Eamon O’Shea says March marker poor guide

Tipperary 2-22, Kilkenny 1-13:

Even making allowances for retirements and club commitments with Ballyhale Shamrocks, yesterday’s display in Thurles will surely be a welcome boost to Tipperary ahead of the combat of the championship, despite their manager seeking to cool expectations immediately afterwards.

“I think we’re through (to the league quarter-finals),” said Eamon O’Shea.

“That’ll do for now, I need a rest! That’s no more and no less, we got a win today, which is very good.but as I keep saying, the same mantra, win or lose it’s a game in March. Take it for what it is.

“We won the game, sometimes we lose games, that has no bearing on what’s going to come in any month following this. Just be cautious.”

Still, O’Shea saw plenty to cheer him. In the opening seconds a Walter Walsh effort came back from the post for Jonjoe Farrell to finish to the Tipperary net. However, the home side then took over, hitting 1-5 without reply, the goal a clinical Seamus Callanan finish after a good ball into space by Niall O’Meara.

Tipperary were on top for much of the first half, with the resistance being led by Richie Hoganalmost single-handedly.

All spring Hogan has carried the Kilkenny standard well, but in Thurles he was immense from play and frees, torturing Tipperary every time he touched the ball.

The home side had more aces, however. John O’Dwyer and Noel McGrath were able to pick off points from range, and James Woodlock’s mobility and ball-winning gave them a platform.

Kilkenny’s resistance came in point-scoring flurries from Hogan: four in a row, three in a row, but the Danesfort man couldn’t be everywhere.

With half-time approaching Tipperary moved up a gear, hitting six on the trot which put them seven points clear, 1-16 to 1-9.

The second half wasn’t as exciting.

Five minutes in, Kilkenny won a penalty: eight points down, they had to go for goal but Hogan’s effort was blocked byBrendan Maher and cleared.

Too early to declare the contest over, perhaps, but the Cats needed that shot of adrenaline to challenge for the win, and the three consecutive wides they hit after that showed the difficulty they were in.

With Padraic Maher getting to grips with Hogan, Niall O’Meara added a neat goal from a Callanan pass to kill the game, putting Tipp 11 up with quarter of an hour left. The game petered out after that.

Kilkenny manager Brian Cody was characteristically sharp with the post mortem: “The first half, we got an early goal and they replied quickly. For a while then they took over, threatened to put a bit of daylight between us. But we settled very well, got back into the game.

“The last seven or eight minutes before half-time, they tacked on a few points which were important.

“It was a strange second half. There was no score for a long time, maybe 15 minutes or so. We had a couple of chances of goals, didn’t take them.

“But that’s the way the second half went, it just filtered out really.

“There was no doubt about the result. Certainly, the better team won. That’s it.”

In the blue and gold corner O’Shea was still preaching the gospel of improvement.

“For us it was important to keep on performing, to improve.

“The most important thing was to keep up the level of performance over the last couple of games. Really, the opposition didn’t faze me.”

Perhaps, but a few intercounty managers will have noted the size of the defeat, the biggest suffered by Kilkenny at Tipp hands since the sixties, not to mention the prospect of relegation for the Cats — surely the biggest novelty in a spring not lacking in surprises.

Scorers for Tipperary: S. Callanan 1-7 (0-3f, 0-1 65); N. O’Meara 1-2; J. O’Dwyer 0-4; N. McGrath 0-3; M. Breen 0-2; P. Maher, J. Woodlock, J. Forde and S. Bourke 0-1 each.

Scorers for Kilkenny: R. Hogan 0-10 (0-6f); J. Farrell 1-1; J. Power 0-1 (65), M. Kelly 0-1.

Subs: C. O’Brien for Curran, inj, 30; S. McGrath for Forde, 50; J. McGrath for O’Meara, 57; S. Bourke for N. McGrath, 62; D. Egan for Gleeson, 64.

Subs: J. Lyng for Buckley, 33-5 (bs); K. Kelly for Aylward, HT; J. Lyng for Ryan, 47.

Referee: J. McGrath (Westmeath)

TIPPERARY: D. Gleeson, C. Barrett, C. O’Mahony, P. Curran, M. Breen, Padraic Maher, R. Maher, K. Bergin, J. Woodlock, J. O’Dwyer, B. Maher (c), J.Forde, N. McGrath, S. Callanan, N. O’Meara. KILKENNY: E. Murphy, S. Prendergast, P. Murphy, J. Tyrrell, B. Kennedy, K. Joyce, C. Buckley, M. Kelly, L. Ryan, W. Walsh, R. Hogan (c), M. Ruth, J. Farrell, J. Power, G. Aylward.