Kilkenny notched up their 14th National Hurling League title after a ding-dong battle with the old enemy Tipperary at Thurles last Sunday. I thought that hurling at intercounty level was becoming a bit boring and predictable but Sunday's epic encounter has given me great hope for the coming championship. It's great to beat Tipperary any time but to beat them in their own backyard on final day is extra special.
John Sexton the Cork ref has come in for a lot of criticism after his display last Sunday. The poor man lost control of this game early, he seemed to set out using the experimental rules. These rules saw him sideline Tipp's Declan Fanning and Kilkenny's Martin Comerford, to me it was simple handbag stuff that warranted just a good caution. If the old rules were in play they would have simply received a yellow card and told to get on with it. This game was always going to need a top class ref and one that the players would have had respect for. The man seemed to use three set of rules during the game... the experimental ones, the old ones and at times his own ones, it was his variation that frustrated the teams. It was obvious even before the throw-in that Tipp, after their humiliating defeat in Nowlan Park recently would be fired up for this re-match. Several key Kilkenny players were targeted for a bit of rough and tumble during the early stages, this was where the linesmen and umpires let their colleague down. Sexton wouldn't have many admirers in Kilkenny; he didn't do us any favours against Galway a few years ago at U21 level in the Gaelic Grounds, Limerick. Thank God the experimental rules are gone, if he had persisted with them on Sunday we could have been looking at a 10-a-side game before the finish. Also if Cork didn't make it to the final this year he could have been in line for the All-Ireland. The new GAA president Christy Cooney a fellow Cork man surely would have put in a plug for him, but his performance last Sunday will hardly receive top marks from the referee’s assessors.
Kilkenny couldn't have got a better start, Henry threw over two quick points. Tipperary supporters must have had flashbacks to Nowlan Park's drubbing, however, their silence was short-lived. Tipp’s James Woodlock booted into a empty net after James Ryall was dispossessed after a bone crunching shoulder. The Premier men were pressurising the Cats in a fashion we've become accustomed to from our own players, and their fans were loving it. They were in seventh heaven when John O'Brien breached the Kilkenny rearguard for goal no 2 in the eight minute. From a Kilkenny point of view the goal was bad enough but the outcome that lead up to it was even worse, the Kilkenny stalwart lay in agony after taking a hard but fair shoulder from Seamus Callinan. Brian Hogan is a strong individual so we can only assume he didn't see it coming, a broken collarbone will leave him on the sideline for a least six or seven weeks. The Kilkenny management quickly re-jigged the formation with John Tennyson slipping back into his favourite no 6 position and TJ Reid moving to centrefield. Martin Comerford got the nod from the line but his presence was short lived. ‘Gorta will be disgusted as it was a perfect chance for him to stake a claim for the championship. The next passage of play more or less confirmed that Tipp were going to get a few hometown decisions from the man in charge. Henry was harshly blown for over carrying, it was an indiscretion he continually punished Kilkenny for during the course of the game. To Kilkenny's credit they battled away and reduced the arrears with 2 quick points, one from Eddie Brennan and the second from 'Man Of The Match' Taggy Fogarty. The game for the first time seemed to be going Kilkenny's way. Henry picked out Fogarty with a delightful low ball, the Emeralds attacker rounded his marker and from the acutest of angles sent a pile driver past Brendan Cummins. The only way I can describe the finish is - a guy hitting a bull's eye on the dartboard standing at an angle. Our joy was short-lived as Henry was deemed to have let the ball cross the sideline as he was striking, it seemed a tight decision. It would have been great to have had Sky Sports high-tech equipment to check that one out, maybe it was across the line as Henry didn't argue the case too much. Hugh Maloney the Tipp defender got away with murder in the aftermath and in confusion the ref blatantly flaked across Taggy another black card, a cop-out, the first of many to come. His decision not to dismiss Maloney was to have a detrimental effect on the game as both sets of players were quick to pick up on his frailties. It wasn't just Tipp players who crossed the line, Eddie Brennan and Tommy Walsh can also count themselves lucky to have remained on the field of play. Fast Eddie for a high shoulder into the fullback's chest and Tommy for throwing his hurl at an opponent. I'd imagine Tommy was the most surprised man in Semple Stadium when Mr Sexton brandished him a black card, mind you looking at the experimental rule book much to my amazement that's all it merited.
The first half finished 2-7 to 8 points in the Premier men's favour, the surprising aspect to the first half was that the Kilkenny management team didn't swap Henry and Eoin Larkin. Shef, who picked up a groin injury was labouring under the high ball, the young makeshift centreback Paraic Maher was very dominant in the air and he was a launching pad for several of Tipperary's attacks. That first half was fast and furious surely they couldn't keep up that pace this early in the year, or so I thought. How wrong I was! The first two scores of the new half were major ones. Callinan fired past PJ Ryan within 10 seconds of the start and just to keep on their tails Richie Hogan did likewise at the other end, so no ground was gained by either side. Henry, who had delightfully played in Hogan for his goal soon got his marching orders for a second yellow card. Many thought our chances of victory had diminished but what happened turned out to be a twist of faith. Richie Hogan had a quite first half, he was working his way into the game early in the second half. However in Henry's absence he was entrusted with the frees and it was a job that had a knock-on effect, his free taking was exemplary but it also seemed to give him confidence in open play. The youngster rose to the challenge and soon became the playmaker upfront, as I said a twist of faith. ‘Cha too made a huge difference when introduced; he kept it nice and simple and kept it moving. Taggy got his goal later on, this time a legitimate one that had a major bearing on the outcome as it left just two points between the sides. The same player equalised in the 68th minute, it was all to play for at this stage but momentum had swung in Kilkenny's favour. Richie Hogan seemed to have won the day for Kilkenny with a beautifully struck free out on the sideline right under the nose of Tipp manager Liam Sheedy. However, once again Mr Sexton gave a hometown decision which young striker Noel McGrath converted.
The game swung both ways during extra-time but one felt at this stage that Tipp had let the Cats off the hook and they wouldn't get a second chance... that’s more or less what happened. Tipperary had given it their best shot but still came up short. Despite the poor refereeing decisions it was a cracking game and a great shot in the arm for hurling ahead of the championship. Let's hope these two sides make it to the first Sunday in September that would be some occasion.
