Tipp need a momentum generating win from Tullamore

By Shane Brophy

Knockout matches are all about winning but sometimes they need to come with substance attached and this is what Tipperary require when they make the trip to Tullamore on Saturday for an All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Preliminary quarter final against MacDonagh Cup runners-up Offaly.

This is a game Tipperary will be expected to win considering in the three years the McDonagh Cup finalists have come into the All-Ireland Championship (there was no link in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid), those sides have suffered double-digit defeats to Munster & Leinster third placed teams, apart from 2019 when Laois created the only upset so far when they defeated Dublin in Portlaoise. That is enough to focus the minds of all within the Tipperary set-up to take nothing for granted, but the fact that the players and management have their own points to prove should make it unimportant who they are facing, be it Offaly or a Limerick.

For the last three weeks, they will have been stewing on the how’s and why’s of the poor performance in their final Munster round-robin game against Waterford which almost cost them progressing to the All-Ireland series. You would have to hope that the Tipperary team that steps out onto the field at O’Connor Park next Saturday will be fully primed, and if they are, they could make light work of Offaly. That would be the ideal scenario, particularly with the quarter final against Galway coming just seven days later, the least taxing manner of victory, including injuries, would be a job well done.

However, it also needs to achieved with some momentum. The last thing Tipperary need if they are to emerge winners on Saturday is to do so with a level of difficulty that sees them going into a game against the tribesmen under a cloud of back-to-back poor performances.

The fact that Offaly are managed by Johnny Kelly who knows the Tipperary scene well from his time with Borris-Ileigh and Nenagh Eire Og, plus Martin (hurling coach) & Brendan Maher (performance coach) gives the faithful county a handy insight into where there are weaknesses in their native county they can exploit.

It is hard to know what to expect from Offaly. While their fortunes have improved in recent years at minor and under 20 level, they have risen slowly at senior level from the low of playing two years of Christy Ring Cup hurling in 2020 and 2021.

The manner of the Joe McDonagh Cup final loss to Carlow will have punctured the morale of the senior side somewhat as that was their focus, winning that and getting back into the Leinster Championship for 2023. These preliminary quarter finals are really just a bonus for the McDonagh Cup finalists, and you’d wonder what the value of them are, particularly for the runners-up as they still face into the McDonagh Cup next year, whereas champions Carlow will feel they can ruffle Dublin’s feathers in the other preliminary quarter final on Saturday.

For Offaly, this game could be seen as the start of their preparations for next year which could mean Johnny Kelly might opt to blood some of the under 20 players who featured in their run to the All-Ireland Final to give them a taster of the level they need to get to if they get back into the Leinster Championship in the coming years. It is a risk but one that is worth taking as they have nothing to lose in this game. However, the likes of Adam Screeney or any of last years All-Ireland minor final team that lost to Tipperary won’t be eligible if they opt to go down that route.

For Tipperary, they have everything to lose if they don’t arrive in Tullamore with the correct attitude and focus. Three weeks is the ideal amount of time to get over the rigours of the Munster championship and refocus for the All-Ireland series. It also provided a much-needed breather in which to get the injuries dealt with and get valuable training into players that featured little in recent months, including Niall O’Meara who was named on the bench against Waterford last time out.

Tipperary played Dublin in a behind closed doors challenge game in Portlaoise the weekend before last with mostly fringe players lining out, but it was welcome that Cathal Barrett (concussion) and Jason Forde (hamstring) both featured and should be available for Saturday, along with Jake Morris (shoulder). Gearoid O’Connor (ankle) is making good progress, but it remains to be seen if this game comes a little soon, while Brian McGrath (chest) is ruled out for another few weeks.

Tipperary cannot afford to be caught looking ahead so the strongest team possible needs to take to the field on Saturday. A three-week break means every player needs a competitive game to get moving again and blow away any cobwebs. We will know in the first ten minutes whether we get the Tipperary from the first three games in Munster who were on it, or the side that were well off the pace against Waterford.

One would hope that manager Liam Cahill and coach Mikey Bevans will have learned from their experience of twelve months ago with Waterford when they had a three-weak gap in Munster they came out flat at home to Cork and suffered a costly defeat. However, you would think the manner of the defeat to Waterford and the performance in it will have refocused the minds, but crucially, it needs to come from the players themselves to hold themselves accountable, and not leave it up to the management to get the proverbial stick out.

The Tipperary team for the game contains three changes from the side that lost to Waterford last time out. The most notable is the return of Craig Morgan after ten months out with a serious knee injury. Jason Forde and Jake Morris also return from injury with Brian McGrath, Patrick Maher and Gearoid O'Connor dropping out, though O'Connor is among the subs after recovering from an ankle injury against Waterford.