Puckouts and sweepers central to Tipp getting better
By Joe Scully
After his sides defeat at the hands of All-Ireland champions Galway on Saturday, Tipperary manager James Heffernan felt there are a few aspects of their game they need to improve on going forward.
One main one is how his side react when big moments go against them in the aftermath of Galway’s goal in the opening period which changed the tone of the game.
“We will have to improve how we seem to drop the head a bit when things go against us,” he admitted.
“They got that goal, and we definitely didn’t hurl then for about ten minutes. That’s something we need to address and improve on because these things can happen in games, and you know you will concede goals or big scores, and you have to move on, and I felt we let that goal get to us a bit.”
Heffernan also felt like his side didn’t deal properly with the way Galway setup in the first half and how they used the ball.
“They had a sweeper, and they do a lot of movement of the team,” added the Tipp manager.
“In the first half they only had four forwards, and it meant we had free backs and we probably didn’t use the ball well enough at times, we kind of hit the ball directly down on their spare players, and that’s something we have to do better.
“We have to use the ball better when against numbers in midfield, you have to work the ball to a better area before you get it inside, but look these are all things that can be fixed and we will be working on it in training.”
The Clonoulty/Rossmore clubman also felt in the second half their puckouts didn’t work too well and is another area to be worked on as Tipp conceded a couple of scores direct from their own restarts going awry in.
“One or two puckouts went astray, but at the same time I thought some of our puckouts worked really well,” Heffernan said.
“There was kind of good and bad with the puckouts.
They have become so important in the game, and it was definitely mixed overall and it’s something as a team we need to work on and get better with.”
Next up for Tipp is a difficult trip to Cork on Saturday in a massive game for both sides, with the losers sure to be in real relegation danger, and a massive performance will be needed by the Premier ladies.