This Munster final was already filed under ‘foregone conclusion’ when Seamus Kennedy left a pass behind his intended target.
A loose ball in the middle third, the sort of thing Waterford have been thriving on for two seasons, was there for the taking. But like a flash Tipperary substitute Aidan McCormack scooped to pick the loose sliothar.
There wasn’t a Waterford man anywhere near him. The Déise had been decimated and demoralised.
The team who had gone toe-to-toe with Clare in a couple of Allianz League final epics before finally getting the better of the Banner in a Munster SHC semi-final were already lying on the mortuary slab with a tag on their toe.
Scenes #MunsterFinal pic.twitter.com/pGHvgFJsD5
— GAA JOE (@GAA__JOE) July 10, 2016
The 21-point drubbing (5-19 to 0-13) transported Waterford right back to the dark old days of 2011, when the Premier stuck seven goals past them. Since then Derek McGrath has come in and made Waterford a tough team to beat, a hard team to score against.
For the people who say the word ‘tactics’ with a tone usually reserved for charity embezzlement or state home abuse, this result will be manna from heaven. McGrath and his fancy ways shown up for the voodoo that they are, which is bullshit obviously.
For 35 minutes the placement of Tadhg de Burca in front of the Tipperary full-forward line worked quite well and the Waterford forwards hitting 10 wides with the wind on their backs owed little to McGrath’s faith in a defensive system that has been perfected over the past two seasons.
Despite the errant shooting of Pauric Mahony, Maurice Shanahan and Shane Bennett, Waterford were just two points behind at the break. True, they would be playing into the wind for the second half, but they had hurlers of the quality of Austin Gleeson, Mahony, Shanahan and Patrick Curran to keep Tipperary honest.
Four goals and 12 points later and Gleeson, Shanahan and All-Star defender Noel Connors had been withdrawn by McGrath, who was clearly unhappy with the performances of some of his leaders.
This young Waterford team were all at sea and facing down the barrel of a second successive Munster SHC final defeat to their older, more experienced opponents.
Austin Gleeson 👐 https://t.co/E56vehAM0E
— GAA JOE (@GAA__JOE) July 10, 2016
Except that is all nonsense. Waterford’s starting team, as named in the programme, had an average age of 24 years and three months, compared to Tipperary’s 24 years and 11 months. If you take the goalkeepers (35-year-old Darren Gleeson and 25-year-old Stephen O’Keeffe) out of the equation, Tipperary’s team is marginally younger.
Twenty-one-year-old John McGrath epitomises the fearless youth of this Tipperary team. He had three goals scored before he tagged on a couple of points. He was running at the Waterford defence and did not hesitate to shoot for goal if the goal was on.
His older brother Noel is now one of the leaders of this team (at the grand old age of 25) and he set the tone in the first half with a couple of massive interceptions around the middle of the field.
Noel McGrath has made 2 huge turnover sin last few minutes. No wonder Deise lads getting cranky#MunsterFinal
— GAA JOE (@GAA__JOE) July 10, 2016
The fact of the matter is Tipperary bullied and harassed Waterford in the middle third. Captain Brendan Maher was afforded a standing ovation when he was substituted and it was deserved. His reading of the game, his positioning and his tackling meant Michael Breen could bomb on and score Tipperary’s third goal.
Behind him Kennedy and the Maher brothers (Ronan and Padraic) were immense in the half-back line. They descended on Waterford ball-carriers like rabid dogs and, more often than not, the ball was heading back into the Tipperary attack by the time they were done.
Padraic Maher has been around forever yet is only 27 years old. His 20-year-old brother is a very assured centre-back and when you consider that you have Dan McCormack, Bonner Maher and Noel McGrath in the half-forward line it is not hard to see how they were so dominant.
"You can't beat youth" says Michael Ryan amen pic.twitter.com/jBq1F1YOhl
— Mikey Stafford (@me_stafford) July 10, 2016
Tipperary manager Michael Ryan has had a year to think about how to bridge the five-week gap afforded to Munster champions ahead of their All-Ireland semi-final. Last summer they beat Waterford comfortably before being beaten in a cracker by Galway – Ryan will have learned from the hiatus.
He knew last summer that he would be replacing the outgoing Eamon O’Shea, for whom he was a selector. That continuity and that sense of security has helped this young Tipperary team to develop their own systems and game plans.
Don’t chalk this second half display down to intensity or workrate or any of those other bogus phrases used to explain away one team’s utter dominance.
As Waterford tried to carry the ball more and play shorter passes into the wind they were swallowed up by the mess of Mahers and the rest in the middle third. Tipp had the confidence to play the ball long towards Seamus Callanan and John McGrath, who finished with 4-12 between them.
Defenders skilled in tackling, good distributors and forwards who can win their own ball and score. It has been the blueprint for enough dominant Kilkenny teams down through the years and it is working for Tipperary.
They will avoid the Cats until the All-Ireland final at the earliest. Their last triumph in 2010, came after they failed to even make the Munster final. You have to go back to 2005 for the last Munster champions (Cork) to win an All-Ireland.
They have five weeks to prepare for a semi-final against either Galway or Clare, while Kilkenny await the winners of Waterford and Wexford.
Derek McGrath has two weeks to get back to the drawing board, all their early season momentum dashed against a blue and yellow cliff.
It wasn’t the prettiest Munster final ever played, but we may have witnessed the birth of a terrible beauty. One with the guts, guile and skill to go toe-to-toe with Kilkenny.
The summer just got more interesting.
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