Kelly to consider future after Tipp come off second best again

By Joe Scully

For Tipperary senior camogie manager Denis Kelly, there was massive disappointment, but also optimism for the future albeit a future that might not include him as manager of the senior side after a third All-Ireland semi-final defeat in a row.

Speaking in the aftermath of the seven point defeat, the Toomevara native admitted Galway were the better side, but that his sides finishing at times let them down, and the loss of Karin Blair to injury early on was a key factor in the outcome.

“We got off to a slow start, but we got back to level at half-time, and I thought we had played well to get it back,” he reflected.

“We got a lucky goal, but after that we kicked on.

“Karin (Blair) was a big loss to us going off early on. She has been one of our leaders all year but having said that we had it back level by half time, had good momentum.

“The breeze was stronger in the second half than we anticipated, and we really struggled. We hit a good few wides, when it was in the melting pot, but overall, we can have no real complaints, as Galway were the better team on the day, stronger physically and they outmuscled us in a lot of areas.”

He added: “We hit a lot of wides throughout, they didn’t go over for us, and then when we did get a score, Galway were coming back down, and getting one easy enough, they were able to keep the scoreboard ticking over easy enough, where we weren’t as much, so that was probably a big difference.

“Then they got the goal halfway through the second half, which was a killer blow and there was no coming back from that.

“But look Galway are a very good side at the end of the day and will have a massive say in the outcome of the All-Ireland.

As for the future, with his three-year tenure up, Kelly despite the disappointment of losing joked that he would be getting the bullet now anyway after the game.

“Look, I’d say I will be getting the silver bullet in the post after today,” he mused.

“But look seriously, we have had three years, we have thrown everything at it, it didn’t happen for us, but there’s great talent coming through.

“There’s great work going on in the underage and development squads in Tipperary, so it won’t be too much longer.

“We’re knocking on the door long enough; there’s some great talent coming through next year and the following years.

“The future is bright, so we can’t be too downbeat at the moment.

“A huge crowd travelled behind us here today, we just didn’t give them enough to cheer about. We would like to thank them as well, because it’s as big a crowd we have had for Tipp camogie, and we just need to keep that going as a county, keep supporting the girls, and hopefully this time next year the girls will be preparing for an All-Ireland final finally.”