Fire and passion can inspire Tipp to winning start

By Shane Brophy

TIPPERARY v LIMERICK

FBD Semple Stadium

Sunday, 20th April

Throw-in @ 4.00pm

Referee: Thomas Walsh (Waterford)

From the moment Tipperary’s 2024 championship campaign ended in winless fashion on May 26th last in front of a largely deserted FBD Semple Stadium, all involved with the senior hurling team would have been targeting the next opportunity to begin their quest for redemption and it finally comes next Sunday.

And it doesn’t come much harder than coming up against a Limerick side on a quest for a record seventh Munster title in a row, and still smarting from losing their All-Ireland crown. More about them later!

Back to Tipperary, they come into this clash with Limerick in much better shape than twelve months ago, despite the disappointing National League final loss to Cork. If Tipp’s league campaign had ended with the win over Clare and not playing in a final, they would have come in with greater momentum and optimism, but the issues that arose against Cork were timely in terms of addressing them for the four games in five weeks that lie ahead, which were going to define their year more than a league title.

Unlike twelve months ago, they go into this Munster campaign with a much more settled team. Barry Hogan is the number one goalkeeper behind a full-back line of impressive newcomer Robert Doyle, Eoghan Connolly, and Michael Breen, who would be expected to pick up Aaron Gillane in the full-back line, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Ballina clubman goes out to his old midfield haunt to pick up Cian Lynch who has been a thorn in Tipperary’s side in Limerick’s many victories over the Premier in the last five years.

Captain Ronan Maher will lead the team from centre-back and his role will be two-fold, the first to ensure the middle is secure but also being a plug to ensure the space isn’t there for Limerick to play the ball into their two-man full forward line.

There will be a lot of pressure on Tipperary’s two wing-backs to perform to a high level, which will likely be Joe Caesar and Bryan O’Mara. It remains to be seen who they will come up against as it could be the regular wing forwards Tom Morrissey and Gearoid Hegarty, but it could easily be Cathal O’Neill or Adam English, but regardless of who wears 10 or 12 for the Shannonsiders, they play the same way regardless so the Holycross/Ballycahill duo should know the role they are asked to play, not only defensively, but also as an attacking platform.

Craig Morgan will start in midfield and likely be joined by either Willie Connors or Sam O’Farrell. Midfield was where Tipperary struggled against Limerick in the league with Limerick’s ability to move the ball through the hands quickly leaving Tipp chasing shadows for long spells.

Tipperary are improving in taking them on in that area but still haven’t mastered it. One wonders would they be better served in trying to avoid it as much as possible, following the Cork blueprint of keeping three players in the full forward line, making the field as big as possible, therefore reducing the number of physical collisions which are physically draining.

Tipperary can’t get sucked into a physical battle as they are not as strong as Limerick so the plan should be to move the ball quickly right from the puckouts. Tipp need to keep the tempo high and giving Barry Hogan plenty of options for quick restarts to get attacks going. That means being brave in terms of offering themselves to take a pass, but then taking the right option in possession.

Tipperary showed in the group stages of the league they can work the ball through the hands up the field but in the league final they returned too much to the straight fifty to sixty yard ball out of the half-back line which was too easy for Cork to read. Tipp need to mix up the play more, but crucially need the forwards to make the ball stick to a greater degree.

For Tipperary to have a chance of winning, they need to have Alan Tynan and Gearoid O’Connor to have huge games. They have the physicality to compete, particularly Tynan but O’Connor hasn’t shown enough of it. He needs to get angry and use the physical attributes he has.

Jake Morris played the first five games of the league predominantly at centre forward but in the last two games moved back into the full-forward line. That could well have been a tactic to keep opponents guessing but also ensuring Jake is primed to play either role, particularly his ability to get goals and Tipp will likely need them to beat Limerick.

Jason Forde and Darragh McCarthy should also start in the full forward line and depending on whether the Tipp management to play both Connors and O’Farrell in the middle of the field, if they opt only to start one, it opens up another spot for where the experience of John & Noel (if fit from a thumb injury) McGrath would be a huge benefit while Sean Kenneally impressed against Limerick in the league with 1-3 from play. Conor Bowe’s size would also be an asset but looks to be a player short on confidence.

The timing of Tipperary’s substitutions will also be important, it is going to take twenty men to win this game and getting fresh players in at the first sign of trouble will be key to stall Limerick’s purple patches which they will have in the game, Tipp just have to make sure they aren’t too costly on the scoreboard.

Despite Limerick losing their All-Ireland title last year, they still come into this years championship as most peoples favourites to regain the Liam MacCarthy Cup. The vast majority of the panel that have won five All-Ireland in six years are a long time on the road, going back to 2017 when John Kiely took over the team.

There was definitely a sense of reinvigoration needed and we saw that during the league with the large number of players given game time. At no point did they put out a full strength team so until their starting fifteen is announced later in the week, the Tipp management cannot be sure about whom they will face, but they will know how they will play.

One thing is for sure that they will have a new goalkeeper with Nicky Quaid still out through injury. Former forward Shane Dowling would appear to be the ahead in the race with Jason Gillane to get the nod between the posts, particularly in his ability to distribute the ball from puckouts closer to what Quaid does so well, while his shot stopping has also been remarkably impressive.

Sean Finn, Dan Morrissey, and Barry Nash have been the first choice full-back line, but they also have Mike Casey and Barry Murphy pushing hard, the latter man of the match in the league win over Tipp.

Murphy could well be accommodated if Nash moves out to the wing back to join up with Diarmuid Byrnes and Kyle Hayes, should the latter be fit having limped out against Tipperary and Kilkenny in the league with a groin injury. This is provided former captain Declan Hannon doesn’t line out having missed the entire league campaign through injury.

Midfield is also another conundrum where Will O’Donoghue and Adam English would appear the likely partnership from the league but then Cathal O’Neill, Darragh O’Donovan and Cian Lynch can also play there.

They could also go into the full forward line where Tom Morrissey, Gearoid Hegarty and David Reidy are also options, while inside Aaron Gillane and Shane O’Brien are likely starters but then you have Peter Casey, Seamus Flanagan, and impressive league performer Aodhan O’Connor fighting hard also to start. Whoever Limerick do select in their starting team; they will have a very strong bench.

For Tipperary to win, they must empty themselves. They must bring a feverish performance, chasing and harrying Limerick players at every turn. It’s what Cork and Clare do so well against them. If they do that and have some successes in terms of turnovers and winning big frees, the supporters will respond which will transmit itself to the players.

This is why a vocal support is important, particularly for an underdog as Tipp will be. A crowd of over 30,000 people is expected at FBD Semple Stadium and we know Limerick will come but the blue and gold fans need to match them.

Tipp manager Liam Cahill said prior to the league that making Thurles a true home advantage was important and winning all three games in the league was a start.

This is the first time Tipperary start out in the Munster Championship with a home game since the round-robin format began in 2018. With a return trip to Cork coming seven days later, it’s as tough a start as they come for a team still trying to find their way.

The Cork game will take care of itself so the best chance of getting a positive result in the opening two games is the first one as they’ll come in fresh and we still don’t now what Limerick will look like, will it be a new look, or will they start out with the old guard?

This Munster Championship is a marathon, not a sprint. Even if Tipp fail to get anything out of the first two games, it’s important they are still in decent shape going into the Clare and Waterford games. Remember last year, Cork lost their first two games and still ended up in the All-Ireland Final.

It’s all about being in the top 3 come May 25th and a win on Sunday would set Tipp up well in achieving that immediate aim.