Tipp manager pleased with improved performance despite second defeat

By Joe Scully

While the result might not have been what was wanted, for Tipperary senior camogie manager James Heffernan, it was a much improved performance from his charges against Cork despite falling to a second consecutive three-point defeat in the All-Ireland Championship.

“It was a huge step us from us,” he said after the game.

“We pushed up on Cork and put them under a lot of pressure, just like they did with us.

“We didn’t allow Cork get the quality of ball into their forwards that they normally would, and we probably were the same, but there’s always stuff like that to be worked on.

“But the improvement in the last week from the Waterford game is a lot so we have to be happy with that.

“We probably needed a goal in the second half, they were kind of staying two points ahead, and we just couldn’t create that chance that we needed, but look the girls showed huge fight out there.

“It was hard after the defeat last week, which was tough, we didn’t hurl well, we only scored 1-10, so it was a different story today performance wise.”

The first year manager felt, despite the fact the Cork full forward were in such great form, his full back line still did a good job overall in marshalling them.

“That Cork full forward line is very good, but at the same time, I thought our full back line did really well on them too,” he continued.

“They obviously got a few scores between them, but you will always get that with forwards of that level.

“I don’t think we could have done much more really, except create a few more chances and maybe a bit of ball went into the forwards we didn’t retain it especially in the first half, but the effort of the girls was top class, and we played some really good stuff there.

“It was a big boost, but we’re still very disappointed coming away not winning the game.”

With a two week break until the final group game against defending champions Galway, and with direct passage to the semi-finals still up for grabs, a win is a must for Heffernan, not just for a chance to make the semi-finals, but also to finally get a win ahead of the knockout stages.

“The bottom line is we must beat Galway regardless of what’s on the line.

“You could be out in a quarter final the following week, so you want to be going into that game in good fettle, so there’s something riding on every game,” he said.