Ken Hogan watched Cork puffing out their chests on Leeside last Saturday night and even before the final whistle sounded he sensed knock-out hurling was on its way to Semple Stadium.
Because Hogan has seen this movie before, the Rebels with wind in their sails. Over the years he has pitted himself against Cork as a player, a coach and a manager.
“It’s a huge rivalry,” says the two-time All-Ireland-winning goalkeeper. “Down through the years even when Tipp weren’t going well, they never feared Cork and it has always been the same for Cork, they have never feared Tipp.
“But there would be huge respect there as well, it has been a healthy rivalry, it never spilled over off the pitch. But when both teams enter the fray next Sunday at Semple Stadium, it’ll be all to play for because the fat is in the fire now, it’s a genuine knock-out game between the counties.
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“Apparently there were 9,000 tickets sold in the two hours after Cork’s win over Limerick last Saturday night, so there will be a huge Cork crowd coming to Thurles, the red and white army. And as Christy Ring said, ‘if you can’t hurl in Thurles you can hurl nowhere.’”
Hogan managed the Tipperary seniors between 2004-2005 – his last game in the Munster senior hurling championship as manager was a provincial final loss to Cork at Páirc Uí Chaoimh.
But he gained a measure of revenge over the Rebels in 2010 when he managed the Tipp under-21s to a Munster semi-final win over Cork.
The Premier County progressed to win the All-Ireland under-21 title later that year and Hogan has since proven to be a serial winner as a club manager, most recently with his home club Lorrha, guiding them back to senior hurling after successive promotions.
Hogan reckons Liam Cahill and the Tipperary management deserve credit for the changes they implemented between their heavy defeat to Limerick and subsequent comeback draw against Waterford.
“It was a huge recovery by the management and the team, a few changes were made, a few important remedial changes, they freshened the team up,” says Hogan.
“I thought Tipp played very well against Waterford and despite it being a great comeback I felt we had actually hurled well enough to win, but a lot of decisions went against us.
“They showed savage character to be four points down in injury-time but then rally to get a point.”
Stripped back, the repercussions of defeat this Sunday are simple – the loser in Semple Stadium will be out of the championship.
Cork’s victory in last Saturday’s epic battle against Limerick has tossed them a lifeline to a top-three finish, but this is their last game in the round-robin series having narrowly lost their opening two matches.
Tipp are still waiting for a first win, having received that thumping from Limerick in the opening round before sharing the spoils with Waterford.
Hogan reckons Sunday’s game could be yet another championship score-fest, but he doesn’t necessarily believe a shoot-out will suit Tipperary.
“We have had a two-week break and no major injury problems have been reported, so we’re hopefully coming in fresh.
“Cork had their physically demanding game against Limerick, they threw their bodies and souls at that game. The Cork management made positional switches as well, Shane Kingston had a huge impact on the game.
“Cork’s forward line is lethal, Tipp’s forward line is potentially very good as well. Obviously both teams will have concerns about leaking scores at the back, which probably paves the way for a real open game. But that’s not a game I would be particularly delighted about if I was a Tipp man, I think it needs to be tighter.”
Given the high-octane, high-impact nature of Munster SHC games, the players coming in off the bench have often proven pivotal to the outcome of fixtures.
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And Hogan feels that will be the case again on Sunday, with both Cahill and Pat Ryan looking to get maximum impact from their subs.
“I think the defeat to Clare in the league semi-final set the whole thing back a bit because people expected Tipp to be in the league final,” adds Hogan.
“We had the bye in the first round of the Munster championship, so it would have suited Tipp to get to the league final. But Clare came out of the blocks and we were on the back foot straight away, it was a poor performance.
“And then we had the big gap until the Limerick game, where we were very stale. There was a lot of talk after that about Tipp not having a settled team, I think they are more settled now and a little bit more structured.
“With the speed of the modern game, those players coming in off the bench, they carry a massive influence on the outcome of matches.”
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