Fitzgerald frustration at missing out on promotion
By Stephen Barry
Tipperary manager Niall Fitzgerald couldn’t help but voice some frustration at the conclusion of a Division 4 campaign which could’ve delivered more for his charges.
When asked about the productivity of their inside line, who combined for 3-13 on a sunny Sunday and 5-89 across the league campaign, Fitzgerald pivoted towards Tipp’s regrets.
“We got some very good scores. We missed a lot as well, but Seánie (O’Connor) took his chances really well. In fairness to the three lads, they've done a lot of good things throughout the league,” he began referencing to Daithi Hogan and Cian Smith as well.
“I'm frustrated enough because I feel that the Carlow game and the Longford game were two games in particular that we should have got a better result.
“We drew with Longford up there. We should have won that game. We were very disappointed with that. That one hurts.
“The performance against Carlow was probably our worst performance all year and still missed a penalty and had three times as many wides as them. That has probably been our downfall at times. Our conversion rate hasn't been where it needs to be.
“You go back to last weekend. Wicklow had 23 shots, we had 27, and you lose a game by 14 points. It tells its own story. It's an area we really need to get better at.”
Fitzgerald also wasn’t happy with Tipp’s kick-out performance against Waterford.
“A big problem that happened in both halves was around the kick-out,” he added.
“We started losing breaks. Not properly contesting. We definitely let their keeper get too many short kick-outs off. When that happens, you're giving the opposition oxygen.
“When we won the ball around the middle and went at them, we looked way more dangerous. It's fine to say you want to attack with intent and all that. You have to win the ball first.
“That's an area where we left ourselves down for parts of both halves and let Waterford get a grip. We just needed to be better around that breaking ball, better at contesting, and not giving the Waterford keeper the opportunity to get those short ones off.”
When asked about his side’s better goal creation and conversion, Fitzgerald referred back to that midfield battle. “If you can win the opposition kick-out, you have a great chance. We did it at times. The opposition are more open. We tried to go at them with a bit more intent.”
He summed up the 13-point victory, saying: “Some of the performance was good, some of it needs a lot of work.”
Steven O’Brien and Darragh Brennan were ruled out due to injury, with Fitzgerald uncertain of the recovery timeframes.
Looking ahead, Tipp will meet Waterford again in a Munster quarter-final on April 12th. Fitzgerald identifies the subsequent Tailteann Cup as the greater priority.
“We have to be realistic. We're not going to be beating Kerry in a Munster final. The Tailteann has to be our next goal. We'll look at that and prepare for it.”