Physical improvements and tactical advances required for Tipp to take the next steps

MATCH ANALYSIS

By Stephen Barry

In the end, Tipperary’s Tailteann Cup hopes, like their Division 4 promotion ambitions, came unstuck against Wicklow in Aughrim.

The Garden County have emerged as a bad stylistic match-up for Tipp’s tyros across a nine-point league defeat in 2025, a 14-point league loss last March, and this eight-point season-ender.

Wicklow have personnel to mitigate the Premier’s ball-winners and get a grip on primary possession. From there, they have the strike runners to slice through Tipp. By contrast, Tipp have to navigate around them. Their tallies in those games have been 0-12, 0-14, and 0-12.

Oisín McConville would know many of the Blue & Gold players from his previous involvement with Clonmel Commercials and he clearly had devised a plan for Seán O’Connor. Their manager deployed Tailteann Cup Team of the Year defender Malachy Stone to shadow Tipp’s top-scorer everywhere, while getting fast back-up anytime O’Connor got on the ball.

O’Connor still finished as the visitors’ joint top-scorer from frees, winning half of those himself, but Tipp didn’t have enough other places to look once he was crowded off the ball with just two other scorers.

Steven O’Brien started brightly with a pair of points and teeing up an orange flag for Paddy Creedon. Creedon was the standout performer on his full debut, characterised as “exceptional” by Niall Fitzgerald. The Thurles Sarsfields clubman booted 0-5 from his four shots.

“It was a pretty controlled performance. We never really looked in any major bother,” McConville told The GAA Social podcast.

“Tipperary are big, physical, good side. They have some serious forwards, Steven O’Brien, Seán O’Connor, and these boys up front, so just had to be wary of that, but it was a really good performance from our boys.”

Tipp’s lack of scoring spread was a recurrence of an issue from earlier in the year, having mustered just three scorers against Antrim and four against Longford, even though they took points from both of those games.

It was a game of many turnovers, particularly in the first half. Tipperary manager Fitzgerald rued the ten possessions they coughed up as their highest in a half of football all year. Wicklow gave away the ball just as much.

Kevin Quinn’s early goal was their crutch. The hosts had won the toss and opted to back themselves to limit Tipp against the wind. As Tipp tried to get away their first kick-out fast, following Wicklow’s opening point, Quinn robbed the ball. Shane Garland saved from Eoin Darcy, but Quinn was on hand to tap in for a four-point head start.

The full-forward has scored 1-18 (1-15 from play) in three games against Tipp since last year. They did at least limit Dean Healy’s threat, with Kieran Costello picking the midfielder up out of possession.

Tipp lobbed in a few balls without any joy. Their nine shots, scoring 0-2-3, with a strong wind was never likely to be enough. Wicklow outshot Tipp in both halves, with their second-half efficiency particularly healthy to post 0-3-8 from fifteen attempts.

Tipp needed goals to win from there. Steven O’Brien had an early effort tipped over by Mark Jackson, which could’ve nullified the momentum from Quinn’s major. In the final quarter, Paudie Feehan was penalised for charging at the keeper with one opening, Jackson advanced to save from Jack O’Neill, and when the No.1 was beaten by O’Connor, Gavin Fogarty got back to make the goal-line block.

Over the past three rounds, Tipp have clocked up around 1,500km between trips to Sligo, Belfast, and Aughrim. They’ll hope for far better luck in the draw next year.

Despite beating Sligo in round 1, the Yeats men had more fortune, with Waterford and London providing a more inviting path to the quarter finals.

It will be interesting to follow Antrim, Wicklow, and Sligo’s progress from here to get a better measure of Tipp’s year. They are currently towards the bottom of the betting among the eight remaining teams, yet one of Antrim or Wicklow are guaranteed to reach the semis for the second time in three years when they meet at Corrigan Park.

Tipp’s 2026 was significant for finding a new goalkeeper in Garland, a wing-back in Charlie King, and a midfielder in Joe Higgins, each of whom started all 12 games this year. They were among seven players to do so.

Full-forward O’Connor was Tipp’s focal point, playing 835 out of 840 available minutes, followed by James Morris (832), Garland (827), Daithí Hogan (796), Higgins (786), King (784), Paudie Feehan (776), and Eoin O’Connell (770).

The most impressive achievement in terms of playing time last Saturday was Steven O’Brien and Jimmy Feehan completing a full seventy minutes after their rotten luck with injuries. We’ve already touched upon the Ballina native’s contribution, while Feehan was tuned in from the start for a handful of early turnovers.

In the final accounting, Tipp won five games, drew two, and lost five across the year. In those, Fitzgerald’s side scored 129 white flags against 125 conceded, 28 orange flags against 24 conceded, but just 10 goals against 17 conceded.

With such a young team, Fitzgerald’s hope is that physical improvements will marry with tactical advances, which are embedded in a team over longer periods of time together.

Tipp’s player retention has been lacking up to last year, but the feeling is that this young cohort have come up through the ranks together and can carry each other on. They will need to if Tipp are to nurture the green shoots of this campaign into something more sustainable.