Former Tipperary great Babs Keating has suggested Kilkenny have a lot of room for improvement following Sunday’s drawn All-Ireland SHC final, but dismissed the suggestion that Tipperary had missed their chance to seal victory.
Speaking on RTÉ Radio's Today programme, Keating said that while Tipperary had given a 9/10 performance, he would only give Kilkenny 6/10 for their efforts.
What remained to be seen, Keating said, was whether Kilkenny could improve their performance. He felt their showing in Croke Park was evidence of problems which had been in the team all year.
"I thought the mistakes that they made [have been] part and parcel of this Kilkenny team all year," Keating said.
"The miss of Richie Power at that level, when they were three points up, wasn't on" - Babs Keating
"The scores that they missed in the Leinster final: they beat Dublin by 12; it should have been 24.
"In the first 20 minutes against Limerick the last day in the semi-final, they had seven bad wides in the first 20 minutes where Limerick had none.”
Asked specifically about the Kilkenny’s performance in the final, Keating identified a number of examples of play which, he felt, were not up to the standard required.
“No two players should go for the same ball, at that level,” he said.
“Now the amount of times it happened Kilkenny – and when two players go for the same ball, they don’t win; the breaking ball is there for the loose player. It happened to Kilkenny a few times.
"The miss of Richie Power at that level, when they were three points up, wasn't on.
"No players should be hooked or blocked down at that level. Jackie Tyrrell threw up the ball to be blocked down in the area: a point for Tipp.
"Paul Murphy came through – now Jackie Tyrrell and Paul Murphy were the two best players in the Kilkenny back line – yet he came through, caught the ball and threw it up to be hooked."
He agreed he was "notoriously difficult to please" but was clearly highly impressed by Tipperary’s performance.
"I can only think of one loose ball [from Tipperary]," he said. "Now I have a theory about the game at that level that no ball should be struck for the sake of it. I can only think of one from Tipperary."
Asked whether the Premier County might have missed their chance, he said: "I certainly wouldn't think so", and that Tipperary’s players had shown they could produce the skill levels they were known to be capable of on the big occasion.
Overall, Keating said the game was "up there with the very best" finals in living memory.
"You had a lot of one-sided games down the years; you’d a few hectic games – you’d a hectic game between Cork and Wexford back in the mid-70s. We had a great All-Ireland in ’68 – even though we were at the wrong end [...] between Tipperary and Wexford as well.
"This time 12 months ago, if we were sitting here, we’d have said the same about Cork and Clare last year: it was hectic. But I think the quality of the hurling yesterday [means it is one of the best finals in living memory]."
