Former Tipperary captain thinks this team is good enough to get to All-Ireland final

Looking ahead to next Sunday’s All-Ireland senior football championship semi-final between Tipperary and Mayo in Croke, the Tipperary captain of 2016, Peter Acheson, had plenty to say.

Part of his extended interview in this week’s edition of The Nationalist appears here:

“No doubt, 2016 was an unbelievable year for us. The support we had on our journey throughout  meant  a huge amount to the team.  I suppose that support wouldn’t be  as large as what  other counties would receive in terms of numbers but  in my opinion it had a much greater impact on us. The Tipp football community is a real close group and no matter how bad a year we had the same faces were there throughout,” said Peter. 

“The Munster final of 2016 against Kerry always itches away at me as we just didn’t show up as a team that day. We believed we were good enough to give them a rattle but it didn’t come to fruition unfortunately on the day. But we had played very well against Cork in the semi-final and from that loss  we played some great football in beating Derry and Galway. 

“We took on Mayo as a nothing-to-lose game and we played relatively well. Mayo scored a goal while going for a point and we lost a ball in midfield with a sloppy hand pass and they scored a second goal on the counter. Other than that we matched them, and on another day I think we could have beaten them. We probably needed to play close to our best to win and we fell  a little short of that,” added Peter. 

“Liam Kearns (manager) had us believing in ourselves and our talents and we feared no one, which showed in the Galway game previously. It was obviously a strange feeling for everyone being in a senior semi-final in Croke Park with the chance of getting to a final. But there is a good portion of that starting team which have that experience now and I’m sure that’s going to be a huge benefit on Sunday.

Peter Acheson who captained Tipperary in the 2016 All-Ireland semi-final against Mayo.

“Getting to an All-Ireland final would be another massive step forward and this team is good enough to get to that final. If the guys can supply ball to Conor and Mikey the  way they have been doing I think we will win. Thankfully  Colin  is available for the semi-final also, as he will be massive   for the team,” added Peter.

 In conversation with  Peter you get the feeling that there is more than a little hope that Tipperary can do it this time and he is confident that  football in the county  is in good hands at the moment, both on and off the field.

“Team captain Conor Sweeney has so much experience now there’s not much advice I could give him. I heard his interview after the Cork  game where he mentioned that they didn’t get caught up in the occasion of the 100 year anniversary of Bloody Sunday. I thought that was a great route to go from himself and Davy Power. The same will apply for the All-Ireland semi in Croke Park.  For me in 2016 it was an honour leading the team out in a semi-final   so I would say to Conor (and to them all) to cherish it. I couldn’t be happier for any man to captain the team to a Munster final win than Conor Sweeney. He’s been soldiering for 10 years now and has been a man of consistency every game, every year. If he doesn’t receive an All Star this year I’ll be amazed,” added Peter.

“But the main thing is to enjoy it. I know this group of players play their best football when enjoying it and expressing themselves. I loved seeing Mikey’s little smile over to Colman after one of his points in the Munster final. If these guys are loose and go at it there aren’t many teams that can beat them,” concluded Peter on the  game itself.

Extended interview in this week’s edition of The Nationalist on sale now.