Having delivered two Munster championship victories in a row – a distinct rarity for the Premier County in recent times - Babs Keating’s mythic status among Tipperary hurling supporters has undoubtedly reached a new level these last few days…

Yet surely even Babs will recognise that these two victories were greatly facilitated by the fact that neither Limerick nor Waterford turned up on the day – and also by the slight oversight on the part of the respective opposition managers in failing to put a decent marker on Eoin Kelly.

Since emerging as a hurling power in 1998, Waterford could always be relied upon to give a good account of themselves in every championship match. Last Sunday’s was probably their least focused effort in all that period. This was reflected not just in their poor shooting, but in the general lack of sharpness in their play. An Moltóir counted eighteen cases of poor decision-making and option-taking in their play against less than half that for Tipperary. In his TV commentary, Donal O’Grady also commented several times on the tendency of the Waterford players to hit the ball blind without looking up to check on their options.

Justin McCarthy’s excuse that this was Waterford’s first game requires a considerable helping of accompanying salt. In other years the Déise hurlers have been razor sharp in their first championship match – as Clare, for example, will remember only too painfully from 2004. McCarthy’s failure to have his charges primed for what was a very winnable game will only add further to the disenchantment with his performance which apparently is becoming increasingly widespread down by the Suir. Once again his decision-making both before and during the game will have added to the growing doubts about his managerial abilities.

Selecting rookie Dennis Coffey to mark Eoin Kelly was a gamble that could have paid off; leaving him on the field when he showed no ability to contest incoming ball was in the foolhardy category. Apart from a couple of hooks and blocks and one flick, Coffey didn’t play the ball once in the entire game. Apart from that, there is a general lack of steel in the Waterford fullback line which is well recognised by other counties: quick forwards can expect to run right through them without being molested before, during or afterwards. One would wonder what Shamie Hannon – who never took any prisoners himself – is doing as a member of the Waterford management team.

The previous week, the one time that Alan Markham got away from Diarmuid O’Sullivan, he was promptly hauled down by a tug on his jersey by the venerable Rock – a blatant transgression which did not even earn a black-book ticking from referee Barry Kelly. If the Waterford defenders had done the same last Sunday, they would have gone in at half time four points behind rather than eight.

It is also hard to understand what Justin McCarthy was doing placing Michael Walsh at full forward, which deprived the Waterford outfield of their hardest-running player on a scorching energy-sapping day. Or asking Paul Flynn, an asthmatic who has struggled in hot days before, to play on the wing away from goal where he is at his most dangerous. There are also stories coming out of Waterford that Seamus Prendergast actually failed a fitness test before the game, but McCarthy still insisted on fielding him.

One also wonders why McCarthy opted to bring in a clearly unprepared John Mullane in the second half, especially as the player he replaced, Dave Bennett, was just coming strongly into the game. And why Jack Kennedy, who was doing quite a good job as a ballwinner, was replaced by Paul O’Brien, who made no impact at all.

The statistics of the game show that, despite all their managerial and other misfortunes, Waterford were the dominant team for the bulk of the game in terms of amount of possession won and chances created. In the first half, Tipperary had a slight upper hand in terms of plays made (not counting frees), at 72 against 66. However, Waterford were well ahead (19 to 12) in terms of attempts at scores (including shots which fell short or were saved as well as scores and wides). In the second half, Waterford raised their number of plays to 94 while Tipp’s dropped to 53 – an extraordinary level of territorial dominance for a losing team. In that period, Waterford again made more scoring attempts (17 to 13) which meant that, over the course of the game, the Déise had 37 scoring attempts to Tipperary’s 25. However, the problem for Waterford was that they only converted one third of their attempts compared with two thirds for Tipperary.

Both Eoin Kelly and Paul Flynn had twelve shots at goal during the game; Kelly converted eleven and Flynn just five. This was one crucial difference between the teams. The other was the mixture of brilliant goalkeeping and bad luck which prevented Waterford from registering a higher goal count. Apart from Brendan Cummins’s double stop from Shane O’Sullivan and Dan Shanahan, Jack Kennedy’s early second half point after a strong run could easily have been a goal. Paul O’Brien was desperately unlucky when Dan Shanahan’s blocked shot fell between his legs, and Shanahan himself lost control on the edge of the square when a goal seemed certain. The media coverage talked about panic in the Waterford full back line, when over the course of the game, Waterford probably created more clearcut goal chances than did Tipperary.

Apart from Cummins’s heroics, Babs Keating will have been very pleased with Diarmuid Fanning’s telling and consistent performance and further signs that Eamon Corcoran is returning to this brilliant best. There was also much to admire in Shane McGrath’s busy contribution in midfield which saw him make the most plays of any of the Tipperary team (14, one ahead of Corcoran). However, when Waterford turned up the heat in this sector in the second half, the Tipp men disappeared from the radar for a long spell. Up front, apart from Eoin Kelly (11 plays), Michael Webster (10 plays) put in a solid performance while Diarmuid Fitzgerald’s ability to win ball and run with it repeatedly carved open the Waterford defence. John O’Brien (10 plays) won a lot of ball, but his use of it was very poor at times. However, both John Carroll and Redser O’Grady were largely ineffective, and hardly hit a ball in the second half before being eventually substituted.

A key feature of the game for Waterford was the leadership provided by Dan Shanahan. Well-known for his tendency to fade out of games, on this occasion Shanahan took a lot of responsibility on his shoulders and was a constant threat from start to finish. Tony Browne also had an excellent game, especially in the first half when Jack Kennedy also played a lot of ball for the Déise. Eoin Murphy, Tom Feeney and Ken McGrath all put in storming second halves, while substitutes James Murray and Shane O’Sullivan put in strong claims for a starting place the next day. Given Justin McCarthy’s tendency not to try out new players, a further bonus for Waterford is the fact that several relative newcomers got a decent amount of playing experience on this occasion. Ken McGrath was Waterford’s busiest player with 14 plays, one ahead of Eoin Murphy, Tom Feeney, Dan Shanahan and Michael Walsh.

An enquiry sent to ‘The Sunday Game’ on RTE on Sunday night asked about the legality of Eoin Kelly’s free-taking technique. It is high time the GAA mandarins got to grips with this. Following the introduction of frees taken from the hand in Gaelic football, Croke Park eventually got referees to insist that frees were not kicked from a point in advance of where the free was actually awarded. For years’ hurling freetakers have been breaking this basic rule, either by carrying the ball forward on the hurley (a la Eoin Kelly) or jabbing the ball forward (as many taking semi-penalties do). Just as in football, a free in hurling should be hit from the point w