Tipperary footballers need to put disappointment of league behind them for summer

Just two weeks on from the conclusion of a winless campaign in Division 3 of the Allianz National League, Tipperary senior footballers return to competitive action on Sunday next, April 9 with a Munster quarter-final clash against Waterford at FBD Semple Stadium, Thurles (throw-in 2 pm).
Should the home side prevail, the reward will be, if one can call it such, a semi-final against reigning All-Ireland champions Kerry in Killarney a fortnight later. Only an incurable, and perhaps insane, optimist could see Tipperary’s championship season extending beyond Saturday, April 22.

This year’s seven-game league programme proved to be a tremendous disappointment for Tipperary, with the side the only ones in the division failing to win a game; their only result being a draw away to fellow relegated side Longford. All three home games in Thurles ended in defeats - Down, Antrim and Offaly claiming victories.

Twelve months on from promotion to Division 3 alongside Cavan, Tipp will immediately return to Division 4, with Cavan - who Tipperary impressively beat in Kingspan Breffni last year - jumping another rung to Division 2 of the league for the 2024 season.

It doesn’t make happy reading for Tipperary to look back on the league campaign just concluded, in which they finished with a points tally of minus 45 for the seven games. They scored a single goal in only three games (two from Teddy Doyle and one from Sean O’Connor) and were averaging under 12 points per outing - never enough to win any game, as it proved to be. On average Tipp were conceding over 18 points per game.

From the outset the emphasis would have been on securing home wins as a foundation to consolidate Division 3 status, with hopefully points on the road to follow to put themselves in with a tilt for promotion. But the best made plans were derailed almost immediately.

An opening day home defeat to Down was quickly followed by a 12 points loss in Cavan and then another reversal in FBD Semple Stadium in Round 3, this time to Antrim. Tipp then squandered what looked like a winning lead late on for a deflating draw in Longford. Three defeats down the stretch away to Fermanagh, at home to Offaly and away to Westmeath sealed their fate.

Relegation was mathematically confirmed on the penultimate day of the campaign with that loss to the Faithful County on an occasion when both sides poignantly remembered their former manager, the late Liam Kearns, a man who had guided Tipperary to an All-Ireland semi-final in 2016, a first in 81 years.

DISENCHANTING DAYS
These are indeed disenchanting days for Tipperary footballers and their followers. Many, especially those outside the county, will be puzzled as to what exactly has happened to a county crowned Munster senior football champions in 2020 and who that year also appeared in their second All-Ireland senior semi-final inside five years.

To his credit, in his first year as manager, David Power guided Tipperary to that provincial pinnacle with an amazing win over Cork at Páirc Uí Chaoimh and, admittedly, while a lot can happen in two and a half years, the aftermath from that high point has been nothing to write home about. But then again, that Munster final success was a first in 85 years for a reason. Glory days like 2020 and the run of 2016, as much as Premier people would like them to be, have never really been part and parcel of Tipperary football.

The informed cold- hearted statisticians will tell us that over the last 30 years, Tipperary have spent 19 seasons in Division 4 of the league, eight in Division 3 and only three in Division 2; John Evans as manager took Tipperary to the second tier for a single season in 2010, while fellow Kerryman, the late Liam Kearns, kept Tipperary there for two seasons in 2018 and 2019. Since then we have been bobbing up and down in the surf in Division 3 and Division 4. Conceivably, it may well be some time again before our ship sails for upgraded distant shores.

The exceptional classes of young players who gloriously arrived on the scene, firstly in 2011 to defeat Dublin in an All-Ireland minor final, supplemented by a fine under 21 team that were unlucky to lose an All-Ireland under 21 final to Tyrone by a point at Parnell Park in 2015, have proven exactly that, exceptional.

STRENGTH IN DEPTH NOT STRONG ENOUGH
Since 2015 the record of Tipperary underage football teams, despite the herculean efforts of many involved, has been the poorest in the province, Waterford excepted, with no disrespect to the Déise. With such a disappointing feeder system into senior ranks the chickens are coming home to roost now, the necessary strength in depth that is required to compete at the top level isn’t strong enough at present. There is nowhere to hide from that fact.

The efforts of the current players, manager and the backroom squad cannot be faulted, the commitment to the cause and the sacrifices being made are trojan, but the limitations have been exposed time and again. Plus, from the outset of the league, with captain Conor Sweeney picking up a year-ending injury in January against Down, there has been little luck, if any at all, coming Tipp’s way. Our fortunes, most likely, won’t change anytime soon either.

Again this year, as has been the case every season since 2020, no stone has been left unturned in finding new talent and everyone who has put their hand up has been given a fair shot. Players like Cathal Deely, Conor Cadell, Mark Stokes and Keith Ryan have come through but the search will need to continue as ever over the summer.

For the upcoming game against Waterford, one would expect Tipp to win through for that trip to Killarney. When the sides met at the same stage last year in Dungarvan, the Premier emerged comfortable winners. In the league just completed Waterford had only a single victory, against London in Lemybrien; they too haven’t exactly been setting the football world alight. To date, Tipperary’s only competitive victory in 2023 has been the McGrath Cup win over Waterford at the Gold Coast in early January on a 2-14 0-7 scoreline.

The Tailteann Cup beckons for both Waterford and Tipperary in May, and hopefully Tipp’s run will last longer than the opening round loss to Carlow in 2022. In these trying days it is time to keep the faith and to encourage support.