Kilkenny won all the key battles
They were outsiders and had been waiting for this day for a full year; they had a clean bill of health, unlike last year; and they were fully focused on victory.
Tipperary were favourites and at times this is an emotional pressure that prevents a tip-top, fully determined, performance.
It was evident from the off that Kilkenny had fierce hunger and determination. They began the game at a frenetic pace and Tipp seemed caught in the headlights.
Kilkenny are not renowned for precision ball from midfield or defence to the forward but this was their tactic yesterday — on numerous occasions they hand-passed to half-backs and midfielders and attempted to give their forwards direct possession.
Tipp were a little off but they tried until the finish and Kilkenny were never comfortable. However, when Tipp look back at this game they’ll see that their use of the ball from defence gave their forwards very little chance, as most of their deliveries were too long and high.
Kilkenny’s defenders dominated in the air and Tipp’s last scores in the second-half came from precision passes, creating space, and one on ones.
Lar Corbett set up a goal for Pa Bourke from a good, probing, low ball from Brendan Maher, who took a short ball from Brendan Cummins. Unfortunately Tipp didn’t do this often enough and Kilkenny won all the tactical and personal battles.
IT took Tipperary 16 minutes to get their first score, a lovely point by Noel McGrath, who took a short ball from Pádraic Maher — the kind of play they need to persist with. Up to then they were struggling to stay with the pace Kilkenny set.
Kilkenny didn’t set up a goal-protecting defence — they went man to man, with Jackie Tyrrell picking up Lar Corbett. Henry Shefflin played left-half-forward, with Eddie Brennan on the right wing.
The first quarter of the game saw huge performances from Tommy Walsh at wing-back and Michael Fennelly at midfield and Eoin Larkin at full-forward helping them to build up a significant lead.
Their half-back line of Walsh, Hogan and Delaney bossed the game, while Fennelly and Michael Rice completely dominated midfield.
Tipp’s much-vaunted forwards were denied possession and could not put any great pressure on the Kilkenny half-backs. Tipp seemed to suffer from their favourites’ tag and Kilkenny settled a lot quicker, putting Tipp on the back foot from the throw-in.
Kilkenny’s forwards also put great pressure on the Tipp backline all through, targeting the left wing and looking for Henry Shefflin, as he was marked by inexperienced wing-back John O’Keeffe.
Kilkenny led by only five points at half-time but could have been a little more ahead as Tipp struggled at midfield and in the half-forward line in particular.
ONE example from the first-half illustrated the difference in sharpness and focus between the teams.
Henry Shefflin took a short line-ball from the left-half-forward position and received a return pass from Eoin Larkin. Shefflin ran down the left wing unopposed and two short passes later Michael Fennelly powered through to hit a great shot to the net.
Tipp failed to have Shefflin’s marker facing the ball and picking him up in order to stop the play that ensued.
This goal was a killer blow to Tipp — despite Kilkenny’s dominance it was edging to half-time with only two points between them. This score, though, gave Kilkenny a great fillip and a five-point lead going in at half-time.
Crucially, when Tipperary — by sheer persistence — got the game back to three points, Richie Power caught a great puck-out and passed to TJ Reid (who made a fine contribution when he came on, working back to help his defence) for a score; Michael Fennelly caught a clearance and pointed and Eoin Larkin caught another high ball and added another point.
Kilkenny won by four points but if they’d used the ball a little better it could have been more. There were no doubts that they were the better team on the day.
