Confidence high in Tipperary and Cork

EVEN IF their last meeting took some of the fizz out of the Tipp-Cork hurling rivalry, Sunday should be a throwback to more familiar days. Not only is a place in the Allianz National Hurling League semi-final potentially at stake, there’s also a fresh air of confidence among both teams, at least if last weekend’s games are anything to go by.

Indeed, the GAA staged a special promotional event at the Mitchelstown Caves yesterday as

a way of drumming up further interest in the game, although it was hardly necessary. Tipperary will have home advantage at Semple Stadium, but otherwise it’s a fairly spilt decision – it might be April 1st, but there’ll be no fooling going on here.

Cork’s two-point win over Kilkenny last Sunday has left little doubt that their renaissance under Jimmy Barry-Murphy is already well underway, while Tipperary looked to have got the better of league champions Dublin before Liam Rushe’s late, late goal levelled it at the death.

In beating Kilkenny at Páirc Uí Chaoimh, Cork also inflicted a first defeat on them since the league final last year – which perhaps partly influenced Tipperary’s now veteran forward John O’Brien to claim yesterday the order of merit had changed again, given Kilkenny comfortably beat Tipperary last month.

“We were completely played off the field that day,” said O’Brien. “We’re not trying to hide that and we know how far we have to go to rise again to get back up to where Kilkenny are.”

So where does that leave Cork?

“Well last year, I thought it was a bit premature jumping and saying that Cork were on the way down,” reckoned O’Brien.

“I watched the Limerick-Cork under-21 match last year and it was probably the best hurling game of the year in any grade. I could see that the young players were there.

“So, I have to laugh sometimes when I hear people saying that they’re gone because those players are there and they’ve been showing it in the last few weeks.

“And especially with a guy like Jimmy Barry-Murphy coming in, he brings confidence and he’s throwing in the young lads. And again, with the few injuries they had, a few young lads got their chance and are after taking it. They’re going very well.”

Still, Tipperary looked to have found some hunger of their own after the disappointing climax to 2011. What is certain is things have changed since their Munster championship quarter-final last May, when Tipperary ultimately cruised through 3-22 to Cork’s 0-23, a day when Eoin Kelly hit 1-7, and Lar Corbett 1-2.

The teams did actually draw in their last league encounter, almost a year ago, when Tipperary came from behind to level it at 1-14 apiece – but that proved to be some shadow boxing for what lay in store.

Since then, Tipperary have lost Lar Corbett, while Cork have been hit with some high-profile retirements, including both Jerry O’Connor and more recently twin-brother Ben, plus Ronan Curran.

In ways that has helped Barry-Murphy’s task of blooding new players, with the likes of 19-year-old Conor Lehane already attracting special attention, and also midfielder Darren Sweetman, still a Leaving Cert student at Bandon Grammar School.

At age 30, O’Brien is now an elder statesman on the Tipperary team, and one of only two survivors from the 2001 success (along with Eoin Kelly): “It is getting younger and younger, hurling as a game,” he said. “The main reason for that is because guys are coming in more physically strong at 18, 19.

“You go back 10 or 15 years, it was taking probably taking three years, maybe, for a guy to break in and get physically right for it. Now they’re coming in ready to go and for the older players, it’s going to cut down their years. I don’t think you’re going to see too many Tony Brownes any more.”

All three of Sunday’s games in Division 1A could ultimately effect who makes the semi-finals and also the relegation play-off: the top three in 1A qualify for the semi-finals (where they’re joined by the winners of 1B), while the bottom two go into the relegation play-off (where the losers are automatically relegated).