The absolute ineptitude of the Gaelic Football Athletic Association’s (GFAA) handling of the game of hurling has never been more apparent than in this year’s senior championship, writes An Moltóir …

Twelve weeks have passed since the competition got under way in earnest with the Cork v Limerick clash on May 27. In that period, there have been just eight matches involving the heavyweight hurling counties. Six of these have been titanic clashes, with never more than a goal separating the teams at full time. Attendances have been huge, and the new-look football competition shows that the crowds will keep turning up if offered even the glimmer of a decent contest.

If the GFAA was genuinely interested in promoting hurling, they would put in place a competitive structure which would ensure at least two big games every weekend during the months of June, July and August. The revenue generated would be pumped into spreading the game in those areas where it is weak, with the aim of admitting one extra county from the middle ranks to the top table every five years and, more importantly, getting decent numbers playing the game in those counties where hurling is currently only hanging on by a thread. As the game spreads, there will be more big games and more revenue to pump into further promotion, in a classic virtuous circle.

Unfortunately, there are too many heavies in the GFAA who have ‘FA’ interest in hurling. There is probably an equal number who have failed to grasp the fact that the country is awash with money and that there has never been a better opportunity to get hold of serious finance to secure the game’s future. Instead, we have too many empire-builders whose narrow preoccupations include ensuring that the dominant counties retain their domination and building stadiums which are both mammoths and white elephants in equal proportion.

Yet, despite all these bureaucratic afflictions, the game of hurling continues to boggle the mind. Earlier in the summer, Limerick were shaping up to be the shock team of the year. Now that mantle has been taken on by the boys of Wexford. There would have been a certain irony had they put Tipperary out of the competition last Sunday. To a considerable extent, the Premier County only reached this stage of the championship because of Clare’s and Limerick’s attacking inadequacies. What justice, therefore, had they fallen to a team with probably the worst forward line An Moltóir has ever seen at this level of hurling.

The fact is that there is not one decent scoring forward in the Wexford team (although Mitch Jordan did provide a passable imitation last Sunday). They have three or four players who are simply out of their depth. So how come they almost reached the All-Ireland final last Sunday? Well, for a start they have a great fighting spirit, without which nothing is possible. They have a good defence, which means they at least stay in touch. They have a decent freetaker who generates a regular supply of scores. But what has really kept them going – at least in their last two matches – has been their ability to score goals from the most outrageous of sources. So, two weeks after their goalie broke Limerick’s hearts, we find a veteran defender who had never previously scored a goal in the championship doing the business twice against Tipp.

The other key factor in last Sunday’s game – hardly mentioned by the commentators – was the wind. In the first half, Wexford’s puckouts and clearances from the goal area were routinely gobbled up and returned by Tipp’s excellent halfback line. In the second half, Fitzhenry and his men were able to drive much more ball deep into the goal area where the Tipp fullback line was much more fallible. Meanwhile, ball travelling in the other direction was holding up just that little bit which gave the Wexford defence the advantage which Tipp had enjoyed in the first half. Tipperary’s more skilful and better drilled forwards generally made better territorial use of the ball during their period of domination and would surely have been out of sight were it not for Damien Fitzhenry’s superlative goalkeeping. Unfortunately for Tipp, Brendan Cummins was unable to repeat the act when Larry O’Gorman came raiding in the second half.

So what factors are likely to influence the outcome of next Saturday’s replay? One line of thought is that Tipp were ringrusty last Sunday and will be much sharper next time out. The alternative line of thought is that Larry Murphy and Rory McCarthy are unlikely to be as ineffectual again, and that if one or two of Wexford’s less effective young ‘uns can get their game onto a higher pitch, then the sun might shine once more on the South East.

An Moltóir was surprised that the forceful, if limited, Gary Laffan was not brought into the action much earlier last Sunday – given the difficulties being experienced by the Tipperary fullbacks – and this could also be an important factor in the replay. Tony Dempsey might also usefully whisper in the ears of a couple of his newcomers that they should give some thought to where they are hitting the ball. Closing your eyes and hitting the ball as hard as you can in the direction you are facing is simply not good enough at this level.

Tipperary’s big problem is the absence of a high-octane scoring forward of the calibre of Pat Fox or Nicky English himself. English has sought to make up for this by loading the panel with handy but lightweight forwards and hoping that at least five of them will score two or three points apiece. He has shown no mercy to those who are not delivering, but the rather desperate measure of throwing John Madden up into the forwards indicates that even English realises that the routine stratagem of bringing in Liam Cahill, Eugene O’Neill and an O’Brien or two will not suffice if Tipperary are to go all the way.

An Moltóir cannot see the Wexford forwards putting up a decent points total next Saturday, so they will once again need goals if they are to prevail. So what are the chances of Martin Storey coming off the bench to bag a brace, and then Liam Dunne sending a long-distance free all the way to the net for a last-gasp one-point win for the yellow-bellies?

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