It’s striking how established the consensus becomes in the later stages of the All-Ireland championship even in relation to more nuanced verdicts than, ‘Kilkenny to win’.
All week the unshakeable view of tomorrow's second semi-final has been that whereas Galway are dangerous and would surprise few if they were to win, Tipperary should none the less reach a fourth final against Kilkenny in six years.
Then again Galway’s most blazing performances tend not to respect reputations and if they take off, it’s likely they’ll reach a high altitude.
Much of the discussion has centred on how impressive they looked in dismantling Cork in the quarter-final.
But as they say in the European Board everything is complicated by the presence of the opposite team and by those standards Cork weren’t much of a complication.
By reasons of an intense modern rivalry over the past 30 years and an evenly balanced 6-5 (in Tipp’s favour) from 11 championship meetings, Galway will be viewed as a complicated challenge by Eamon O’Shea, a long-time resident in opposition territory.
Last match
Crucially though, it can’t be as complicated as their last match the provincial final against
Waterford
when O’Shea’s team had to set up so precisely to deal with the sweeper system. After that, if this comes down to some sort of Middle-Earth battle of conjuring space and hurling thunderbolts Tipp won’t mind.
Their defence, backboned by Pádraic Maher and James Barry, has the collective nous and mobility to stay with Galway when the choreography starts and make sure that no-one gets to dance solo. It's a vital task, as Anthony Cunningham's team rely on surging into space to get away shots and even when Kilkenny effectively blocked such freeways in the Leinster final, they still conceded two goals.
Joe Canning’s was excellent, a stark warning as to what happens if you lose concentration for even a moment, but Jason Flynn’s was about quick movement on to a ball broken by Canning.
It will be about frustration because Galway don't have forwards who can thrive as much under escort as John O'Dwyer and Séamus Callanan and Jonathan Glynn and Cathal Mannion, who both shot the lights out against Cork, made considerably less impact against Kilkenny.
Last year Galway looked to have done enough before Tipperary’s late comeback buried them and they will learn from that, as they looked to have run out of steam by the final quarter even though nursing a six-point lead. Galway are an improved side since then but Tipp would feel that they showed themselves to be the superior force that day.
Speaking later O’Shea was surprised at the swooning over the comeback, as he felt the match had never slipped entirely from the team. But he’d prefer a little more front-running this time around.
Late blitz
Galway’s challenge has evolved nicely but, aside from the difficulty of imposing their game on Kilkenny, there have been flaws in even their best performances. Cork should never have been as close as they were before the late blitz and had Dublin scored the penalties in June the outcome wouldn’t have reflected Galway’s dominance.
Tipperary have the experience to navigate the five-week break since their last match as well as the expectations of being provincial champions. This is also O’Shea’s fifth semi-final with many of these players as either coach or manager and, apart from the very first, all have been marked by a serious step-up in performance levels.
Consensus can sometimes be hard to dispute.
TIPPERARY (probable): D Gleeson; C Barrett, J Barry, C O'Brien; K Bergin, Pádraic Maher, R Maher; J Woodlock, S McGrath; J Forde, B Maher, P Maher; J O'Dwyer, S Callanan, N O'Meara. GALWAY (probable): C Callanan; J Coen, J Hanbury, P Mannion; A Harte, I Tannian, D Burke; A Smith, D Burke; C Whelan, C Donnellan, J Glynn; J Flynn, J Canning, C Mannion. Referee: Barry Kelly (Westmeath). Verdict: Tipperary.
