1. Resilience at the death
TIPPERARY’S RECORD AGAINST Kilkenny was scrutinised in the build-up to this game. They’ve been on the receiving end of a series of defeats against their great rivals in recent times. That luckless streak seemed set to continue during this second-half as Kilkenny constructed three or four points lead on several occasions to keep Tipperary at arms length.
But Tipperary showed the character and resilience necessary to save themselves at the death. The game looked set up for Kilkenny to win when TJ Reid’s 66th minute free put them ahead by three points and was followed by the cacophony of cheers that erupted when King Henry entered the fray.
However Tipperary refused to adhere to that script. John O’Dwyer hit a pair of points that sandwiched a score from Jason Forde. Two young players showed their nerve and Tipperary secured a second chance.
2. Bubbles so nearly the hero
John ‘Bubbles’ O’Dwyer is only in his second season of senior championship hurling but he nearly wrote himself into Tipperary hurling folklore today. It was impressive enough to grab the levelling point in an epic All-Ireland final against Kilkenny. Yet then the Killenaule man nearly went on to become the match winning hero.
From over 100 yards he struck a last-gasp free, awarded after Brian Hogan was penalized. O’Dwyer measured the distance but was unlucky to see the ball just stray off target, a fact subsequently verified by Hawkeye. It was an incredibly dramatic moment and would have been a sweet way for Tipperary to land the spoils. O’Dwyer still produced a sparkling display with his return of 0-7 bring his scoring total for the summer to 2-27 from six games.
3. The return of Lar
He was the star man for Tipperary in 2010 against Kilkenny before being cast in the role of villain in 2012. Two years on, Lar Corbett was in the spotlight again as he sought to improve on an ineffectual showing against Cork last month.
Lar stepped up to the plate and produced a great individual display, that was up there with his performance against Offaly as the Thurles Sarsfields man’s best of the summer. Corbett only hit 0-2 but his movement and intelligence saw him repeatedly prise apart the Kilkenny rearguard. His return to form is a major plus point for Tipperary before the replay.
4. Creating and spurning goal chances
Tipperary shot the lights out today as they amassed 1-28, a total that would have been good enough to win the classic trilogy that unfolded played out by these counties between 2009 and 2011. Yet while their marksmanship in raising white flags was flawless, they were left to rue the fact that they only hit the Kilkenny net once.
After Bonner Maher’s first-half goal, Tipperary created a litany of goalscoring chances. They missed two penalties, Lar unleashed a strike that smacked the upright, Gearoid Ryan blazed over from close-range, Bonner was denied by a superb reflex save from Eoin Murphy and Seamus Callanan saw another effort thwarted. Tipperary will be pleased they created chances but need to be more clinical if those opportunities arise for the replay.
5. Contributing to a classic
Tipperary can be justifiably satisfied at the hurling heights they reached in this classic. Their performance graph has travelled in an upward graph ever since their loss to Limerick in June and they maintained that pattern today. They recovered from the setback of conceding goals, particularly the two early in the second-half, and kept battling on to force a draw.
Cathal Barrett and Paddy Stapleton were magnificent in their corner-back berths while Bonner Maher and Lar Corbett showed how clever lines of running can trouble the Kilkenny rearguard. The triumvirate of Noel McGrath, O’Dwyer and Callanan shot 0-18 between them with fourteen of those from play. There’s plenty for Eamon O’Shea to build on.