Following the damp squib (apart from the pre-match fireworks) between Cork and Clare, and Offaly's earlier amble against Laois, the senior hurling championship finally got off the ground last weekend with two-and-a-half good contests to whet the appetite.
This column can only offer impressions of the Wexford/Dublin game based on the radio commentary, the Sunday Game's ridiculously brief highlights segment (maybe there weren't any other highlights) and subsequent media reports. Fair play to Dublin for sticking at it, despite the continuous depletion of their limited playing resources through injury. Hopefully they will get some kind of breakthrough championship result in the not-too-distant future.
Skippy Ruth gave a decent impression of being a fullback during the league, but by all accounts this went out the window on Saturday night. The transfer of Doc O'Connor and Darren Stamp to the forwards also appears to have generated limited returns. While one can appreciate what John Meyler is trying to do, the indications are that he is trying to fit too many square pegs into round holes all at once. Reports also suggest that Paul Roche had a bit of a nightmare, which is surprising given his fine league form. One wonders if a similar fate is in store for the other corner back find of the league, Aidan Kearney, in Thurles next Sunday.
For all that the Limerick/Tipperary game on Sunday was an absorbing contest, one could not avoid the conclusion that we were watching two mediocre teams in action here. A good way of testing this conclusion is to ask how many of either team would get places in any of the current big three hurling counties. In the case of Tipp, Eamon Corcoran and Eoin Kelly would definitely make it, with perhaps Shane McGrath as midfield cover and John Carroll as an impact sub. As for Limerick, only Ollie Moran would be likely to make the grade.
Moran's performance on Sunday was truly heroic, and reminiscent of 2001, when he single handedly dragged Limerick out of the abyss and over the line in their astonishing comeback against Waterford. He played the ball an amazing 24 times in all - to put this in context, the most any other player played the ball (on either team) was twelve. What was even more important was the quality of ball he played. Under An Moltóir's new system of rating plays (one point for a basic play, two for a routine play and three for an excellent play), Moran ended up with 48 points. This included five three-pointers, four for superb points and one for the late catch and pass which led to the equalising goal. The next highest points rating was obtained by Darragh Egan with 23.
While most of Moran's ratings points were garnered in the first half, he kept going right to the end. In fact, just before his heroics in setting up Tobin's goal, Moran turned up on the end line to knock down a high ball that was going well wide, leading to an excellent point by Andrew Shaughnessy. Indeed, if Limerick are to make further progress, they will need to find a way of getting more quality ball into the right corner forward, who only got on the ball in general play four times during the whole match.
Apart from Moran, the only other Limerick players to break 20 ratings points were Brian Geary, who had a fine game at centre back, and Mark Foley. Foley has been criticised for not doing a good marking job on John Carroll, but he did hit a lot of ball on his own account, and one could ask if anyone else would have done a better job on Carroll, who was in excellent form on Sunday. Stephen Lucey and Seamus Hickey also had good games in the Limerick fullback line, while Mark O'Riordan improved considerably when moved back there following Damien Reale's dismissal.
It may surprise some that Darragh Egan emerged as Tipperary's top playmaker, as he has received little attention in post-match discussion. While some of his plays were based on good running into space to take passes, he also won a share of good ball under pressure. The only other Tipperary players to break 20 points were the ever-reliable Eamon Corcoran (21) and John Carroll (20) who had one of his better games in the Premier jersey last Sunday.
Overall, one got the impression of a Tipperary team without real leaders on the field, whereas Limerick had plenty of them - Lucey, Geary, Moran and Mike O'Brien immediately coming to mind. Tipperary's biggest problem is the lack of the kind of halfback platform required to set up a stream of good ball into Eoin Kelly. Whichever team can best improve the supply to Shaughnessy or Kelly may well prevail in the replay on Saturday night.
Kilkenny v Offaly The Kilkenny/Offaly game in Port Laoise has been seen by many as a game of two halves, with Offaly putting it up to the champions in the first half and then fading away after the change of ends. This is not quite true, as Offaly were still in this game with 20 minutes to go. Indeed, were it not for dreadful shooting they could well have been in the lead at that stage, and John McIntyre should take due encouragement from the fact that the chances were being taken.
Offaly's biggest problem was the non-show of their three big men (in both physical and hurling stature) in the forward line. Both Joe Bergin and Rory Hanniffy were completely out of it and, while Gary Hanniffy did get a fair bit of possession, his shooting was atrocious. At half time, An Moltóir was looking forward to the prospect of a couple of Bergin specials really rocking the Cats in the second half, but it never materialised. One wonderswhy neither he nor the younger H anniffy were given a run at midfield. Bringing Brian Carroll out was a clear case of robbing Peter to pay Paul.
At the same time, Offaly can take some solace from the extraordinarily assured play of young David Kenny at centre back, while Derek Molloy also impressed with his aggression and ability to win ball. This was also probably Ger Oakley's best ever performance in a long career in the Offaly jersey. The Faithful County does appear to have the basis of a handy team here, especially if they can get more out of Bergin and the Hannifys. In fact, they have already shown, in their league match against Waterford, that they can be a formidable outfit when they are going well. It could be an interesting qualifier series this year (for a change).
Roinnt Rantannaí Throw ins are dangerous We finish with our usual rants. The following is taken from the Rules of Hurling published on the official GAA website: "all players, except those two contesting the throw-in, shall be 13m from where the throw-in is awarded." One has to assume, based on the games seen this year, that this rule was somehow left out of the rulebooks issued to intercounty referees, and the people charged with assessing referee performance. There cannot be any rule in the book which is so completely ignored. There is no rule in the book stating how far back players have to be from the referee when the ball is being thrown in, but the increasing tendency of referees to drop the ball between players standing right in front of them is going to lead to serious injury some day. And last Sunday in Limerick we saw a linesman throwing in a ball between two players who are almost standing on the sideline themselves. The throw-in, even if done properly, is a dangerous way of restarting a game. The way it is being done at the moment is simply irresponsible.
Confused commentators The TV broadcasts of the two games last Sunday were characterised by the repeated inability of the broadcasters to correctly identify the players on the pitch. One has some sympathy with Marty Morrissey, as several of the Tipperary players in particular wear yellow helmets and look similar in stature. Nevertheless, one expects professional commentators to be able to identify players from their demeanour and style of play. On numerous occasions last Sunday Morrissey had no idea who players were. Similarly, in the Port Laoise game, Ger Canning repeatedly mixed Derek Molloy and Joe Bergin up, even though they were not even wearing similar-coloured helmets. It must be annoying to hurling fans when they can readily identify players on the screen while very well paid commentators cannot.
Not Canning merely, but Mulcahy as well… And, while one has nothing against Cork people per se, did RTE have to inflict both Ger Canning AND Tomás Mulcahy on us at the same time? Canning's stream of opinionated drivel is bad enough, but topping it up with Mulcahy's vacuity is simply intolerable. One assumes that Mulcahy is employed as an "analyst" because someone in RTE thinks he is pleasant to the eye (there can be no other possible reason for him being there). But when he is used as an assistant commentator in match broadcasts, viewers are denied even that doubtful pleasure. I don't suppose there is any chance of getting Jimmy Barry Murphy back? Apart from allowing us to avoid being charged with an anti-Cork bias, Barry Murphy was the best assistant commentator ever used by RTE.
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