10 June 1999 Edition
Sportsview: Clare and Tipp in dramatic draw
By Dan O'Neill
When the draw for the hurling championship was made last November, everyone's minds were on the clash of the Munster heavyweights of Clare and Tipperary. Their rivalry in the 1990s has been legendary and their championship encounters have been classics. This latest game did not disappoint and better still for the neutral, both sides have to do it all again after playing out a draw.
Clare keeper David Fitzgerald will be remembered for this game. Trailing by a point with under four minutes remaining, it took a great save by him from Paul Shelley to keep his side in the game. After Tipp added two quick points, the Sixmilebridge shot-stopper blasted home a penalty in injury time to earn the Banner county a replay.
This was a very physical game with some great scores but was never dirty and was another example of why hurling is the finest field game on the planet.
Nicky English will be very disappointed that his side have given the Munster champions a second bite at the cherry. Undoubtedly, Tipperary were the better team on the day and put up a great performance that silenced their critics and stunned a Clare team who were made to look ordinary at times. However, I do get the feeling that Tipp have blown their chance and Clare will have the hunger and experience to see them through the replay this weekend, again at Pairc Uí Chaoimh.
The surface at this venue has come under much criticism in recent weeks and clearly there are better surfaces available in Munster so why not use them?
Armagh and Donegal must also meet again after another exciting draw in the Ulster Football Championship. It was Donegal who got out of jail with Hegarty's late equalising point despite leading the game for 69 minutes.
Declan Bonnar's side got off to a dream start, with Tony Boyle and John Duffy scoring two early goals and Armagh were forced to play their trump card, a half-fit Diarmud Marsden, a lot earlier than anticipated. The Orchard county from then on looked the better side, especially after the introduction of John McEntee. I don't understand why the Crossmaglen club man was excluded in the first place and surely he did enough on Sunday to secure a start in the replay, scheduled for Clones.
I fancied Donegal to progress from this tie but now I am not so sure. Their short passing game failed them on Sunday and Armagh seem to have more options in their game. If Cathal O'Rourke is back to his best after a poor game at the weekend then Armagh might be able to squeeze this one.
Elsewhere, Dublin, Meath and Galway progressed easily in the football championship.
The jury is still out on this Dublin side despite their seven-point victory over Louth. Tommy Carr' side shot 17 wides and allowed a very poor Louth side to score 0-14. On a better note for the Dubs, Ian Robertson was a revelation at full-forward while Ciaran Whelan was inspirational in midfield. But more work is needed from Dublin before they can be considered a threat to Galway's crown.
A Graham Geraghty-inspired Meath side overran a disappointing Wicklow to set up a clash with this weekend's winners of Offaly vs Kildare. Even when reduced to 14 men at the end of the first half , the Meath men showed their traditional grit to overwhelm their opponents, who never got into the game. This game was riddled with errors of all sorts, passing mistakes, handling errors, and wides but there was enough to suggest that Meath will be around come August and September. Tommy Dowd and Graham Geraghty scored a goal each and will be hoping to recapture their form of 1996.
Short four of their All-Ireland winning side, Galway looked far from impressive despite their ten point margin of victory against London at Ruislip.
Indeed, Galway looked vulnerable at the start of the second half when their 12-point lead was reduced to five. The big question is whether this Galway side can be the first team of the 1990s to retain the football crown. It's early days but surely a better performance against Sligo in the next round will be needed from John O'Mahoney's men.
TV Choice
Apart from the replays already mentioned there are plenty of exciting clashes in the football and hurling championships this weekend. RTE will televise live Saturday's Clare v Tipperary replay from Pairc Uí Chaoimh, going on the air at 3.30pm.
Kildare's opening defence of their Leinster crown against Offaly at Croke Park, and the Connacht SFC clash of Mayo and Roscommon will also be shown live on Sunday. So armchair GAA fans are spoilt for choice.
Kildare vs Offaly (Croke Park)
Both sides have injury worries ahead of Sunday's game. Offaly will be without Sean Grennan and there are doubt over Tom Coffy, Peter Brady and keeper Padraig Kelly.
Kildare, the current Leinster champions, are also reporting problems with keeper Christy Byrne and midfield star Niall Buckley.
Offaly have struggled from last years crushing defeat at the hands of Meath and were relegated from Division 1 this year and Mick O'Dwyer's side should progress to the semi's.
Derry vs Cavan (Casement)
The Ulster championship success of 1997 seems a long time ago for Cavan. The heave against Liam Austin revealed a team in turmoil but with Val Andrews in place now and Peter Reilly back from injury things are looking better for Cavan.
Derry have had plenty of internal problems also but look to put them behind them. With the Downey brothers back and Anthony Tohill in form at midfield, Derry may have too much quality for Cavan.
Mayo vs Roscommon (Castlebar)
Mayo were very disappointing in the first round tie with New York and their old problem of shooting haunted them again. Roscommon had no such problems with their dazzling forward line of Connolly, Dowd, Dolan and Duggan on form against Leitrim. This is backed up with an impressive defence which should contain the threat of Mayo.
Cork vs Waterford (Thurles)
1998 players Player of the year, Tony Browne has been given the green light to lead Waterford's charge against Cork in this Munster hurling championship semi-final tie.
Cork have not reached the Munster decider since 1992 and manager Jimmy Barry Murphy is under pressure to deliver. Many believe this will be Cork's year and they will be favourites to topple Waterford.
When the draw for the hurling championship was made last November, everyone's minds were on the clash of the Munster heavyweights of Clare and Tipperary. Their rivalry in the 1990s has been legendary and their championship encounters have been classics. This latest game did not disappoint and better still for the neutral, both sides have to do it all again after playing out a draw.
Clare keeper David Fitzgerald will be remembered for this game. Trailing by a point with under four minutes remaining, it took a great save by him from Paul Shelley to keep his side in the game. After Tipp added two quick points, the Sixmilebridge shot-stopper blasted home a penalty in injury time to earn the Banner county a replay.
This was a very physical game with some great scores but was never dirty and was another example of why hurling is the finest field game on the planet.
Nicky English will be very disappointed that his side have given the Munster champions a second bite at the cherry. Undoubtedly, Tipperary were the better team on the day and put up a great performance that silenced their critics and stunned a Clare team who were made to look ordinary at times. However, I do get the feeling that Tipp have blown their chance and Clare will have the hunger and experience to see them through the replay this weekend, again at Pairc Uí Chaoimh.
The surface at this venue has come under much criticism in recent weeks and clearly there are better surfaces available in Munster so why not use them?
Armagh and Donegal must also meet again after another exciting draw in the Ulster Football Championship. It was Donegal who got out of jail with Hegarty's late equalising point despite leading the game for 69 minutes.
Declan Bonnar's side got off to a dream start, with Tony Boyle and John Duffy scoring two early goals and Armagh were forced to play their trump card, a half-fit Diarmud Marsden, a lot earlier than anticipated. The Orchard county from then on looked the better side, especially after the introduction of John McEntee. I don't understand why the Crossmaglen club man was excluded in the first place and surely he did enough on Sunday to secure a start in the replay, scheduled for Clones.
I fancied Donegal to progress from this tie but now I am not so sure. Their short passing game failed them on Sunday and Armagh seem to have more options in their game. If Cathal O'Rourke is back to his best after a poor game at the weekend then Armagh might be able to squeeze this one.
Elsewhere, Dublin, Meath and Galway progressed easily in the football championship.
The jury is still out on this Dublin side despite their seven-point victory over Louth. Tommy Carr' side shot 17 wides and allowed a very poor Louth side to score 0-14. On a better note for the Dubs, Ian Robertson was a revelation at full-forward while Ciaran Whelan was inspirational in midfield. But more work is needed from Dublin before they can be considered a threat to Galway's crown.
A Graham Geraghty-inspired Meath side overran a disappointing Wicklow to set up a clash with this weekend's winners of Offaly vs Kildare. Even when reduced to 14 men at the end of the first half , the Meath men showed their traditional grit to overwhelm their opponents, who never got into the game. This game was riddled with errors of all sorts, passing mistakes, handling errors, and wides but there was enough to suggest that Meath will be around come August and September. Tommy Dowd and Graham Geraghty scored a goal each and will be hoping to recapture their form of 1996.
Short four of their All-Ireland winning side, Galway looked far from impressive despite their ten point margin of victory against London at Ruislip.
Indeed, Galway looked vulnerable at the start of the second half when their 12-point lead was reduced to five. The big question is whether this Galway side can be the first team of the 1990s to retain the football crown. It's early days but surely a better performance against Sligo in the next round will be needed from John O'Mahoney's men.
TV Choice
Apart from the replays already mentioned there are plenty of exciting clashes in the football and hurling championships this weekend. RTE will televise live Saturday's Clare v Tipperary replay from Pairc Uí Chaoimh, going on the air at 3.30pm.
Kildare's opening defence of their Leinster crown against Offaly at Croke Park, and the Connacht SFC clash of Mayo and Roscommon will also be shown live on Sunday. So armchair GAA fans are spoilt for choice.
Kildare vs Offaly (Croke Park)
Both sides have injury worries ahead of Sunday's game. Offaly will be without Sean Grennan and there are doubt over Tom Coffy, Peter Brady and keeper Padraig Kelly.
Kildare, the current Leinster champions, are also reporting problems with keeper Christy Byrne and midfield star Niall Buckley.
Offaly have struggled from last years crushing defeat at the hands of Meath and were relegated from Division 1 this year and Mick O'Dwyer's side should progress to the semi's.
Derry vs Cavan (Casement)
The Ulster championship success of 1997 seems a long time ago for Cavan. The heave against Liam Austin revealed a team in turmoil but with Val Andrews in place now and Peter Reilly back from injury things are looking better for Cavan.
Derry have had plenty of internal problems also but look to put them behind them. With the Downey brothers back and Anthony Tohill in form at midfield, Derry may have too much quality for Cavan.
Mayo vs Roscommon (Castlebar)
Mayo were very disappointing in the first round tie with New York and their old problem of shooting haunted them again. Roscommon had no such problems with their dazzling forward line of Connolly, Dowd, Dolan and Duggan on form against Leitrim. This is backed up with an impressive defence which should contain the threat of Mayo.
Cork vs Waterford (Thurles)
1998 players Player of the year, Tony Browne has been given the green light to lead Waterford's charge against Cork in this Munster hurling championship semi-final tie.
Cork have not reached the Munster decider since 1992 and manager Jimmy Barry Murphy is under pressure to deliver. Many believe this will be Cork's year and they will be favourites to topple Waterford.