Walsh: No red rage
‘Corbett wasn’t trying to get me sent off’
KILKENNY ace Tommy Walsh does not believe t hat Tipperary’s tactics in last week’s All-Ireland SHC semi-final were designed to get him sent off.
Walsh was shadowed for most of the semi-final by Tipperary’s star forward Lar Corbett, who sought to mark Walsh despite the Kilkenny man having been detailed to mark Pa Bourke.
Some commentators have suggested that the bizarre cat-andmouse game may have been encouraged by the second-minute yellow card which Walsh picked up — something that was greeted by a triumphant fist - pump from Corbett.
However, the 29-year-old Kilkenny defender has said he does not believe that Corbett was aiming to provoke him into getting sent off, suggesting that would be out of sync with the ethos of the game.
‘I think that’s a lot of speculation. We don’t know what the thinking behind it was so it would only be guesswork at this stage if I was to say what the reasons were,’ said Walsh.
‘But I believe in the GAA, especially in hurling, because we all meet each other so often at functions and different trips and that, I don’t think anyone — there will obviously be speculation — in the hurling side ever really tries to get anyone sent off.
‘Usually you see if a lad gets a belt
9 All-Star awards for Kilkenny defender Tommy Walsh.
he gets straight back up. I think at the moment in hurling that’s the way it’s been. That’s the tradition. That’s what your supporters like, is that you go out and do your best and if you lose, you lose, and if you win, you win,’ said Walsh.
The tactics of Tipperary manager Declan Ryan have been the focus of sustained criticism and it is almost certain that the curtain will come down on the two-year reign of Ryan and his coach Tommy Dunne.
Nine-time All-Star Walsh admits that he was baffled by the strategy. ‘The defender’s job is always to try and look after your own man, and that’s what we were trying to do.
‘I was looking after Pa there and just trying to make sure and keep up with him and hopefully that he wouldn’t get on to the ball.
‘There’s always different things being tried out but the main thing is you have to think for yourself on the field. There’s going to be different things happen in every match.
‘Tactics are a big part of hurling now. It’s probably taken on from the football. You just have to go out and prepare for whatever happens and you have to be able to think on your feet.
‘We are finding the last few years, every time we go out in a match there are different things happening on the day so you really just have to be prepared for anything,’ added Walsh.
Meanwhile, Galway manager Anthony Cunningham believes the manner of his side’s loss to Kilkenny in the All-Ireland Under 21 semi- final at the weekend is a ‘wake-up call’ before the two counties clash in the senior decider on Sunday week.
Cunningham, who doubles up as U21 and senior manager, said Galway should learn from the manner in which goals were conceded during Saturday’s contest at Semple Stadium, which Kilkenny won by 4-16 to 2-15 with three goals against t he wind in t he opening 23 minutes.
‘It’s a wake-up call for us in that Kilkenny are going to be going for goals the next day and we are going to have stop them scoring goals.
‘They ran at us down the middle and once they turned us we were found wanting in defence. They were disappointing goals to give away.
‘Their approach will be no different in the senior final. If we can keep the goal count down then we are in with a great chance, but that’s any day playing against Kilkenny from U12 up to senior, ’ said Cunningham.
Galway, reigning U21 champions, had 17 of their senior squad on duty in Thurles on Saturday and Cunningham knows it is important that they put the U21 loss behind them.
‘We need to get all the guys who are on the senior panel right and have their full focus on the senior final,’ he added.