Tipp eyeing a slice of history

ANOTHER box ticked. And what a box.

Tipperary’s steady climb towards the summit of Gaelic football reached its highest plateau yet as their minor footballers qualified for the county’s first All-Ireland final in the code since losing the same grade’s decider to Dublin in 1984.

That appearance more than a quarter of a century ago was something of a one-off for the Munster outfit, an anomaly, but results at underage levels in recent years would suggest that this achievement is merely the end of the beginning for the county.

They have done it the hard way, by taking care of Limerick, Kerry, Cork and Meath before this. With Dublin and Galway contesting next week’s second semi-final, they will have to overcome another blue-blood to back up 1934’s solo national title at this grade.

They never really played their best football on this occasion and yet they were still able to navigate their way to the line first despite conceding four of the last five scores and playing the last dozen minutes with just 14 men and their best player the man dismissed.

The lead was five points when midfielder Ian Fahey was sent off and the loss of the Clonmel Commercials player, added to the withdrawal of centre-back Dylan Fitzelle who had been sick during the week, left them vulnerable to a late rally.

Roscommon whittled the lead down with four points after that and had a couple of half-chances for goals to boot but anything other than a Tipperary victory would have painted a distorted picture of what had transpired for most of the curtain-raiser.

The Munster champions trotted into an early lead in an opening period, where Fahey’s influence was at its most pervasive and, with Stephen O’Brien and Philip Quirke alongside him, Tipperary seemed to possess some key raw materials.

All three are big, physical athletes and they made life difficult for a Roscommon side that lacked the bulk of their opponents but one which refused to wave away their right to graft for possession in the middle third.

Thomas Corcoran fought the good fight in the engine room for the men from the west and he was given a dig out by a couple of scrappers in the shape of corner-back Shane Carty and wing-forward Enda Smith, both of whom claimed crucial ‘dirty’ ball.

Their due diligence helped keep Roscommon in the game after a rough start and it was the Connacht side who actually claimed the only clear cut goal chances of the first-half although, critically, neither were taken.

The first was engineered midway through the period but faltered when Tipperary goalkeeper Evan Comerford advanced quickly to block Kevin Finn’s shot with his legs while the second foundered on a superb block by Fitzelle.

Tipp took to the tunnel with a double-scores lead – eight points to four – and seemed to squeeze any drama from the script shortly after the restart when a good passing move ended with Fahey teeing Michael Quinlivan up to finish low to the net.

Yet Tipp never kicked on.

Ten more minutes passed before either side could trouble the scoreboard but then Roscommon began to find their stride. Four different players scored points within a five-minute period and Tipp maintained some daylight with efforts from Greg Henry and captain Liam McGrath.

Then came Fahey’s dismissal and, though it almost cost them on the day, it could easily have carried longer-term consequences had referee Damien Brazil given him a straight red card for a kick to the head of Shane Carty when both were prone on the ground.

Scorers for Tipperary: M Quinlivan (1-1); I Fahey (0-3, 1 free); C O’Riordan (0-2); S O’Brien (0-1); G Henry (0-1); L McGrath (0-1); TJ Ryan (0-1); C Kennedy (0-1).

Scorers for Roscommon: D Smith (0-4, 2 frees); L Conlon (0-2); C Daly (0-2); F Kelly (0-1); T Corcoran (0-1); E Smith (0-1); M Gunning (0-1).

TIPPERARY: E Comerford; N O’Sullivan, J Meagher, C O’Sullivan; C O’Riordan, D Fitzelle, S Kennedy; S O’Brien, I Fahey; G Henry, P Quirke, B Maher; L McGrath, M Quinlivan, TJ Ryan.

Subs: J McGrath for Quirke (38); A McGuire for Fitzelle (46); J Lonergan for Henry (54); C Kennedy for Ryan (55); T Kirwan for O’Brien (63).

ROSCOMMON: C Lavin; D Murray, R Timothy, S Carty; M Connaughton, J McManus, C Daly; F Kelly, T Corcoran; L Conlon, M Healy, E Smith; D Smith, K Finn, S Jordan.

Subs: F Sweeney for Jordan (38); D Brandon for Kelly (52); M Gunning for Finn (63).

Referee: D Brazil (Offaly).