No margin left for error - Fitzgerald

By Stephen Barry

Niall Fitzgerald says that Tipperary are entering must-win territory for their remaining four National Football League games.

With one victory, one draw, and one defeat from their opening stretch, there’s precious little wriggle room for any further dropped points ahead of Sunday’s trip to face second-placed Longford.

“The league is our championship. That's where we're at this year,” said the Tipperary manager Fitzgerald after losing to Carlow last Sunday.

“We can't afford to lose another one, so it's a knockout championship from here.”

The fact that Tipp sit just one point off second didn’t offer immediate consolation for the Moyle Rovers clubman.

“It's not where we wanted to be,” he replied.

“Whatever about the result, the nature of the performance was extremely disappointing in our eyes. We're not happy with a lot of the play. We've a lot to work on this week.”

While UL’s Sigerson Cup triumph will stand Tipp’s seven-strong contingent in good stead down the line, Fitzgerald felt they showed some aftereffects four days later against Carlow.

“It's been a tough two weeks in preparation, with eight lads involved in both Sigerson and Fitzgibbon. It was evident the boys were suffering the effects of that. James Morris aside, I thought he was excellent, but the lads were a little bit under par,” said Fitzgerald.

“That was hard because we rely on these young fellas for a lot of the energy in the group and energy on the field. It's a real positive week having that many players involved in a Sigerson, it was brilliant, but it's not much good to us today.

“They had a high on Wednesday and we're back to a low today. That's sport, isn't it?”

Fitzgerald took issue with not being awarded a 50-metre advancement for a Carlow player failing to hand back the ball after a foul. While putting other contested decisions down to a matter of interpretation, he considered that situation as clear-cut.

“There's no excuse for the technical decisions when it's that simple,” he said.

“I'm not happy about that one. I don't think it was the reason we lost the game, but it's bizarre. I can't accept the technical decisions. They just really frustrate me.”

On the injury front, Jimmy Feehan is “a bit away” from action. Steven O’Brien’s early withdrawal was due to managing his minutes for injury prevention. JP Mbokha Tansia’s introduction and subsequent withdrawal was “a real gamble” having just recovered from injury.

“In fairness to him, he was clearly rusty,” said Fitzgerald.

“JP's a great guy. It's very hard to make your National League debut when you've done very little in the last seven, eight weeks. There'll be no fear of JP.”