Hard questions for Tipp following shock defeat

By Michael Dundon

 

Whither Tipperary football now?

An appropriate question in the wake of Tipperary’s shock defeat by Limerick in the Munster senior football quarter-final at Semple Stadium on Saturday evening.

This was surely the lowest point in manager Liam Kearns’ four years in charge and it poses a massive challenge for him and his backroom team to regroup and refocus in preparation for the All-Ireland qualifiers.

Saturday’s loss was a shock to many but given how Tipperary’s league campaign had gone, with relegation to division three, should it really have been that big a surprise? The absence of key players like Michael Quinlivan, Robbie Kiely, Josh Keane, Paul Maher and Shane O'Connell was put forward as a legitimate explanation for the failure to retain division two status.

Certainly Tipperary does not have the strength in depth to carry such losses and still stay competitive at that high level, but for Saturday’s game, the Premier County were playing with a full hand, yet the outcome was the same, but now against much inferior opposition to that encountered in division two of the league.

What has happened in the past few months that Tipperary have gone from being the darling of the pundits for the quality and style of football they played as they mixed it with the game’s elite and got results? A struggling division four side should not have been a problem for Tipperary but on Saturday evening the home side played second fiddle to their visitors for most of the way.

 

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