Tipperary need more than just a win against Clare

By Shane Brophy

TIPPERARY v CLARE

LIT Gaelic Grounds, Limerick

Sunday 4th July

Throw-in @ 3.45pm (E.T. & Pens)

Referee: James Owens (Wexford)

There are games where a win is all that matters, and there are games where a win needs to be achieved by laying down a marker as well, and this Sunday falls into the latter category for Tipperary.

Championship games are all about winning and a one-point win will ultimately do against Clare on Sunday but from a Tipperary perspective, it needs to be achieved with some intent to say, “we’ll have a major say in the destination of the Munster and All-Ireland titles.”

Since the 2019 All-Ireland final win over Kilkenny, the Premier County haven’t produced a performance of note that carried a message to their rivals. They have performed well in patches in games, particularly last years quarter final against Galway, even if it ended in defeat.

While Tipperary aren’t being completely dismissed in the chase for overall honours this year, they are probably third in the rankings behind Limerick and Galway, so they need to start showing something that turns them into major contenders once again, and they can do it with an impressive performance and win over Clare.

This isn’t writing off Clare by any means who will be a huge challenge on Sunday and the ideal one to test the mettle of this Tipperary team, for as the Banner showed against Waterford, they will harry and hound everything that moves in a blue and gold jersey.

Defensively they were outstanding, particularly in the touch-tightness of their defending in the inside backline where Dessie Hutchinson and Stephen Bennett, who caused Tipperary so many problems in the league last month, barely got a sniff from Rory Hayes, Conor Cleary, and Paul Flanagan, with goalkeeper Eibhear Quilligan having a very quiet afternoon.

Forewarned in forearmed and while Tipperary will come in fresh this Sunday, Clare will be match-sharp and are likely to hit the ground running and Liam Sheedy’s charges will have to match it.

Just because Clare lined out against Waterford with Tony Kelly at full forward doesn’t mean Banner boss Brian Lohan will opt for that again, so Tipperary are likely to have a gameplan ready for either to reduce the influence of the Clare star. Much of the reasoning for playing Kelly at full forward was to take Calum Lyons away from wing back and it certainly was detrimental to Waterford overall.

However, Tipperary are unlikely to alter their defensive set-up to deal with just one player. If Kelly does stay at full forward, Tipp have a number of options, let Padraic Maher pick him up, move Cathal Barrett onto him, or give Brendan Maher a man-marking role he did to great effect in the 2019 championship clash in Ennis. All three options are open to Liam Sheedy as there is great fluidity to the Tipperary defence with players who can play in any position. If Kelly does come out to his regular position in the half forward line or midfield, Brendan Maher is likely to follow him, with Seamus Kennedy slotting in at centre back.

The Tipperary management are unlikely to get too bogged down on planning for anyone else bar Tony Kelly as they will want to cause Clare problems as well, and one of those will be Noel McGrath. As good as John Conlon was at centre back against Waterford, he was given a free role for long spells, however, Noel McGrath is a player from a Clare viewpoint who can’t be allowed drift around as he’ll either bring others into the play or land scores himself.

What we also saw from last weekends opening round games in the hurling championship is league form is no guide to what does on in championship and certainly Tipperary have shown that poor finishes to league campaigns in the last ten years haven’t carried over into championship.

However, Liam Sheedy will have taken stock of how open Tipp were defensively against Waterford, although Clare don’t play exactly the same way, they do play a more direct game which Tipp are more suited to dealing with, although the likes of Aron Shanagher have the potential to be major threats if they are given good service. That is where the role of the Tipp forwards will be key, as you can have all the pace you want in attack but if the ball going in is not of the right quality, that plays to the advantage of the defence.

What is likely is that Clare will go with much the same gameplan against Waterford, where they kept their half backline and midfield nice and compact, even conceding the short puckout, and with Waterford having few avenues to break forward in waves, they were forced to go direct where Clare gathered to the ball like bees to honey.

Tipperary’s modus operandi is to go long, and they are unlikely to change so it is vital whoever starts in the inside forward line, be it Jason Forde, Seamus Callanan, John McGrath, John O’Dwyer, they need to make the ball stick when it comes in as Clare will feast on the breaking ball if they don’t.

We haven’t seen the best of Seamus Callanan in his two games to date in the league but come the big games he always delivers and that should be the case again on Sunday.

Similar to the 2019 championship opener against Cork when Tipperary were hugely impressive, the Premier will look to change the point of attack as much as they can, dragging the Clare backs all over the place. It’s the best way to get Tipp’s ball-playing forwards on the front foot.

Despite the poor performance against Waterford last time out, it is hard to see many changes from that selection.

Between the posts, Barry Hogan did little wrong in his three outings in the league but the management value experience which may see Brian Hogan get the nod, however if the Kiladangan man does get his first championship start, it might signal something different from Tipperary.

Defensively, the back six should be made up of three Maher’s, Barrett, Kennedy, and Heffernan, however, a case for Brian McGrath is worth considering as he is an excellent ballplayer and would survey the field to find a man in space.

It may well mean sacrificing a forward, but most inter-county teams play a two-man full forward line anyway. Noel McGrath will be pulling the strings from centre forward with Forde, Callanan and John O’Dwyer also making the starting fifteen, which leaves one more spot where you could go for the athleticism of Michael Breen in the half forward line, or a greater scoring threat of John McGrath, or the workrate and guile of Willie Connors, whom the management are a fan of.

Whoever makes the starting fifteen, the team that finishes is as important as the one that starts so all twenty players will have to contribute and, in that respect, Tipperary look to have the greater depth on the bench and considering Clare have to go again after just seven days, the exertions of that may well be the determining factor in seeing Tipperary to victory and progressing to a Munster Final.

The Tipperary Senior Hurling Team and subs in full is:

1 (GK) Barry Hogan Kiladangan

2 Cathal Barrett Holycross-Ballycahill

3 Padraic Maher Thurles Sarsfields

4 Barry Heffernan Nenagh Éire Óg

5 Brendan Maher Borris-Ileigh

6 Seamus Kennedy St Marys

7 Ronan Maher Thurles Sarsfields

8 Noel McGrath Loughmore-Castleiney

9 Michael Breen Ballina

10 Jason Forde Silvermines

11 John McGrath Loughmore-Castleiney

12 Dan McCormack Borris-Ileigh

13 John O'Dwyer Killenaule

14 Seamus Callanan Drom-Inch

15 Jake Morris Nenagh Éire Óg

16 Brian Hogan Lorrha

17 Robert Byrne Portroe

18 Paddy Cadell JK Brackens

19 Eoghan Connolly Cashel King Cormacs

20 Willie Connors Kiladangan

21 Alan Flynn Kiladangan

22 Paul Flynn Kiladangan

23 Mark Kehoe Kilsheelan-Kilcash

24 Brian McGrath Loughmore-Castleiney

25 James Quigley Kiladangan

26 Dillon Quirke Clonoulty-Rossmore