Traumatic Limerick reversal ‘did us no harm at all’, says Babs

IT WAS traumatic for everyone concerned at the time. But ‘Babs’ Keating now believes that losing to Limerick after their three-game marathon in the Guinness Munster semi-final was something of a blessing in disguise for Tipperary.

There was a definite value in playing the three games in terms of experience gained and positions nailed down. And, the relatively stress-free nature of their opening two games in the qualifier series helped get things back on track. However, the real bonus was beating Cork against all the odds.

“There’s no doubt that, with the benefit of hindsight, being beaten by Limerick did this Tipperary team no harm at all. For us to survive Limerick, we’d have had a much tougher test against Waterford on Munster final day. And, I’m not sure we would have survived it,” he commented.