Confident Tipp not settling for last eight progress

LADIES FOOTBALL: TG4 All-Ireland Senior Championship Quarter Final Preview

By Thomas Conway

MEATH v TIPPERARY

Pairc Tailteann, Navan

Sunday, 6th July

Throw-in @ 5.15pm (E.T.)

Referee: Shane Curley (Galway)

If you haven’t been paying attention and are only just starting to tune into the ladies football championship now, you might be forgiven for thinking that Tipperary just wandered into a quarter-final when nobody was looking - saw an opportunity and snook through an open door. The reality is much different.

Having spent years mired in relegation battles despite having a capable enough team and playing a relatively attractive brand of football, this last-eight clash against Meath is the result of serious work both on and off the field.

To get here, Tipp fended off a youthful Donegal challenge in Bansha, 0-11 to 1-6, helped in no small part by a quartet of points from Anna Rose Kennedy, and another four frees from the side’s marquee sharpshooter Aishling Moloney.

It was a statement win, a success that turned the page on an underwhelming display against Galway in their first group game and propelled them to an All-Ireland quarter-final against the Meath this Sunday in Navan.

To reach this stage might not seem like much, but for Tipp it’s historic, as manager Ed Burke outlines.

“We’re delighted, we’re in a quarter-final for the first time in 45 years, since 1980,” he began.

“We’re playing Meath, but we’ve played Meath in challenge games, and we know what they’re like. We’d be confident enough that we can go up to Páirc Tailteann, go up to Navan and challenge. If we put a performance together on the day, I think we’re well capable of getting the result that we want.”

If they do get that result it will rank as an upset - not a seismic one but an upset, nonetheless. Meath have faltered somewhat since their sensational back-to-back All-Ireland triumphs in 2021 and 2022.

But they’re still a serious side with serious players, many of whom became household names just a number of years ago. Emma Duggan, their sweet-striking full-forward, is still just 22. Vicki Wall, meanwhile, has merged her ladies football career with her exploits playing Aussie Rules and Rugby Sevens.

Tipp manager Burke says his side will be wary of both threats, but he notes that Tipp have a number of high quality athletes too, including the aforementioned Anna Rose Kennedy and Aishling Moloney.

“Obviously we’re not going to disregard marking two of their key players,” he added.

“We’ll be focusing on our own game just as much as we’ll be focusing on Emma Duggan and Vicki Wall.

“What I would say though, is that with the likes of Anna Rose and Aishling, we have some very high level players as well, so it’s going to make for a high standard of football.

“We’ve got to focus on our own performance and what we’ve got to do, but I think if we bring what we can next Sunday, we’ve every chance of winning the game.”

The unfortunate aspect of this last-eight encounter is that it has captured the headlines for all the wrong reasons. The LGFA have scheduled the game for Sunday at 5:15pm, around the same time of the concluding stage of the Tipperary hurlers All-Ireland semi-final against Kilkenny.

Although Tipperary Ladies Football sought a review of the fixture, with a possible change to Saturday mooted, it was decided that the game would proceed as planned, with the LGFA explaining that the game had already been moved to Sunday to facilitate Meath’s dual players. The Meath camogie team are due to play an All-Ireland quarter-final against Down on July 5th.

Burke admits that the outcome is disappointing from a Tipperary perspective, but in finishing he strikes an optimistic tone.

“It was maybe foolish on our part to expect that the game might be changed to Saturday, but that’s the way it is,” he said.

“Once these decisions are made, they’re made, and that’s usually the end of it. I know there’s a TV schedule and everything that has to be considered but as a group we can’t allow that to distract us. We could expend all our energy fighting it and then lose the game, or we can accept it for what it is and go out and win the game.

“Hopefully, the Tipp hurlers will do the same, and we’ll both have another day out to support each other.”