Plenty to be learned from a game of two halves

 

 

By Shane Brophy

 

On another occasion, this defeat would be a lot sorer to comprehend.

To give up a ten point lead to your greatest rivals at the moment is never welcome at any stage but considering Tipperary weren’t given much of a chance in advance of this National League opener, there were nuggets of positivity to take from it.

Leading 0-13 to 0-4 at half time, Tipperary were the far from rusty coming into the new season with less than three weeks of collective training behind them against a Limerick side fully focused and primed off their Munster League win. Indeed, it looked as if the Shannonsiders were still on a beach such was the sluggishness of their first half performance but boy did they turn it around in a big way in the second half.

Indeed, when Gearoid Hegarty levelled with their second goal with fifteen minutes to go, you worried that Tipp could be on the end of a heavy beating such was the way they were struggling all over the field against a suddenly motivated Limerick side firing on all cylinders.

This was in marked contrast to the first half where Tipperary held all the aces. With a team that contained eight of the team that started in the All Ireland Final win last August, it looked as if the mix of experience and youth would see the home side to an opening night win.

As expected they were lively from the start, welcoming from the monotony of heavy duty training they are undergoing to get a game under their belts. They brought a freshness and pace that Limerick couldn’t live with. It also enabled them to really pressurise Limerick all over the field into making mistakes and they were duly punished.

 

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