Tipp won’t lack courage in Munster Final
By Shane Brophy
Tipperary manager Paddy Christie admitted his side had to rely on old fashioned guts and character to get past Waterford in the Munster Under 20 Football semi-final.
“Let’s be honest, we didn’t play well,” he began.
“We acknowledged that at half time. The lads are a very honest bunch. We probably didn’t play much better in the second half, but the only thing is it depends on what you classify as playing well, if workrate, tackles, blocks, effort and sweat is playing well, then we played well.
“Technically we made mistakes football wise, struggled to score, struggled on our own kickout, struggled on their kickout, a lot of different areas, but no matter what you picked from the whole chart you still had effort and workrate running through it all and it kept our head above water, and that is the most satisfying part of it.”
Eleven points won’t win too many matches but on this occasion it did and sometimes games work out like that and turn into an old-fashioned arm wrestle, and Waterford certainly played their part in making it such a hard-earned win for the Tipperary.
“I was very impressed with them,” Christie said of Waterford.
“Yes, they are not a traditional football stronghold, and they have some very athletic players. Their hurlers were knocked out last Monday and I’m sure they wanted to carry on and get to a Munster Final as it would have been a big boost, no more than we did here. We felt we played poorly but we weren’t allowed play well tonight.”
Munster Final
The win sets-up a Munster Final against Cork this Thursday evening in Semple Stadium after the rebels edged out Kerry, 3-12 to 3-11 in a cracking semi-final last week, and despite Tipperary having home advantage, Paddy Christie feels his charges will have it all to do to win a third provincial title in the grade.
“At underage, Cork are very strong. They have really got their act together over the last number of years,” Christie added.
“They are probably in or around the Dublin mark at this stage, maybe a few years away yet, but they could explode to a point with the amount of clubs and footballers they have, they don’t need to worry about dual players, they have such a pick.
“It’s a massive challenge for us but the only thing is, it wouldn’t matter if it were Kerry or Cork, we are going to go out and try very hard, put in a lot of effort, put in the hits, blocks and tackles, try and execute the basic skills really well and after that if we have enough to win, great, but if not, we will walk away with our heads held high.
“That is what we are looking at all the time, what are we doing ourselves in terms of the process of playing well rather than worrying about what Cork have.
“I have noticed since I got involved here that the one thing with Tipperary, and it probably comes from hurling, is they don’t have that lack of confidence. I wouldn’t call it arrogance, but they certainly don’t shirk a challenge and I have seen that with the seniors last year and the under 20’s this year, where despite patches of poor play, we managed to survive through hard work and a bit of heart and raw courage.”
Tipperary team v Cork
1 (GK) Callan Scully Nenagh Eire Og
2 Sean Daly Grangemockler/Ballyneale
3 Tadhg Condon Clonmel Commercials
4 Brian McKeown Moyle Rovers
5 Emmet Butler Kilsheelan/Kilcash
6 Billy O Connor Kilsheelan/Kilcash
7 Leon Kennedy Grangemockler/Ballyneale
8 Cathal Deeley Clonmel Commercials
9 Kevin Grogan Cahir
10 Conor Cadell JK Brackens
11 Ryan Walsh Fethard
12 Jamie Holloway Carrick Swans
13 Mark O'Connor Clonmel Commercials
14 Barry Kehoe Kilsheelan/Kilcash
15 Sean O Connor Clonmel Commercials
SUBS
16 Cian O Mahony Ardfinnan
17 Ben Comerford Grangemockler/Ballyneale
18 Kieran Costello Thurles Sarsfields
19 Jamie Duncan Knockavilla-Donaskeigh Kickhams
20 Christy English Ballyporeen
21 Jake Kiely Cahir
22 Mikie Lyons Grangemockler/Ballyneale
23 Conor McGrath Loughmore-Castleiney
24 Matthew Power Ballina