Unrest in Tipp camp denied

TALK of unrest has dogged the Tipperary hurlers for much of the season but defender Diarmuid Fitzgerald is adamant the ranks areunified as they prepare to face Limerick for a third consecutive week on Sunday.

“I am hearing it a lot but I just can’t relate to any of it. From my own point of view, training is going very well and everyone is pulling together.

“You hear these stories but I don’t know where these stories come from to be honest. I can’t see any of it.”

Whatever about the players, some supporters vented their displeasure towards Babs Keating on the pitch after the second draw in Thurles last weekend but the Roscrea defender believes the manager is in a no-win situation with some people.

“It’s not nice to hear about incidents like that. Since I have been involved, there has always been a little bit of pressure on managers.

“I think it’s because we had so much success down the years, especially in the 50s and 60s and because of that there is a lot of expectation in Tipp every time a manager comes in.

“I think people, especially from that era, were so used to winning that they expect silverware every year and that puts a lot of pressure on the manager. Any time we don’t win a match, the blame always tends to comes back to the management.”

Much of the frustration in Tipp is based on their side’s inability to put this tie to bed. Last week they led Limerick by ten points, confining them to just five points before the break, but they were powerless to prevent their opponents’ storming comeback.

Tipp recaptured the momentum with Darragh Egan’s goal in the first period of extra-time but again they failed to fireproof themselves against reprisals and had to settle for a share of the spoils in a game where they missed a clutch of clear goal chances.

“After the last day we were left wondering how we could not hold onto a 10-point lead, which is a bit worrying from our point of view,” Fitzgerald admitted.

“It’s hard to put your finger on why that happened. We seemed to start losing a lot of primary possession out the field. Maybe in our heads we dropped our game a bit but I looked at the video since and you could really see that Limerick upped their game big time. Ollie Moran in particular caught some magnificent balls and a few of those catches were just unbelievable.

“They really just took the bull by the horns and clawed their way back.

“We have to be aware of teams doing that to us and we just have to up our game even when we are a few points up.”

The drama started early in Thurles last Saturday when news began to filter through that Brendan Cummins had been dropped in favour of young Gerry Kennedy and Fitzgerald admits that the decision caught him off guard.

“It was a surprise to everybody. Brendan has served the county well. He has been in goal for over a decade now and he is a top man. I didn’t see it coming. Gerry is a brilliant goalkeeper and proved that last year with the U21s, and obviously Babs decided to go for him on the basis of a puck-out strategy but I honestly did not see it coming.”