Fitzgerald: Tipp want to take a big scalp

THIS time last year, Tipperary prepared to take on Kerry with the unfamiliar air of expectancy wafting through their nostrils but no such scent has been detected this week as John Evans’ side prepares for yet another tilt at the Kingdom.

Tipp’s unpredictable form in Division Three of the Allianz League is one reason for that. The Killarney venue is another, although playing in Semple Stadium didn’t prevent Kerry from claiming an ultimately comfortable 12-point win when the sides met last summer.

“We were disappointed at the end,” said Tipperary goalkeeper Paul Fitzgerald of that game.

“We stayed with them for 60minutes and in the last 10 minutes they pretty much took over and we fell apart.”

If there is a similarity between this year’s fixtures and the previous meeting it is that other sides have once again assumed Kerry’s familiar mantle as favourites for Sam but Fitzgerald is hopeful.

“They have a lot of quality players. I keep saying to people that they haven’t gone away. Everyone thinks that Kerry have gone but they haven’t, they’re still one of the best teams in the country. They have a lot of quality forwards, lads who will hurt you. Match winners. It’s going to be a massive ask for us to beat them but it’s another challenge and it’s something you have to take on if you want to get better.”

Evans freshened things up this year by drafting in trainer Brian Murray who had previously worked with the county hurlers but the performances in the league left everyone bemused.

Three successive losses to Louth, Westmeath and Waterford all but holed any hopes they had of returning to Division Two before March’s mid-point and they owed their survival to Louth’s defeat of Waterford on the last day after they themselves fell to Cavan.

Successive relegations would have been hard to take after the work to resurrect the county’s league standing in the first place but all that is behind them.

“As players we definitely want to make our mark on the championship,” said Fitzgerald.

“We either want a run in the championship or to take a big scalp. We have to leave the league behind us. What’s in the past is in the past.”

Maybe so but Tipp can crane their necks back just a little further, to their experiences in the qualifiers last summer when they shrugged off the disappointment of defeat to Kerry by taking Laois in Thurles and putting it up to Dublin. As was the case against Jack O’Connor’s side, Tipp faltered in the second-half against the Dubs after offering a stiff challenge and Fitzgerald believes it will stand to them.

“It was great for all of us. To get a chance to play at Croke Park was a massive boost and to actually play the Dubs meant it was the biggest crowd that any of us had ever played in front of. Getting a bit of cheek off the Hill as well was also a good experience. I got a bit but in fairness they were nice enough. It was great to get that experience.

“It’s all part of a building process. We’re trying to blood young lads and get a bit of progression going and all that’s part of it. It was disappointing not to win the game.

“We felt at the time that maybe we could have caught the Dubs, but they improved later on in the championship. They’re a quality team, in the top three or four in the country.”

Just like Kerry.