Eimear Ryan: Sorry Paudie, making excuses for the Tipp fans' no-show

I admit that I was one of those fair-weather fans who did not make the trek to the Gaelic Grounds to support Tipp

Wed, 11 May, 2022 - 22:30

Nothing quite strikes remorse into a fan’s heart like a reproachful tweet from a recently retired legend. "Very disappointing support for our boys in limerick today," tweeted Paudie Maher, for it was he, last Sunday evening. "They deserve better. For 60 mins was there for us, ran outa steam after pouring everything into it. Proud." He signed off with blue and gold heart emojis. Paudie is proud of the players, but as for us fans? He’s not mad, just disappointed.

I admit that I was one of those fair-weather fans who did not make the trek to the Gaelic Grounds to support Tipp in their do-or-die third-round clash against Limerick. Oh, I had a raft of excuses. First off, I’d been to a wonderful wedding up the country on Friday and was still, in a word, bate. Secondly, I had my own Sunday morning training session – by the time I was home and showered, it was noon, too late to be driving up to Limerick for a 2pm fixture. And truth be told, I haven’t been to an intercounty hurling match since the 2019 All-Ireland final. Post-Covid, I’m still finding it hard to get up off the couch on Sundays, as I’m sure many others are. Bar some intercounty camogie matches last year, I haven’t felt the call of the terraces yet.

(There is also the fact that complaints of lack of support don’t tend to wash as much with female GAA players of my generation, having played much of our careers largely unobserved, whether at intercounty or club level. An unkind part of me thinks, ‘it won’t kill you. We got on with it.')

But I will admit that going to the Gaelic Grounds last weekend was a daunting prospect, even as a fan. Tough crowd. It was reassuring to see the unflappable Noel McGrath standing over the frees as the escalating roars of the home crowd leaked out of the TV speakers. In the Gaelic Grounds, you can always tell if Limerick’s opposition have missed the target, because the crowd will be applauding the wide long before the umpire waves his arms. In McGrath’s case, at least, it didn’t seem to affect him much.

That Tipp put it up to Limerick was a relief to most viewers. It’s rarely pleasurable to watch a filleting, unless your county is the one doling it out. That this was still a tight contest at half-time threw a spanner in the works, as evidenced by Caroline Currid’s look of concern as she walked towards the Limerick dressing-room, a woman on a mission (wouldn’t you love to hear her half-time pep talk).

On a day when Tipp needed everything to stick – especially given the fact that Limerick’s shooting was uncharacteristically askew – the amount of wides was frustrating, as was the inability to convert a goal from four good chances (Nickie Quaid heroics notwithstanding). Tipp used to be goal-poachers, but luck has not been with them of late. They caused two goalmouth scares early in the second half; maybe that was the window to stamp their authority on the game. Late on, Mark Kehoe executed a brilliant take-and-turn and advanced on goal, but was perhaps too careful about the finish, with Quaid coming to the rescue again.

Meanwhile, Aaron Gillane resumed his rampage up front, with his brace of carbon-copy goals having an air of training-ground perfection to them. He was superbly fed by Gearóid Hegarty all day, whose fielding and distribution – in the second half in particular – were crucial for Limerick. Tipp have the nice problem of having two good goalies to choose from in Barry and Brian Hogan, but both have conceded three goals apiece in the last two championship matches, even if they couldn’t be especially faulted for any of them.

Encouragingly for Tipp, many of their bright spots once again came courtesy of their younger players. Ger Browne was a delightfully disruptive wild card, and one that it took Limerick a while to come to grips with. Conor Stakelum worked tirelessly all day, and his handpass to Jake Morris for a point in the 43rd minute was almost Noel McGrath-esque. Dillon Quirke’s perfectly-timed hook on Kyle Hayes, meanwhile, had me believing for a moment that maybe the script could be different from last year’s.

Perhaps most encouraging from a Tipp perspective was their physical challenge of Limerick. Tipp made plenty of errors, but their effort and work rate couldn’t be faulted. The Limerick machine, however, just has that extra gear to engage: as Tipp faded in the last ten minutes, spent, Limerick thundered on.

Talk of missing players and moral victories is fairly irrelevant at this stage. The positive thing about this campaign, for Tipp, has been the chance to give their younger cohort four quality championship games, each one its own particular challenge. As bruising as this round-robin system is, it means that players get more experience even in a short campaign than they may have gleaned in an entire All-Ireland series in previous years. The likes of Morgan, Quirke and Kehoe are seasoned now.

Now I’m looking ahead to the weekend after next, and what will be – mathematical miracles aside – Tipp’s final game until 2023. The results of this Sunday’s match against Waterford will determine whether Cork will come cruising or slouching up the M8 on the 22nd. Both Colm Bonnar and Kieran Kingston have been frank and even vulnerable about the struggles their teams are going through, and both will be hungry for a win on what is essentially home ground for both counties. There are lots of names for a game like this: dead rubber, wooden spoon decider, ‘fulfilling the fixture’. It’s certainly not the most important game of the year, but both teams will be unshackled, playing for pride. And the ticket is bought.