Wary Tyrrell determined to avoid Leinster heartache again

IMAGINE this scenario. A team with little realistic chance of defeating Kilkenny “tears” into them from the start but runs out of steam in the second half and is powerless to stop the scores mounting up.

It’s not fantasy, it’s the way Jackie Tyrrell, Kilkenny’s All-Ireland winning captain in 2006, recalls the Cats’ recent game against Offaly in the semi-final of the Leinster hurling championship.

These are his exact words, ahead of next Sunday’s Leinster final in Croke Park against Wexford. “In the first 35 minutes they tore into us. They were really hitting hard. But it’s hard to keep that up for 70 minutes and — like the year previous — they kind of died off in the second half and we just kept tipping over the scores and eventually pulled away.’’

While the same type of scenario is not unknown to Wexford, Tyrrell rejects the suggestion that Sunday’s final is a foregone conclusion, as many people would argue.

He began by recalling what happened in the 2004 semi-final. For the record, that was last time they lost to Wexford in the championship, as a result of conceding an injury-time goal scored by Michael Jacob, nowadays operating as a wing-back.

“The exact same talk was going on then,’’ Tyrrell recalled. “People were getting ahead of themselves. Wexford are a proud hurling county and they beat us fair and square on the day. We’re going to have to be ready. It’s going to be a huge battle. They are after having two games, so they’re going to be at a slight advantage.’’

Four years ago, Tyrrell was new to the panel and watched the game from the stand. What he remembers “from the word go” was the intensity in Wexford’s play. “They were all over the park and their half-forward line was pulling our half-backs all over the place. They were working so hard.

“With a couple of minutes to go we were still ahead. But they got the break of the ball and it ended up in the back of the net. We were absolutely gutted. It still hurts. We use it as a motivation. We can never forget about that day,’’ he commented.

“The same eerie atmosphere is there again. People are talking of the Leinster championship being already won, which is absolutely ridiculous.’’

Even when you raise the matter of Kilkenny beating Wexford three times last year (in the league semi-final, the Leinster final and then the All-Ireland semi-final — by margins of 15, 15 and 10 points respectively), Tyrrell says the players’ can only focus on the challenge in front of them.

“The facts will show that we did beat them, but in the back of my mind is 2004 — the Wexford supporters streaming on to the field as we walked off the field devastated. I remember Peter Barry inside in the dressing room. He was absolutely gutted. I’ll never forget that.’’

Commenting that the “flip side” to the champions having a bye straight through to the All-Ireland semi-final is a five or six-week lay-off, he says that’s a matter for another day. Right now, the focus is on Wexford.

And, from the defence’s point of view, key to that will be coping with the perceived threat from new full-forward Stephen Banville. “He’ll be a handful. He’s a big strong lad and it’ll mean a different focal point for them,’’ Tyrrell commented.

“Normally, they have lively forwards that need low ball put in. If they are under pressure they can just play it into him...no full-back is going to come out with an easy ball off him, really.’’