Keating's side out to make amends

Hurling Focus on Tipperary: Seán Morantalks to the Tipperary manager as he prepares his charges to face old rivals Kilkenny

It's just five years ago but it feels like a lifetime since the balance of the Kilkenny-Tipperary relationship shifted drastically. Before the 2002 All-Ireland semi-final Tipperary had lost just once in 80 championships to their neighbours. Since then the statistics have changed.

A well contested narrow defeat that year was followed by a trimming at the same stage a year later. In competitive meetings over those five years Tipp's only success has been an isolated win in Nowlan Park four years ago. Ironically the man who did the most damage that day was Ger "Redser" O'Grady, who is currently off the panel after his spectacular fall from grace last year.

Manager Michael Keating is now into the second year of his return to Tipperary management. In his previous incarnations as player and manager he enjoyed the upper hand in dealings with Kilkenny and is loath to accept that the All-Ireland champions have been a particular thorn in his county's side in recent times.

"Everybody's been a thorn in Tipperary's side in the past few years but it's certainly been a turnaround from the Tipp-Kilkenny matches I remember from 40 years ago," he says.

Last season was especially unhappy for his team with two National League matches lost by a total of 21 points.

Neither county had the start they would have wanted on the opening day of the season. Although Kilkenny's draw with Dublin was the wonder of the round it's likely Tipperary were even more disappointed by their defeat against Limerick, whom they face in the championship next May for the fifth time in four years.

Having had an encouraging pre-season culminating in victory over Cork in the Munster Cup final, Tipperary were favourites to pick up the points. Despite this Keating isn't unduly downbeat about the match.

"It was a game we wanted to win so it was very disappointing to lose but I wasn't too upset. It was the first time we'd fielded the side that had been picked and Nenagh was no advantage to us. We don't play there that often and it suited Limerick more than us because it's a tight field. The winning score was a bolt from the blue - we'd missed a lot better chances than that. We were also missing the Toomevara and colleges players."

Toomevara were recovering from their defeat by Ballyhale in an epic All-Ireland club semi-final and about the only consolation from that is that the Toome players are again available to Keating whereas Kilkenny will have to get by without Hurler and Young Hurler of the Year, Henry Shefflin and James Fitzpatrick.

Although beaten in the All-Ireland senior quarter-finals, last year was positive for Tipperary because of strong showings at the underage grades.

The minors won the All-Ireland, beating Kilkenny in the semi-final, whereas the under-21s came within seconds of winning before losing to the same opposition in a replay.

Keating says that whereas the lift to the county's morale was obvious, there are no guarantees in terms of how it impacts on the senior side in the short term. He points out that during his previous term in charge of Tipperary the three players who were on both the under-21 and senior All-Ireland winning teams of 1989, Declan Ryan, Conal Bonnar and John Leahy (now a Tipperary selector), had already broken through at senior level before the under-21 success.

"The only thing is I'm always very fearful about under-21s because in a lot of cases if you're not established already by 20 or 21 I don't see what difference being 22 will make except in the cases of some players who are somewhat slower at developing. But we've had a few involved in the panel and they'll get the chance to establish themselves."

One aspect of Sunday that's of particular concern is the weather with dreadful conditions in prospect and little room for manoeuvre in the fixture schedules, which means that matches will go ahead unless impossible to play. It won't make for ideal hurling but Keating knows that rain won't be an excuse if his team gets another hammering.

"I'd be worried because the forecast I saw on the television was awful and if it's like that on Sunday the match could be fairly meaningless. But it will be a huge disappointment if we don't perform."