Tipp have the tools to claim All-Ireland glory

GAA: oneills.com All-Ireland Under 20 Hurling Championship Final Preview

By Shane Brophy

TIPPERARY v OFFALY

UPMC Nowlan Park, Kilkenny

Saturday, 1st June

Throw-in @ 7.15pm

Referee: Sean Stack (Dublin)

When the GAA decided to honour the longest serving President of the GAA James Nowlan, who died one hundred years ago, and whose name is on the under 20 Hurling trophy to host this years final in the stadium that also has his name, few batted an eye-lid.

UPMC Nowlan Park in Kilkenny is a super ground for a game, with a capacity of 26,000, and when close to capacity leads to a cracking atmosphere as Tipperary and Offaly fans can attest to from the All-Ireland Minor final there two years ago.

Not many at the start of the year would have had this as the final pairing for the Under 20 All-Ireland final, Offaly were rightly in the shake-up having reached the final last year, losing to a powerful Cork side. Tipperary, on the other hand, had plenty of potential but were coming in largely written off, both within and outside the county.

The fact that both sides have come through tough campaigns to win their respective provincial titles and are heading into a repeat of that minor final two years ago only wets the appetite further.

Offaly feel they are due, third time lucky having lost back-to-back minor and under 20 finals, while also exercising one demon by overturning Tipp in the process.

However, Tipperary also crave All-Ireland glory, to build the hope that the struggles at senior level will only be brief as if they were to win the final with nineteen players that would then have minor and under 20 All-Ireland medals, they have the mettle to go on for more.

The Tipperary team this year have gone back to a traditional style, much more direct in their approach but can mix it up when they need to. They probably went too direct in the second half against Cork last Friday considering how little ball they won directly or on the breaks in the second half which gave Cork the platform to get on top but, even allowing for the goal that wasn’t awarded, they missed too many chances to win the game.

Finals come with pressure and maybe that’s why the Tipp players went too direct at times, but they also had Oisin O’Donoghue as a target man who was hugely effective at full-forward, moving to that position with 2022 minor final hero Paddy McCormack out through injury.

Both O’Donoghue and Darragh McCarthy are strong in the air and while it was a risk to go too direct against a Cork side with plenty of height and power in defence, it could be a strategy they go with again against Offaly as the Leinster champions are not as physically powerful in defence. However, they gave away a lot of size to Kilkenny in the Leinster semi-final and still won so they will know how to deal with it.

They also have outstanding hurlers in the likes of Brecon Kavanagh at centre back and Ter Guinan on the wing, while James Mahon would likely be tasked with picking up Darragh McCarthy in what will be one of the crucial battles in deciding the outcome.

Adam Screeney is the hottest name in hurling, not currently playing in the senior championship, and his performances more than most have led to the mass of support behind this Offaly team. He might be slight in stature but makes up for it in sheer ability and toughness.

Few defenders have managed to slow him down and it would appear that Chris O’Donnell will be tasked with marking him. Keeping him quiet is impossible, it’s about negating his impact as much as possible, and the best way for Tipp to do that is to disrupt the quality of ball into him. Shane Rigney at wing-forward is another forward Tipp will need to try and restrict as much as possible.

One aspect of their play Tipperary have been hugely impressive in is their workrate around the middle third, hooks, blocks, even the rucks they are strong at. Sam O’Farrell and Adam Daly were to the fore in this regard in the Munster final while Ciaran Foley and Conor Martin also drop in. Cathal English didn’t have his best game against Cork, he looked nervous, but if he can get on the ball as we know he can, he can be a huge asset to Tipp in terms of opening the avenues of attack for the inside forwards of McCarthy, O’Donoghue, and Senan Butler.

Tipperary have been defensively strong in this campaign, particularly with Ben Currivan at centre-back, almost as a sweeper as he reads the game so well and puts himself in good positions as a receive to work the ball out.

Either side of him, Jack Collins and Mason Cawley are big physical presences on the wings and should retain their places despite Ronan Connolly being fit again and would be first choice wing back, but it shows the strength of the Tipp panel and the belief the management have that, if you lose your place, it won’t be handed back to you. It also offers Tipp a strong bench with Connolly, Jack O’Callaghan, Joe Egan, Sam Rowan, Eoin Craddock all adept at coming onto make an impact.

With the likely starting fifteen for Tipperary having ten players that played a part in the minor final win two years ago at the same venue in front of a partisan Offaly crowd, they will know what to expect in terms of the atmosphere they are going to face. They will be outnumbered again so they shouldn’t be fazed.

Then it is about performance and Tipperary certainly they can play better than they did against Cork last Friday. Some days it is about just finding a way to win, and they did, and that is a mentality that will carry them far and ideally suited to a challenge in trying to win an All-Ireland Final.