Anthony Daly: If their big players can dig deep again, Tipperary should shade it

CLOSE ENCOUNTER: Galway defender Adrian Tuohy is tackled by Tipperary’s Patrick ‘Bonnar’ Maher in the 2017 All-Ireland SHC semi-final at Croke Park. It was the third season in a row where the sides met in an All-Ireland semi-final decided by a single point. Picture: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

When Galway played Tipperary in the 2017 All-Ireland semi-final, I felt like I’d nearly been involved in the action on the Croke Park pitch that afternoon.

It almost looked like I had been. I was doing RTÉ Radio 1 co-commentary alongside Tomás Mulcahy and the bould Mul kept pucking me into the arm in exasperation and incredulity at the spell-binding drama unfolding below us.

We were just two of the 68,185 strong crowd enthralled that day by more of the improbable melodrama we’d become accustomed to in games between Galway and Tipp.

In another cliff-hanger, it was almost fitting that it took a Joe Canning wonder-score at the death to separate them.

It was the third year in succession that a gripping Galway-Tipp All-Ireland semi-final ended in a one-point winning margin. It was another elemental contest where some of the hits reverberated like earthquake tremors. Gearóid McInerney rattled Pádraic Maher at one stage like a bull would run over an exposed matador. That huge hit alone was like a form of payback for the way in which Pádraic nailed Joe Canning in the 2016 All-Ireland semi-final, which forced Joe off early with a hamstring injury.

These games have always thrown up huge, seminal moments over the last decade. On Tipp’s road to recovery, and ultimately to the 2010 All-Ireland title, Lar Corbett’s late, late winning point in the All-Ireland quarter-final against Galway was probably the turning point of their season.

Ten years on, both teams are on a similar path again; Galway having lost a Leinster final; Tipp having come through the backdoor after a huge setback in their first game in Munster. And with everything on the line, it seems inevitable Galway and Tipp will bring out the best in each other. Again.

There isn’t any bad blood between the two groups but there is enough spice in this rivalry to ensure it’s zesty and feisty. We all saw last weekend how pumped up Liam Sheedy was on the line but Galway will be equally as driven to heal the hurt of losing a Leinster final that appeared to be in their grasp.

Galway have to be stung. They had goal chances too against Kilkenny but they didn’t take any of them. Galway got spooked coming down the stretch, which has to be worrying for a team with their experience, and which looked to have ironed out all their own inner fears of Kilkenny, with the Tribesmen having beaten them in their previous two Championship meetings in 2018 and 2019.

That late Galway wobble will also have been noted by Tipperary, especially with the way in which they dug out a late win against Cork seven days ago. So if Tipp can drag Galway down the stretch again here, they’ll feel in a good place to take advantage of the situation.

I’ve felt all along that the longer Tipp could stay in the Championship, the better they’d get, the more dangerous they’d become. That additional time would also give Liam the chance to blood one or two younger fellas but, even more critically, the panel was always bound to get stronger with each passing week.

Barry Heffernan and Seamus Kennedy are back in the frame now. Patrick ‘Bonnar’ Maher played his first Championship game in 17 months last week. Dan McCormack was carrying a knock going into the Limerick game but he was massively influential against Cork. Michael Breen has clearly found the form that may have been missing before the Limerick game. He isn’t the only one.

The extra week will have also done Galway no harm. I’d expect Aidan Harte and David Burke, two of their most experienced players, to start on Saturday. That experience still wasn’t enough to staunch the bleeding which began with the concession of two goals inside 60 seconds but Burke really made a difference when introduced late on against Kilkenny, nailing two huge scores.

Shane O’Neill and his management team will have pored over every aspect of what went wrong with forensic attention to detail. Conor Whelan couldn’t provide a goal threat because he was operating too far from the danger zone so I’m sure that will be one of Galway’s first starting points.

Given the problems Daithí Burke — who was imperious for so long — was given by Richie Hogan late on, Jake Morris could now be positioned on the edge of the square instead of Seamus Callanan. Whatever happens, Sheedy will have examined every single detail of what Tipp need to do better.

He will expect more from John and Noel McGrath. The two lads have already had a long year, especially after the devastating dual county final defeats with Loughmore-Castleiney. The horrendous conditions didn’t suit the two lads against Cork but I’m also sure that Sheedy will be using that experience as a positive now; Galway have played their two games in good conditions in Croke Park; Tipp played Limerick in a monsoon while they endured in tough conditions, and after a war of attrition against Cork.

Moreover, Tipp know what it’s like to dig out a tight win on a sticky pitch in Limerick.

It would have been easy to think that Cork had all the advantages coming down the stretch last weekend, especially when Tipp are an older team, but you can’t discount this team’s experience.

The heavy pitch will have taken a toll on the legs but I’m sure Tipp were very smart with their preparation this week. It was probably as much focused on getting minds than bodies right.

It was always going to be extremely difficult to read form-lines in a winter championship. Galway looked awesome against Wexford but Clare’s deconstruction of Wexford last week has forced a revision of Galway’s form-line. Dublin nearly beat Kilkenny and, while Kilkenny’s relentlessness will always be a given, Galway should have been able to put Kilkenny away when they had them on the ropes.

This is a hard game to call but I just feel Tipp, especially with a full squad, and particularly with the input from their bench last week, are in pole position. If their big players can dig deep again, Tipp should shade it.

One fear you always have as a manager is the feelgood attitude that can infiltrate the squad when you play well and lose, particularly when you weren’t really expected to win in the first place.

That danger is all the more real again when your next match is six days later. So I’m sure that will have exercised Liam Cahill’s mind all week, especially when Waterford put so much into the Munster final.

Cahill will be looking to his leaders this week to set the tone, especially Kevin Moran, Jamie Barron, and Tadgh de Búrca. Kevin and Tadgh form a formidable half-back line along with Calum Lyons but Calum looks tailormade to pick up Tony Kelly, who is in hurler of the year form.

Lyons has the pace to stick with TK but Waterford will wonder if that match-up may deprive them of the energy and attacking threat Lyons gives them going forward.

I’m sure Cahill will also have looked at the prospect of double-teaming Tony, especially when you consider how much of the scoring burden he is now carrying.

Outside of Tony, the rest of the Clare players have scored 1-24 from play in three games. Outside of what Clare will hit from placed balls, that average of seven points per game from everyone else is certainly manageable for Waterford if Tony is limited to three or four points from play.

The other conundrum for Waterford is how focusing too much on TK might upset the whole balance of the team, especially by going with a double-marking job. Tony is constantly on the move but you rarely see him passing his own 65 metre line now, and he is roaming every angle inside his own 65. So if you put two guys on him up there, would that not create huge space for someone like Shane O’Donnell to cut loose? With the form he’s in, Cathal Malone could also snipe a handful of scores. So maybe Shane McNulty is the man Waterford will play on Tony.

Clare are in a good place. There is a buzz around the county. You’re not meeting anyone but you can sense if off your phone. David Fitzgerald is back to form. Ryan Taylor is maturing. David McInerney is back from suspension. Conor Cleary has been excellent at full-back. Eibhear Quilligan had his best game to date against Wexford. Jack Browne is back fit. Aron Shanagher is reportedly back in the mix after crying off in the warm-up before the Wexford match.

Shanagher would match up well with Conor Prunty, while there has also been talk in Clare this week that John Conlon — who ruptured his cruciate ligament in March — could be sprung. It’s unlikely John will feature but there may be 10 minutes in him if the need arises.

Clare will fancy their chances.

Kelly and O’Donnell look tailor made for the carpet-type surface in Páirc Uí Chaoimh. Clare are a team which feed off momentum but they also have a good track-record against Waterford, having beaten them in the 2018 and 2019 Munster Championship. That huge victory in Walsh Park last year will certainly stand to Clare now.

Waterford are a different side in 2020 than they were in 2019. You have to really admire this team but if Waterford are in any way off the pace after the exertions of last Sunday, I fancy Clare to take full advantage.