One final job to do for Tyrrell and Stephens
He and his teammates didn’t sparkle against St Martin’s but a man of Tyrrell’s experience knows semi-finals are a means to an end.
“In the middle of the second half that day it wasn’t looking too good for us – St Martin’s had just scored a goal and had all the momentum,” he said.
“Luckily enough we went down the field straight away after that and got a goal ourselves — if we hadn’t scored that goal I don’t know if we would have won the game.
“The lads ground it out, though. Eoin [Larkin] got a few vital scores for us and we got over the line, and that’s all a semi-final is for — winning and getting into a county final. Job done.”
Larkin was a key man for them that day, says Tyrrell.
“He’s huge for us, and has been for years. You go back to 2004 when we won the club All-Ireland, he was doing the business for us then and he still is.
“He’s the main man but we’ll need the other lads to pitch in as well now for the final itself, to step up. The likes of Matthew Ruth and Davey Walton will have to contribute, though in fairness to Matthew he was sick for the semi-final.
“We’re probably better prepared for the final than we were for the semi-final, but definitely Eoin is a huge player for us. He wins the ball, he wins frees, he takes frees — we’ll be looking for a big game out of him, though I’m sure Shamrocks will try to limit him.”
Tyrrell himself drove James Stephens on in the semi-final, bursting forward and showing for quick sidelines, and tomorrow’s opponents, Ballyhale Shamrocks, surely took note.
“Listen, Ballyhale must have seven or eight lads who are or have been on the Kilkenny panel, with All-Ireland medallists and former Hurlers of the Year and so on. I think they’ll probably hurl with the attitude, ‘we’ll let them worry about us’ rather than the other way around.
“Look at their forwards — they’ve an inter-county attack and midfield, it’s an embarrassment of riches. If they do their jobs they’ll keep me busy chasing them, that’s probably their attitude.”
Tyrrell isn’t just talking up Shamrocks’ stars. Consider the team sheet.
“Henry Shefflin, Cha [Fitzpatrick], Michael Fennelly, Colin Fennelly,” said Tyrrell, “that’s where they win their games, the movement and workrate of the half-forwards and the midfielders protecting the defence.
“Don’t forget the likes of Eoin and Paddy Reid, either. People don’t think about them but a couple of years ago in the county final we focused on the stars out the field but Eoin Reid beat us when he got 1-2. You might hold two or three of them but others will step up to it, so it’s a matter of concentration for us all over the field.”
Still, Ballyhale’s concentration has tended to waver in the second half of games this season.
“We played them in the league final and while they were convincing winners, they took their foot off the gas that day, too, and we came back at them in the second half and brought it from a 10-point deficit to a goal.
“There’s definitely something to their second-half performances. It might be concentration, because I doubt it’s fitness if they have James McGarry as a manager, but it’s something we’ll look at.
“There were a few things in the semi-final that we’ll look to get at, but there aren’t too many flaws in their set-up, being honest.”
James Stephens have their own house to get in order, anyway.
“There’s great excitement and people wishing us the best. I think people who are close to the club have seen that we’ve put a huge effort into this and they’re responding to it.
“There’s something in the team that wasn’t in the team a few years ago when we lost county finals to Ballyhale. Nobody is giving us a chance but training has gone very well, the spirit is good and we’ve never prepared as well for a county final.
“It’s all about belief, believing we can do it and if we have that we give ourselves a great chance.”
Kilkenny SHC final: Ballyhale Shamrocks v James Stephens, Nowlan Park, 3.30pm.
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