Tipperary will have to take their chances against Kildare

By Stephen Barry

Selector Paul Cahill feels the Tipperary senior footballers are moving in the right direction after a creditable five-point defeat to Sligo in their Tailteann Cup opener on Sunday.

Had Micheál Freaney’s palmed effort gone under rather than onto the crossbar, the Premier would’ve been back level with six minutes remaining in Tubbercurry.

However, the Grangemockler native felt inexperience caught up with their young side.

“We had a purple patch, got level, and couldn’t get our noses in front,” said Cahill.

“A big turning point was hitting the crossbar, which would have brought us really back into the game. They broke, that bit of experience, got a few scores, and they closed it out.

“But huge effort from our lads. We can’t fault that. Just a few small little things that we’ll try and iron out. And if we can iron them out, I think we’re going places.

“We've huge belief in these lads. We know what we have. We’ve been working with them three times a week since last December. We knew these performances were there.

“You look back at the Munster semi-final, we ran Clare to six points, and Clare were scoring difference away from coming out of Division 3. So that's where we see ourselves, and I think it’s only better we can get.”

The major blow from the trip to Sligo was Jack Harney’s injury. The Moyle Rovers defender had just recovered from a similar setback in time for championship.

“Jack Harney is probably gone for next week. He pulled the hamstring,” Cahill revealed.

“He did it earlier in the year and it’s actually the other one is gone now.

“He was having a huge game. We gave him a job to do there on Pat Spillane and the job he was after doing on him was phenomenal.

“He’ll be a loss, but look, we have a panel, someone else will stick up their hand, they'll come in, and they'll fill that void.”

Tipp had to make do without manager Philly Ryan on Sunday but he is expected back on the sideline following his hip replacement surgery for the clash with Kildare in Clonmel this Saturday.

“In fairness to Philly, he does the admin work from home and he gets everything organised for us,” said Cahill.

“He'd love to be here. I'm sure he's at home now and he's pacing up and down the sitting room.

“But he'll be back Tuesday or Thursday night and he'll be on the line for Saturday. We’ll give him a fitness test and we’ll see how he’s going!”

Saturday’s opponents Kildare come to Clonmel after racking up 0-36 against Leitrim.

“Kildare put up a huge score against Leitrim, but there was nothing going to be easy,” reflected Cahill.

“Kildare will be another mountain to climb. But look, that's what we're in and that's why we're in it, to take on these teams and see can we improve our own game?

“You just have to go at it as best you can, look after what you have yourself, and see where it takes us.”

TIPPERARY v KILDARE

Clonmel Sportsfield

Saturday, 17th May

Throw-in @ 4.00pm

Referee: Jerome Henry (Mayo)