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Irish Times
13 hours ago
- Sport
- Irish Times
Joe Canning: Tipperary need a performance for the ages to have any chance of stopping Cork juggernaut
Teams play so many matches now that when you get to the All-Ireland final , the last two teams standing can't have any secrets left. Cork and Tipperary have met three times already this year and have been exposed under pressure by other teams along the way. They know each other inside out. Everything has been analysed to death. So, does that mean you do all the things that got you to the final in the first place or do you try to come up with something that will catch the other crowd by surprise? That's a bigger question for Tipperary. They have a decision to make: do they enter into a shoot-out with Cork and go bald-headed for goals, like they did against Kilkenny , or do they try to make it a physical battle with no space in their half of the field? There won't be any repeat of what happened in the first minute of the championship match in Páirc Uí Chaoimh, when there were flare-ups all over the field. But that was a clear indication of how Tipp were thinking: they were going to bring serious aggression. READ MORE The worry for Tipperary is leaving space in their half of the field. If they go man-on-man in defence, Cork's running game will burn them. Tipp's defence has been vulnerable to pace all year, but nobody has more pace than Cork, not just in their attack, but from Darragh Fitzgibbon at centre field and Mark Coleman at wing-back. The option they have is to bring their half-forward line back the field, drop their centre fielders deep and allow Cork to hit puck-outs to their full-back line. When Cork go short to their corner backs, they tend to hit it down the wings rather than try to work the ball through the lines out of defence, but by crowding the space in their own half Tipp will be asking a different question of Cork. When Dublin lost to Cork, manager Niall Ó Ceallacháin was asked why he didn't set up more defensively. He said that would have only kept the score down. Their intention was to win. Can Tipp win by setting up defensively? Maybe not. Can they beat Cork in a shoot-out? Probably not. The match-ups will be fascinating. Ronan Maher went back on TJ Reid in the semi-final to counteract him in the air and I can see Tipp trying Maher on Brian Hayes. His threat, though, is not only in the air; he's happy to take the ball any way it comes. He'll lay it off, he'll take his own score, he'll run at defenders. Cork's Patrick Horgan and Brian Hayes celebrate after beating Dublin in the All-Ireland SHC semi-final at Croke Park. Photograph: Ryan Byrne/Inpho In league and championship, Cork have scored 35 goals this year; Hayes has scored 10 of them and played the final pass for 10 others. Going into the final, he's my idea of the Hurler of the Year. If Tipp can stop him, they're in business. That's probably only happened once this year, against Limerick in the round-robin game, when none of the Cork players performed. Tipp will be desperate to stop Cork from scoring goals, but they will have to surrender something to do that But they can't just man-mark Hayes. I can see Craig Morgan picking up Shane Barrett and Michael Breen tagging Alan Connolly, with Eoghan Connolly on Declan Dalton. Bryan O'Mara will probably mark Diarmuid Healy, but I can see Sam O'Farrell dropping back into that zone so that O'Mara can tuck in and sweep up around the half-back line. He was on a world of ball against Kilkenny and Tipp will want a similar outcome on Sunday. [ Tipperary focusing on the little things to solve Cork conundrum Opens in new window ] But if Tipp play like that, Cork will have plenty of space in their own half and they'll have no problem creating shooting chances from outside. That's the trade-off. Tipp will be desperate to stop Cork from scoring goals, but they will have to surrender something to do that. Dalton, Fitzgibbon and Tim O'Mahony will all be happy to shoot from distance. The alternative is a shoot-out. Tipp created plenty of goal chances against Kilkenny and they will be encouraged by how many goal chances Dublin created in the first 20 minutes against Cork. But an open, high-scoring game is exactly what Cork will want. I can't see Tipp agreeing to that, at least not from the start. Kilkenny's Eoin Cody and Stephen Donnelly close in on Bryan O'Mara of Tipperary during the All-Ireland SHC semi-final. Photograph: Ryan Byrne/Inpho Tipp have made tactical adjustments during the year, according to the opposition. Cork haven't changed much, if anything, along the way. They will still play three in their full-forward line and they'll be happy to go man-on-man at the back. All of their defenders are happy to attack the ball and take the odd risk. Fitzgibbon is back in his best position at centre field and Shane Barrett's pace and directness at 11 is going to be a threat to Tipp. This will be the case regardless of who lines up at centre back and how Tipp set up in general. Cork have weapons all over their attack. If Tipp are going to try to shut down space in the middle third and in their defence, that is going to take a massive effort. Can they sustain that for 70 minutes? Can they bring enough threat at the other end in that set-up? I don't think so. [ Ciarán Murphy: At 42 I took up hurling, the world's most frustrating and beautiful sport Opens in new window ] This will be a mental challenge for Cork, who don't need to be reminded that they haven't won an All-Ireland in 20 years. They've been favourites all year and nearly won the final 12 months ago. Manager Pat Ryan spoke about embracing the hype and the build-up and if that has been the message for the last two weeks, I think that's a good thing. Nobody predicted that Tipp would get this far. Their improvement over the last 12 months has been staggering. There is no pressure on them and they could just cut loose. But Cork are at a different stage in their development and I think their time has come.
Irish Times
13-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Joe Canning: The place where top hurlers want to be can feel like the worst place in the world
The strangest thing. When Darragh Fitzgibbon was standing over the 65 to draw the Munster final in the last minute of extra time, I felt nervous for him. I was sitting on the couch at home watching it on television and I texted a friend of mine saying that I hope he gets it. I don't know Darragh, and I wasn't rooting for Cork or Limerick , but I know what that situation is like. There's a contradiction at the heart of this. As a sportsperson you want to be in pressure situations and you want to take responsibility, but when you're there it can feel like the worst place in the world. In my playing career I had a couple of last-minute frees to draw All-Ireland finals. In 2018 against Limerick, it was a long shot, and it dropped short. Against Kilkenny in 2012, though, all kinds of crazy stuff was running through my head as I stood over the ball. The free to draw the match was a tricky one from under the Hogan Stand, but a couple of minutes earlier I had missed an easier free to put us a point up. Then Kilkenny scored and there was a gun to my head. I was literally thinking: 'If I miss this, I'm f**ked. I'll never live this down. I'll always be remembered for this.' Maybe if I had scored the free a couple of minutes earlier different thoughts would have been running through my mind, but that was the pressure I was feeling. Around that time people would have written things doubting me and doubting us as a team and that stuff was hanging in the air as well. READ MORE I don't know what Fitzgibbon was thinking. When the camera zoomed in on his face you could see him take a deep breath. For his sake, I was delighted it went over. You don't want to be living with the other outcome. I've taken plenty of penalties over the years, but I've never been in a penalty shoot-out. The psychology of it, though, has changed a little since it became a one-on-one shot. The pressure is on the penalty-taker because they're not expected to miss. When there were three players on the goal line the emphasis for the penalty taker was on power. You were still picking a spot in the goal, but you weren't aiming for corners. With just the goalie on the line, it's more about precision now. The natural shot for any hurler is to swing the hurley across your body and that's where you will generate the most power. Of the five penalties that were scored the other night, though, only Conor Lehane hit the ball that way. His shot was well placed but it was the pace of the shot that beat Nickie Quaid. Aaron Gillane, Diarmaid Byrnes, Shane Kingston and Alan Connolly all hit the ball the opposite way, looking for precision rather than power. The only chance the goalie has is to guess right. I took a penalty for Portumna in a club league game a couple of weeks ago and it was saved. I know what it's like to miss. All the players who stood up in the Gaelic Grounds deserve our respect. Even watching on television, you could tell the atmosphere at the Munster final was electric. I was in Croke Park a day later and it was completely the opposite. The quality of the game didn't help, but even if the game had been better the atmosphere in a half-empty Croke Park is always going to be a problem. I've been convinced for a couple of years that the Leinster hurling final needs to move to a smaller ground. They gave out 20,000 free tickets to juveniles last weekend – which was a great initiative – but it still only increased the attendance on the previous year by about 2,000. I'd hate to think what the crowd would have been if the free tickets weren't given out. In Munster, Thurles is a perfect neutral venue, with a big capacity right in the centre of the province. But teams also have home and away arrangements for Munster finals, and I think that is the road Leinster must go down. Get Leinster finals into Nowlan Park, or Wexford Park or Pearse Stadium or Tullamore or wherever. Make sure the place is full. [ Nicky English: Weary-looking Limerick's errors allowed Cork confidence to flourish Opens in new window ] Over the last three years Cork and Clare have both played Munster finals in the Gaelic Grounds against Limerick – even though Clare don't have an option of playing a Munster final in Ennis. Cork and Tipperary have played Munster finals home and away for as long as I can remember. Cork and Kerry do it in football. Clare and Kerry have done it in football in recent years too. It happens in Connacht football. The Leinster hurling final needs to get away from Croke Park. You often hear players talking about blocking out the noise of the crowd, but the reality is that players thrive on an atmosphere. The best atmosphere I ever played in was the 2018 All-Ireland semi-final replay against Clare in Thurles. The crowd in Semple Stadium wouldn't have filled Croke Park, but because Thurles was packed to the rafters the atmosphere was incredible. We played Kilkenny in a Leinster final replay in Thurles the same year and the atmosphere was terrific as well. What would be wrong with playing Leinster finals in Thurles every so often, just to shake it up? Being compared with the Munster final is tough for the Leinster final but they shouldn't be thinking about it in those terms. The Leinster final needs to have its own identity and stand on its own two feet. To do that the Leinster Council needs to start thinking outside the box. What we witnessed last Sunday can't continue.
Extra.ie
10-06-2025
- Sport
- Extra.ie
Complaints over Munster final shootout brilliantly shut down
A Wexford fan has taken to social media to shut down the countless complaints about how the Munster final was decided on Saturday night. After Cork and Limerick could not be separated after extra time, an epic Munster final was decided by penalties. After a 16-point beating at the hands of Limerick only last month, the Rebels were victorious on Saturday, winning the shootout 3-2 to be crowned Munster Champions. 7 June 2025; Darragh Fitzgibbon of Cork is tackled by Michael Casey and William O'Donoghue of Limerick during the Munster final between Limerick and Cork at LIT Gaelic Grounds in Limerick. Photo by Ray McManus/Sportsfile Although countless fans were jubilant after the dramatic end to such an unforgettable encounter, there were others who bemoaned how the game was decided. Kilkenny boss Derek Lyng has come out and stated that a 'replay would have been more fair' to the players. 'I know we have a new system in place and we're kind of caught for time but I just think we're a bit too caught at the minute,' he added, questioning the new season format. Sportswriter Tommy Conlon also spoke out strongly after the game, stating: 'Penalties are cheap drama. They demean the players who have to take them. They turn spectators into voyeurs. Penalties are cheap drama. They demean the players who have to take them. They turn spectators into voyeurs. Y'day they diminished e'thing that had gone before, all that competitive authenticity cheapened by this tacky contrivance to produce a winner & move onto the next fixture. — Tommy Conlon (@TConlonthecouch) June 8, 2025 'Yesterday they diminished everything that had gone before, all that competitive authenticity cheapened by this tacky contrivance to produce a winner & move onto the next fixture.' Another fan took to social media, writing: 'For Limerick to only be denied the seven-in-a-row on penalties is a tribute to them. Let's hope penalties never settles a SHC game again.' Patrick Collins of Cork saves a penalty in the Munster final. However, with countless other fans swept away by the epic final, and the manner in which it was decided, one neutral supporter has brilliantly shut down the apparent debate. Taking to social media on Sunday night after the Nations League final, which was also decided by a penalty shootout after Portugal and Spain couldn't be separated in extra time, one fan hilariously wrote: 'Ridiculous way to finish a Nations League Final on penalties. 'This should be a replay in Thurles next Sunday evening. Another victim of the condensed GAA season.' Ridiculous way to finish a Nations League Final on penalties This should be a replay in Thurles next Sunday evening Another victim of the condensed GAA season 🙄
Irish Examiner
09-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
'We're all fighting tooth and nail for the calls' - Ryan on half-time management clash with Walsh
Munster SHC final: Limerick 2-27 Cork 1-30 (AET, Cork win 3-2 on penalties) Whatever of grotesque, this was unbelievable. Bizarre. And unprecedented. And Cork won't care a whit. Never in elite championship hurling has the margin between winners and losers of a final been so slender. It's a fact that can't be stressed too often. Limerick's six-year domination of Munster and remarkable run of 16 victorious finals was ended by the indignity of penalties. And yet that took nothing from Cork's accomplishment. Twenty days previous, they had been handed their asses by Limerick to the tune of 16 points. To come back to the Gaelic Grounds like that without the full complement of players that the home side boasted took some doing. Cork's 55th Munster title and first capture of the Mick Mackey Cup were achieved on a Saturday evening too. The first provincial decider on the last day of the week in 15 years but that was a replay and while it also went to extra-time Cork were on the right side of the result this time. Level on 18 occasions, ultimately, Declan Hannon's wide in the penalty shoot out confirmed Cork as champions but Patrick Collins had also been equal to Tom Morrissey's strike after Barry Murphy had sent his wide and Darragh Fitzgibbon's effort was kept out by Nickie Quaid. As for the converters, there were Conor Lehane, Shane Kingston (just about) and Alan Connolly for Cork and the Patrickswell pair of Diarmaid Byrnes and Aaron Gillane finding the target into the Cork-dominated Ennis Road end of the 43,580-packed ground. On the back of their wily if often maligned replacements, Shane Kingston and Conor Lehane, not to mention another industrious substitute in Tommy O'Connell, Cork stood their ground at the end of normal time and into extra-time. However, their toil seemed to be in vain when Damien Cahalane committed a tired foul on Shane O'Brien. Aaron Gillane capitalised yet that was not the end. Nickie Quaid touched a long Darragh Fitzgibbon free out for a 65 and the Charleville man arrowed the placed ball between the sticks to force the unprecedented. By that stage, James Owens was the man in the middle after starting referee Thomas Walsh was forced to retire in the first half of extra-time with cramp. Both sides, but particularly Cork in the first half of normal time, found fault with Walsh's laissez-faire approach to the game, prompting a half time clash between mentors. Pat Ryan said he had approached Walsh at the break 'just to say he was doing a great job," but later he admitted: 'We're all fighting tooth and nail for the calls. The game is so fast. Thomas is a fantastic referee. We're fighting for calls. John Kiely's fighting for calls. That's just the nature of it. 'The referees are all doing their best. They're all trying to do it in an honourable and straight way. There were a couple of calls that we went against but I heard John shouting for plenty of scores that didn't go his way. That's just the game.' In Walsh's time on the pitch, Limerick had two good shouts for penalties turned down by Walsh. However, it was in Owen's time that John Kiely bemoaned the amount of minutes (over three) at the end of the second half of extra-time in which Fitzgibbon's 65 sent the affair to penalties. 'Ultimately, it came down to efficiency,' he said of his team's shortcomings. 'Just a couple of small pieces. We have to go back and see exactly what the major turning points were but there is no doubt that Thomas Walsh getting injured had a big impact on the game.' Winning the toss like they did last month but opting to play with the wind, Cork should have been further than four points, 1-14 to 1-10, ahead at half-time. More frees should have gone their way but their wide count was nine too. Aidan O'Connor batted an ugly goal for Limerick in the 20th minute. Eoin Downey could have done a lot better in preventing him though and Collins's attempt to block was poor. Brian Hayes had a goal attempt kept out in the 24th minute but he made amends less than three minutes later when he had the wherewithal to absorb a foul while passing out to Shane Barrett who found the net and Cork were back in front, two ahead. In the absence of a blistering start in normal time, a typical power quarter by Limerick was expected after the break as they trailed by four points. However, it wasn't until the introduction of Shane O'Brien that they drew level in the 47th minute. Cork were caught sleeping with a Gearóid Hegarty free finding Gillane who controlled the ball and flicked to O'Brien to finish emphatically. Limerick were unable to build on it, though. Five times Cork went ahead and each time Limerick cancelled out the lead. Darragh Fitzgibbon was the ringmaster in helping to keep Cork's noses in front but another Limerick alternation, Darragh O'Donovan, broke that pattern in the 69th minute. When Kyle Hayes blocked down Patrick Horgan's shot, it seemed the initiative was with Limerick only for Cork's Hayes, Brian, to push the ball out to Horgan for the equaliser in the second minute of additional time. There was time for Gillane to fling a free wide, Ciarán Joyce to do the same after Adam English had gifted him the ball and O'Donovan mishit an effort at the posts before the teams returned to dressing rooms to prepare for another 20-plus minutes. Anybody for another 70 next month? Penalty conversions for Limerick: D. Byrnes, A. Gillane. For Cork: C. Lehane, S. Kingston, A. Connolly. Scorers for Limerick: A. Gillane (0-9, 7 frees); S. O'Brien (1-2); A. O'Connor (1-1); D. Reidy, A. English (0-3 each); T. Morrissey, G. Hegarty (0-2 each); D. Byrnes (free), D. O'Donovan, D. Hannon, P. Casey (0-1 each). Scorers for Cork: P. Horgan (0-7, 4 frees); S. Barrett (1-3); D. Fitzgibbon (0-4, 1 free, 1 65); D. Healy, S. Kingston (0-3 each); S. Harnedy, C. Lehane (0-2 each); D. Cahalane, T. O'Mahony, A. Connolly, B. Hayes, E. Downey, T. O'Connell (0-1 each). LIMERICK: N. Quaid; S. Finn, D. Morrissey, M. Casey; D. Byrnes, K. Hayes, B. Nash; A. English, W. O'Donoghue; G. Hegarty, C. Lynch (c), T. Morrissey; A. Gillane, A. O'Connor, D. Reidy. Subs: S. O'Brien for A. O'Connor (42); P. Casey for D. Reidy, C. O'Neill for T. Morrissey (both 55); D. O'Donovan for W. O'Donoghue (65); D. Hannon for D. Byrnes, B. Murphy for M. Casey (both e-t); T. Morrissey for G. Hegarty (79); S. Flanagan for C. Lynch (temp 90+1 to 90+3); D. Byrnes for C. Lynch (80+4). CORK: P. Collins; D. Cahalane, E. Downey, S. O'Donoghue; M. Coleman, C. Joyce, C. O'Brien; T. O'Mahony, D. Fitzgibbon; D. Healy, S. Barrett (c), S. Harnedy; P. Horgan, B. Hayes, A. Connolly. Subs: R. Downey for C. O'Brien (54); T. O'Connell for T. O'Mahony (59); S. Kingston for A. Connolly (65); R. O'Flynn for S. Harnedy (68); C. Lehane for P. Horgan (70+3); N. O'Leary for S. O'Donoghue (72); B. Roche for D. Healy (e-t h-t); A. Connolly for M. Coleman (inj 84). Referees: T. Walsh (Waterford), J. Owens (Wexford).
Irish Times
09-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Nicky English: Weary-looking Limerick's errors allowed Cork confidence to flourish
The key phase in Saturday's scrappy but thrilling Munster final was the 10 minutes before half-time when Cork recovered from a one-point deficit to outscore Limerick by 1-5 to 0-3. This gave Cork all the belief they needed; they had taken the champions' best shots and were still afloat. That 1-14 to 1-10 lead gave them something to work with and reflected a change in fortunes. It was always possible that Limerick's comprehensive victory in the clash between the sides three weeks ago might take the edge off John Kiely's team and drive Cork on, but the Rebels couldn't go into the game expecting that to be the case. Limerick settled themselves swiftly. In the first 20 minutes, Cian Lynch and Kyle Hayes were hitting the levels of the round-robin match. But Darragh Fitzgibbon began to impose his game at midfield and Shane Barrett ended the half with 1-3 from play. Cork now had something to work with . READ MORE It was uncharacteristic stuff from Limerick, or at least stuff we're not used to seeing. Their established KPI (key performance indicator) – the 30-point mark – wasn't reached, but that has been a feature of their season. Only in the first match against Cork did they achieve that tally. At the weekend, they again fell short. There always appeared to be something holding them back. I made a note in the 50th minute that Limerick were in control after the second goal by Shane O'Brien, but they went on to shoot some terrible wides. Instead of stretching away, they let Cork stay in it. Damien Cahalane was an example of Cork's resilience. He hasn't been first-choice for a while, but he battled away and even got up the pitch for a score. He'd have been in trouble if Aaron Gillane's free at the end of extra-time won it for Limerick, but overall it was a brave performance. Nothing highlighted Limerick's problems more than the usually ultra-reliable Nickie Quaid fumbling a ball over the endline for the equalising 65. That and the six wides in extra-time killed them. Kilkenny will likely face Limerick in the All-Ireland semi-final, which will be a serious test of their mettle It all ended with a succession of very ordinary penalties that I had to watch back on video because my train was due to leave before they were finished. This just underlined how crazy the scheduling is. You could have filled Croke Park for the replay, so it represents a serious loss of income for the Munster Council. There has to be a structure that allows matches like this to be played out and not have spectators running from venues into the dusk to catch trains. Kilkenny's TJ Reid scores a goal in the Leinster SHC final against Galway at Croke Park. Photograph: Bryan Keane/Inpho Many people had also left Croke Park on Sunday before Galway showed any signs of life. The late revival came out of nowhere. By the time Cathal Mannion had engineered a goal for Brian Concannon and added a point, the Tribesmen had scored 1-6 without reply and the margin was down to four. It merely served to wake Kilkenny up. TJ Reid, still defying age and gravity, caught a fantastic ball and gave it back to Adrian Mullen, who scored a good point. For the next high ball towards the Kilkenny goal, Huw Lawlor reached into the skies and caught it before going on a gallop and providing a scoring pass for Billy Ryan. The match was a pale imitation of the Munster final, but it was claustrophobic and intense and crucially, exciting. Hurling has largely lacked excitement this year. I'd revalue the goal to four points to try to inject some adrenalin into matches. Kilkenny didn't convince me that they're contenders. They did what they had to do and Derek Lyng deserves credit for getting consistent performances out of them, but that's a Leinster six-in-a-row and they're no closer to an All-Ireland. Kilkenny will likely face Limerick in the All-Ireland semi-final, which will be a serious test of their mettle. A mention of the refereeing. I get the idea about letting the game flow, but rules are there for a reason. Fouls are fouls. From the throw-in on Saturday, referee Thomas Walsh appeared to be fighting a losing battle. He even had to jump out of the way of some hitting to get the match started. Like a schoolteacher, he needed to crack down on that sort of stuff at the start. He could then loosen the reins a little bit later in the game, if he so wished, but only if he had control. Rules weren't applied and I don't think it helped the match because it made the players anxious on both sides. The management teams were up in arms, as was the crowd. Clear fouls went unpunished and I don't think it helped anyone. I would also implement some of the new football rules, primarily the clock and hooter, and take timekeeping from referees. Regardless of Limerick's complaints from Saturday, the innovation has worked well in football and needs to be introduced. The same goes for disciplinary measures on dissent and gamesmanship, which has had a radical impact on misbehaviour.
