Organisation key to Kilkenny success

The raw talent available to Kilkenny means the county will always be capable of producing teams that are tough to beat but there’s a difference between being an elite team and being unbeaten in Championship play since August 2005.

Essentially Brian Cody has taken the concept of organisation to unprecedented levels in inter-county Hurling. Kilkenny’s players are relatively interchangeable with their replacements in terms of roles, obviously there are talent differences but be patient, as no team can match the Cats for their ability to have players moving to the right place at the right time. Plenty of inter-county players know where the right place to be is, the difference with Kilkenny is they operate as a single-minded 15-man unit with the same idea of what that right place and move is.

Doing this takes a specific kind of preparation and player. The latter is easy to define, they need to be rather good and not divas. Competition certainly aids Cody in this respect, as has his ruthless approach to selection. Only a county with depth like Kilkenny can afford to take such steps without risking civil war. Winning obviously helps but a club-like approach to team-building certainly makes a difference. Kilkenny’s training is legendary for its intensity but Cody should receive better credit for how he prepares for opponents. Aside from imposing its on game on teams, one of Kilkenny’s greatest strengths is its ability to target and exploit weaknesses in opponents. Lots of counties have tried to out-Kilkenny the Cats by trying to show the disciplined approach on the field but time and again Cody has found a weakness and attacked without mercy.

Chaos gives Tipperary a chance

So if Kilkenny are so good then why did Tipperary nearly beat them in 2009? Well the easy answer is they also have a lot of good players but that only scratches the surface of Tipperary’s greater killer instinct under Liam Sheedy.

Coming from a club that was starved of success and often talent, Portroe, Sheedy grew up having to find ways to beat opponents with greater resources than those around him. This has served him well developing into a tactician, finding ways to take some unconventional approaches to beating what’s in front of him.

The most visible element of this is in how Tipperary utilise Lar Corbett. The best description for Corbett’s role is that of a bomber, a powerful weapon that is prone to being in the wrong place but when he makes the right call its dangerous. Against Kilkenny such a weapon is particularly effective, largely because of his own chaotic approach to the game. This is not to besmirch Corbett as a player, he is undoubtedly talented but it’s the wildness of his moves that make him a threat. Order is at the heart of everything Kilkenny do, Lar Corbett is essentially the Joker in the Dark Knight when it comes to order. As a serious goal threat, he only needs to end up in the right place 20% of the time to be effective while the numerous moves to nowhere he makes drag defenders out of position thus creating greater space for Tipperary’s other forwards to operate. Basically Corbett is as dangerous when he’s doing the seemingly wrong thing as when he’s in the right place.

The Corbett factor is really part of a greater plan from Sheedy. Like Cody he is astute at targeting weaknesses, even if the weakness is ostensibly a strength such as Kilkenny’s great organisation, without sacrificing his own team’s approach to the game. If you don’t have Kilkenny’s players then it makes little sense to try to play like them, finding an approach which is less conventional might not be victorious but it greatly improves the chances of victory.

And the winner is…

…going to be picked at the end of this paragraph. Kilkenny’s apparent recovery from its injury crisis means the Drive for Five is still alive. There certainly have to be questions asked about the durability of Henry Shefflin and the other recovering bodies heading into this game. Tipperary have not played as well in 2010 as they did in 2009 but at the same time they are more battle-hardened and that certainly will stand to them. This should be a tough game with both games showing defence starts with the front line. It will be high scoring, it will go down to the wire, and to stick my neck out I’m saying we’re in for a repeat of 1945, a season where Tipperary stopped another five-in-row attempt albeit earlier in the season as they defeated four-in-a-row winners Cork. Your 2010 All Ireland Senior Hurling Champions will, by the narrowest of margins, be Tipperary.

Experience matters in 7s play

I can’t let All Ireland Hurling weekend go without giving a mention to the All-Ireland Hurling 7s, being hosted by Kilmacud Crokes and sponsored by Meteor (there I gave the sponsor a mention so PR folk can’t give out). The beauty of the small-form of the game is in the different demands it makes on players.

Last year Donal Óg Cusack had an unhappy time  in the quarter finals, conceding three goals to eventual winners Moycarkey-Borris. That leads nicely to the first tactical point, how a team uses its goalkeeper. A proficient shot-stopper such as Cusack is not as vital as a keeper who can gain greater distance and accuracy with puck-outs. Speed is also an issue, attacks start from the man at the back so quick turnarounds after dead-balls, be they wides or scores, is a must.

Moving out the field the easy option for teams to take is to divide play up 2-2-2 to defence, midfield, and attack. This puts far too much value however on midfield play, in truth having one man committed to the middle is often too much. Instead the triangle defence, like that used by Moycarkey-Borris and many recent 7s winners, is more effective. Teams which willing invite opponets to go for points by crowding the route to goal tend to enjoy more success. Unlike the full-sized game where a team conceding a run of points can turn a game, in 7s goals are how games are won. Effective 7s teams focus on reducing goals more than reducing all scores. Also by adopting this strategy in defence, the chance of wides from increases dramatically and thus gives good keepers more opportunities to engineer attacks up the other end.

Finally management of personnel is critical to succeeding in Stillorgan. Teams on their first trip to the 7s often over-work their best players, failing to give them adequate rest throughout the day. This is a day-long event where teams must play six or seven times, depending on the group they are in, in order to win. Having a big name like Joe Canning, as Portumna will, is only valuable if you don’t run him into the ground early.

The 2010 Meteor (see two sponsor mentions) All-Ireland Hurling 7s take place on Saturday 3 September at Kilmacud Crokes. Details on times and venues can be found here.

Federer went on to win the match against Brian Dabul 6-1, 6-4, 6-2.

Does Thierry Henry wanna rock and roll all nite and party every day?

According to FC Dallas he does as the MLS club is offering a promotion where fans can see FC Dallas take on the New York Red Bulls, for whom Henry plays, and gain access to a KISS concert as part of a package deal. The photoshopped picture above was put together by Dan Levy of the excellent OntheDL podcast.

Video courtesy of the Boston Globe.

Shaq will have plenty of time to get used to Boston as he has signed with the Celtics for the 2010/11 NBA season.

Down lack width early

Kildare enjoyed some early success, at least in terms of control of the game, due to Down’s decision to crowd the middle and essentially sacrifice the wing. It proved an odd decision as it made Down’s kick-outs far more predictable and a straight-up fight, rather than trying to mix things up during the period in which they had the wind. The failure to adapt would have worried Down supporters as Kildare were winning plenty of ball from Down kick-outs. The result saw Kildare gain plenty of opportunities to attack Down’s high defensive lines. Kildare’s profligate streak, often failing to turn possession in scoring position into scoring chances, hurt them as they only put over three points during this spell.

A missed square-ball call swings momentum

I will address the technical issues of the square ball below. First to the implications on the game. Down immediately capitalised on the momentum of the score. Having moved from two points down to a point ahead with the goal, Down scored two quick points afterwards. Kildare rallied well to score three in a row but by this stage Down had recognised an advantage on the right flank and they were poised to plunder.

The Mourne Men stepped up the attack scoring six of the final seven points in the half as Kildare’s defence wilted, with Emmet Bolton and Danny Hughes among the players to exploit the opening on the right side. With space to move Down took a dominant position.

Kildare’s sweeper play fails to stifle Down surge

Interestingly much of Down’s success was due to what initially appeared to be a sensible ploy by Kildare. Playing into the wind in the first half, Kildare opted to use Hugh Lynch in a sweeper role. Lynch was effective as a straight up stopper but lacked the mobility required of an extra defender. Lacking the ability to move from flank-to-flank, the only benefit the midfielder offered in defence came when players took him on head-on.

This wasted Lynch’s ability to use his physicality further up the field, where he could have helped break Down’s already fragile lines, and proved damaging to the Kildare defence as the half wore on. As Down continued to exploit the space on the right side, Kildare needed a player who could manoeuvre from flank to flank playing this role but instead were stuck with the immobile Lynch.

Mourne men play clock control

I was particularly keen to keep an eye on Down’s clock management, having been impressed by Martin Clarke’s ability to mix it up between quick and slow frees in scoring position against Kerry. The difference between clock management and flat-out time wasting is in the former you also make sure you don’t waste time when you want to make the most of a situation.

The wind meant this was a far more predictable day for clock management than could have been hoped for on a day without such a potent breeze. That said it was still an educational affair with my stopwatch. In the first half, with the breeze favouring Down, the Mourne men took 12 seconds, 13 seconds, and 28 seconds to take frees which they sought to score from directly. I timed from when the referee blew his whistle to the point the ball was struck with the free taker’s boot. The last of these was slower than the first two as delayed because of a yellow card.

The second half saw Down slow the game far more with frees of 21 and 28 seconds, before a yellow card caused a fourth to take 1 minute and 10 seconds, a full 42 seconds longer than in a similar situation in the opening period. Down’s final free in scoring position took even longer, as the Mourne men chewed up 1 minute 14 seconds in second half injury time with their last effort.

Down’s full backs wilt

Yet for all this clever play and exploitation of gaps, Down nearly lost the game. The reasoning was simple. Kildare abandoned the sweeper system at half-time, devoting more bodies to the attack, while Down’s effort to bring its defence nearer to goal did little to stop the Lilywhite’s advances.

Kildare had surprising ease running right through large swathes of red jerseys. The physical advantage of the Lilywhites proved telling as their forwards bullied Kieran McGeeney’s men back into the game, in the face of no resistance from the Down backs. It was Kildare’s failure to convert this dominance into points, and it was very much a failure as opposed to defensive nous from Down, which cost them the game in the end.

The verdict

In the end Down’s defensive frailties allowed this game to have been far closer than it ought to have been. In attack the Mourne men were far more clinical, exploiting weaknesses, controlling possession, and showing much greater efficiency than their counterparts in white. Kildare’s strength going forward in breaking Down’s lines however guaranteed this game would go down to the wire. That Robert Kelly’s effort on goal, which would have won the game for Kildare, came so close was remarkable as Down had positioned its defence almost as well a could be managed to make Kelly’s target as small as possible. The window for error was just that little bit too small and Down survived its inadequacies at the back to book a date with Cork. I’ll have plenty to say on that ahead of the game.

About that square ball

I deliberately avoided discussing the intricacies of the incident until after going through the tactical analysis. Much of the reaction on Down’s goal, which was a clear square ball, has been on calls to introduce technology to help with such big decisions. Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh was amongst the voices clamouring for change after Benny Coulter wandered into the square ahead of the ball before punching into the net. While I am usually an advocate of such visual aids, making the case here lets the officials off the hook too easily.

This was not a close call. This was a decision that those officiating games of this magnitude need to be able to get right. Referees and umpires are fallible, this does not make glaring errors excusable. These officials are given jobs of this level because they are deemed the best at what they do, which requires an ability to eradicate inexcusable errors.

Coulter entered the small rectangle as soon as the ball left Martin Clarke’s boot. The ball was in the air over three seconds; Coulter was in the box for three full seconds before connecting with his fist. That was clear from both my vantage point in the Upper Cusack in line with the 21 at that end and in the TV replays. In the TV replay we can also see Pat McEneaney clearly stops to look at the positioning of Coulter, albeit from a substantial distance. The umpire on the Cusack stand side of the goal did not have such a handicap and he immediately reached for the green flag upon the ball going in. The umpire on the Hogan stand side stood forward slightly but made no signal towards his colleague. Two officials had perfect sighting of the incident for three seconds, a third had enough of a view to consider it questionable.

There was no pause.

The only action an umpire can take if he is unsure of the validity of a score, is to wait to raise the flag until the referee tells him too. Failing to raise the flag immediately alerts the referee. The umpire with the green flag didn’t do this. There was no hesitation. This was human error; avoidable human error which does not need video technology to fix.