Don’t spoil game as good as this with tactics
Look back to the games we’ve seen in the last two weekends, Kilkenny and Tipperary in Nowlan Park, Dublin and Galway in the Leinster final, then the two qualifiers in Thurles on Saturday evening. If all we saw from those players doesn’t encourage youngsters to take up hurling, I don’t know what will.
It’s been brilliant, absolutely brilliant showing that hurling is by far the best game of all.
Do me a favour though, would people ever stop talking about tactics?
The Kilkenny/Waterford game was old-style man-to-man hurling. It’s always a great sign of a great game when people are still out on the field half an hour after the final whistle talking about what they had just seen. That was Thurles on Saturday — Kilkenny people, Waterford people and yes, even us neutrals. That was the effect it had.
Only one jarring note in the whole evening. Why did referee James Owens blow the final whistle in normal time when he did? I think he was wrong. It was obvious Matthew Ruth was just about to score the winning point and I wonder, if it had been Waterford in possession at the other end, would he have done the same thing? Was he being sympathetic to Waterford who had just made a fantastic five-point comeback? Only Owens can answer that question.
The Clare/Wexford game wasn’t of the same standard. As a Clareman, I’m glad they won but it should never have gone to extra-time as they were by far the superior team. Wexford will have to look at their discipline. It’s shocking and they were lucky to finish with 15.
Ah, but Kilkenny. We’ve been saluting them and proclaiming them for a long time, but on this evening, for me anyway, they proved themselves once and for all. They were men on Saturday night and they had to be because they were tested to the last. I mean Jackie Tyrrell, JJ Delaney, Paul Murphy in the full-back line, then Brian Hogan, Kieran Joyce and especially Tommy Walsh in the half-back line. Several of these guys are already legends, but they added to that here.
I want to salute the forwards also. They’re still not scoring goals but they work so hard as defenders and they are scoring points. Colin Fennelly, who plays better when his big brother Michael is on the field, took a huge step forward, Richie Power is fulfilling all the promise he showed as a youngster but, above all, Richie Hogan was man of the match in extra-time without a doubt.
Kilkenny aren’t perfect though, on or off the field and they made mistakes on the line on Saturday. Why did they take Walter Walsh off Kevin Moran? Walter wasn’t doing a whole pile in the scoring department but he kept Kevin occupied. When Walter went off, Kevin thundered into the game. Another mistake was bringing on a player who isn’t match-fit and Henry Shefflin — great player and all that he is — most definitely is not yet ready.
They got away with it and rectified it by replacing Henry at the end of normal time.
But this evening was also about Waterford. It takes two to tango and Waterford brought so much to this game. You’d have to feel sorry for them because of the team they met. There are worse teams than Waterford left in the championship.
What a performance by Liam Lawlor and Noel Connors in the full-back line, by Brick Walsh again at centre-forward, by Kevin Moran and especially Darragh Fives. Add in Jake Dillon and Ray Barry, then there’s the goalkeeper, Stephen O’Keeffe. He was outstanding last year, but he’s better again this year and will we see a better save this year than the one he produced to keep out Matthew Ruth in extra-time? I doubt it.
Waterford have really improved and it’s a pity they’re now finished.
Overall, it was a fantastic evening. A tribute too to the Kilkenny supporters. They travelled to Thurles in huge numbers and boy did they make themselves heard! I don’t know if we’re witnessing the end of an era but we’re certainly witnessing a very special year. Hopefully it won’t end until September!
