Turgid Tipperary crash out of All-Ireland series in quarter-final loss to Galway

All Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Quarter-Final

Tipperary 1-18

Galway 1-20

An awful Tipperary performance came surprisingly close to pulling off what would have been an undeserved win in the showcase game in Limerick earlier this evening, but Galway just about had enough in reserve to withstand Tipperary’s late comeback in the second All-Ireland Hurling Championship quarter-final in TUS Gaelic Grounds.

Simply put, the team who was least poor in Galway deservedly held out for a win as they really left Tipperary in the game for large spells of the game, and with Tipperary so abject and poor it was only a surprise that there was only one score in the difference come the final whistle.

And that will be the most galling for the Tipperary players, supporter, and management, that they could be so poor for so long stretches and still had the game there for the taking, but if they had to pull it off it would have been vastly undeserved as the early season form and hope gathered from the first three championship games were comprehensively quenched with two awful performances in big matches back to back.

Galway came into this game with a game plan at the back to stop Tipperary’s forwards who had done so much damage in championship games to date, and so many of them went missing with Mark Kehoe and Seamus Callanan taken off at half time, while Noel McGrath had his quietest game this year by some distance, and it told in the general play.

John McGrath’s second half goal in the 63rd minute gave Tipp hope of a comeback win against the run of play - with that first time pull from close range putting Tipp just a single point behind - but Galway always had a response with the impressive Tom Monaghan having a big say in the final result in scoring three points after being introduced with two of those late on to always give Galway room to see it out.

Make no mistake though, this Tipperary team deserved nothing from this game such was the standard of their efforts, and had Galway had their shooting up to scratch - particularly late on as they managed to finish the game with 17 wides - it would have been far more comfortable.

Everyone leading up to this game - pundits and supporters alike - would have wondered if the Tipperary from the opening three rounds of Munster would show up to this game, but it was very much a the Tipperary of the shambolic display against Waterford in Thurles a month ago as the first half effort left a lot to be desired.

Galway started the half with Cathal Mannion as the spare man at the back and he occupied a defence which was very much set up to choke up the Tipperary forwards with so many deliveries being hoovered up by Galway players from breaking ball.

And it was working to a huge extent as the long ball from Galway on the flip side was at least yielding some results with Kevin Cooney causing issues for Michael Breen with the bombs being launched in - the difference between the teams being that Galway were able to isolate one-on-one inside.

The opening quarter was an incredibly poor spectacle with neither team coming out of their shape as they were feeling each other out, and with John Keenan officiating in a very strict manner, it was Jason Forde and Evan Niland who hit the bulk of the early scores for the teams through placed balls as the sides were even at 0-4 apiece after the 18 minute mark.

Conor Whelan started the game out in the half forward line with Dan McCormack picking him up initially, but it wasn’t long before the Kinvara man moved inside and looked lively - Jason Forde and Niland trading a pair of scores before Whelan hit his first of the day in the 21st minute to give Galway a one-point lead.

The Tipperary puckout were being destroyed with the Galway half back line having a monopoly on the ball from the Premier restarts, and they were happy to let Ronan Maher be free as they were getting some joy with long diagonal deliveries inside with Kevin Cooney continuing to cause problems; and nearly goaled in the 26th minute after getting the better of Breen, but was thwarted by Rhys Shelly who closed the angle well to let Tipp off the hook.

The porous Tipp play couldn’t only be put down to tactical nous from Galway, as some simple play was breaking down anytime Tipp had an overlap or got into space as more of that sloppy play was leading to Galway frees which were converted by Evan Niland, as Cathal Barrett was struggling to get to grips with Conor Whelan who had his second and third from play by the 32nd minute to open up a 0-9 to 0-6 lead with injury time looming.

Indeed, a poor Michael Breen pass under pressure to Ronan Maher’s feet around the 45 should really have given Galway the first goal of the game in the first minute of added time, when Cianan Fahy gathered the loose ball to hand pass into Conor Whelan who had a one-on-one with Rhys Shelly - Whelan though finished really poorly, hitting the ball straight at Rhys Shelly with the ball deflecting over the crossbar.

Tipperary a rabble around this period with nothing coming good for them in terms of their own play or with a bit of luck, but they did manage to cut the deficit down to to one score with a Jason Forde free late in the half to make it 0-10 to 0-7 at the half-time whistle. Tipperary with a lot of work to do to turn this game around.

Strong words and some personnel and tactical changes would be needed if Tipp were to come into the game and make a charge to win this poor quarter-final.

But it couldn’t have started any worse as another long ball from Galway had a two versus two inside and when the ball broke in behind, Kevin Cooney found a square pass to Conor Whelan he made no mistake this time to fire low past Rhys Shelly from close range.

That was a huge punch landed from the Tribesmen early and you felt that Tipperary would need a Herculean effort and a good bit of luck to pull this game from the direction it was going based on how Liam Cahill’s team was hurling.

In fairness though, they responded soundly to that goal to fire over two quick points in succession in the 39th minute from substitute Gearoid O’Connor and Alan Tynan but it didn’t do much to change the pattern of the game as Galway continued to shackle the Tipp attack for the rest of the third quarter.

Alan Tynan had a sight of goal in the 45th minute after being played in behind from the right corner but his well struck effort just went wide of the left post, and with Cianan Fahy causing no end of trouble for Tipp aerially, and with a couple of points from the centre forward along with efforts from Daithi Burke and Conor Whelan, Galway were in a commanding position as they led 1-15 to 0-10 with Tipperary in all sorts of trouble.

Somehow though, Tipperary slowly started to creep back into contention with some poor Galway shooting leaving the door open for the Premier; four points in a row for Tipp coming between the 52nd and 58th minute through Ronan Maher, Jake Morris, Johnny Ryan, and Jason Forde making it a four point game.

Tom Monaghan found the target to take the wind out of Tipperary temporarily but the Premier soon had their route back into the game - first through Seamus Kennedy’s point - with a bit of luck attached to it from a Conor Bowe shot which was lofted into the 21. Jason Forde did well to follow it in and that disrupted Éanna Murphy’s attempt to gather possession which gave John McGrath the chance to whip the loose ball to the back of the net. Game back on.

Tipp had some momentum now but the mistakes which had infected the players performances continued to rear its head and despite some big deliveries down field from Rhys Shelly - with continued poor shooting from Galway - they just couldn’t muster the necessary plays to get level; Rhys Shelly doing his best to keep his team in it with a stunning save from Cianan Fahy in the 67th minute.

But despite Galway trying their best to hand Tipp the game, they eventually saw it out with points from Evan Niland (free) and Tom Monaghan wrapping up the win and another crack at three in a row champions Limerick in a fortnight's time. 

For Tipperary, it is a very disappointing end to a year that had shown so much promise, particularly in the games against Clare, Limerick, and Cork but there can be no confusion after this game - Tipperary were incredibly poor and there can be no excuses in the weeks and months to come as the Tipperary revival has taken a major step backward.

Scorers: Tipperary: Jason Forde (0-10, 0-8f), John McGrath 1-0, Alan Tynan, Seamus Kennedy 0-2 each, MIchael Breen, Gearoid O’Connor, Ronan Maher, Johnny Ryan all 0-1 each.

Galway: Evan Niland (0-8, 0-7f), Conor Whelan 1-4, Tom Monaghan 0-3, Cianan Fahy 0-2, Ronan Glennon, Joe Cooney, Daithi Burke all 0-1 each.

Tipperary: Rhys Shelly; Cathal Barrett, Michael Breen, Eoghan Connolly; Bryan O’Mara, Ronan Maher, Dan McCormack; Conor Stakelum, Noel McGrath; Alan Tynan, Jason Forde, Seamus Kennedy; Jake Morris, Seamus Callanan, Mark Kehoe.

Subs used: Conor Bowe for Kehoe (HT); Gearoid O’Connor for Callanan (HT); Johnny Ryan for Stakelum (50); John McGrath for N McGrath (53); Jack Ryan for Tynan (71).

Galway: Éanna Murphy; Darren Morrissey, Gearoid McInerney, Jack Grealish; Padraic Mannion, Daithi Burke, Joe Cooney; Sean Linnane, Cathal Mannion; Brian Concannon, Cianan Fahy, Ronan Glennon; Conor Whelan, Kevin Cooney, Evan Niland.

Subs used: Tom Monaghan for Glennon (49); Conor Cooney for Concannon (55); Jason Flynn for K Cooney (61); Fintan Burke for McInerney (64); Liam Collins for Fahy (73).

Referee: John Keenan (Wicklow)