Since Tipperary are neighbours with all of their most bitter rivals it’s hard to know if their duals with the Tribesmen are any more or less important than a meeting with Kilkenny, Cork, Limerick, Waterford, Offaly or even Laois for that matter. I’m as guilty as any one of branding games with the line “bragging rights are at stake” when in truth the only thing the players on both sides are interested in is getting to the All Ireland final and for both sides there is a shot at redemption.
Since their inclusion in Leinster, Galway haven’t been semi final regulars, in fact Sunday is only their second time since entering Leinster in 2009 that they’ll feature in the final four. The last was in 2012 when they disposed of Cork before being beaten by Kilkenny after a replay in the final. That’s not to say there hasn’t been some positives for Galway in non semi final seasons. After disappointment in 2013 they took Kilkenny, them again, to a replay in the Leinster semi final before a heartbreaking defeat to Tipperary that saw them race into a 4-12 to 1-15 lead after 50 minutes before a Tipp revival blitzed their rivals 2-10 to 0-1 over the last 20 minutes.
Fades at vital times in big games have cost Galway in the past but seem to have been banished in this Championship so far with a strong finish on the first day out against Dublin and blitz’s in the next two games against the Dubs in the replay and Laois in the semi final. Those wins saw them through to a Leinster decider with Kilkenny. The loss that day can’t be put down to a fade at any particular time but a strong show from the Cats across the 70 minutes and a failure to create and take scoring chances. That failure that was eradicated against Cork in a quarter final that saw them secure a 13 point win.
Even in defeat, former All Ireland winner as a player and manager Nicky English thinks there were positives for Galway to take from the Leinster final defeat. ”I think Galway played well in the Leinster final. We’ve seen how strong and intense Kilkenny are and Galway matched that for long periods. They had a couple of chances that could have got them closer, I thought they improved in the game against Cork, they had a greater spread of scores, they really are happy in themselves now and are playing with confidence and that makes them hard to beat”.
After the Cork game, Cunningham admitted the fade had been an issue in previous big games and not just last year against Tipp. “There have been lulls in performance and it’s something we’ve talked about and tried to address it happened last year against Tipperary. That bit of freshness was there today as opposed to last years match”.
Freshness and match sharpness won’t be a problem for Galway having had a three week break but for Tipperary the wait maybe too long having not played since the Munster final on July 12th! While the provincial final to All Ireland semi final gap never seems to be an issue to Kilkenny when they come out of Leinster, the Munster teams have struggled. Nicky English points out that “four out of the last five Munster Champions have been beaten in the semi final. The stats don’t lie. I think it’s not just as easy as all that, to manage that five week gap. Tipperary need to hit the road running because Galway have had that game in Thurles against Cork so it won’t be easy for Tipp”.
“That’s going to be a cracker” says seven time All Ireland winner Brian Hogan when we asked him what kind of game this Sunday's semi final will be. The O’Loughlin Gaels man who featured against Galway in the final and replayed final in 2012 says “Galway have all the tools to cause Tipp problems. It’s up to themselves really. It’s up to the players to bring that belief, they have the ability and they need to bring that ability for 70 minutes, they have to avoid capitulating like they did last year".
Hogan doesn’t think that the long wait for the Premier will be an issue. “The players know what’s required. It comes down to the players setting the tone in training in the last few weeks”. For whoever loses, it’ll go down as a season to forget. Tipp desperately need an All Ireland, after losing last years final after a replay and not kicking on after 2010 while Galway have had a 27 year wait for Liam to cross the Shannon. The question is, will the pressure buckle or drive on the players? Either way it should be fascinating game.
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