Tipp camogie Boss Bill Mullaney critical of refereeing decisions

Tipperary Manager Bill Mullaney was very unhappy with some of the decision making by referee Ray Kelly but acknowledged that his charges need to develop a bit more guile in attack to claim the scalp of one of the Big Three.

Mullaney had watched his charges mix it with the Galway girls and he felt that a number of big hits on his players went unpunished by the referee, leaving him puzzled and very frustrated - he cited a number of heavy challenges on the very influential Karen Kennedy in particular and also the fact that play was allowed to continue following a head injury to a Tipp player, with Galway going downfield to score, just before half time .

He vented that frustration after the game, but stressed that his girls did play second fiddle on the day and that Galway were the better side and deserved their victory. His comments, he said, were not the result of sour grapes, and he wished Galway well for the final, but added that decisions made were very questionable and need to be questioned.
“We had a lot of inexperience in the forward line and we didn’t convert the scoring chances when they came,” Mullaney noted. “Our backs played great, midfield played great, and we were just trying to find that point when you needed it in the forward line. We struggled with that.

“In fairness, Galway really tied us up in the second half. They did what we did in the first half. We found it hard to break through their half-back line in particular and get that score that we needed.

“Róisín (Howard) had a chance of a goal in the first half, but just didn’t convert it and we found it hard to generate chances in the second half… and probably showed a bit of inexperience.

“We still needed four or five points and we didn’t generate a second score, when we were going for a goal, we didn’t give the pop pass out and take a point, get that scoreboard ticking over. We became a little bit one-dimensional.
“That is the experience we must learn. To find the next pop pass, to find the player in space, when you go into the tunnel or the alley when you run out of space, that you find that player and they pop it over the bar.

“Galway are an experienced team, All-Ireland champions and they closed us down and that’s maybe where our experience was lacking- finding that extra right decision when you’re under so much pressure that Galway brought to us today.

Defeat is a bitter pill for Tipperary to swallow - their third consecutive All-Ireland semi-final loss. But, the feeling is that the side have made progress and even allowing for the fact that they were missing four first team starters on the day, they battled the game very well and never gave up the chase. The feeling always was that if Tipp could get a goal, they might be in a position to cause the champions much worry. But, they didn't and the paid of defeat hurt.

“I’ll have to stomach this for a couple of weeks. A lot of people say you’ve great moral victories and all that. Moral victories never got you a medal, never got you anything.

“The players are saying ‘we played well’, and we did play well. We had a savage year and it was a great year. We did show progress again but we need to push through the door and get into that final and I would be convinced myself if we got to the final we’d have won it. That’s easy say when you’ve lost but it’s pure 100 per cent credit to the girls, the backroom team and the management team. I know every other team is doing it as well, but it’s a huge commitment from our players and all involved,” he said.