Tipp hiccup won’t be any time soon

OFTEN when we go to National League matches we go not so much for an afternoon’s entertainment as for a preview of forthcoming attractions, not so much for instant gratification as for a hint of what will entertain us in high summer, not so much to view the established stars as to get a glimpse of some promising young lad who might make a name for himself come the championship.

Most of the time we’re disappointed. We want to find hidden diamonds; we rarely do. Two months ago, however, back on April 3rd in Salthill, a game took place that just may have held most of the secrets of the summer. Galway 1-14 Tipperary 4-23.

It wasn’t a match but a rout. Tipperary looked not merely like the All-Ireland champions of 2010 but like the All-Ireland champions of 2011 too. They’d gone through the motions in the league up to then and they’d go through them again in the concluding fixture at home to Wexford. The day in Galway was the day they gave a glimpse of what’s under the bonnet.