The hard questions start in Tipperary

KILLARNEY was the talk of the town on Saturday and for all the wrong reasons.

However, I’m sure Tipperary would have got over it if it had ended in a win for them. The old timers had never seen Tipp beaten in Killarney. Now they have.

Killarney was very unpopular among supporters for both Cork and Tipperary. The hold-ups on the road were unbelievable.

As a venue for the match it was a bad call from GAA authorities.

However, the real home truths were down on the pitch. Firstly, Tipp are nowhere as good as Cork. Some people are saying that the 2001 All-Ireland winning team will be in transition now. The truth is that this team was in transition well before Saturday and some hard questions will be asked about Tipperary.

Why are they so reliant on the brilliant Eoin Kelly (who gave Wayne Sherlock a rare skinning)? Why weren’t some talented young forwards brought into the action during the game? Where has John Devane gone since the Waterford game? What about Tony Scroope who scored 3-3 in a Munster U21 championship game in midweek?

However, the Tipp management will also have a question for their supporters: Where were you when we needed you?

Cork supporters out-numbered Tipperary by four to one.

And let no one doubt that it had a bearing on the game. Generally too many good seasoned Tipp players were below par. Tommy Dunne, John Carroll, Conor Gleeson and Paul Kelly were all withdrawn. Potentially Paul is All-Star material, an outstanding talent. Like most players he needs a management team that he knows has faith in him. He should have been moved out to midfield to see if he could wrest control from Cork in the second half. Of course he has also recently been the victim of some totally groundless rumours about his personal well-being. Unfortunately we have seen this type of poisonous rumour-mongering before in the GAA. Sad but true. False rumours are a heavy price that GAA stars like Paul shouldn’t have to pay.

I said on Saturday that the half-forward/half-back battle would be decisive and over the hour Cork won these battles.

On and off the field Cork got it right. For Donal O’Grady and his mentors they got it spectacularly right with Timmy McCarthy. Rarely has a substitute been able to make such a telling and immediate impact. Zero to hero in five minutes. When he was coming on some supporters around me were saying ‘Oh God they’re not bringing him on’ but they weren’t saying that at the end!

Timmy gave out a strong message to management - don’t leave me out again; and to supporters - don’t underestimate me. The match winner for Cork though wasn’t Timmy Mac it was Niall McCarthy. He kept Cork in it in the first half, winning vital frees to keep Tipp within range. His work rate was phenomenal. After 20 minutes he came out by the sideline near where I was sitting. From sheer effort, he looked out on his feet at that stage but remarkably, he got better. The best thing about him is that he runs at the defenders not around them. It was a brilliant performance.

Tactically too Cork unhinged the Tipp defence in the second half. Brian Corcoran roamed around the forward-line and contested hard. Effectively this pulled Philly Maher from the edge of the square and the two Cork goals resulted, with the two McCarthy’s overlapping into the square and getting a one on one with Brendan Cummins.

The uncertainty in the Tipp defence was underlined by the hundred metre solo run of Séan Óg Ó hAilpín in the second half. What great confidence he showed to make it, but why didn’t any Tipperary player get to him before he got to the 20-metre line?

Too many Tipp players were minding their own men at that stage and not taking the nearest man to them. That’s low confidence.

Séan Óg is having a very good season again. But then again, you never see him having a bad game. A manager’s dream! And Dónal O’Grady must be happy about a lot of other things too. They’ve had their blip and come through it. The bookies had Cork at 4/1 before Saturday’s game. Their odds will shorten now. They have a great chance of going all the way.