball in from around midfield, so that it is landing in the so-called point of maximum opportunity around the goal.

However, last Sunday, Tipperary had few opportunities to send in this kind of ball. In total, they sent in just seven long balls which landed inside the 20 metres line, but five of these were from frees which meant the landing area was crowded with waiting defenders. An example of this came in the 28th minute when John O’Brien made a superb catch from a Conor O’Mahony free but was unable to either pass the ball or get in a shot and the ball was eventually cleared.

Tipperary’s main supplier of good early long ball from out the field has been Shane McGrath, but last Sunday he was totally eclipsed and did not manage even one ball of this type. Pádraic Maher is the other main supplier of this kind of ball, and last Sunday he persisted in letting the ball go long whenever he got it, the problem being that he was usually too far back which meant the ball rarely landed in the danger area (in fact he only landed two balls inside the Kilkenny 20 metre line during the course of the game).

While Kilkenny also hit their fair share of long ball (usually, as in Tipperary’s case, to little effect), they were much more varied in their approach, working their way up the field with hand or stick passes and using the crossfield ball, especially to Henry Shefflin, to great effect. Indeed, were it not for some untypical poor shooting by King Henry, the gap between the teams would have been significantly greater at the end.

The decision of the Tipperary mentors to place John O’Keefe on Shefflin was strange, as O’Keeffe had neither the experience, the height nor the strength to cope with the Kilkenny man, and this was a key factor in Kilkenny’s early scoring spurt which stood to them right to the end. One would also have thought that by now the same mentors would know that Seamus Callanan has no appetite for the kind of tight and tough exchanges which were certain to be a feature of this game, and that he is best used as a second half substitute when things are loosening up (as was the case in last year’s final). Last Sunday, Callanan made just one harmless play in the entire first half before being substituted.

Ultimately, Tipperary’s biggest problem last Sunday was the lack of a midfield platform from which telling ball could be played into their forwards. Shane McGrath was only a shadow of the player he can be. He rarely got on the ball at all, never mind producing the combination of early long balls and searing runs which are his stock in trade. Nor did the decision to replace him with Benny Dunne make much sense, as the hard working and hard running James Woodlock would have seemed the more obvious option against opposition like Kilkenny.

The key player in this sector was Michael Rice, who has an almost uncanny ability to be in position to take passes from out of defence or from fellow players under pressure in the midfield area. Rice rarely essays a spectacular play, concentrating on routine movement of the ball into his forwards. The service he provided helps account for the fact that the Kilkenny inside line notched 1-5 from play, compared with just one point for their Tipperary counterparts. Two of those forwards, Richie Hogan and Colin Fennelly, did not start last year’s final, and when one throws in the very effective performance of Paul Murphy, one can see that there is little sign of the Kilkenny conveyor belt drying up.

We have written here before of how little acknowledgement Michael Rice gets from the professional pundits, and last Sunday was no exception. Despite his crucial contribution to Kilkenny’s success in 2009, Rice did not start last year’s final but still ended up with his side’s highest quality points total after he replaced Henry Shefflin in the 13th minute. Last Sunday he did it again, his 53 quality points from 22 plays putting him ahead of Tommy Walsh’s 49 points from 18 plays. Also in the forties were Colin Fennelly (42/17, a remarkable total for a corner forward and especially a rookie), JJ Delaney (41/15) and Henry Shefflin (40/20). Following in the thirties were Richie Power (36/14), Eoin Larkin (33/15) and Eddie Brennan (30/11).

By contrast, Tipperary had nobody remotely near the forty mark, their top players being Pádraic Maher (34/18) and Micky Cahill (33/14). Brendan Maher got a very creditable 25 points following his introduction after 30 minutes, and the decision not to start him was another major mistake on the part of the Tipperary mentors. Eoin Kelly, Lar Corbett and Noel McGrath only played the ball 19 times between them. The same players contributed 34 plays in last year’s final and 35 the year before. The players in the same starting positions for Kilkenny (Colin Fennelly, Richie Hogan and Richie Power) made 39 plays between them.

In our view, referee Brian Gavin had a poor game last Sunday. We counted eleven incidents where his handling of the game was faulty, and while numerically these were equally divided between both sides, if he had acted properly the main impact would have been on Kilkenny. While the general reaction to the incident where Gavin was struck by Tommy Walsh has been lighthearted (including Gavin himself), Walsh’s flailing with the point of his hurley in a tight cluster of players was downright dangerous and could have taken Gavin’s eye out. Such behaviour should not be tolerated.

It is also hard to understand why Gavin did not issue a yellow card to Noel Hickey for this cynical trip on Patrick Maher in the first half. In the second half Hickey also got off scot free when he pulled across Benny Dunne as he charged through on goal. Richie Power also should have got a yellow card for a slap at Pádraic Maher’s hand midway through the second half. Referees have been very strict on this foul through the year, so why not in the final?

Play counts (plays/quality points)

KILKENNY (203/475) : Herity D (3/; Murphy P (13/24), Hickey N (5/12); Tyrrell J (11/19), Walsh T (18/49); Hogan B (13/29), JJ Delaney (15/41); Fennelly M (14/28); Rice M (22/53); Brennan E (11/30); Power R (14/36); Shefflin H (20/40); Fennelly C (17/42); Larkin E (15/33); Hogan R (8/20); Reid TJ (3/9); Mulhall J (1/2).

TIPPERARY (178/350): Cummins B (10/22); Stapleton P (12/22); Curran P (7/15); Cahill M (14/33); O’Keeffe J (3/5); O’Mahony C (11/20); Maher Padraic (18/34); Ryan G (13/26); McGrath S (7/11); Callanan S (1/1); McGrath N (8/19); Maher Patrick (13/25); Kelly E (4/11); O’Brien J (13/29); Corbett L (7/14); Maher B (15/25); Dunne B (5/11); Bourke P (12/16); Young D (4/9); O’Neill J (1/2).

The Puke wrote:Sep 10, 2011KILKENNY DOMINANCE NOT REFLECTED ON SCORE BOARD
Going into last Sunday’s All-Ireland final, there appeared to be two main points of view among the pundits regarding the game’s final outcome. On the one side there were those who favoured Kilkenny on the grounds that they would want it more than Tipperary; on the other side were those who favoured Tipperary on the grounds that they were younger and fresher and would have the legs going into the final stages.

In the end, there is no doubt that Kilkenny’s desire was greatest, as reflected in an overall superiority in the number of plays of 203/178, a level of territorial domination which they maintained in both halves. However, of even greater importance was the superior quality of the Cats’ play. Under our system where plays are rated on a quality range of 1-5, Kilkenny’s average of 2.34 was way ahead of Tipperary’s 1.97. Of 24 plays which were awarded a quality rating of 4 or 5, Tipperary only accounted for 4.

Kilkenny’s territorial dominance was achieved despite playing second fiddle when it came to winning puckouts. Tipperary won most (65%) of Kilkenny’s puckouts and the majority (54%) of their own. But then last year the roles were reversed, with Kilkenny winning the majority of both sides’ puckouts, but losing the game.

The overall balance in terms of plays was reflected in the difference in the number of shots at goal managed by both sides, with Kilkenny getting in 30 to Tipperary’s 20. Yet in the end, Kilkenny’s territorial domination was not reflected on the scoreboard. The main reason for this was the fact that the Cats’ shooting was not on a par with their general play. They only converted 63% of their shots, compared with Tipperary’s extraordinarily high conversion rate of 85%.

Indeed, with the scoring so close, those who expected Tipp to have the legs were nearly vindicated, as they stormed the Kilkenny citadel in the closing stages and were a little unfortunate not to get the second goal which would have made for a grandstand finish. However, once again it was the team with the better attitude which got the breaks, and overall it would have been an injustice had Kilkenny not won this game.

In doing so, they had some towering performances, with no less than eight players getting a quality points total of 30 or more, of whom five got over 40. By contrast, only two Tipperary players got into the thirties, neither of whom came even close to 40.

In our report on the 2009 final, we suggested that Tipperary were too preoccupied with running with, and passing the ball, and needed to be more direct in their play. Since then, and especially this year, they have gone overboard in the opposite direction, being fixated with lashing the ball in the direction of the Kilkenny goal at every opportunity. This might work if you are hitting the ball in from around midfield, so that it is landing in the so-called point of maximum opportunity around the goal.

However, last Sunday, Tipperary had few opportunities to send in this kind of ball. In total, they sent in just seven long balls which landed inside the 20 metres line, but five of these were from frees which meant the landing area was crowded with waiting defenders. An example of this came in the 28th minute when John O’Brien made a superb catch from a Conor O’Mahony free but was unable to either pass the ball or get in a shot and the ball was eventually cleared.

Tipperary’s main supplier of good early long ball from out the field has been Shane McGrath, but last Sunday he was totally eclipsed and did not manage even one ball of this type. Pádraic Maher is the other main supplier of this kind of ball, and last Sunday he persisted in letting the ball go long whenever he got it, the problem being that he was usually too far back which meant the ball rarely landed in the danger area (in fact he only landed two balls inside the Kilkenny 20 metre line during the course of the game).

While Kilkenny also hit their fair share of long ball (usually, as in Tipperary’s case, to little effect), they were much more varied in their approach, working their way up the field with hand or stick passes and using the crossfield ball, especially to Henry Shefflin, to great effect. Indeed, were it not for some untypical poor shooting by King Henry, the gap between the teams would have been significantly greater at the end.

The decision of the Tipperary mentors to place John O’Keefe on Shefflin was strange, as O’Keeffe had neither the experience, the height nor the strength to cope with the Kilkenny man, and this was a key factor in Kilkenny’s early scoring spurt which stood to them right to the end. One would also have thought that by now the same mentors would know that Seamus Callanan has no appetite for the kind of tight and tough exchanges which were certain to be a feature of this game, and that he is best used as a second half substitute when things are loosening up (as was the case in last year’s final). Last Sunday, Callanan made just one harmless play in the entire first half before being substituted.

Ultimately, Tipperary’s biggest problem last Sunday was the lack of a midfield platform from which telling ball could be played into their forwards. Shane McGrath was only a shadow of the player he can be. He rarely got on the ball at all, never mind producing the combination of early long balls and searing runs which are his stock in trade. Nor did the decision to replace him with Benny Dunne make much sense, as the hard working and hard running James Woodlock would have seemed the more obvious option against opposition like Kilkenny.

The key player in this sector was Michael Rice, who has an almost uncanny ability to be in position to take passes from out of defence or from fellow players under pressure in the midfield area. Rice rarely essays a spectacular play, concentrating on routine movement of the ball into his forwards. The service he provided helps account for the fact that the Kilkenny inside line notched 1-5 from play, compared with just one point for their Tipperary counterparts. Two of those forwards, Richie Hogan and Colin Fennelly, did not start last year’s final, and when one throws in the very effective performance of Paul Murphy, one can see that there is little sign of the Kilkenny conveyor belt drying up.

We have written here before of how little acknowledgement Michael Rice gets from the professional pundits, and last Sunday was no exception. Despite his crucial contribution to Kilkenny’s success in 2009, Rice did not start last year’s final but still ended up with his side’s highest quality points total after he replaced Henry Shefflin in the 13th minute. Last Sunday he did it again, his 53 quality points from 22 plays putting him ahead of Tommy Walsh’s 49 points from 18 plays. Also in the forties were Colin Fennelly (42/17, a remarkable total for a corner forward and especially a rookie), JJ Delaney (41/15) and Henry Shefflin (40/20). Following in the thirties were Richie Power (36/14), Eoin Larkin (33/15) and Eddie Brennan (30/11).

By contrast, Tipperary had nobody remotely near the forty mark, their top players being Pádraic Maher (34/18) and Micky Cahill (33/14). Brendan Maher got a very creditable 25 points following his introduction after 30 minutes, and the decision not to start him was another major mistake on the part of the Tipperary mentors. Eoin Kelly, Lar Corbett and Noel McGrath only played the ball 19 times between them. The same players contributed 34 plays in last year’s final and 35 the year before. The players in the same starting positions for Kilkenny (Colin Fennelly, Richie Hogan and Richie Power) made 39 plays between them.

In our view, referee Brian Gavin had a poor game last Sunday. We counted eleven incidents where his handling of the game was faulty, and while numerically these were equally divided between both sides, if he had acted properly the main impact would have been on Kilkenny. While the general reaction to the incident where Gavin was struck by Tommy Walsh has been lighthearted (including Gavin himself), Walsh’s flailing with the point of his hurley in a tight cluster of players was downright dangerous and could have taken Gavin’s eye out. Such behaviour should not be tolerated.

It is also hard to understand why Gavin did not issue a yellow card to Noel Hickey for this cynical trip on Patrick Maher in the first half. In the second half Hickey also got off scot free when he pulled across Benny Dunne as he charged through on goal. Richie Power also should have got a yellow card for a slap at Pádraic Maher’s hand midway through the second half. Referees have been very strict on this foul through the year, so why not in the final?

Play counts (plays/quality points)

KILKENNY (203/475) : Herity D (3/; Murphy P (13/24), Hickey N (5/12); Tyrrell J (11/19), Walsh T (18/49); Hogan B (13/29), JJ Delaney (15/41); Fennelly M (14/28); Rice M (22/53); Brennan E (11/30); Power R (14/36); Shefflin H (20/40); Fennelly C (17/42); Larkin E (15/33); Hogan R (8/20); Reid TJ (3/9); Mulhall J (1/2).

TIPPERARY (178/350): Cummins B (10/22); Stapleton P (12/22); Curran P (7/15); Cahill M (14/33); O’Keeffe J (3/5); O’Mahony C (11/20); Maher Padraic (18/34); Ryan G (13/26); McGrath S (7/11); Callanan S (1/1); McGrath N (8/19); Maher Patrick (13/25); Kelly E (4/11); O’Brien J (13/29); Corbett L (7/14); Maher B (15/25); Dunne B (5/11); Bourke P (12/16); Young D (4/9); O’Neill J (1/2).

So this is where you get your information...

I told you after the Dublin game how the cats would beat Tipp ,it didn't take a 1000 words either..

mullins wrote:

The Puke wrote:Sep 10, 2011KILKENNY DOMINANCE NOT REFLECTED ON SCORE BOARD
Going into last Sunday’s All-Ireland final, there appeared to be two main points of view among the pundits regarding the game’s final outcome. On the one side there were those who favoured Kilkenny on the grounds that they would want it more than Tipperary; on the other side were those who favoured Tipperary on the grounds that they were younger and fresher and would have the legs going into the final stages.

In the end, there is no doubt that Kilkenny’s desire was greatest, as reflected in an overall superiority in the number of plays of 203/178, a level of territorial domination which they maintained in both halves. However, of even greater importance was the superior quality of the Cats’ play. Under our system where plays are rated on a quality range of 1-5, Kilkenny’s average of 2.34 was way ahead of Tipperary’s 1.97. Of 24 plays which were awarded a quality rating of 4 or 5, Tipperary only accounted for 4.

Kilkenny’s territorial dominance was achieved despite playing second fiddle when it came to winning puckouts. Tipperary won most (65%) of Kilkenny’s puckouts and the majority (54%) of their own. But then last year the roles were reversed, with Kilkenny winning the majority of both sides’ puckouts, but losing the game.

The overall balance in terms of plays was reflected in the difference in the number of shots at goal managed by both sides, with Kilkenny getting in 30 to Tipperary’s 20. Yet in the end, Kilkenny’s territorial domination was not reflected on the scoreboard. The main reason for this was the fact that the Cats’ shooting was not on a par with their general play. They only converted 63% of their shots, compared with Tipperary’s extraordinarily high conversion rate of 85%.

Indeed, with the scoring so close, those who expected Tipp to have the legs were nearly vindicated, as they stormed the Kilkenny citadel in the closing stages and were a little unfortunate not to get the second goal which would have made for a grandstand finish. However, once again it was the team with the better attitude which got the breaks, and overall it would have been an injustice had Kilkenny not won this game.

In doing so, they had some towering performances, with no less than eight players getting a quality points total of 30 or more, of whom five got over 40. By contrast, only two Tipperary players got into the thirties, neither of whom came even close to 40.

In our report on the 2009 final, we suggested that Tipperary were too preoccupied with running with, and passing the ball, and needed to be more direct in their play. Since then, and especially this year, they have gone overboard in the opposite direction, being fixated with lashing the ball in the direction of the Kilkenny goal at every opportunity. This might work if you are hitting the ball in from around midfield, so that it is landing in the so-called point of maximum opportunity around the goal.

However, last Sunday, Tipperary had few opportunities to send in this kind of ball. In total, they sent in just seven long balls which landed inside the 20 metres line, but five of these were from frees which meant the landing area was crowded with waiting defenders. An example of this came in the 28th minute when John O’Brien made a superb catch from a Conor O’Mahony free but was unable to either pass the ball or get in a shot and the ball was eventually cleared.

Tipperary’s main supplier of good early long ball from out the field has been Shane McGrath, but last Sunday he was totally eclipsed and did not manage even one ball of this type. Pádraic Maher is the other main supplier of this kind of ball, and last Sunday he persisted in letting the ball go long whenever he got it, the problem being that he was usually too far back which meant the ball rarely landed in the danger area (in fact he only landed two balls inside the Kilkenny 20 metre line during the course of the game).

While Kilkenny also hit their fair share of long ball (usually, as in Tipperary’s case, to little effect), they were much more varied in their approach, working their way up the field with hand or stick passes and using the crossfield ball, especially to Henry Shefflin, to great effect. Indeed, were it not for some untypical poor shooting by King Henry, the gap between the teams would have been significantly greater at the end.

The decision of the Tipperary mentors to place John O’Keefe on Shefflin was strange, as O’Keeffe had neither the experience, the height nor the strength to cope with the Kilkenny man, and this was a key factor in Kilkenny’s early scoring spurt which stood to them right to the end. One would also have thought that by now the same mentors would know that Seamus Callanan has no appetite for the kind of tight and tough exchanges which were certain to be a feature of this game, and that he is best used as a second half substitute when things are loosening up (as was the case in last year’s final). Last Sunday, Callanan made just one harmless play in the entire first half before being substituted.

Ultimately, Tipperary’s biggest problem last Sunday was the lack of a midfield platform from which telling ball could be played into their forwards. Shane McGrath was only a shadow of the player he can be. He rarely got on the ball at all, never mind producing the combination of early long balls and searing runs which are his stock in trade. Nor did the decision to replace him with Benny Dunne make much sense, as the hard working and hard running James Woodlock would have seemed the more obvious option against opposition like Kilkenny.

The key player in this sector was Michael Rice, who has an almost uncanny ability to be in position to take passes from out of defence or from fellow players under pressure in the midfield area. Rice rarely essays a spectacular play, concentrating on routine movement of the ball into his forwards. The service he provided helps account for the fact that the Kilkenny inside line notched 1-5 from play, compared with just one point for their Tipperary counterparts. Two of those forwards, Richie Hogan and Colin Fennelly, did not start last year’s final, and when one throws in the very effective performance of Paul Murphy, one can see that there is little sign of the Kilkenny conveyor belt drying up.

We have written here before of how little acknowledgement Michael Rice gets from the professional pundits, and last Sunday was no exception. Despite his crucial contribution to Kilkenny’s success in 2009, Rice did not start last year’s final but still ended up with his side’s highest quality points total after he replaced Henry Shefflin in the 13th minute. Last Sunday he did it again, his 53 quality points from 22 plays putting him ahead of Tommy Walsh’s 49 points from 18 plays. Also in the forties were Colin Fennelly (42/17, a remarkable total for a corner forward and especially a rookie), JJ Delaney (41/15) and Henry Shefflin (40/20). Following in the thirties were Richie Power (36/14), Eoin Larkin (33/15) and Eddie Brennan (30/11).

By contrast, Tipperary had nobody remotely near the forty mark, their top players being Pádraic Maher (34/18) and Micky Cahill (33/14). Brendan Maher got a very creditable 25 points following his introduction after 30 minutes, and the decision not to start him was another major mistake on the part of the Tipperary mentors. Eoin Kelly, Lar Corbett and Noel McGrath only played the ball 19 times between them. The same players contributed 34 plays in last year’s final and 35 the year before. The players in the same starting positions for Kilkenny (Colin Fennelly, Richie Hogan and Richie Power) made 39 plays between them.

In our view, referee Brian Gavin had a poor game last Sunday. We counted eleven incidents where his handling of the game was faulty, and while numerically these were equally divided between both sides, if he had acted properly the main impact would have been on Kilkenny. While the general reaction to the incident where Gavin was struck by Tommy Walsh has been lighthearted (including Gavin himself), Walsh’s flailing with the point of his hurley in a tight cluster of players was downright dangerous and could have taken Gavin’s eye out. Such behaviour should not be tolerated.

It is also hard to understand why Gavin did not issue a yellow card to Noel Hickey for this cynical trip on Patrick Maher in the first half. In the second half Hickey also got off scot free when he pulled across Benny Dunne as he charged through on goal. Richie Power also should have got a yellow card for a slap at Pádraic Maher’s hand midway through the second half. Referees have been very strict on this foul through the year, so why not in the final?

Play counts (plays/quality points)

KILKENNY (203/475) : Herity D (3/; Murphy P (13/24), Hickey N (5/12); Tyrrell J (11/19), Walsh T (18/49); Hogan B (13/29), JJ Delaney (15/41); Fennelly M (14/28); Rice M (22/53); Brennan E (11/30); Power R (14/36); Shefflin H (20/40); Fennelly C (17/42); Larkin E (15/33); Hogan R (8/20); Reid TJ (3/9); Mulhall J (1/2).

TIPPERARY (178/350): Cummins B (10/22); Stapleton P (12/22); Curran P (7/15); Cahill M (14/33); O’Keeffe J (3/5); O’Mahony C (11/20); Maher Padraic (18/34); Ryan G (13/26); McGrath S (7/11); Callanan S (1/1); McGrath N (8/19); Maher Patrick (13/25); Kelly E (4/11); O’Brien J (13/29); Corbett L (7/14); Maher B (15/25); Dunne B (5/11); Bourke P (12/16); Young D (4/9); O’Neill J (1/2).

So this is where you get your information...

I told you after the Dublin game how the cats would beat Tipp ,it didn't take a 1000 words either..

who told you that mullins bottler ?

Regarding the Tommy Walsh incident, Brian Gavin bottled it, big time. He commented afterwards, "If Tommy had hit another player, I would probably have had to send him off."

So a player can hit referees, linesmen, umpires and that's okay? Is that what you're saying Mr Gavin?What Walsh did, chopping with his hurley into a group of players was reckless and constituted "dangerous play". The rule book says that "dangerous play" can be given a red card.

Walsh contributed even more to the surreal situation later in a interview when he said, "I'm sure Brian was happy to take one for Leinster hurling".

The whole refereeing situation is in a terrible mess. The trouble is, I'm not sure if referees realise it. If they did, their first action would be to get rid of their apologist, Michael Curley. Then the rules need to be seriously overhauled by a committee of people who will be affected by them, referees, players - and supporters, who are as much frustrated by their oddness of application as any player.

As for the game, Kilkenny deservedly won it. Cody knew what needed to be done and he made sure his players did it with smother hurling, exactly as they did to Cork in 2006. Tipperary should really have seen it coming, but apparently they didn't and when it was happening to them, they could see no way out.

Jaysus chill out Scorpio. Gavin had no idea who hit him except for a Tipp snitch saying 'It was Tommy ref, it was Tommy' ... He could hardly send him off on that basis. Cork are no angels with the hurls either. I seem to remember Tom Kenny getting away with a particularly filthy stroke on Cha a couple of years back. Cha has been high pitched ever since ....

Jayo Cluxton wrote:Jaysus chill out Scorpio. Gavin had no idea who hit him except for a Tipp snitch saying 'It was Tommy ref, it was Tommy' ... He could hardly send him off on that basis. Cork are no angels with the hurls either. I seem to remember Tom Kenny getting away with a particularly filthy stroke on Cha a couple of years back. Cha has been high pitched ever since ....

Tom Kenny received a ban for that and missed the first round of the following years munster championship due to it

I'm not defending any Cork player who indulges in that kind of stuff. Our own version of Walsh is John Gardiner. I think Gavin had a good idea who hit him without the assistance of Eoin Kelly (not exactly a hurling angel, himself), but if he intended to punish the strike he could have asked a linesman. I think he wanted to avoid seeming vindictive and for that reason he bottled it.

I think it cost Tommy the MotM!

Scorpio wrote:The whole refereeing situation is in a terrible mess. The trouble is, I'm not sure if referees realise it. If they did, their first action would be to get rid of their apologist, Michael Curley. As for the game, Kilkenny deservedly won it.

Curley is an insufferable gimp, never admitting a mistake by one of his cohorts. His waffling in the aftermath of various errors all year is sickening.
On a brighter note, despite not annexing the MOTM, I'm sure small Tommy can live with another Celtic cross and yrt another All-Star award.

I regard John Gardiner much in the way Puke loves John Leahy.....

John Gardiner is a superb hurler. Gave the best display of back play in the last 20 minutes of the A/I semi final in 2005 against Clare where he drove Cork onto victory