Power disappointed by self-inflicted mistakes

By Michael Heverin

Tipperary manager David Power didn’t try to hide his disappointment following his side’s heavy loss to Kerry on Sunday, and he was quick to point out where the problems arose.

“It was a very tough day but when we concede so many turnovers they are going to punish us. Kerry got 2-3 or 2-4 from us turning over the ball in the first fifteen minutes.

“We cannot turn the ball over as cheaply as we did but that’s a big learning curve for the girls”, he said

“The ball was just going through our hands in the middle third and they were getting scores so easily. Doing that against a full forward line like Kerry have and they are going to hurt you.

“When things are going bad then it’s hard to recover. But I’m really disappointed because we are a lot better than that. We showed that against them in the Munster championship.

“But this was just one of those days and now we have two weeks to recover before the Kildare game.

“I cannot really put a finger on what happened because training has been going well for the last couple of weeks. The girls have been working really, really hard”.

Power pointed out that Tipperary were not helped by losing such key players as the Martin sisters as well as Anna-Rose Kennedy and Heather Spillane, but he is hopeful that Kennedy and Spillane will be back for the Kildare game.

And he was also able to draw some positives from the second half improvement and the impact of his second half replacements.

“We’re still very much a work in progress,” added the Tipp manager.

“We’re trying to build a squad and build the confidence of young players so we just have to stick at it as a group.

“But the pleasing thing is that we were wide open for a very heavy defeat, but we kept at it and that’s all we could have done.

“There was a new energy. But we were playing one of the best teams in the country, and they are going to be there, or thereabouts, when it comes to the All -Ireland.”

Power hopes that Kerry beat Kildare this weekend and that would leave the Tipp-Kildare game in Clonmel a straight shoot-out for second place in the group and a place in the All-Ireland quarter finals for a second year in a row.

“We have to get ready for that, brush ourselves off and get on with it. These days happen to any team but we have to remain positive.

“The girls themselves know that they can perform a lot better,” Power concluded.