The half-time conjecture at yesterday's Tipperary hurling final wasn't long becoming irrelevant. After playing with a faint breeze and dominating the opening half-hour, holders Toomevara led by only a point and had registered a substantial 11 wides compared with none for their opponents.
Would all those squandered chances return to haunt them in the second half? Or would the signs that Sarsfields were freezing solid, as they had done in last year's final, prove to be the more significant indicator?
It took all of a few minutes for the latter influence to assert itself. After Tony Ruth had equalised for the challengers, Toomevara took off with an unanswered five-point blast, and although four points at such an early stage of the second half hardly looked impregnable, few in the 12,140 attendance at Semple Stadium didn't believe the game was up.
Far from fretting over their gross inaccuracies in the first half, the champions simply adjusted their sights and raised their aim. Ten minutes into the second period the post mortems were being prepared. Tomβs Dunne's long free broke for John O'Brien and the full forward drilled home.
O'Brien's was the story of the match. Frustrated for the opening half and chipping in two of the wides, the Tipperary panellist got stuck in after the interval and bagged 1-5 from play - virtually embodying the difference between the sides.
But there was plenty of support. Tomβs Dunne maintained the tempo of his exceptional year even though playing well within himself. A scattering of scores kept company with four wides and some characteristically intelligent distribution. An exquisite pass in the ninth minute placed O'Brien in the clear and he prompted a great save from Ciaran Carroll.
Another factor in the second-half transformation was the simple, tactical switch that swapped Owen Brislane and Bryan Duff. Brislane used his strength to give a forceful performance at wing back while Duff showed some fine touches in the middle as Toomevara began to turn the screw on their opponents.
Sarsfields could have made changes themselves, one in particular: All-Ireland centrefielder Eddie Enright has been a fixture for the club at centre back, but yesterday the placement wasn't going that well. An exuberant and free-ranging player, Enright was too restricted at the heart of the defence, and the team could have done with his energy further afield.
Apart from some early scores by Matthew O'Dowd and occasional bustle from Ger O'Grady, Enright's brother John posed virtually the sole threat up front. Even if all but one point of his 1-9 total came from placed balls, the Thurles centre forward drew a good deal of the frees himself and his accuracy wavered on only two occasions. Of the team's 16 chances to score, Enright had 12.
A more varied threat was needed however. All-Ireland winner Lar Corbett had a disappointing afternoon. Poorly supplied, he was unable to get on much ball and a switch to full forward later in the match failed to ignite his pace-driven capabilities.
The champions were also tighter at the back. On the left flank, Brendan Dunne and Philip Shanahan were outstanding.
The game itself was a major disappointment. In retrospect it was only Toomevara's foostering that made the first half competitive. After appearing in this year's championship to have learned from last year's emphatic defeat in the final, also by Toomevara, Sarsfields never got going yesterday.
Centrefield failed to make an impact and the defence struggled all through. A couple of markers were tried on O'Brien but by the time his threat had materialised, the match was gone.
O'Brien's goal was part of a sequence that saw Toomevara outscore their opponents by 1-6 to 0-1 in 10 minutes. For the final quarter, the match disintegrated with Sarsfields losing all structure and allowing the champions to get in for points at will.
There was a brief lifting of the siege when the Toomevara defence helpfully talked a free forward to the 20-metre line. John Enright obliged by netting the opportunity. But it made only cosmetic difference, and before the end wing back John Lawlor had been sent off for a second offence.
It was the winners' fourth successive county title and a realistic crack at the Munster title - a campaign that starts next Sunday with a semi-final against Waterford's Ballygunner.
TOOMEVARA: J Cottrell; G Frend, R Brislane, B Dunne; B Duff, T Delaney (0-1), P Shanahan; Terry Dunne (0-2), O Brislane; P McGrath (0-1), Tomas Dunne (0-4, one free, one sideline), K Dunne (0-7, five frees); M Bevans (0-1), J O'Brien (1-5), K Hall. Subs: F Devaney for Hall (42 mins), P Hackett (0-1) for Delaney (57 mins), T Carroll for O Brislane (65 mins).
THURLES SARSFIELDS: C Carroll; S O'Shea, G Mernagh, B O'Grady; J Lawlor, E Enright, B Carroll (0-1); S Mason, C McIntyre; M O'Dowd (0-2), J Enright (1-9, 1-8 from frees), L Corbett; P Lawlor, G O'Grady, T Ruth (0-1). Subs: T Ryan for Mason (36 mins), E Walsh for Lawlor (54 mins), T O'Dwyer for Ryan (55 mins), T Collins for McIntyre (59 mins).
Referee: S Roche (Tipperary)
