Hard luck 
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He hasn’t gone to a Tipp match all year, he’s no more a Tipp fan…
Agree. If they keep the head they are a better.
Still not as bad as Clare and limerick
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In the lead up to the winner, Tipp had a sideline ball just inside their own 65 on the Hogan side. From the angle behind the goal they had four defenders inside their own 65. Galway on the other hand dragged, I think, 13 back behind the Tipp 65 to pressure the sideline and defend a score at all costs.
I don’t know who was supposed to be marking Canning (possibly nobody as Tipp still had two spare men back and thus by definition Galway would have had two free men) but he was free as a bird when the ball came to him. The one man above all who you don’t want to leave free.
When Canning got the ball and looked up in front of him he would have seen a 4 v 2 situation in favour of Tipp. It still took a pass of outstanding vision to deliver it on a plate to Shane Maloney.
That kind of situation for an attacking team (as Tipp were in this case) is a rare one, effectively a set situation with 30 seconds left with a level game on the line, enough time for you to score but also enough time to be dispossessed and concede a winner, almost like a last play drive in American football, but where risk and reward are even more finely balanced than that.
What’s the best strategy? Do you hit it as far upfield as possible, press the ball and hope to catch it cleanly or force a mistake from the defending team? How many players do you keep back, given that if dispossessed a winner for the defending team can conceivably come from anywhere up to 70/75 metres out? Galway knew they had to do one thing - defend the sideline ball. They had certainty as to their task. It did seem that Tipp were slightly caught between two stools in terms of balancing risk and reward.
Perhaps Tipp should have looked for a short ball and retain possession, even if they had to hit it backwards? Possibly difficult with Galway players pressuring the sideline ball.
Kilkenny have managed to go short and score a winner in such a situation previously - they got the winner from working a sideline short in last year’s league final, although that was closer to goal.
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In years gone past, you’d always fear Kilkenny, and of course they are to be respected, but the feeling is there that they are ready for the felling. This is a balls out sort of year for Galway, I really fancy them, if they can just keep their heads down and not get caught up in all the bullshit that will come now the good ol Galway hurling bandwagon gets into full swing over the coming weeks.
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What’s almost more important than the players having been there before is that management have been there before. Very important to build ups.
You are bang on about KillKenny. Still an excellent team but more dependant on a few than they were before.
+1 Bang on the trick is to show them respect but no fear. If they get even a whiff of complacency/disrespect they ll up it big time.
Might be a knee jerk reaction but I think the final has the feel to it of Armagh v Kerry in the football in 2002.
The underdog who has been success starved for so long in the final against the greatest team in the history of the competition who, while still a top quality outfit, are not the fearsome opposition they were through natural age and mileage.
Mind you Kilkenny could come out and bang in two goals in the first seven minutes too.
Gut feeling Galway will do it.
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Its a long time since Galway have won a game like that. A game where they had the edge throughout but were repeatedly hit by sucker punches of goals.
Most of Galway’s big wins over the last two decades have been of the ambush variety where they have absolutely blitzed a team (often Kilkenny) right from the off and won the game early.
The manner of today’s win augers well for their prospects of bridging the 27 year gap.
I was surprised at how much space he had to make and hit the winner as well. But there was no one out on that side of the pitch at all which was what made Tipp vulnerable.
Regarding the situation, I always think you should get your strong ball carriers in possession and let them run with it. Look to work one shot from 40 yards. Maintaining possession is vital I think. If you hit the ball long it has to find a friendly paw or you’re goosed.
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That’s a dreadful comparison. Kerry 2002 were never the greatest time in the competition.
And I think you’ll find the age profile of the current Kilkenny team is not excessive.
In all fairness lads, we have been predicting Kilkennys demise since the 2010 defeat and while 2013 was by far and away their worst year, they generalky have a knack of finding another couple of gears for the final. So I would be very wary of them being labelled as vulnerable this year.
Galway were the better team today but still leaked goals at crucial stages. A concession of 3-16 in the final will see Kilkenny crowned AI champions
PS Darren Gleeson shoe in for all star
1 sub brought in against Waterford tells its own story.
Im not disagreeing. Im just saying underestimate them at your pearl
They’re finished. Probably off into the wilderness now for a decade at least.
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I wish
Surprised that Tipp had more possession than Galway.
Tactics and positioning in hurling are usually general enough in nature and operate on principles and directives rather than micro-level specifics. This is a rare example of a play where specific positioning and a plan should surely be absolutely key. The stakes don’t get any higher than this sort of situation. The initial goal surely has to be to retain possession from the sideline ball and then to work a shot from there. If the game was professional I’ve no doubt specific tactics for such a situation would be worked out, but it would appear that teams, bar maybe Kilkenny, don’t really do that at the moment. Tipperary basically went for a hit and hope with a confused marking policy, which didn’t work out for them.
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