Huge disappointment as Tipperary footballers well beaten by Leitrim in Thurles

ALLIANZ NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE DIVISION 4

TIPPERARY 2-8 LEITRIM 2-16

Tipperary footballers suffered a hugely disappointing home defeat to Leitrim at FBD Semple Stadium on Sunday afternoon with, undoubtedly, one of their poorest performances in many years.

The eight-points loss might even have been greater but for the opportunism of Conor Sweeney who scored 2-6 of his side’s total of 2-8, Sean O’Connor the only other outfield player to score (while goalkeeper Evan Comerford also kicked a ‘45’ deep into added time at the end of the game).

The heavy defeat, and the manner of it, probably means there will be no promotion and immediate return to Division 3 for Tipperary this year, with two very difficult away trips still to come (Wexford and Cavan) and three home fixtures against Sligo, Carlow and London. The job in hand now for Tipperary is to try and steady the ship and get a win from somewhere to instil some confidence into a team that is definitely trying to come to terms with a huge transition and the absence of too many first-choice quality footballers.

There is a fortnight now to the next game and in that time David Power and the backroom team have a massive job of work to do to lift the spirits in the camp before they face Wexford who have lost both their opening games and will also desperately be seeking points. 

In Sunday’s game the early exchanges were pretty even and four times over the opening half hour the sides were level.

Tipperary were first on the scoreboard in the fourth minute with a point from Sean O’Connor - notably it would be the only time Tipp would lead all day, and more remarkably it was to be the home side’s only score from an outfield player bar Conor Sweeney.

Leitrim centre-forward Keith Byrne got his first of eight points a minute later before kicking a super point from 40 metres out under the Old Stand for the lead in the sixth minute.

We had to wait 11 minutes for the next score in a free-ridden game of over 50 frees, Conor Sweeney levelled in the 17th minute. However, the visitors quickly went 0-4 to 0-2 up with another Beirne free followed by a point from Riordan O’Rourke capitalising on a soft Tipp turnover.

But Tipp again responded, Sweeney tagging on a free which came from an off-the-ball pull on a Tipp forward, before the Ballyporeen man kicked a nice right-footed point following a good Tipperary passing move.

Keith Beirne who was the stand-out player of the opening period put Leitrim ahead when again using the wind to good effect after 29 minutes of play.

When Conor Sweeney pointed a mark to make it 0-5 each on 30 minutes it was hard to envisage that Tipperary would add only one further point to that tally in the next 26 minutes of play, either side of half-time.

Before the interval points from Beirne (2, one free) and Mark Plunkett gave the visitors a huge psychological boost heading to the tunnel for half-time and that impetus was to be extended at the start of the second half.

In the first 20 minutes or so after the recommencement Leitrim outscored Tipp 1-5 to 0-1, with Andy Moran’s charges putting in a purple patch of dominance crowned by a passing movement the length of the field which ended with James Rooney blasting to the net in the 41st minute. The Leitrim points in that match-deciding duration came from Beirne (2 frees), Ryan O’Rourke, Tom Prior and Riordan O’Rourke, with Tipp’s only reply a free won and scored by Conor Sweeney in the 51st minute.

The visitors led 1-13 to 0-6 before Tipp finally responded with a well-taken goal low to the net by Conor Sweeney in the 56th after good work by Paudie Feehan in particular.

After Leitrim midfielder Pearce Dolan fisted a point, a second Conor Sweeney goal came from a high delivery by Sean O’Connell that was flicked to the net by the Tipperary captain. It reduced the deficit to five points at 1-14 to 2-6 to raise faint hopes of a revival, but almost immediately Leitrim responded with a second goal of their own, superbly finished by Tom Prior, to kill off any hopes of that unlikely comeback.

The final minutes saw both sides add on two further points, Tipp from placed balls, a Sweeney free and an Evan Comerford 45, while Leitrim finished with two from play from the impressive Tom Prior and Riordan O’Rourke.

Apart from the competitive opening 30 minutes, Tipperary were always playing second best thereafter. Disappointingly the number of unforced errors was an achilles heel for Tipp throughout with possession surrendered too easily too often to a Leitrim side that look rejuvenated now under the former Mayo legend. The pace of the counter attack from Leitrim was significant also, the two goals coming from quick up the field movements, and Tipperary didn’t seem able to kick on as decisively at the same speed. The pace of the build up from Tipperary is continuing to allow opposition sides to defend easier.

The over-reliance on Conor Sweeney for scores is significant also with the Ballyporeen man scoring 2-6 of the 2-8 total today; last Sunday against Waterford it was 0-7 of 0-10. It will be difficult for Tipperary to win games with that over dependency on the 2020 All-Star.

In their defence there is no doubt that this team will need time to develop and on Sunday there were further debuts for Dean Carew (Upperchurch) and Teddy Doyle (Ballina, ex Templenoe, Kerry). Added to the six new starters last Sunday, it puts perspective on the difficult task in hand Tipperary manager David Power has presently. The team deserve patience and support right now.

SCORERS:

Tipperary - C Sweeney 2-6 (0-4 frees, 0-1 mark), S O’Connor 0-1, E Comerford 0-1 (45).

Leitrim - K Beirne 0-8 (0-5 frees), T Prior 1-2, Riordan O’Rourke 0-3, J Rooney 1-0, P Dolan 0-1, M. Plunkett 0-1, Ryan O’Rourke 0-1.

TEAMS:

Tipperary: Evan Comerford (Kilsheelan Kilcash), Shane O’Connell (Golden/Kilfeacle), Willie Eviston (Loughmore Castleiney), D. Carew (Upperchurch Drombane), Bill Maher (Kilsheelan Kilcash), Colm O’Shaughnessy (Ardfinnan), Luke Boland (Moyle Rovers), Conal Kennedy (Clonmel Commercials), Stephen Quirke (Moyle Rovers), Jason Lonergan (Clonmel Commercials), Kevin Fahey (Clonmel Commercials), Shane Foley (Moyle Rovers), Eanna McBride (JK Brackens), Conor Sweeney (Ballyporeen), Sean O’Connor (Clonmel Commercials).

Subs: Sean O’Connell (Loughmore Castleiney) for O’Shaughnessy (inj. 10 mins), Mikey O’Shea (Mullinahone) for Foley (HT), Teddy Doyle (Ballina) for Lonergan (46 mins), Paudie Feehan for Boland (55 mins), Robbie Kiely (Ballyroe, Cork) for Kennedy (56 mins).

Leitrim: Brendan Flynn, Paddy Maguire, Mark Diffley, David Bruen, James Rooney, Donal Casey, Jack Heslin, Donal Wrynn, Pearce Dolan, Mark Plunkett, Keith Beirne, Darragh Rooney, Ryan O’Rourke, Dean McGovern, Riordan O’Rourke.

Subs: Tom Prior for Heslin (33 mins), Domhnaill Flynn for McGovern (47 mins), Emlyn Mulligan for Rooney (56 mins), Paul Keaney for Plunkett (69 mins).

Referee: J. Hayes (Limerick).