Tipp need to put best foot forward against Kildare
KILDARE v TIPPERARY
St Conleth's Park, Newbridge
Saturday 16th March
Throw-in @ 2.30pm
Referee: Noel Mooney (Cavan)
It's not quite must win for the Tipperary senior footballers against Kildare on Saturday but if they take anything at all from their trip to Newbridge, it will go a long way to securing their survival in division 2 of the Allianz League.
It is not only a huge Saturday for Tipperary but also for the seven other teams in the division with all teams having something to fight for at both ends of the table.
For Tipperary, a defeat won't be entirely fatal as their final game is against Clare in Thurles, who regardless of whether the Banner county beat Meath or not this Saturday, a win for Tipp would see them trump Clare on head to head if that proves to be a relegation decider but everything will become a lot clearer after this weekend.
Kildare, who were favourites for an immediate return to division 1, are three points off the pace in the race for promotion and will be under a certain element of pressure from their home fans to keep their promotion hopes alive, should either Meath or Fermanagh slip up.
Feeding off this expectation from the demanding Kildare hope support is what Tipperary will need to do in Newbridge to settle into the game and take it into the final twenty minutes, where Liam Kearns charges have shown in the campaign to date that the have the stamina to finish games strongly.
Against Donegal, they got their timing right with a late twenty minute burst to come from behind to win the game but against Cork in their last game, they fell too far behind before opening up and taking the game to the rebels in the closing minutes.
Finding that balanced approach between being secure in defence but also having enough threat in attack is something that will have focused the mind on manager Liam Kearns over the last two weeks and the face into the two defining games of the campaign.
To read more, pick up a copy of this weeks Nenagh Guardian locally or subscribe to our e-paper to access it online each Wednesday.