2024 was in Costello’s mind

By Stephen Barry

Kieran Costello was one of three Tipperary players who also started their 2024 defeat to Waterford.

While that occasion wasn’t the main motivation for their winning return to Fraher Field, it popped into the Thurles Sarsfields clubman’s mind at half-time.

Trailing by a point with the wind to come, Tipp appeared well-positioned. Costello reflected that they were four ahead at the turn in 2024, only to let it slip with the wind.

“Two years ago, it was the same situation. We put ourselves in a decent position, but there's no guarantees. We did manage the game a bit better,” he reflected.

“You have to play the conditions, especially with the way the new rules are gone. You can't be naive. In the first half, we did hold onto the ball. It probably wasn't too pretty, but the main thing was to come out with the result, and we were delighted with that.

“A lot of the team from two years ago isn't even here today, so it is quite fresh. It wasn't massively in the mindset, but it's always there as a warning sign of what can happen.

“It's quite a big turnover, but from this year to last year, we've retained quite a lot of players. We're seeing the fruits of it now during the league. This result reinforces that.”

The Tipperary ironman is the only player in the province to have played every minute of McGrath Cup, National League, and Munster Championship this season. His next assignment is a home semi-final against Cork.

“They're up to Division 1 now, which reflects the strength of their panel,” Costello says. “We played them in the McGrath Cup earlier on in the year. We had a tough night that night.

“In fairness, they had a very strong team out. I'd say their championship team won't be a million miles away from it. But we'll learn from what happened, we'll set up as best we can and look forward to two weeks' time.

“These are the games you want to be playing, against the top teams in the country, so it's great to get the opportunity to do that.”