I think Clare are in a nice place coming into the Tipp game after today. We improved game on game in the league and were 10 points the better team today on the balance of play today. I am more content that we won it by 4 rather than 14 as complacency wonât set in and players and management alike will all be well aware that we need to step it up.
With the three lads in the half backline, Malone, Aidan Mc and hopefully OâDonnell back we have half a dozen lads who will all hit hard in the tackle and are full of honesty of effort. Add in Taylorâs workrate as well I think we have a middle third that can at least compete with any team in the championship in terms of workrate. We also have a few movable chess pieces in the likes of Kelly and Malone and Fitz as a spoiler which allow us to potentially dictate some match ups in our favour. The Waterford forwards spent the last two months hitting 30+ points a game in the league were collectively beaten up a stick with only one of the starting six scoring from play. Thatâs not to say our backs will dominate again but they have a much harder edge about them compare to the bombscare we saw last winter.
We will need more for Kelly, Colm Galvin and Shanagher in terms of decision making and score taking. I thought Aidan McCarthy got through a lot of work today but again made a few poor judgements on the ball but for the most part was very good.
Pressure is somewhat off, no injuries picked up and Tipp seem very reliant on a lot of older heads catching form. As it is such a short run in from the league, it is far from a given that they can just turn it on like a switch.
Just like today we have a far more sporting chance than the bookies think
OâDonnell got a bad concussion against Dublin, think he spent a night in hospital with it. Not sure if what the return to play protocal would be but think it might be too soon as he probably has to sit out a month with it but he would be a big addition.
If he is well enough, heâll definitely be a big addition for ye. Hopefully he is as thats a cunt of an injury.
Fancy Clare to beat Tipp next Sunday with that win in the bank.
Will be interesting to see what way Sheedy goes about it selection wise. Will he rely on the old reliables or chance the likes the young lads. Its a tricky one to be honest for him.
Yeah and to get 5 points on a day when all around him were getting beaten bar Stephen Bennett and at a push Calum Lyons says a lot for him. He dug in yesterday and more than held his own.
I would think the good news/bad news for Waterford is they were out fought today, beaten to the breaks and generally out worked. That is just attitude and is potentially fixable fairly quickly, especially given they were doing it last year. Worrying thing is why it was absent today, as it is the minimum youâd expect really. Theyâll have a handy one next and itâll set them up for a back door ambush, but there was nothing there yesterday to suggest they are contenders this year.
Cahill got it wrong today. Conlanâs first championship at CB. He should have been targeted big time, dragged around the field and made to make hard decisions, do I cover the fb line or follow my man etc. Instead they had Fagan on him (I think, was hard to tell) who asked him zero questions whatsoever. They also spent most of the game passing it to Conlan unmarked. He wasnât ran at, he wasnât pulled out of position, he was hardly tackled really. Now heâd a great game, but twas made very comfortable for him. Thereâll be a lot harder questions asked of him this year.
Clare were impressive, they know exactly what they are about, which is half the battle. Theyâll give Tipp a right rattle. If they can make it as hard for Tipps forwards as they did today theyâll be very close. Theyâll need to be far more clinical in front of goal though.
For a lad who looked really good last year, he had a terrible game. Barely got possession at all. Like a lot of the Waterford lads, he was bizarrely out of form.
Looking at the respective teams from the 2019 meeting
Fair to say that Tipp could easily have a dozen plus of that team starting this weekend and little in the way of new blood. We will most likely have 6 if OâDonnell or David Mc come back in, but probably only 5 of that team will start with Colm Galvin the only lad likely to play in the same position as that day. Just shows the size of the rebuilding job Lohan has carried out in 18 months.
TIPPERARY: Brian Hogan; Alan Flynn, Barry Heffernan, Cathal Barrett; Ronan Maher, Brendan Maher, Padraic Maher; Noel McGrath, Michael Breen; Dan McCormack, John OâDwyer, Patrick Maher; Jason Forde, Seamus Callanan, John McGrath
CLARE: Donal Tuohy; David McInerney, Pat OâConnor, Seadna Morey; Cathal Malone, Jack Browne, David Fitzgerald; Shane Golden, Colm Galvin; Diarmuid Ryan, Tony Kelly, Peter Duggan; Shane OâDonnell, John Conlon, Podge Collins.