We have written here before of the silken skills of the Tipperary senior hurling captain, Toomevara’s own Tommy Dunne – and doubtless will do so again, as his career continues to prosper – writes An Fear Rua …

This September morning, as Tommy gingerly fingers his first All Ireland senior hurling medal, we salute a hurler of all the talents: skilful, calm and graceful under pressure – no matter how intense, proud of his club and of his county, fit, determined, courageous, courteous … a veritable leader of men. Look again at that list of attributes, and then think of the number of inter-county players who display only some of them, and even then, only from time to time. But few display them all as consistently as Tommy Dunne does. That’s why he’s holding an All Ireland medal in the glaic of his hand today and so many others never will.

Dunne’s determination, his superlative will-to-win, in AFR’s view was the key factor in Tipperary’s defeat of Galway. The five points he scored were merely the physical manifestation of a state of mind.

Word from the dressing rooms before hand was that Tipp were calmer and Galway seemed the more uptight of the teams. No wonder. As Nicky English reminded everyone after the game, Tipp had gone seventeen games unbeaten this year and – though the good Nioclás didn’t mention this – they’ve been together for a number of years, under a stable management team. Galway, on the other hand, after only one real game in the championship (their mighty semi-final defeat of Kilkenny) had been pitched in at the deep end. In recent times, some Galway fans have taken issue with AFR for his comments about the relative ease of their path to an All Ireland final, compared with counties in other provinces. But, even the most die-hard Galway fan must now be questioning whether it’s really fair to their team to expect them to pull out a couple of super-human championship displays in the All Ireland semi-finals and finals so late in the season, when a longer, more typical championship ‘run’ might serve them better?

Tipp started well, but gradually, Galway got more into the swing of things. Early on, Kevin Broderick, full of running, set up Eugene Cloonan for a good point. But, in an emerging pattern that was ultimately to determine the outcome, Dunne replied quickly with a point for Tipperary. There followed a series of Galway ‘misses’ that were to prove fatal to their chances in the end. After twenty-two minutes, a neat pass from the Wise Old Man of Tipp, Declan Ryan, set up Mark O’Leary for a calmly taken goal. Showing they were not going to lie down easily, a minute later, Cloonan goaled for Galway. But, a minute later still , maintaining the gap, Tommy Dunne scored his third point.

Galway went in at half-time down by only two points, 1-9 to 1-7. Some said that with the breeze in the second half they would pull back the narrow Tipp lead and then move on to victory. However, the notoriously flirtatious Croke Park breeze was never a factor in the game, because Tipp’s determined style of play never allowed it to be!

The second half was on and, again, it was Tipp who showed most determinedly with Mark O’Leary looking particularly threatening and goaling again after only a few minutes. Dunne, from a ’65, scored his fourth point and – after a few bad misses – Declan Ryan redeemed himself with a superbly taken point that literally bowled over the umpire at the Hill End.

Ten minutes to go, and Fergal Healy unleashed a cracker of a shot to the back of the Tipperary net and narrowed the gap to a point. Injuries forced a number of changes in the hitherto steadfast Tipperary back unit and substitute Mícheál Ryan looked less than comfortable marking the flying Broderick. Broderick surged forward several times but spoiled the effect by missing as many chances as he scored, including a golden chance of goal he should have palmed in rather than ‘foostering around’ to get a shot with his hurley, and thus giving Brendan Cummins time to recover. By this stage, Galway were sparking alright, but they were far from firing on all cylinders. Unlike Tipp, they seemed to lack a leader on the field of play. No wonder, then, a worried-looking Mike McNamara was fingering his chin absentmindedly as he conversed conspiratorially on the line with Noel Lane.

A minute into extra time and Tommy Dunne takes his final score of the afternoon, a sweetly struck ’65. The final score: Tipperary 2-18, Galway 2-15.

Afterwards, there were strenuous Galway complaints about some decisions by referee Pat O’Connor of Limerick. There were even suggestions that, as a Munster man, he would favour Tipp! In particular, fans were incensed by his disallowing of a Michael Broderick goal because of a foul in the run up to it by Joe Rabbitte. All games have talking points like these. But focussing on them, probably misses the overall picture and is unfair to the efforts of a gallant Galway team. Whatever Galway did on the day, Tipp – inspired by Dunne – were always ready to do that bit more. Even if the goal had been allowed to stand, AFR believes Tipp would simply have dug that bit deeper to find the ‘necessary’ to win.

In the end, the better team – and hurling – were the winners …

Related Topics:
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Galway and the Double – AFR"s Response
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The Good … the Bad … and the Downright Ugly!
The Making of a Star
A 65/1 Double for the Championships?