Tipp forwards only wanted to pick up loose ball and Bonnar and JāOB aside hadnāt the slightest interest in contesting or trying to win dity ball. that is all well and good when you are on the front foot but when your half backline and midfield are out of the game you are in big trouble. They will surely have to move Gearoid Ryan back to the half forward line next year for his industry and try and develop Paddy Murphy or Buggy OāMeara as a ball winning option as well, although i think both look to be lacking the hurling and guile needed at senior level, but both are young and have scope
Nicky English made the point last week that the most difficult Tipp player to train is one with an all ireland medal. Fran captured it above that Tippās mentality wasnt right for the game whereas the Kilkenny lads were focussed on the final for the whole year and couldnt wait for it to start.
Watched the first half myself last night as well. The workrate and pressure put on by the Kilkenny forwards was key to the performance. One point especially emphasises it when KK had two block downs by Eddie Brennan and Colin Fennelly, Mikey Cahill eventually cleared under pressure which was caught by Tommy Walsh(Welsh) who hit a cross field pass to Henry who scored a great point on his left. The Tipp backs generally didnt have the time to look up when clearing so the forwards then found it tough to get clean possession.
That was an exceptional passage of play, Kilkenny were just not going to let that sliothar get away from them until they had scored, it was truly indicative of not just the pressure they were piling on, but the intelligence of some of their play. Tommy was constantly looking to play the diagonal ball to Henry, something that should have been apparent to the Tipp HB line, but they couldnāt seem to live with it.
The defending btw for the Fennelly goal was bizarre, like he had a written invitation to run into the box unfettered to score his first ever championship goal. The Tipp backs were clearly so shell shocked, they had no idea what was going on.
Sorry Fitzy that was my point. Stapleton was running back into position so the backs were a man short thus allowing the overlap. It is typical of Shefflin that he realized this and capitalized on it. [quote=āFitzy, post: 593853ā]
That was an exceptional passage of play, Kilkenny were just not going to let that sliothar get away from them until they had scored, it was truly indicative of not just the pressure they were piling on, but the intelligence of some of their play. Tommy was constantly looking to play the diagonal ball to Henry, something that should have been apparent to the Tipp HB line, but they couldnāt seem to live with it.
The defending btw for the Fennelly goal was bizarre, like he had a written invitation to run into the box unfettered to score his first ever championship goal. The Tipp backs were clearly so shell shocked, they had no idea what was going on.
[/quote]
Duignan made a good point towards the end of the first half that Henry was not running with the ball as much as he used to, but laying it off a lot more and a lot quicker. He seems to be adjusting his game very well to how his body is ageing and has been affected by injury, his vision is excellent. Kilkenny in general played very intelligently, while maintaining their warrior like intensity.
Iām getting through the game gradually, as I keep replaying parts of it, Iām finding it very hard to understand why Tipp took so so so long to start playing. The conditioning of both teams is remarkably different, one in 5th gear from the start, one in neutral.
Thereās some interesting discussion on this thread about what happens now. Personally I think this defeat could be the making of Tipp winning it next year, in the same way last year seems to have motivated Kilkenny this year (jesus, that was confusing, but you know what I mean). They still have the players to do it, they perhaps need to unearth some more. Callinan is a bit of a failed experiment IMO and Eoin Kelly (Tipp) is clearly on the wane and we have probably seen the best of Lar. A l,ot of responsibility in the forwards will go to Noel McGrath now. But John OāKeefe will have learned a lot, Michael Cahill comes out of Sunday with some credit and Shane McGrath will not be completely pole axed at the start of every game. The various Maherās influence will only grow.
But I wouldnāt be assuming it will be a KK / Tipp final next year. Dublin are not far off. I thought that much of their relative success this year was down to the inetensity of their play and good management by Daly and his team, but if you watch the Dublin games from this year, their skill levels, in terms of basic skills like first touch, fielding especially, striking, hooking and shooting are way better than everyone else barring KK and Tipp. Theyāre not far off the top tier level and a few good wins would see them seriously challenging. Testament indeed to the amount of work that has been done at underage level over the last decade by the Dublin Board.
And JBMās back, you never know :ph34r:
That should also have been apparent to the Tipp management even before the game as Henry was going to be fed ball after ball as long as he was being marked by John OāKeefe. It also kept the ball away from P Maher in much the same way as Tipp kept it away from Tommy last year.
Overall Kilkenny should definitely have won by more. Michael Fennellyās poor attempt at a second goal was crucial in getting Tipp back into the game as instead of taking a handy point to put Kilkenny 8 points up, the ball ended up being cleared and Tipp scored their goal.
Tipp and Kilkenny will both be favourites to get back to the final next year and the roles reversed again but I think we will have a change in final pairing and one of them will not make it.
Saw this list earlier, top 10 scorers in championship hurling from play
188 Christy Ring (Cork). 26-110. 65. 2.89.
186 Nickey Rackard (Wexford) 44-54. 35. 5.31.
186 Henry Shefflin (Kilkenny). 21-123. 55. 3.38.
180 Tony Doran (Wexford). 41-57. 40. 4.50.
170 John Mullane (Waterford). 15-125. 46. 3.69.
158 Eoin Kelly (Tipperary). 16-115. 53. 2.98.
145 Lar Corbett (Tipperary). 26-67. 47. 3.08.
141 Eddie Brennan (Kilkenny). 26-63. 47. 3.00.
139 D.J. Carey (Kilkenny). 27-58. 57. 2.36.
139 Niall Gilligan (Clare). 15-94. 56. 2.48.
Shefflin will surely take top spot before he calls it a day
Top 10 championship appearances
Top 10 SHC appearances - 66 Brendan Cummins (Tipperary) 1995-2011. 65 Christy Ring (Cork) 1940-1962. 61 Tony Browne (Waterford) 1992-2011. 60 Davy Fitzgerald (Clare) 1990-2006. 58 Frank Lohan (Clare) 1995-2008. 58 Donal Og Cusack (Cork) 1999-2011. 58 Ben OāConnor (Cork) 1999-2011. 57 D.J. Carey (Kilkenny) 1990-2005. 57 Damien Fitzhenry (Wexford) 1993-2009. 56 Niall Gilligan (Clare) 1997-2009.
Goalies should be separated out of that, they do fuck all except make stupid serious faces anyway.
Nicky Rackard, Tony Doran 
Except Damien Fitzhenry of course, who redefined the position.
Sigh :rolleyes:
Poor manās Seamus Durack
Where has it all gone wrong for us?
:mad:
DJ has the lowest per game average in the top ten. [quote=āchewy louie, post: 593858ā]
Saw this list earlier, top 10 scorers in championship hurling from play
188 Christy Ring (Cork). 26-110. 65. 2.89.
186 Nickey Rackard (Wexford) 44-54. 35. 5.31.
186 Henry Shefflin (Kilkenny). 21-123. 55. 3.38.
180 Tony Doran (Wexford). 41-57. 40. 4.50.
170 John Mullane (Waterford). 15-125. 46. 3.69.
158 Eoin Kelly (Tipperary). 16-115. 53. 2.98.
145 Lar Corbett (Tipperary). 26-67. 47. 3.08.
141 Eddie Brennan (Kilkenny). 26-63. 47. 3.00.
139 D.J. Carey (Kilkenny). 27-58. 57. 2.36.
139 Niall Gilligan (Clare). 15-94. 56. 2.48.
Shefflin will surely take top spot before he calls it a day
Top 10 championship appearances
Top 10 SHC appearances - 66 Brendan Cummins (Tipperary) 1995-2011. 65 Christy Ring (Cork) 1940-1962. 61 Tony Browne (Waterford) 1992-2011. 60 Davy Fitzgerald (Clare) 1990-2006. 58 Frank Lohan (Clare) 1995-2008. 58 Donal Og Cusack (Cork) 1999-2011. 58 Ben OāConnor (Cork) 1999-2011. 57 D.J. Carey (Kilkenny) 1990-2005. 57 Damien Fitzhenry (Wexford) 1993-2009. 56 Niall Gilligan (Clare) 1997-2009.
[/quote]
Top 10 SHC appearances as a sub - 16 Daithi OāConnell (Clare). 15 Dan Shanahan (Waterford). 15 Cathal Naughton (Cork). 14 Benny Dunne (Tipperary). 13 Paul OāBrien (Waterford). 12 Billy Byrne (Wexford). 12 Neil Ronan (Cork). 11 Aidan Ryan (Tipperary). 11 Liam Cahill (Tipperary). 11 David Forde (Clare). 11 Ollie Baker (Clare). 11 Cathal Brophy (Laois).
How many would Billy Byrne have got if he played when the quailifiers were around
A lot but bringing a 40 year old man on wouldnāt have done us much use.
Of course the KK crowd would splutter the straw out of their mouths if you dared suggest that Mullane is a better forward than DJ was. But thereās the empirical evidence. And whatās more Mullane never got the armchair ride that DJ got.
Where did you get the list Puke?
Twas in the Kilkenny Peopleās preview to last weeks A/I final
Weāre a Gaelic Football county Bandage, the oul hurling is there to keep the lads fit from time to time.
The sweetest one yet theyāre all saying. Ah lovely. Gutted I missed it though.
Anyone have a suggestion for watching the whole game on teh interwebs? RTE wont let me over here and you tube have it sliced up into 7 or 8 different sections which is just painful.
Hon the cats.
Indeed it was sweet Piles. I hope the junket to Malaysia was worth it. Did you know the score before you left?