Tipp Minor Footballers didn’t show anything near their best

By Michael Dundon

Tipperary minor football manager Kevin Mulcahy was a disappointed man after watching his charges slump to a disappointing five point defeat at the hands of Limerick in round one of phase one of the Munster Championship on Sunday.

It was a game that Tipp, despite the below par showing, were capable of winning. They had a couple of goal chances that failed to yield anything and a number of efforts for points from distance fell short. A higher strike rate there could have made all the difference.

And with two away games to Waterford, next up, and Clare later, qualifying for phase two of the championship which will involve Kerry and Cork with the top two teams from the phase one round-robin series, will not be easy.

“It was very disappointing,” Mulcahy admitted.

“We did not play at all. I would not have minded losing so much had we performed as we can but we were off.

“We did not turn up in the first half and that can happen at this stage with young lads. Remember. a lot of these lads are only sixteen and only three of them have played championship football before, and that was always going to be difficult for them.”

The manager was not happy with some aspects of the Tipp performance, in particular he singled out the slowness in closing down Limerick players in possession. “Defensively, we were too passive and gave them too much room but look, we have to take this on the chin and move on”, he said.

“We have two away games coming up and we have to win them. We were just off our game today. It is what it is and we will just have to get on with it.

A win over Waterford on Easter Monday is a must if Tipperary are to stay in the frame for a spot in phase two and the manager will be hoping that his side can build on an improved second half showing to achieve the desired result against the Deise.

Lessons were learned and shortcomings have to be rectified and though there is little time to do this, the manager will be hoping that the quality in his squad will shine through to keep them in the championship frame going into the last round game of phase one against Clare.