A satisfactory performance with room for improvement

Off the back of the impressive victory over Cork seven days previous, there was an element of trepidation heading to Semple Stadium last Sunday over which Tipperary team would show up.

Would it be the good version that from time to time produces performances that makes them virtually unbeatable or the bad one that tends to lose focus following a good victory.

Well within sixteen seconds of the throw-in on Sunday, we got our answer as Jason Forde flashed the ball over the bar as the signal was sent to Waterford that the soft touch Tipperary team weren't in Thurles on Sunday.

All the confidence gained following the win over Cork was carried over with John O'Dwyer also beginning where he left off with two points inside four minutes with Michael Breen getting the other, the first of six on the day for the midfielder.

It set the tone from which Waterford would find it hard to recover as the Tipperary were finding space again and they do there isn't a better forward line in the county and no other team are capable of keeping up with them in the scoring stakes.

A haul of 2-30 is massive, 2-24 from play for the second week in a row with an 80% conversion rate of chances into scores which is remarkable frequency.

However, to take those scores, the ball in has to be good and this is the key difference between last year and now is that almost every ball sent into the forwards is to their advantage and when in possession, the likes of Jason Forde, John O'Dwyer and John McGrath don't need that much space to make it count.

 

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