Football must be priority, insists departing Peter Creedon

Departing Tipperary manager Peter Creedon insists football will have to become the sole priority of players if the Premier County is to achieve a breakthrough at senior level.

Colin O’Riordan lined out at full-forward for the Tipperary U21 hurlers 48-hours prior to Saturday’s qualifier contest, while Steven O’Brien picked up a hamstring injury in a recent U21 hurling challenge game and was nowhere near full fitness for the Tyrone clash.

“Next year, fellas will have to play nothing but football and park everything else,” said Creedon, who resigned as manager following the 12-point defeat to Tyrone.

“Colin’s legs probably went a little bit in the second-half. If Steven (O’Brien) was fit he would have been playing on Thursday night as well. The likes of Tyrone, Kerry and the top football teams, that’s their sole concentration.

“It’s not an excuse for today, but going forward it’s something we have to do to maintain the players energies a little bit better so we can work on their fitness and conditioning. We’re a bit like the Dublin hurlers, we’re making progress but we have learnt from Kerry and Tyrone we can survive. I know Tyrone beat us by 12-points but we were surviving.

“In my time, we have played Galway, Down, Tyrone and Kerry on numerous occasions and you are learning all the time. I have no doubt the breakthrough will come, it might be a year or two but it will come. Division 2 next year must be a priority.”

On the decision to end his four-year reign as manager, Creedon explained: “I have 10 or 12 years done between minor, U21 and senior. We have four good years put into it now at senior. I’m starting a new job as principal of a big school and it might be no harm to have a fresh voice. We have had some brilliant memories. It’s like being involved with an U12 team in your local club, it’s the bit of craic among the mentors, it’s the bit of banter in the dressing room, that’s what I really enjoyed.”

Tyrone manager Mickey Harte, meanwhile, believes his team are on an upward curve.

“I just hope that curve continues for another while. If we can play to our top level, then I wouldn’t be particularly scared of anybody. But if we don’t play at our top level, I don’t think many people would be scared of us either.

“We were in a very similar position at half-time in the Meath game – staring at an exit from the championship with 35- minutes to go. The big question was asked again – do we want this to all end here or do we believe we have more in us? In the second-half they showed exactly what they’re capable of and I think they’ll grow in confidence.

Commenting on the melee before half-time in which two players from either side were yellow-carded, he added: “I was very happy with our players and how disciplined they were. It’s not easy sometimes when these schemozzles get started, people can lose the plot. I think they showed in the second-half that far from distracting our players, it maybe galvanised them.”