Prospects are better against Waterford but only if there's a major improvement by Tipperary

The great Willie Nelson turned 91 this week. A friend has suggested a line from one of his songs as an apt comment on Tipperary hurling at the moment. Nelson’s 1972 song called ‘Wonderful Future’ contains the lyric “I’ve got a wonderful future behind me”.

Indeed, it seems a fitting tag line for our hurling travails following Limerick’s heavy infliction last Sunday. In our ongoing decline since 2019, this feels like a particularly painful inflection point, one that has sent us searching the archives for similar defeats in the past. More about that anon.

Our expectations were low heading to the Gaelic Grounds but even those modest hopes were crushed by relentless Limerick in the second half. A fifteen-point pasting is a heavy hit, especially in a game that carried an air of inevitability for most of its course. Even the home fans were muted at the end, though the awful injury to Peter Casey was an obvious factor in that.

It was a strange game, with the sides level on six-all after 24 minutes. The early skirmishing was hectic, with lots of mistakes on both sides and no real flow to the play. We had particular reason to bemoan some missed opportunities in that phase of the game on a day when we needed to take everything on offer.

Twice Jake Morris was blocked on what appeared easy point chances and twice Jason Forde missed the resultant 65s. Against Limerick you can’t afford that wastage.

Then our best goal chance saw Sean Hayes denied by Nickie Quaid’s dash off his line. I guess it goes down as a great save rather than a bad miss, though a more experienced player would have made sure on the finish.

To counter balance all that, Limerick might have had a goal when Kyle Hayes was wrongly penalised for a pick-up. In all of this there was a sense that we were battling for containment, whereas Limerick were playing more within themselves.

Then came a Shannonside wave before half time and we retired five adrift at the interval. It wasn’t a huge lead with the wind to back Tipperary on resuming but, somehow, we never seemed to have the zip or zeal to get at the home team.

The second half made for fretful viewing from a Tipperary perspective. The arrival of Noel McGrath and ‘Bonner’ Maher gave a temporary injection of energy to the side but once Aaron Gillane rifled in the first goal it was game over. Mark Kehoe had a half chance of a goal earlier but fired over the bar.

By now Tipperary were wilting badly. Limerick were finding their passing routine more easily and the points started to flow. Peter Casey’s goal endorsed the trend. His unfortunate injury put a downer on the entire occasion but the home team still managed to play out the final minutes untroubled by a fading Tipperary challenge.

Small things irritate me on a day like this. Near the end the referee penalised Gearoid O’Connor for a thrown handpass. It brought a wry comment from match co-commentator, Michael Duignan: “A first? I don’t think so”.

The game was rife with thrown passes and nobody seems to care. It had nothing to do with the outcome but the sport of hurling is the ultimate sufferer. The lack of noise on the issue from the national pundits is shameful.

Anyway, this was a chastening experience for Tipperary but it can’t be taken in isolation. We have never recovered since the Waterford game last year and really this was more of the same pattern. You can highlight heavy defeats from the past but mostly they were once-off events, whereas Sunday’s experience has become worryingly familiar.

You have to go back to 1947 for a worse outcome against Limerick. The score then was 6-8 to 2-3, a 17-point defeat. The margin was also 17 points when we lost to Waterford back in 1959. It was the day of the big wind when we spilled nine goals, 9-3 to 3-4. There’s the often-repeated story that Micheal O’Hehir wouldn’t read out the result because he thought it was a mistake.

In more recent times there was the All-Ireland semi-final loss to Kilkenny in 2012. That one ended 4-24 to 1-15, an 18-point gap. Of course, there were unique circumstances to that game which we won’t replay here, but it wasn’t part of a losing pattern; after all, in 2012 we were Munster champions.

The challenge now for Liam Cahill and colleagues is to get the team up for Waterford this Saturday at Walsh Park. The counties couldn’t have more contrasting lead-ins, Waterford buoyant after their big win over Cork and Tipp utterly deflated after being whipped by Limerick.

The bookies have the Deise listed as favourites, but only marginally – 5/6 against 6/5 for Tipperary. Remember Waterford came to the championship after being relegated in the league, though they were missing several key players during the spring, players who made their return against Cork.

Our recent record against Waterford is poor. We’ve lost our last three championship outings against the Deise by a combined total of 15 points. Last year they produced an out-of-the-blue display to scupper our prospects of making the Munster final and, arguably, inflict more long-lasting damage.

The previous year’s game at Walsh Park was a feisty enough affair, one that sticks in my mind for some very questionable refereeing. In total we’ve only played Waterford on four occasions in championship matches at Walsh Park, winning in 1969 and 1996, losing in 2022 and drawing way back in 1933.

Historically, our record against the Deise is strong. From 48 previous meetings we’ve won 33, lost 13 and drawn twice.

The Davy Fitzgerald aspect will add spice to this encounter. The Clare manager’s comments on returning to the Deise job for 2023 were uncomplimentary of his predecessor – gratuitously unfair I would suggest. After all, he inherited the league champions and has since taken them down to division 2 of the competition, as well as failing to qualify from Munster last season in the championship. I guess you need cover for a record like that.

Two years ago, we lost by four points to the Deise after a game of some controversy. Saturday isn’t likely to be a love-in either. I suspect of all games this is the one Liam Cahill would most like to win in the current championship.

Obviously much will depend on how Tipperary react to the Limerick defeat. Hopefully it will steel the resolve of all concerned because defeat here will surely end our chances of emerging from Munster. Our two remaining games will be at Semple Stadium but on current form we’ll be outsiders against both Clare and Cork.

It’s a huge one then for the panel and the collective pride of the group. They’ll have been hurt by last Sunday and the reaction during the week so I’ll be really surprised if there’s not a major kick-back.

Waterford are no Limerick, but they do have a core of fine players who specialise in a high-energy, running game. We’ll need to be ready for that, to be up to the pace of things, be surer in possession, concede fewer turnovers and take our chances economically.

I never felt we had a realistic chance of beating Limerick last week; with Waterford our prospects are definitely better but only if we can up our game considerably.

Meanwhile, our senior difficulties put added emphasis on the fate of the county’s Under 20 and minor sides, who were both in action during the week at Semple Stadium, the minors against Clare and the Under 20s facing Cork. By week’s end we’ll know more about our underage health.

Hopefully, unlike the Willie Nelson lyrics, our future isn’t entirely behind us.