MANAGER TALKS: David Power and Jack O'Connor shared their thoughts after Tipp played Kerry

Kerry were superior this afternoon in Kerry but after the game in Fitzgerald Stadium the moods were contrasting from both managers. David Power was proud of his players honest showing against the All-Ireland champions while Jack O'Connor felt it was a job done, no more no less, with bigger tests ahead. 

"They had 12 of the starting team that won the All-Ireland and the five subs came on for the last fifteen minutes," David Power said afterwards. He felt the application of the Tipp players was of a high standard throughout against a powerful Kerry side. On the scoring side, he felt his side could have been more clinical:

"Our lads; they worked very, very hard. There was a couple of things we worked on. We didn't want to be conceding goal opportunities and we didn't. I think the last ten minutes we would be disappointed with, we coughed up a couple of soft scores. We left, probably I would say, half a dozen scores behind us as well. 

"I would always have said this game was going to be very, very tough for us I suppose from where we have been coming from but now its something that we can go on and build for the Tailteann cup. I said that from the outset, before the Munster championship had started that it was always really about the Tailteann cup for us.

"Bit by bit we are getting the bodies back and we are after getting fellas back, and we are after getting a lot of game time into the likes of Steven O'Brien. If we had the likes of Steven O'Brien for the league I think we would be in a different position in the league. Overall losing by 19 or 20 points you don't like to do - but from where we are at in this moment in time - we have to move forward and the Tailteann cup was always our aim," the Kilsheelan Kilcash native said.

It took ten minutes for Kerry to open the scoring but it suited Tipperary to keep the game low scoring early on and then see if they could get a foothold in the game. That was David Powers game plan going into the match: "Obviously we were playing two sweepers and that's all stuff in Tipperary football that we don't like doing. We like playing offensive football but then needs must as Kerry have so many good forwards. Shane O'Connell held David Clifford, I think he only scored one point from play. Like Shane O'Connell did a great job a couple of years ago in Thurles as well. David Clifford is a fantastic player but they have more than David, they have Sean O'Shea, Paudie Clifford and they have fellas then coming off the bench that want to be on the starting team as well. For us it was always about three weeks time and that's the Tailteann cup.

"We are going to get a number of things out of it, the high ball had them under pressure as well. Look there is a couple of things we can take going forward but in three weeks time, that's the start of our championship. That's the way I look at it. 

Kerry manager Jack O'Connor was looking to get different things out of the game as Kerry look to defend their provincial and national titles. He shared his thoughts at full time with the assembled media:

"The bookies had it at 18 points and it finished up at 20. I'd say fair play to the bookies, they are never a million miles out are they!

"That's why they are driving big cars isn't it! 

"It was fairly obvious that the noises that was coming out of the Tipperary camp before the game weren't very positive and they didn't have a good league. I suppose Fitzgerald Stadium is an intimidating enough place to come to from their point of view so the game panned out more or less the way most people were expecting it to.

"Tipperary parked the bus. I actually said that in the dressing room that, maybe after ten minutes, fellas were not to panic if they looked up at the scoreboard and it was two points to one, I'd say that roughly that's what the score was after ten minutes. I'd say we turned over the first four attacks. I thought we settled down once we got into it, then struck together a few good moves. 

Despite Tony Brosnan missing a penalty, Jack O'Connor was impressed with how he struck over five points from play afterwards: "Five great scores. That's good for his confidence. Tony's a confidence player. A few of them scores came at the end, good combination among the forwards to take the scores we were looking for."

Kerry roll on to the Munster final now where Limerick or Clare await while Tipperary regroup tonight in Killarney and will travel home tomorrow to begin their next campaign in the Tailteann cup.