Tipp have the menace to put house in order

ARE Tipperary the new Waterford? On their day, and for several years, Waterford were the most attractive team in hurling, the most flamboyant.

When they hit the high notes they were an octave or two above most opposition, the likes of perennial favourites Ken McGrath, Tony Browne, Paul Flynn, Dan Shanahan and John Mullane, joined in recent seasons by a more mature Eoin Kelly, strutting their stuff on the biggest stages.

But to win an All-Ireland and especially under the new system, you have to peak, peak, then peak again. Over the last decade, year after year Waterford have failed to meet that order, with last year’s disaster in the All-Ireland final against Kilkenny probably the best example of all. Inconsistency is their Achilles heel.

Well, have Tipperary now caught the Waterford disease? Last year, their first under charismatic young manager Liam Sheedy, they seemed to have found the secret, romped through the season unbeaten, right up to the All-Ireland semi-final on August 17. One more game, that’s all they had to win to reach the final against Kilkenny, a game people were already discussing with some relish; on that afternoon in Croke Park, however, it all blew up in their faces. They were outmuscled, outfought, outmanoeuvred and lost to a more fired-up team.

Some saw that as a blip in their long predicted progress, a progression prompted by all the success they’ve been enjoying in recent seasons at underage and this year would see a return to the early consistency shown last year. Blip? So far in 2009 it’s been hiccup after hiccup; they let slip an eight-point second-half lead against Kilkenny in the National League final, lost in extra-time; let slip a seven-point second-half lead against Cork in the first round in Munster, were lucky in the end that the Rebels fluffed a couple of goal chances to hang on for a three-point win. They let slip a nine-point second-half lead against Clare in the semi-final, and again were hanging onto a two-point lead at the end. That’s a lot of slipping within a short time frame.

On their day, they look like Waterford of old and can blitz teams out of sight with their pace, power and precision.

There is menace everywhere up front in the likes of veterans Eoin Kelly, Lar Corbett and John O’Brien, joined now by youngsters Noel McGrath and Seamus Callanan, with Pat Kerwick finally realising his potential.

What of Waterford in 2009, are all the flaws ironed out? In the first half of the drawn game against Limerick it was vintage Waterford, Mullane and Kelly leading the scoring but practically every individual winning his own battle. In the second half, two pointed frees was all they managed as Limerick came back to draw and could even have won. Replay? Waterford at their ease, eventually.

So, the new Waterford, the old Waterford? At the final whistle, one of them will be in the ascendancy, but which one? Would you stake your home on either? The feeling here is that there is very little between these two, but that in a high-scoring game Tipp will finally get their house in order, and given the little extra motivation they have after the All-Ireland semi-final loss last year, they are the ones most likely.

* Verdict: Tipperary