Tipperary manager targets return to the good times for county
'Green shoots' evident in Tipperary footballers' performance, says manager
Despite shipping a 15-points defeat at the hands of Cork in the Munster Senior Football Championship semi-final at FBD Semple Stadium, Thurles on Saturday, Tipperary football manager Niall Fitzgerald sees “evidence of green shoots” as he undertakes the task of charting a path back to big time football for the Premier County.
This was something of a David versus Goliath contest. Red hot favourites Cork won the National Football League division two title a few weeks ago and promotion to the top flight for next season. Tipperary, languishing in division four, came up marginally short in their bid for promotion and were without five first-choice players for this contest. There could only be one result.
But for 45 minutes there was no obvious disparity in class. Tipp were giving as good as they got, with the Leesiders looking anything but potential Munster champions as the sides were tied at 1-7 each. But the next eleven minutes saw Cork find their rhythm to score seven points without reply before Conor O’Callaghan romped through for a Cork goal to put the game beyond Tipp’s reach.
A mis-timed pass and a botched kickout led to two more green flags for Cork, as they surged through for a Munster final tilt at Kerry, while for Tipperary the Tailteann Cup is next on the horizon.
Niall Fitzgerald’s reaction afterwards was pragmatic– “In the first half we were competitive, went after their kickouts and had a good cut at them but we made some poor decisions with the ball and that was disappointing.
“In the second half Cork brought on some strong players, whose physicality helped them get a grip on matters. Ten of our players are under 23 and you could see the difference physically. Cork smelt blood and they are very hard to break down when they are in that mode.
He added – “It was disappointing we did not get more scores in the first half. There were a few things we tried to implement and we got some reward for them. We possibly did not put the foot on the throat when we had the chances. Cork are a very experienced team. They started pushing up on us in the second half and won six or seven kickouts. Fatigue was a factor too and their experience of high level football. They have been building up to this for a few years and they showed that today”.
The Moyle Rovers man, while disappointed at the outcome, was positive in his outlook. “There is evidence of green shoots coming and that we will be able to compete at a high level of football,” he said.
Next up for Tipperary is the Tailteann Cup competition for counties eliminated from the championship before the provincial finals. Tipp will be hoping for a favourable draw and a run of games to further the progress being made under Niall Fitzgerald.
The manager will be anxious for a full deck of players for the competition. Injury ruled Steven O’Brien, Liam Boland, Mark Stokes, Jimmy Feehan and Manus McFadden out of the Cork game and Tipperary do not have the resources to cope with such a high level of absenteeism.
“We need to have their level of experience available to us,” he added.