Sheedy stresses the positives as Tipp hit back

A CLASSIC example of the game of two halves, one which embarrasses a Galway side unbeaten in the National Hurling League prior to yesterday and, conversely, endorses the undoubted potential of Tipperary.

The Westerners took the honours over the opening 35 minutes but were powerless to halt an inspired onslaught from their hosts after the break which produced an impressive return of 1-11 with just a single point in reply.

Galway manager John McIntyre did not speak to the media afterwards – an unusual if not unique occurrence for a man who works in the same line of business – the first words uttered by Sheedy after he was interviewed in the tunnel were highly appropriate in the circumstances.

“Talk is cheap I’m afraid. It all comes down to hurling,’’ he commented, when asked the inevitable question of what he had said to his players during the interval.

Consider the facts. Tipperary largely relied on what their manager accepted was a sixth minute ‘fortuitous’ goal, when John O’Brien got a touch to a ‘65 from Eoin Kelly that had fallen short. Against a Galway side which was much more industrious all over the field, they trailed at one stage by seven points. And, behind 0-13 to 1-6 at half-time, there was every possibility that the game could have continued in the same vein.

But, from the time they got their second goal, from Noel McGrath in the 51st minute – this time after ‘keeper James Skehill had brought down a high ball from O’Brien – it was virtually one-way traffic to the final whistle.

“In fairness to the lads we were disappointed with our first half performance, but there was a stiff enough breeze at pitch level. We didn’t attack the ball, we just didn’t play very well,’’ said Sheehy.

“But, they are a very honest bunch and they knew they could do better. We probably got the break with the goal in the second half. Once we got that we just pushed on.’’

Starting with David Burke in the left corner in place of Niall Healy – and with Fergal Moore swopping corners in the full-back line to mark Eoin Kelly – Galway quickly found their rhythm. After Cyril Donnellan opened the scoring, Iarla Tannian was denied a goal by a super point-blank save by Brendan Cummins and despite conceding that goal at the other end, they quickly recovered.

McIntyre would have been well pleased with the way his defence coped with the threat from a potentially stronger attack and it was noteworthy that Eoin Kelly didn’t see much ball (being limited to a single point, from a free in injury time). Shane Kavanagh and Tony Óg Regan hurled consistently in the central positions, Aonghus Callanan won some good possession when he roamed out from his the half-forward line and a good spread of scorers among the rest of the attack was complemented by Ger Farragher’s excellent free-taking.

In the context of Tipp’s vast improvement in the second half, it was noteworthy that both Lar Corbett and Seamus Callanan had been getting more involved nearing the break. And, they continued that improvement, along with more telling contributions from Noel McGrath, and over the last quarter, Eoin Kelly.

The defence was much more effective, especially after Pádraic Maher went to centre-back (where Conor O’Mahony showed the effects of a sickness before being replaced). And, newcomer Michael Cahill impressed with his high work-rate at midfield. However, it was his more experienced partner – Shane McGrath – who did the most to lift the Tipp challenge, with his dominance in the air and great striking. Galway didn’t throw in the towel by any means, but they looked disorganised and, inexplicably, their scoring just dried up.

Sheedy summed up well when commenting: “there were a lot of positives to take out of that second-half performance’’

Scorers for Tipperary: E. Kelly 0-5 (0-4 frees); L. Corbett and S. Callanan 0-4 each; N. McGrath 1-1; J. O’Brien 1-0; T. Hammersley 0-2; S. McGrath 0-1.

Scorers for Galway: G. Farragher 0-5 (0-4 frees); C. Donnellan, A. Callanan and I. Tannian 0-2 each; A. Harte, N. Cahalan and J. Gantley 0-1 each.

Subs for Tipperary: P. Curran for O’Mahony (41); T. Hammersley for Hennessy (47); G. Ryan for O’Brien (53); P. Kelly for N. McGrath (63); M. Webster for Corbett (injured, 71).

Subs for Galway: K. Hynes for Harte (54); D. Barry for Dervan (57); J. Lee for Collins and E. Ryan for Donnellan (65).

Referee: John Sexton (Cork).