Tipp serve notice in final to savour
When Kilkenny annexed the three in-a-row last year, ex-president of the GAA, Paddy Buggy, said to me that he thought this Kilkenny team was the greatest of all time. Twelve months on and another title in the bag, there are very few who would argue with the genial Paddy. But if Kilkenny are the greatest team in the land, Tipp have shown both in the League and especially last Sunday that they’re not far behind. Indeed, Tipp did everything except keep their noses in front. Even though defeat was their lot in the end, Tipp now know (as does everybody else) that they’re good enough to win an All-Ireland or two. All the talk next year will be about the five-in-a-row down Kilkenny way and across the country. We know all about that in Kerry and how a great Offaly team and a Seamus Darby goal ended the Kingdom’s shot at immortality in 1982.
There are similarities between the Offaly team of that era and the present Tipp team. Offaly went one step further each year before finally landing Sam in ‘82. Tipp are progressing similarly – they won the Munster Championship but were defeated in the semi-final last year, they won the Munster Championship this year and lost the All-Ireland. Will next year’s All-Ireland see Tipp end Kilkenny’s five-in-a-row dream. And who will be the Seamus Darby super-sub? History has a habit of repeating itself.
