THIRD EYE - Second half game management tips Cahill’s men to victory

By Sean Flynn

“Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars” - Khali Gibran

This group of Tipperary players have suffered some painful scars over the last number of years in the Munster Round Robin series, but their game management in the opening fifteen minutes of the second half showed that they have learned from previous performances.

As Clare went into the dressing room buoyed by their two goals and a second half with a wind behind them to come, I would hazard a guess that Clare’s half time team talk was about packing the middle third under Barry Hogan’s long puckouts for the next 35 minutes.

In the 2022 encounter in Thurles, Clare had dominated the Tipperary long puckout and scored 2-3 from the Premier’s long restarts. At key points of championship games over the last few years the opposition have used the Tipperary puckout to build momentum in games and suffocate Tipp in the middle third by dominating the breaks. This tactic was used then to run at the static half back line and take the Premier County for scores.

But under Liam Cahill, Tipperary are different, and they utilised the short puckout at the beginning of the second half to draw Clare’s half forwards and midfielders back up the pitch. This created space for the Tipperary forwards to receive deliveries from the full back line and it allowed Cahill’s men to dictate Clare’s shape on the pitch.

Tipperary’s penalty goal came off a short restart and the black card resulted in Tipp having an extra body in the full back line for the puckouts. From the 35th to 50th minutes, Cahill’s men scored 1-2 from seven short puckouts.

These short restarts are not prescribed, it is more that the Tipperary team have a clarity on the short puckouts which had not seen in recent years. In previous years a short puckout has resulted in the full back line trying to go around the opposition’s full forward line in a foot race which put huge pressure on the team.

Sunday saw Tipp going short to their backs with Ronan Maher and Mickey Breen playing the ball in to pockets of space in front of forwards or over the bank of Clare bodies in the middle third. You could say it was Tipperary’s long puck in disguise, as it was just Breen and Maher hitting the ball to the forwards instead of Barry Hogan.

McGrath Selflessness

Noel McGrath had inflicted some scars on the Clare team in the first half with his long-range points but John Conlon followed the Loughmore man for the second half. McGrath made selfless runs for the team in the second half with the Clare centre back following his every move and this opened the middle for other Tipp players to attack.

Management’s Experience

Tipperary are benefiting from Liam Cahill, Michael Bevans, and Declan Laffan’s experience of coaching outside of the county. The start of the second half was a Tipperary collapse waiting to happen, but the game management shown by the team sucked the life out of any potential Clare revival.

The current management have experience in setting up and exposing Tipp’s weaknesses in championship games. They understood the key areas in which Tipp needed to improve on in games. They are not working with the most talented bunch of Tipperary players ever produced but the fact that there is no arrogance to the approach of this management team means there is no stone left unturned when preparing for games.

This group of players have always worked hard in a Tipperary jersey, they are receiving clarity from their management in how to attack in possession and defend as a unit when out of possession.

As a unit it will take time to have the team defending with the cohesion of Limerick who possess an ability to shut down teams inside their 45-metre line. It is visible to see that Tipperary are trying to get that right but based on the last ten minutes of the first half it is a work in progress.

If the year stopped now, Tipperary have made huge progress under Cahill, the big question over the next three games is if the team can contain the running of Cork, Limerick, and Waterford in the middle third of the pitch.

modern game

Sunday really showed that hurling is a simple game. It’s about having equal numbers in the areas where the ball is, be it during play or off restarts. When a team has clarity on where to defend out of possession, they can add physicality to the contact areas. But the most important element in the game is still the player’s ability to execute the basic skills of the game under pressure.