Hurling’s sleeping giants wake at just the right time

LESS than a month ago, three of hurling’s traditional strongholds seemed to be in crisis.

Limerick had their annual bloodletting, which saw manager Padjoe Whelahan replaced by selector Joe McKenna, Clare froze at home against Galway and subsequently got a rollicking from manager Anthony Daly, while Tipperary, in Semple Stadium, trailed mighty Down heading into injury time in the NHL.

However, the first phase of the league is over and much has changed. All isn’t yet rosy in the Limerick garden, with two players dropped for disciplinary reasons, but their performances have improved, and the outlook is brighter than it was.

The turnaround in Clare has been stark, Kilkenny well beaten in Nowlan Park, Waterford downed at home last Saturday, a place for the Banner in the top six secured for the second phase.

Tipperary too, have returned to form. In hindsight, the Down game wasn’t as much of an aberration as first feared, All-Ireland champions Cork were given a stiff test by the same opposition a couple of weeks later. They subsequently lost to Wexford, at home again, a game that seemed to have been won but was let slip in the final minutes, but comprehensive wins over Limerick and Antrim saw them safely through to the top tier.

Their last game in the series, against Cork in Thurles last Sunday, was an academic exercise, since both sides had already qualified, but even though it resulted in a loss for the home side, it was probably Tipperary’s best league performance to date.

A point separated the sides, the result of a sideline two-pointer by Cork’s Tom Kenny, and no one would have complained had it ended in a draw, or even a win for Tipp, such was the quality of their play.

Their defence impressed, with Phillip Maher imperious at full-back, David Kennedy strong outside him, and Hugh Moloney, Paul Curran, Eamonn Corcoran also looking good.

Only Declan Fanning was under real pressure, on the in-form Neil Ronan, but with the likes of Paul Ormonde and Martin Maher still to return, it’s looking good for the Tipp defence, with midfielders Tom King and Benny Dunne also impressing. Encouraging then, for manager Ken Hogan, though he wasn’t getting carried away.

“Both sides saw it as a serious workout, and that’s what it was,” he said.

“Nobody will remember this when June, July comes. It’s a part of the learning curve for us, and that’s our goal, to keep the momentum going.

“Cork are an excellent team, they’re All-Ireland champions for good reason. Our fellas fought and kept right in there, and it’s nice to know we’re not that far off. We missed a few scoreable frees, Cork got theirs, and at this level you can’t afford to do that.

“But we’ve got to be heartened from the commitment we showed, we dug deep and were there in the last few minutes. We might even have manufactured an equaliser.

“There are three great games to come now in the second phase, and that’s when the hurling really starts, we’re in new (summer) time and looking forward to it. Hopefully we’ll find out a little bit more about ourselves.”