I said it at half time and I’ll say it again, these guys are full of guts, how we dragged ourselves back into that game is beyond me given how lethargic we were throughout the game bar the first 10 minutes and the last 10 minutes.
We have a serious issue at half foward with a lack of a ball winning no 12, there is no structure to our team on that side of the pitch, that’s not me having a go at Shane Barrett who does a lot of good work around the middle, but we need a second Deccie Dalton type on the wing and I’m suprised the selectors haven’t rectified it yet.
Tactically we were beaten on the line tonight, last week against Waterford we went man on man on their puckouts and we squeezed the life out of them, tonight we backed off Tipp and gave them free reign in their defence both from puckouts and general play. Just push up and mark a man and back ourselves to win the battles.
We picked up a draw and now a win in Ennis or Limerick will see us through, I think we’ll get it
Patrick Collins had a good game but these short puckouts are annoying me, obviously not all down to him but they have to stop
Niall O Leary had.a tough hour but he stood up and never shirked responsibility, fair play to him
Damien Cahalane again had a fine solid game and is the leader of that backline. It won’t stop the negativity from the usual quarters but I have two words for them, fuck ye
Ger Millerick was game again today, never shirked a tackle, but his hurling leaves him down in tight spaces and is more suited to wing back
Robert Downey was switched to right half back today, why? He should be left at 7 unless he was man marking a Gearoid O Connor, which he wasn’t. Was quiet today but is a big player for us in so many ways
Ciaran Joyce did not have one of his better games today, he’s always willing and brave and made some spectacular catches but his distribution was poor. He needs to stop coming short to the 21 for short puckouts too, like what the fuck is that all about?
Eoin Downey was dissapointing for me but we have to remember this was his first championship start and he will learn alot from it but starting him at wing back when all his Senior experience is at full back was baffling to me
Brian Roche was poor tonight, like the rest of them he was ponderous and looked a little off the pace. Man of the match last week so he has money in the bank in my view
Tommy O Connell moving to midfield was again baffling considering all year he has played at 5 and sometimes 6 but never midfield. Again he was game and hardy but not involved in the play enough
Declan Dalton, what a player and what a man this guy is, he’ll never make an inter county player ye said, he’ll never make an inter county wing foward ye roared, well here ye are lads, the wing foward we have been crying out for for the last 5 years was under our noses all the time. And I won’t even start on his free taking ability. By far our man of the match tonight
Darragh Fitz started very promisingly and looked like he would do damage but he faded out of the game after getting a massive hit, which I thought should have been a red. Not sure an authordox no 11 role suits him although he had a stormer there last week
Shane Barrett was a mirror image of himself from last week, very industrious, very clever but very wasteful when shooting. He brings value to the team but not as a 12 for me
Robbie O Flynn started like he was going to run riot and contributed nicely on the scoreboard but my heart sank when he went off injured. Any word on what it was? Hopefully not the ankle again
Patrick Horgan was quiet enough tonight but kept the scoreboard ticking over, was very very unlucky not to get a goal in the second half. I thought we could have tried Padraig Power instead of him with 15 minutes to go
Seamus Harnedy had a fine game, the guy is a warrior, always has been, if only he was 5 years younger
Shane Kingston looked lively when he came on fir Robbie and really stretched Tipp with his pace and contributed well on the scoreboard. His workrate needs to improve though, at one stage in the second half he let a Tipp player waltz past him unchallenged
Conor Lehane had a fine game when introduced and also contributed on the scoreboard. A much questioned player who is giving his all for the cause
Luke Meade done ok when he came on, I don’t think he should have been dropped anyway as he is the cool calm head we need alongside Brian Roche
Tim O Mahony done well when introduced and thundered into the game in the last 10 minutes scoring a fantastic point. I’m still non the wiser where is his best position but surely he’s got to be looked at at 12?
Brian Hayes, the man ye said should have stuck with the footballers as he’d never make the hurling. And the man I got ridicule for labelling him as a big game player with a sprinkling of magic dust, well ye all saw that magic dust tonight lads!
