English's men put on team display

An at-times pedestrian Guinness All-Ireland hurling championship came to a rip-roaring conclusion in Croke Park yesterday. Tipperary's staying power, both over a season as well as an afternoon, was rewarded with the county's 25th All-Ireland title.

Scoring honours went to Mark O'Leary, who departed from his mercurial, point-scoring habits to register 2-1, but overall it was a fine team effort from Tipperary who battled it out at the back, had the more potent centrefield and took their chances up front.

Tipp manager Nicky English concluded a fine, three years' team-building by sending on late substitutes who raised the level of performance and nailed down victory.

Galway never took a grip of the game in the way they did when sweeping aside All-Ireland champions Kilkenny in the semi-final.

Chasing the scoreboard for nearly the entire match, they threatened but never overhauled the Munster champions' advantage. Four times a six-point gap opened and four times it was cut back, but never did it disappear.

Tipperary ultimately deserved this win. Their forwards survived on less plentiful possession, and if the defence shone more as a unit than individually, the backs hounded their opponents and scrapped for the ball, denying time and space to Galway's highly rated attack.

Still, Noel Lane's team came close, reaping a rich harvest from Kevin Broderick, who would have been a shoo-in for Man of the Match had his team won, and an unexpected one from Fergal Healy.

The final was played in fine, sunny weather, with a strong wind blowing towards the Canal End goal. There was, however, a significant reason why the great occasion fell short of perfect conditions. The pitch was in dreadfully poor shape. It doesn't appear to have got over the two matches played over the one weekend three weeks ago. Yesterday great divots flew about the place and the surface was pockmarked and dead.

Before the throw-in yesterday, Tipperary made the expected changes. Eoin Kelly moved to the right corner, Eugene O'Neill to the left corner and Lar Corbett to the left wing. As well as relocating Kelly to what has been his optimum position this summer, the switches liberated Corbett and he gave his best display since the Munster final, picking up two points in the second half.

Galway, for their part, did make the expected switch of Rabbitte and Alan Kerins - but for some reason not until the match was about a minute old.

Early exchanges went with Tipp, who quickly established a two-point lead. Galway gradually came into it but wasted opportunities with inaccurate shooting.

A couple of things were becoming apparent at this stage. Firstly, Galway's attacking reliance on Joe Rabbitte as a target man wasn't paying off as usual. Although Paul Ormond was conceding six inches, the big Galway forward wasn't cleaning up, albeit he remained a threatening presence with his physical strength.

Secondly, although Tipperary's defenders looked sharp and were winning the fight for possession in the danger area, some of their clearances were poor and renewed the pressure on themselves.

At the other end, Eoin Kelly was proving accurate from the placed ball but struggling in the company of Galway's Ollie Canning, who was to give another tremendous display at left corner back.

The match took its first lurch towards Tipperary in the 22nd minute. John Carroll, who enjoyed a feisty first half, created the space for Mark O'Leary to flash in from the right wing and finish to the net for a 1-5 to 0-2 lead.

The move had come from a free out given against Rabbitte for fouling in possession. It was to be the start of a fraught afternoon's relationship between referee Pat O'Connor and Galway. Later on there was a stream of disputed decisions against the westerners, all of which left their supporters enraged and neutrals occasionally baffled.

Declan Ryan had his best match at Croke Park this season. His bulk caused problems for Michael Healy, who was reduced to blatant fouls in the first half. Admittedly had Tipperary lost, the veteran full forward would still be shuddering over his 51st-minute wide when placed inside the Galway cover.

Galway responded in kind to the concession of the first goal. A couple of minutes after O'Leary had struck - and the teams had swapped points - Alan Kerins made an incision on the right. For the player chasing dual All-Irelands, it was another frustrating afternoon and he had greeted an earlier wide by indulging in the equivalent of racquet-abuse.

In the 25th minute, he cut in on goal and drew an excellent save from Brendan Cummins, only for the ball to run for Eugene Cloonan who grabbed his fifth goal in three outings this championship.

Although he ended with 1-5, and scored 1-1 from play - the same as the last day - it was a forgettable afternoon for the Athenry hurler who was later switched to the corner but to no greater effect.

Nonetheless, his goal was a tonic for Galway, but in what was to become a familiar pattern, it was Tipperary who responded more firmly. Three points from Dunne, a 65, Carroll - a great catch, turn and strike - and a free from Kelly after Ryan had been hauled down, followed.

Yet it was Galway who found momentum before the break. Two points from Broderick, a double on a Cathal Moore clearance by Fergal Healy - who was giving Thomas Costello a fair bit of trouble - and a Cloonan free sliced the interval deficit to two, 1-7 to 1-9. With the wind to follow, Galway looked good for the second half - a first All-Ireland in 13 years well within their grasp.

Maybe the most significant score of the game came three minutes into the second half. There were still the two points in it when a Cummins puck-out caused a ruck in front of the Galway goal. Eoin Kelly got a slight touch, O'Leary another and the ball ran steadily through the square, between the emerging Crimmins's legs and into the net without further assistance.

Suddenly the momentum was back with Tipperary. The slender lead that Galway must have expected to pick off quite soon after the restart was now more substantial. After Tommy Dunne won a puck-out in the 42nd minute to send Ryan in for a point, the lead was back to six and the second half well under way.

Again Galway responded. The hurling was now fast and furious. Points were swapped in rapid-fire succession - Mark Kerins making his presence felt on the 40 for Galway. Ryan had his miss before Crimmins did well to cut out a ball across the goal from the same player.

Rabbitte was penalised twice to anguished howls from the Galway crowd, scoring dried up for 10 minutes until the now irrepressible Broderick eventually cut the margin to four.

In the 61st minute, Fergal Healy zipped along the endline under the Canal Stand and unleashed a rasping shot into Cummins's net. There was now a point in it. We had reached the endgame that in reality most had anticipated going into the match. Ten minutes left, one point in it and anyone's game.

Yet again Tipperary responded to push the lead back to four. More Galway agony followed when Broderick ran on to finish to the net in the 69th minute only to realise when wheeling around in celebration that a free out had been awarded for an earlier foul.

Still the match remained within range for Galway, but only tantalisingly through nearly five minutes of injury-time.