Hogan’s hopefuls
Clare are on something of a roll in recent weeks with consecutive wins over Kilkenny, Waterford, Tipperary and Cork and will be playing a demoralised Wexford this weekend.
Should Clare slip up, then Tipperary and Galway still have an outside chance of qualifying, provided they both manage to win their final round games. With Tipperary visiting Kilkenny however, and Galway facing a near full-strength Cork in Cork, Tipp manager Ken Hogan is taking a realistic view and accepts his team’s chances are slim.
“The whole idea for us going into this league, and I know it’s a cliché, was to take it one game at a time. Losing to Clare was a fierce disappointment, we felt if we could get a win there, the league final was in our grasp. We lost, came back against Galway, and we have just this game to worry about.
“Whatever pans out, we’ll have to accept it, and really at this stage, if we do qualify for the league final, it would be a bonus. Clare are the form team, they seem to be going all out for the league. They’re travelling down to Wexford on Saturday to be ready for Sunday, so they’re obviously treating it very seriously, they want to get to the final.
“It looks like Kilkenny are already qualified, so what we’re trying to do is get as much as we can out of this game, not to be steamrolled the way Wexford were last week. When we step on to Nowlan Park we’ve got to be ready to fight our corner every inch of the way. What better opportunity to test your team than going into the lion’s den, taking them on?”
The reference to Wexford last week is pertinent. The Slaneymen had been going well in the league but lost the previous week by just three points to Galway, a game they could have won had they taken their chances coming into the final quarter.
They went to Nowlan Park last Sunday and got crushed, 3-25 to 0-5, Kilkenny exacting bloody retribution for their Leinster semi-final defeat last year. Not the kind of result Ken Hogan will be looking for this Sunday.
“Kilkenny have produced form like that before, they’ve done it to Offaly so many times. The one thing at the back of our minds is the disappointment over the U-21 All-Ireland final last year, they did it to us that day.
“That’s one thing about Kilkenny, if they get a run on you, they take no prisoners. That’s what happened last Sunday, they really went at Wexford and never took their foot off the pedal. There’s fierce competition for places there all the time, with the Richie Powers of this world trying to come through. When you see the likes of Eddie Brennan struggling to make the team, it shows the depth of talent in Kilkenny.”
Tipperary had a big win themselves last time out, 3-16 to 0-17 away to Galway.
“Slowly but surely,” says Hogan.
“The one thing you’re trying to get is a settled team, but when you’re playing Sunday after Sunday you’re bound to pick up injuries, and that’s been happening, which is disappointing. We’re missing a couple of players again on Sunday; David Kennedy, Paul Kelly. David is particularly disappointed at missing this one, he’s playing probably his best hurling of the past two or three years. He has a strained groin, so he won’t be ready.
“It’s a strange system, the league format, you’ve got three matches in the second phase and any competition should have semi-finals, a final. Kilkenny will be a test, but we’re trying to get ready for May 15 (Munster championship date with Limerick), that’s paramount.”
