GAA Hurling All Ireland Senior Championship 2011 Final
Kilkenny vs Tipperary at 3 30 PM
Kilkenny
Kilkenny’s path to the Leinster title was been an uncomplicated one. Wexford were swatted aside in the Leinster semi-final – 1-26 to 1-15 – before the Cats claimed their 68th provincial crown with an impressive 11-point defeat of Dublin in a one-sided final.
Waterford provided the opposition for the Cats in the semi-final, and despite taking an early lead thanks to Richie Hogan’s goal, the Déise complicated matters when John Mullane’s goal cut the gap to two before the break. Hogan popped up with a second and Brian Cody’s side led by 2-10 to 1-7 at the break.
Tipperary
Tipperary started their campaign slowly, beating great rivals Cork by 3-22 to 0-23 in an entertaining game in which they never quite hit top gear and allowed the Rebels to level early in the final quarter. Eoin Kelly and Lar Corbett chipped in with their first goals of the Championship, while Benny Dunne was also on target.
Clare provided stubborn opposition in the Munster semi-final, but Kelly, Corbett and Seamus Callanan goals were enough to see the Premier County contest the provincial final against Waterford, where they went on the rampage to win by seven clear goals, 7-19 to 0-19. Corbett hit four and Kelly managed 2-6, as Tipp sent records tumbling.
Inevitably, the All-Ireland semi-final against Dublin was a far tighter affair, with Dublin using an extra defender to deny Tipperary the sort of space they tend to do their most damage in. Nonetheless, Tipperary did find a way through the Dublin rearguard as early as the third minute, when Lar Corbett snuck between Peter Kelly and Gary Maguire to poke home.
Dublin hit back and led by 0-9 to 1-3 at one stage, before Tipp leveled matters at the break, 1-8 to 0-11. Although never quite at their best, Declan Ryan’s side’s class told in the end, as Pádraic Maher crowned a brilliant display with two long-range frees and Noel McGrath hit a majestic sideline ball over the bar.
What they say…
Kilkenny manager Brian Cody
"I suppose we're going in as challengers this year for the first time in a few years and underdogs as well. At the end of the day those things go hand-in-hand with being in the final. It is not going to have an effect come match day.
"It is not as if Tipperary have just arrived. It is their third All-Ireland final in a row. They won last year, massively close game the previous year and here they are again.
"We saw in the Munster final what they are capable of doing. They have a real belief in themselves, a confidence in themselves and a real understanding in each other's play. They are strong all over the field and have match winners.”
Tipperary Manager Declan Ryan
"There's plenty of leaders in the group so we just have to guide them along and hopefully they can play as well as they can on the day. Win or lose, if you do your best, you take some satisfaction out of that anyway.
"We're lucky in Tipp that we have quality men there available at the minute to play hurling and represent the county."
Key Battle: Lar Corbett v Noel Hickey
Corbett destroyed Kilkenny in last year’s final, scoring three goals in a man-of-the-match winning display. He did the damage early on when he beat Hickey to Shane McGrath’s long ball, turned and buried the ball. The Cats were up against it from that point on. Hickey never really recovered.
Corbett thrives on long balls into the attack, which are expertly provided by Pádraic Maher. He has already plundered 7-9 in this year’s Championship and there is no way Brian Cody will allow his full back to be that isolated again. Expect Cats to clog up their defence and Hickey to have much more help from his team-mates.
Key Battle: Tommy Walsh v Patrick Maher
Although a wing-back, Tommy Walsh is, arguably, Kilkenny’s key player. His ball-winning ability under puck outs and in open play is unparalleled. With eight successive All Stars to his name, Walsh can dominate games and provide the ammunition for the Kilkenny attack.
Walsh, however, won’t relish the match-up with Maher, Tipperary’s water carrier at wing-forward. Maher’s appetite for hard work is second to none and his stomach for the type of trench warfare needed to face Walsh is unquestioned. Tipperary managed to keep Walsh quiet last year thanks to Brendan Cummins’ astute puck outs and Maher’s unrelenting graft. A repeat could be key to Tipp retaining the title.
Talking points
The recurring theme in the build-up to the game is that all the pressure is on Tipperary to retain their title given the awesome performance they produced last year and their favouritism with the bookies. Granted, Kilkenny go into the game without the glare of the spotlight that focused on them so intently last season.
The ‘drive for five’ had to have been a distraction in 2010, while the Lazarus-like return of Henry Shefflin and John Tennyson from cruciate injuries at a training session attended by thousands the week before the final had to have turned the players’ heads.
This year has been far more low key, but Kilkenny are still under pressure to deliver. Given their injury problems last year it is easy to excuse that defeat, but a second in a row would certainly lead to justifiable doubts being raised about the continuing dominance of this side. The so-called ‘conveyor belt’ of talent appears to have slowed down and it does not appear that they have massive talent coming through the ranks to replace their elder statesmen.
It seems plausible that Tipperary could well take over as the new force in hurling with a second successive win, which would be a first double since 1961-’62. No team goes on to dominate forever and it appears that the end could well be in sight for one of the greatest sides ever to play the ancient game.
