'Mood in Tipperary camp has been excellent' says football captain Conor Sweeney ahead of Down clash

To date this hasn’t been the best of years for Tipperary footballers and ‘Lady Luck’, who  deserted them throughout the league, and indeed in their recent Munster Championship defeat to Limerick, didn’t exactly return for  last Monday morning’s draw for the first round of the All-Ireland qualifiers.

Tipp’s name was first  out of the hat but because their opponents Down were a division below Tipperary in this year’s National Football League, the Mournemen will now have home advantage. Aside, perhaps, from an away visit to face Monaghan, this was about as luckless a draw that Tipperary manager Liam Kearns could have wished for.

It is the price that his side are now paying  dearly for  following their elimination in the  Munster Championship to Limerick on Saturday, May 11. That day, Tipp put in a very  disappointing performance against the Division 4 underdogs at Semple Stadium and were well beaten on a scoreline of 3-11 to 1-10.

Three weeks on from that setback, Tipperary team captain Conor Sweeney struggles to explain what went wrong against the Shannonsiders.

“Our performance against Limerick just wasn’t acceptable. We never got to the pitch of the game at any stage. We didn’t have the hunger and desire that is needed to compete in - never mind win - a Munster championship game. Why that happened I don’t know, but as players and as management we take full responsibility for it” said the Ballyporeen man, not trying to make any excuses for the shock defeat.

If the Tipperary captain was not disguising his disappointment at the defeat, neither was he dwelling on the negativity of the setback. 

“The mood in the camp has been excellent since and it’s a testament to everyone involved, especially the players who reacted so well. We trained the following Tuesday and got right back to it and have been training hard since,” he added.

On Sunday week next, Tipp will make the long trip north to Newry to take on Down  who only missed out on promotion from Division 3 this year on scoring difference, having finished level on points with both Westmeath and Laois.

In the first round of the Ulster championship they lost out to Armagh. Played at Páirc Esler in Newry, the home side went down by a single point, 2-17 to 3-13, after extra-time, against Kieran McGeeney’s outfit.

Perhaps in a line of form to compare the sides, Armagh were too strong for Tipperary in this year’s national league, winning by 1-15 to 0-12 on February 24 in a game played in Armagh.

No doubt, Tipperary will now face a huge task on the road against a  side who will see this as a great opportunity to make up for their own huge disappointment of  defeat against neighbours Armagh.

Tipperary captain Conor Sweeney gets past Sean O'Dea during the Munster Senior Football Championship quarter-final game played at Semple Stadium last month.

Looking ahead to the Down challenge, Conor Sweeney added

“The qualifiers are reality for so many teams and they can be difficult at the best of times but it’s a challenge that we are relishing. It gives us a chance to perform to our best and that is what we will be hoping to do” he said, obviously intent on proving to the doubters once more what Tipperary footballers are capable of when they hit the right form. 

“Down will be a tough task and we know that we will be up against it but we need to go and perform. If we do that then the result will take care of itself. 

“I think everyone involved with this group is just really looking forward to the challenge ahead and I have no doubt that we will deliver a performance that is worthy of a competitive championship game,” concluded the Tipperary captain.

PREVIOUS MEETING

Tipperary and Down previously met in an All-Ireland qualifier in 2012 when Down overcame Tipperary by 1-13 to 0-11 on July 29, 2012 at Cusack Park in Mullingar in a Round 4 qualifier.

The Round 1 qualifier games will be played on the weekend of June 8 and 9. Games will be played to a conclusion on the day. There will be no replays and games may be decided by penalties.

FIRST ROUND QUALIFIERS

The full draw is as follows:

Louth v Antrim

Tipperary v Down

Leitrim v Wicklow

Wexford v Derry

Offaly v London

Monaghan v Fermanagh

Carlow v Kildare/ Longford

Westmeath v Waterford