‘DRIVE FOR FIVE’ WONT’ BE STOPPED While Tipperary are probably the only team capable of stopping Kilkenny’s bid for an unprecedented five-in-a-row of All-Ireland titles, it’s unlikely that they will have enough to deny Brian Cody’s men their place in hurling immorality. By Randal Scally.
Kilkenny - All-Ireland SHC finalists 2010
T
he All-Ireland hurling final the whole country wanted to see will take place at Croke Park on Sunday, September 5 when old rivals Kilkenny and Tipperary meet in the showpiece game for the second year in succession. The big question on everyone’s lips is: can Tipp prevent their neighbours from completing an historic five-in-a-row of All-Ireland wins? Such a feat has never been achieved before in either hurling or football. Kilkenny and Cork have both won four-in-a-rows in hurling, Kerry and Wexford have done it in football, but so far the five-in-a-row has proved elusive. And nothing would give Tipperary greater satisfaction
than stopping the ‘Drive for Five’, particularly in light of their heartbreaking and somewhat controversial loss to Kilkenny 12 months ago. Brian Cody’s all-conquering Cats are 1/3 on with the bookies to rewrite the history books, while odds of 11/4 are available on Tipp. After a disastrous start to the championship, Liam Sheedy’s charges have regrouped magnificently and on the evidence of their semifinal dismantling of Waterford, have a realistic chance of bridging a nine-year gap since their last McCarthy Cup triumph. While Kilkenny’s dominance of the hurling landscape in the past decade has included All-Ireland semi-final wins over Tipp in 2002 and ’03, the record between the teams in
Tipperary - All-Ireland SHC finalists 2010
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Kilkenny’s JJ Delaney keeps the Cork attack at bay
finals has been significantly different with the Premier County only suffering two defeats since the 1920s. The counties have met in eight All-Ireland finals since 1922 with Kilkenny winning by four points in 1967 and by five last year, but going down in 1937, ’45, ’50, ’64, ’71 and ’91, when a Michael Cleary goal proved decisive in a 1-16 to 0-15 victory for Tipp. In all, it will be the 15th AllIreland final meeting between the counties with Tipperary
having won nine to Kilkenny's five of the previous 14. Unbeaten in 21 championship outings since they lost to Galway in the 2005 All-Ireland semi-final and appearing in their ninth All-Ireland decider since the turn of the millennium, Kilkenny will know that they will never get a better opportunity to achieve the five-in-a-row. But the absence of talisman Henry Shefflin due to a torn cruciate ligament and injury concerns over Hurler of the Year
Brian Cody is arguably the greatest ever hurling manager
Liam Sheedy is driven to attain All-Ireland success for his Tipperary team
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Eoin Kelly readies himself for a shot at goal as Waterford’s Noel Connors moves in
Tommy Walsh, Brian Hogan, Michael Rice and John Tennyson leave them somewhat vulnerable to a Tipp ambush. Tipp proved last year that they are able to go toe-to-toe with what many regard as the greatest team of all-time and the experience of being involved in hurling’s biggest day will stand to them. Kilkenny had four games to complete the five-in-a-row, one game a month. They’ve won in June, July and August, and now have just one to go. There appeared to be chinks in their armour during the National League when they were out of contention by the end of March, but their performances in the championship to date have been close to flawless. They walloped Dublin by 19 points in their provincial opener and followed that up with a 1-19 to 1-12 Leinster final victory over Galway, which was more emphatic than the scoreline suggests. Galway were attempting to win the Leinster title for the first time, but they never looked capable of prising it away from the Cats, who collected their sixth Bob O’Keeffe Cup ina-row and their 12th in 13 years of extraordinary dominance. Galway were just four points adrift after 47 minutes, but within six minutes, they were 10 points down after Henry Shefflin (two), TJ Reid, Richie Hogan, Aidan Fogarty and Richie Power all hit the target. Game over. Cork have caused their fair share of problems for the Cats down the years, but the latest meeting of the great rivals in the All-Ireland semi-final proved to be a total mismatch with Brian Cody’s side coasting to a 3-22 to 0-19 victory. The Rebels must have felt they were in with a chance when they trailed by just 0-2 to 0-3 after 17 minutes, but the floodgates opened after Eddie Brennan swooped for Kilkenny’s first
goal. A second goal from Aidan Fogarty, allied to points from Richie Power, Martin Comerford, Michael Fennelly and Eoin Larkin, left the Cats 2-12 to 0-5 clear at the break. Even without the injured Henry Shefflin, Kilkenny continued to rack up the scores in the second half with a third goal from Richie Power eight minutes from the end putting them 3-20 to 0-13 ahead. Tipp entered the championship as second favourites to lift Liam McCarthy, but there appeared to be no way back for them after being humbled by Cork in their Munster championship opener at Pairc Ui Chaoimh. Two goals from Patrick Horgan, which had been created by a rampant Aisake O hAilpin, gave the Rebels a 2-5 to 0-9 interval lead. The expected Tipp response never materialised in the
Lar Corbett wins his duel with Waterford’s Liam Lawlor
second half and by the end, Cork’s winning margin was a whopping 10 points – 3-15 to 0-14. The Premier County have shown tremendous character to bounce back from such a shattering defeat, and they’ve done so without Liam Sheedy having to carry out major surgery. They got the show back on the road with a 324 to 0-19 demolition of Wexford at Thurles and continued their rehabilitation with a 0-21 to 1-12 defeat of Offaly in Portlaoise. However, the jury remained out on Tipp until they edged out Galway by 317 to 3-16 in a classic All-Ireland quarter-final at Croke Park. It took a point from the ice-cool Lar Corbett in the first minute of injury-time to decide what has been the game of the championship so far. Tipp led by 2-8 to 1-9 at half-time thanks to goals from Eoin Kelly and sub Seamus Callanan, but Galway overturned the deficit to lead by two points entering the closing stages. But Liam Sheedy’s charges showed their mettle when John O’Brien, Gearoid Ryan and Corbett shot late points to give them a dramatic win. Tipp’s best performance so far came in their 3-19 to 1-18 defeat of Munster champions Waterford. Eoin Kelly had a rare off-day with his frees, but more than made up for it with two goals. John O’Brien also impressed with a sixpoint haul on a day when 3-15 of Tipp’s total came from play. After Kilkenny’s defeat of Cork, there were many who felt they were cast-iron certainties to retain their All-Ireland crown, but injuries to key players, coupled with Tipp’s fine showing against Waterford, means the final is no longer a foregone conclusion. Tipp have improved beyond recognition since their spectacular collapse at the hands of Cork, with the switch of Paul Curran to full back, Shane McGrath’s return to midfield after a brief flirtation in the half forwards and Noel McGrath’s move to centre forward for the Waterford game working a treat.
Tipp’s Paul Curran breaks clear of Eoin Larkin
Ideally, Sheedy would like to have held back the switch of Noel McGrath to the ‘40’ until the final, which would have taken Kilkenny by surprise. But such was Michael ‘Brick’ Walsh’s influence this summer that Sheedy felt he had no option but to make the move against Waterford. A worry for Tipp must be the fact that they have conceded goals in every game except for the Wexford tie. Nobody needs to tell Tipp that Kilkenny will come looking for goals early and often, and won’t be satisfied to just take their points. There is no doubt that Tipp are on an upward curve and are approaching the form that saw them come within a whisker of dethroning Kilkenny last year. However, it could be argued that Kilkenny are playing better now than they were this time last year when the gap between them and the rest appeared to be closing. Kilkenny are an exceptional side and one more victory would confirm their status as the greatest team of all-time. Their half back line has been the cornerstone of their success, their squad is unrivalled in terms of strength in depth, Brian Cody is the most successful manager in the game and they have proven big-game players in every position. Richie Power stepped up to the plate when Henry Shefflin was forced off against Cork – both from frees and in general play – while last year’s captain Michael Fennelly has matured into the best midfielder in the country. With so much at stake, all the pressure is on the Cats to deliver. Tipp are the one team in the country capable of causing them problems, but do they have the belief and, more importantly, killer instinct, to stop them? A certain Seamus Darby, who famously denied Kerry a five-ina-row of All-Ireland football titles in 1982, runs a pub in Toomevara these days. How ironic it would be if one of the Tipp players were to deny Kilkenny in similar circumstances. Anything is possible, of course, but there is too much at stake for Kilkenny to let it slip at this stage. VERDICT: Kilkenny. Flashback to 2009 as Michael Kavanagh clears with Noel McGrath moving in