Tipp U20 Footballers looking at the bigger picture
By Stephen Barry
Paddy O’Gorman has never been involved in a match where his team failed to score in the first half and won. Never mind winning by 13 points.
Following the sting of their defeat to Waterford, the Tipperary under 20 manager quipped that he’d take that scenario “all day long” against Limerick.
After that Deise loss, the Cahir native received a call from senior boss Niall Fitzgerald, who O’Gorman served alongside as a selector for the previous three years.
“I'd like to thank Fitz,” O’Gorman began.
“He rang me during the week and he just said, ‘Paddy, the job is to get as many of those players playing senior football for Tipp.’ I know that from talking to Fearghal (McDonnell), the football chairperson, and Murtagh (Brennan), the CEO.
“So sometimes you can dwell on a result, but I've no doubt this year alone there'll probably be a few of those boys called into the Tipp seniors, and that's what it's all about.
“If you look at the Tipp seniors, I've been involved for five years (at U20 level). Nearly all of the team, I've been involved with. That shows the progression from minor, under-20, up to senior. They see a pathway.
“There's no better man than Fitz. If he feels they're good enough, he'll call them in. And I know some of them boys will be called in over the next few weeks, which is great.”
Liam Freaney rounded out his Munster campaign with 3-17 across four games to raise the John Kerins Cup.
“I'm delighted for Liam, because he cares so much about that jersey,” O’Gorman said.
“After the Waterford game, the speech he gave at training the other night, and how much it means to wear the Tipp jersey for everyone playing... He said, ‘We go out there and we respect that crest and we go and win that game.’
“I said it before the game, ‘It was the best speech out of any of us this year.’”
O’Gorman was also thrilled for substitute Ciarán Kelly to score 1-2 in a four-minute cameo, having been sin-binned against Waterford the previous week.
“We shuffled the pack and we brought in extra lads and that just shows the strength of the panel. All of them are as good as each other.
“I'm delighted for the likes of Ciarán Kelly, when it didn't go well for him last week against Waterford. Did he score 1-2?
“I'm delighted for him because he was down, especially after getting the black card and all that the last day. It means a lot to those boys.”
Tipp advance to an All-Ireland ‘B’ semi-final on May 9/10 against the fourth-ranked Connacht team. That opponent will be determined by the Philly McGuinness Cup final, which looks set to be contested between Sligo and Leitrim.
“We wanted to try and stay third in Munster, but maybe I underestimated the competition a little bit,” O’Gorman said.
“We're very, very young. Sometimes, with youth, you can make mistakes.
“We've 25 underage next year. We've 38 training. But we also have 30 on an extended panel going through an S&C programme with Ross (Peters) and Kevin (Fahey). So, there's loads of talent in Tipperary, and they really do care about that jersey.
“Please God, we'll go on now, we'll leave them back to their clubs for the next ten days, and we'll look at the All-Ireland semi-final and give that the respect it deserves.
“It’s something to look forward to. All these games are high-intensity games and pressurised situations. It's all experience for next year.”