Positive Creedon proud of Premier progress

It was hard to believe, as Peter Creedon gave his thoughts after Saturday’s loss to Down, that only three months had passed since his appointment as manager of a Tipperary team devoid of confidence and direction.

Three months to the very day.

The turnaround in that space of time had been remarkable: a gritty six-point defeat to Kerry when no-one gave them a chance, three straight qualifier wins against Offaly, Wexford and Antrim and then, in Mullingar, a five-point loss to the 2010 All-Ireland finalists.

“The win against Wexford was a standout result,” said the Cork native. “We’d a good win last week against Antrim. We’re disappointed (now), we’d like to have been there (in the game) in the last four or five minutes but I think we stood up.”

That they did. With just over 10 minutes to play, Tipp found themselves seven points adrift and their summer in danger of tapering away with a whimper but they raged against an ending that would have betrayed everything they had done before it.

“We’d worked hard to get it back to 6-4. Two points down at half-time against the elements would have been a good position. But we had 35 minutes to recover and we only got it to three points back and Down kicked on again, so credit to Down really.”

What happens next will be intriguing. Tipp’s progress at senior and underage grades is obvious and Creedon has done enough to suggest that he can play a central role in the years to come but the question is, will he?

“I don’t know. I suppose it’s the best place to manage, inter-county football, but I’ve other things outside it in my own life as well. My family, my job and things, but we’ll see. It’s a serious commitment, like.”