Willie Connors: Darragh McCarthy red card meant Cork never saw Tipp system

In hindsight, Tipperary hurler Willie Connors believes the moment that changed the All-Ireland final came weeks earlier, and far earlier than anyone realised.

Darragh McCarthy’s early sending off in their Munster round-robin clash against Cork denied the Rebels a live rehearsal of Tipperary’s gameplan, meaning they would not see it in full until the All-Ireland final.

Speaking at the launch of the Co-Op Superstores Munster Senior Hurling League, Connors admits that, perversely, the McCarthy’s dismissal worked in Tipperary’s favour.

“It was a great way to go to an All-Ireland final,” he begins. “There wasn't too much expectations on us.

“I suppose we knew our game plan and I know lads spoke about it, even in the Munster game, we might have played it a small bit during that, and they might have copped onto it and seen what we could’ve come up with.

FORTUNATE

“I know you didn't want to see him [Darragh McCarthy] get sent off before the game, but maybe, fortunately it happened,” Connors admits. “We just knew the game plan from there and we knew they hadn't seen it.” 

Tipperary hadn’t gone to Páirc Uí Chaoimh intending to unveil the sweeper system. It was parked, a contingency to be reached for only if required. McCarthy’s dismissal meant there would be no such call for it.

And so, after Cork had annihilated Dublin and Liam MacCarthy was on the line in the decider, Tipperary put the sweeper plan in motion.

It was trialled twice in A v B games. Both times, it failed badly.

“We tried it twice, and we got cleaned off by the second team in the A v B games,” Connors remarks. “We were kind of cautious of it, but we knew we had to try something because Cork's power up front, it's unreal to be fair to them.

“You see what they had done all year, you see what they had done against Dublin in the semi-final, so we knew we had to do something.” 

Connors says there were a mix of problems in training. Deliveries from deep weren’t sticking. The B forwards were finding space around it. Roles weren’t instinctive yet.

“A bit of both, to be honest,” he explains. “It's just the lads didn't really know where to be, and it took a game or two, it took a bit of work to get it going.

“And then on the day, there's probably luck involved as well, it just worked out. Some days, it could have happened the other way, and that could have been another A v B game scenario in an All-Ireland final, which wouldn't have went down as well.” 

Connors himself became central to it after the break. And despite not occupying it in the trial runs, there was no panic.

“It just kind of fell into play when Bryan [O’Mara] went off injured, and Craig [Morgan] then again.

“I played there with club prior to that. I’d played that position a few times, so I had an idea,” says Connors. “When you know lads are going with their own opponents, man-on-man, you just have to have an idea where the ball is going to go. Try and read the game as best you can.” 

DECISIVE

Crucially, the decision had already been made. Whatever doubts existed would not be indulged mid-final. Tipp would live or die by it.

“We were fairly confident that was the way to go. We backed it and we made a pact to ourselves, I suppose, that that was it.

“We were only going in three points down at half-time until the goal, and we were confident enough it was still working. Bryan O'Mara was picking up a lot of ball, and lads were winning their battles around the field to an extent, so we were confident enough to go with it in the second half and see how it went.” 

From the outside, Cork were still in control at the break. Inside the Tipp camp, belief was still there. The margin, Connors insists, was misleading when you look back.

“Six points down at half-time, we were still happy enough how we were going,” he explains. “The second half, Hoggie missed a free. From then on, we didn't look back.

“Now, I will say, even in the first half, I think we had ten wides into the Hill, so there was that.

“I didn't realise it was actually that severe, but it definitely had a part to play in. Maybe playing into the Davin End in the second half was a huge positive for us.” It was an ambush that Cork never recovered from, and one that leaves them still waiting to end that Liam MacCarthy Cup drought.