'We have to win all our matches now' says Tipperary football manager

Tipperary football manager Niall Fitzgerald didn’t pull his punches in the aftermath of his side’s defeat by Carlow in the Allianz National Football League Division Four, round three game at FBD Semple Stadium on Sunday last.

Tipp went into the game with three points from two games, trailing their unbeaten rivals who won both their opening rounds. The reality was this was a crunch game. The winner would top the league table with promotion looming large in front of them – the losers would have work to do to get one of the top two spots in the division.

“We have to win all our matches now. The league is now like the championship for us.

“We cannot afford to lose another game. It is knockout from here on,” the Moyle Rovers man said.
He pointed to the fact that Tipperary had eight players involved in colleges action in the days before the game and while this was great for the players to be operating at that level, it was not much help to Tipp on Sunday.

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“We have a young team and we rely on the young lads for energy. With a young team you will have your ups and downs. That is the nature of the game.

“We were very disappointed with the first twenty minutes of the second half. We were very flat. When we got going we had chances but we did not show composure and you have to take your chances if you are to win,” he said.

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He acknowledged that the missed penalty by Sean O’Connor was a factor but he also had issues with the referee’s interpretation of a number of incidents involving the rule bringing the ball forward if a player does not hand it immediately to an opponent.

“I disagree with his interpretation of the rule in a couple of situations today. I am not saying they cost us the match. They are small things but they can have a big bearing on the outcome of the game,” he added.

Looking ahead to the Longford game in Longford this Sunday, he said it will be very tough.

“It is really hard to get out of Division Four. All the teams are capable of taking points off each other. We have to get going again in the coming weeks. That is the challenge ahead of us. We are not where we would want to be.

“Whatever about the result today, it was the nature of the performance that was most disappointing”.

On the injury front the manager said that Jimmy Feehan, brother of team captain Paudie, is making good progress and could see some action in the near future and Steven O’Brien, who played the best part of an hour against Carlow, is getting back to full fitness after injury.

A full deck of players will be required from here to the finish of the league if Tipperary are to be in the shake-up for promotion.