Jekyll and Hyde showings are baffling - Kelly

By Noel Dundon

Tipperary manager Paul Kelly cut a disconsolate figure as he trudged off the field at Semple Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The Dublin man had watched his side give best to the tune of sixteen points against Sligo and his mood had not improved much when he spoke to the media in the bowels of Ardán Uí Coinneain afterwards, initially focusing on crediting Sligo for their victory.

"Sligo's progression under Tony McEntee over four years has seen them be extremely competitive,” he began.

“The culmination of a lot of things has seen them develop significantly, even from last year, in terms of the way they are playing football. There is a reason they nearly beat Galway and unfortunately, we tasted a bit of that today.

“But, we didn't help ourselves and the Jekyll and the Hyde between last week and this week was striking. Last week it could easily have gone the other way, but today it was black and white - a different story entirely.

"I would say our energy and tempo, and possibly confidence were the big differences between today and last week. We knew we were up against a good team like Sligo, but being honest I would not have seen any problems during the week leading into this game. We re-jigged training to suit the week but energy and confidence were just not there today.

“We lost Steven O'Brien during the week and the difference he made last week alongside the other lads coming back was huge. His loss when you see his contribution last week was very significant," he said also namechecking Cathal Deely, Colm O'Shaughnessy and Stephen Quirke as being significant losses.

Kelly continued: "We just did not perform and that is disappointing because we were looking for back-to-back performances and it just was not there.

“The players are all gutted after that, but we will get together again in the middle of the week and move on. That has to be our target now and we will see where that gets us. We'll dust ourselves down over the next few days, reflect on it and come back in and try and give a performance that justifies the work the lads have been putting in for months. We hopefully now can just get our heads around this and get going again. We owe Wexford a good game in a few weeks and hopefully we can do that.

"I would have to give Sligo huge credit because they are the best team, we have played all year. But still, I would have hoped that we would have acquitted ourselves better than that.”

On the plus side, Paul Kelly was delighted with the form of Stephen Grogan who bagged his first goal for the county, describing him as one of the most consistent performers in training and on the field.