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Wed 01-Sep-2010 11:33

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Emmet Moloney

Counting down the seconds

Emmet Moloney writes for the 'The Irish Farmers Journal' and is a former sports columnist with 'The Kerryman'.

The hurling final. A rematch of last September’s classic. The shadow boxing is over. The Cats bid for immortality; Tipp for redemption. Emmet Moloney is counting down the seconds...

There are compelling story lines to every All-Ireland final, but Sunday almost has too many. The five-in-a-row comes first and overshadows everything else – or does it? Henry Shefflin’s will he/won’t he has neatly managed to shift some of that pressure elsewhere. Was this a masterstroke by Cody to allow a perceptible shift in focus?

Hurling All-Irelands are won by men stepping up on the day and playing without the mantle of all that tension, expectation and pressure. This is a pressure that us mere mortals will never really experience. It’s a pressure only known to 35 or so men every year. That’s a select club.

The build-up by now is old hat to Kilkenny. After all, this is their 10th final appearance under Brian Cody while Tipp have been waiting 12 months for revenge. So, both can cope with the normal distractions of chat, ticket requests, media intrusions and the interminable waiting for the throw-in.

Where this gets a little strange is the five-in-a-row hoopla, now christened the “drive for five” in Kilkenny.

Back in 1982, Kerry went down this road. And made mistakes. The week leading up to the All-Ireland saw a dispute break out on the front page of 'The Kerryman' newspaper and involved a row between Tralee and Killarney over which town would host the official five-in-a-row homecoming. T-shirts had already been printed and there was a song doing the rounds. One or two eyes were taken off the ball.

That 1982 final bears quite a resemblance to Sunday. Offaly had provided the same opposition as the year before and Kerry struggled for long periods to put them away. Eugene McGee’s side had run out of fear for the mighty Kerry, having scored 4-10 against them in the 1980 All-Ireland semi-final. Two years later, they were ready to beat them. Of course, Kerry helped, missing a second-half penalty and retreating behind the ball with the finishing line in sight, normal game plan abandoned. Pressure.

The only vulnerability that the Cats have shown in their last four finals came at the hands of the same opposition. Tipp will feel they had last year’s final in their grasp – and they did. Kilkenny hold no fear for them.

The Premier County have been waiting a year for this one game. The only league match that mattered to them was beating the Cats in Thurles back in March. Over 20,000 turned up. Sheedy and Cody bumped on the line. It crackled. Tipp won. It mattered. It reinforced Tipp’s focus on the black and amber.

They then strolled into Páirc Uí Chaoimh and were duly punished for it, but they were always only gunning for the Cats. It mightn’t have been comfortable against Galway, but here they are. So far, so good and at last, it’s Kilkenny standing in front of them.

Unlike Kerry in 1982, Kilkenny are not sleepwalking into an ambush. They don’t need to be reminded about 2009, although they will be reminded about the controversy regarding the late penalty. Under this manager they are never sidetracked and Brian Cody does not do circuses.

So what do we make of the training session attended by 7,500 supporters, or was it 15,000 or 40,000? Did Henry Shefflin break the world long jump record clearing the barrier on his way to the field? Was it three or four were killed in the practice match? That one session has already attained legendary status.

The Kilkenny training sessions have been open to the public for years now so there was no surprise at the doors being wide open in Nowlan Park last week. However, the radio announcement that caused the crowds to flock to witness the miracle of Henry Shefflin and John Tennyson resulted in an extraordinary evening. There is no other word for it. A training session has never been talked about as much. Well managed as it might have been, it was a breach of normal preparations.

This time last year I fancied Tipp to beat Kilkenny. Everyone’s a year older and some are wiser – but not this punter. Tipp can and, I think, will win this game. Here’s the reasoning:
You need to be inside the camp to detect any loss of focus but the signs are everywhere. The cloud over Henry, Tommy Walsh/John Tennyson; the loss of Brian Hogan. The training session. The five-in-a-row talk. The lack of a serious match on the way to this final. The apparent invincibility of the Cats.

People are human. Yes, even this great Kilkenny side. The hoopla simply has to have some effect. Will all of that disappear when Michael Wadding throws in the ball? Unlikely.
As for the game itself, it’ll be the usual hell-for-leather affair with huge hits. Men driving through walls in search of the sliotar. What a pity we will only have 70 minutes of it (unless we have the first drawn final since 1959 – not an impossibility).

Shefflin will start. His knee will be tested and James Ryall will probably be centre-back. Tactics will go out the window; this will be man for man.

Tipp have some serious hurlers whose careers may well be defined by what happens on Sunday – players like Lar Corbett, Eoin Kelly, John O’Brien, Paul Curran and Conor O’Mahony. The Mahers and the McGraths are their Young Turks.

What works in Tipp’s favour is the type of game they play: swashbuckling, physical and fast, on song it would trouble even the best. But they must get goals on Sunday, the only missing ingredient from last September’s performance. They have the men to create and they have the men to execute. Lar Corbett is my prediction for the man of the match if Tipp win because he makes them click. That’s the genius that wins All-Irelands of this magnitude.
What more can you say about the champions? Weakness? Good luck finding it. Eddie Brennan, Larkin, Richie, Gorta, Noel Hickey, Cha? These are only some of the support cast to Henry, Tommy and JJ.

The hunger and talent shows no sign of flagging. Most teams are beaten before they take to the field to play these lads. But not Tipp. That’s why they managed 23 points and three clear-cut goal chances 12 months ago. Back then, only PJ Ryan stood between them and Liam McCarthy. Tipperary have had 12 months to stew on that and they are some crowd to stew!

The Cats will be beaten someday. Even they know that. Their opposition this Sunday are as good as they have faced under Brian Cody. Throw in the five-in-a-row, Henry’s shaky knee, Tommy’s dodgy shoulder and the inescapable fact that people are human. That’s why I think Tipp, and only Tipp, can beat them.

PS: People are indeed very human. For this week’s controversy we can just ask Kildare. Now and again a county feels robbed by error and looks for the scapegoat in black or one wearing a white coat. However, as long as we allow humans to officiate at matches then mistakes will be made. We should stop being surprised.

To catch Emmet's latest column, get 'The Irish Farmers' Journal' every Thursday...

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