A lot was achieved during a year of renewed hope for Tipperary hurling

It was a disappointing sign-off to a hurling season that promised a lot but ultimately delivered less. The evidence of the Waterford tie was, perhaps, more telling than we realised. Another flat performance from Tipperary ended any hopes of a return to Croke Park.

There was, I thought, a sense of resignation on the faces of the Tipperary fans leaving the Gaelic Grounds on Saturday evening. They’d just watched their team come close to overtaking Galway with a late rally, but deep down they knew that the worthier side won through to face Limerick in the semi-final.

Ultimately, it will go down as a spotty season from Tipperary. It was good in parts but the credit side of the ledger will be counterbalanced by the deficits from a few key days such as against Waterford and again on Saturday.

This was a chance to put a major stamp on the season and we baulked at the opportunity. In truth Galway were no great shakes either, but they were better than Tipperary and deservedly now take on the champions in the semi-final.

It was a strange type of game, edgy and tense, but never unspooling to any great flow or rhythm. Galway probably wanted to avoid a shootout and succeeded in keeping matters tight and compressed. Ten-seven at half- time was a paltry scoring return, which reflected the game’s texture, though excitement levels did rise in the final quarter.

Watching the first half, there was an unavoidable sense that this was the Waterford game all over again. Galway had more energy and at times seemed to have more bodies on the field. We were off the pace, failing to push up on them and being reactive rather than proactive.

Callanan and Kehoe were isolated figures in attack, outnumbered and poorly served by the supply from outfield. We were standoffish on their puckouts, conceding possession in their half and allowing them to place their deliveries into attack.

Sweepers at either end kept the scoring low, Cathal Mannion mopping up on their side and Ronan Maher similarly busy for Tipperary. Yet all the while one sensed that there was more drive in Galway’s play, more teeth in the tackle, than Tipperary.

We had a few sniffs at goal but Galway were always back in numbers and, one suspects, learned from the concession of four goals in the Leinster final. Alan Tynan had one half-chance when he tried to cut in from the right corner but ran into heavy traffic and over-carried. Seamus Callanan likewise sensed a half opening and raced through the middle but was well hooked by McInerney and the chance was gone.

A trademark of the Liam Cahill approach is an emphasis on goal-getting. That’s fine but the trick is to know when to go for the jugular and when to take the easier point. Running at this Galway defence on Saturday was a low-yield option and in the low-scoring nature of the contest point-taking was often the wiser choice.

Indicative of our difficulties were the poor first half wides, many of them drifting outside the right post, carried on the crossfield wind. Even the usually clinical Noel McGrath caught the bug with three misses in the first half alone.

Galway were wasteful too but in the last ten minutes of the half they took a firm grip on this contest and could easily have been out of sight at half-time. Conor Whelan led the charge and we could be grateful for Rhys Shelly’s interventions, which kept the lead down. Twice the goalie denied Whelan of majors, going off his line to close down the first and standing firm to deflect over the second pot-shot when our rearguard was badly breached.

The half-time whistle was a relief for Tipperary. Like a boxer on the ropes, we needed time to suck air and reset. It had been a troubling half but we’d survived with minimal damage. Three points was a marginal deficit, especially if we could find a second half response.

Unfortunately, it was Galway who found the necessary reaction. The goal they’d threatened in the first half came within seconds of resuming. Whelan did enough to put Barrett off and when the ball broke behind Breen was poor in his covering effort. This time the Galway man gave Shelly no chance and now Tipperary faced a major battle to get back in contention.

To their credit there was a Tipperary response, with O’Connor and Tynan hitting immediate points. Still that goal remained the big-ticket item as the second half unfolded.

The Tipp sideline reacted to the Galway goal by swapping Michael Breen onto Conor Whelan. The move benefitted both Tipperary defenders, Breen doing better on Galway’s key attacker and Barrett finding form when relieved of the duty.

Tipperary stayed in contention as Galway wides accumulated. Noel McGrath found Tynan free and the Roscrea man flashed a shot across the face of goal and wide. Conor Bowe and Gearoid O’Connor had come on board at half-time for Callanan and Kehoe, as Tipperary sought a stronger return from a well-shackled attack.

Ultimately it was that Galway defence that held the key to the day. They’d learned from the Leinster final, where they spilled four goals, and their grim determination to shut down Tipperary was obvious. Cathal Mannion was a key part of the rearguard but often it was the numbers who tracked back that stifled Tipperary. Trying to run at such a defence was proving futile.

Still, with around ten minutes to play, we got a major break. A Conor Bowe attempt from outfield dropped well short and with Forde hassling for possession John McGrath followed up to whip the breaking ball to the net. A one-point game now and suddenly the day’s fate was in the balance, despite Tipperary’s difficulties.

This might have been the spark to ignite a final winning push if Tipperary could kick on. They couldn’t. From the puckout it was Galway who reacted best, working the ball across field for a crucial Tom Monaghan point. And that remained the story of the final moments. Tipp points from Forde frees and Kennedy from play, two apiece, were each in turn answered by Galway scores through Monaghan and Niland.

Another fine stop by Shelly from Cianan Fahy kept the door open for late Tipperary heroics. However, we couldn’t get on terms to test their nerve and in truth they were deserving winners. For the second time this season Tipperary were deeply disappointing.

It’s a difficult one to take because the team will know they left their best form behind, and yet only lost by two points. For whatever reason the team has tanked since the Limerick match. Why that happened will be an item of speculation in the months ahead.

Already there are suggestions that the team peaked too early in the season, the timing by the management not right. It’s an easy criticism to make but hard to prove. Given where the team was coming from, we had to make an early-season impression and sustaining the effort through league and a heavy-hitting round robin series proved too much. Let’s not forget that close to half the side was playing its first championship campaign, which must be factored in also.

So, a year of renewed hope for Tipperary hurling has ended in deep disappointment. Perspective, always necessary, would suggest that a lot was achieved, with a new team put in place and the groundwork laid for future development. It was always going to be a year of rebuilding.

The real test of progress will come next season.