Eye-catching O’ Hanlon performance leaves Tipp selector impressed

DANNY O’HANLON was the name on everyone’s lips at Nowlan Park yesterday.

The 19-year-old from Carrick Swans scored 2-1 while sharing the square with Kilkenny’s Noel Hickey, so it was hardly surprising Tipperary selector John Leahy mentioned him after the Premier’s 3-13 to 2-13 Allianz League success.

“Any time you score goals against Kilkenny it’s good because you need goals to beat them,” said Leahy. “They’re going to score goals against you. Danny is very mature, he wants to play for Tipperary and he has lovely hands and lovely skill. Today is a good confidence booster for him, but it’s only March. Hopefully Danny can produce later in the league, and in the championship.

“It’s a huge step, a lot of players came here, played well and weren’t heard of again, so hopefully he can keep his feet on the ground.”

The player himself was modest when questioned about his performance.

“I’m happy enough with the two goals,” said O’Hanlon. “It was good work from Eoin Kelly, I was in the right place at the right time, the ball just dropped to me. We’ve a lot to do between now and the championship, hopefully everything will go well.

“This game was very important. Kilkenny are the best around, any time you’d take two points from them you’d be happy.”

It was Kilkenny’s first loss in a competitive game since the All-Ireland semi-final of 2005, but manager Brian Cody wasn’t thinking of that when asked about their unbeaten record.

“The number of matches you win doesn’t matter. This year, trophies are up for grabs – it’s not about winning this many matches, it’s about winning championships, winning trophies, winning competitions.

“What matters is today’s game. We wanted to win, we didn’t give up until the final whistle and the lads kept going strong, but Tipp had a decent cushion. They got the points to keep them in touch, but the goals were obviously crucial. Tipp are a very good team.”

Leahy stressed afterwards that Tipperary are focusing on the league in order to bring through young players such as their new full-forward.

“With the way the Munster championship is going we want to qualify for the knockout stages,” said Leahy. “We have a lot of lads we want to blend into the team for the championship. If we don’t qualify for the knock-out stages of the league we’d be going in very raw to the championship.

“But it’s a healthy sign for hurling, certainly for Tipp. It’s a big result for hurling because any team that has beaten Kilkenny in recent years has gone on to do well in the championship.”

The last word to Tipp’s new goal-scoring hero. Pressed to evaluate his own game, O’Hanlon was disarmingly honest: “Pleased enough, but a bit to go yet.”

A fair appraisal for March.