Tipp going with the simple approach

By Shane Brophy

TIPPERARY v LIMERICK

Semple Stadium, Thurles

Thursday 8th July

Throw-in @ 7.30pm (E.T. & Pens)

Referee: David Murnane (Cork)

Tipperary will be hoping it is third time lucky against Limerick when they renew their rivalry on Thursday evening in the Munster Under 20 Football Championship quarter final.

For the last two years, Limerick have ended Tipperary’s campaign at the first hurdle by the narrowest of margins on both occasions, in games the Premier will feel they could and should have won.

Championship wins are always important, but Tipperary haven’t won a game in the grade since the 2015 All-Ireland semi-final against Dublin, and certainly underage football in the county could do with a shot in the arm with a victory.

The man tackled with getting Tipperary back to winning ways is current senior coach Paddy Christie, who is doubling up as under 20 manager this year. Taking on the role was made doubly difficult by the fact that the pandemic meant he had no schools, college or club games in which to watch players, with the trial process itself also squeezed into a short timeframe, with the Dublin native leaning heavily on his selectors for much of what they have done so far.

“The reason why it was doable is because of the management around me,” Christie admitted.

“Paddy O’Flaherty, Paddy O’Gorman, Kevin Mulryan, goalkeeping coach Adrian Cooke, were working away and if I was with the seniors, everything carried on as normal.

“As regards the trials and whittling down the panel to 30-35 players, a lot of that came down to the lads. I had a little bit of input into it but when you are coaching a senior team for the national league, you can’t always be at everything.”

He added: “In recent weeks it has loosened up for me and I have been able to get to the majority of the sessions and feel like I am in more control of things whereas at the start I was finding it difficult and only for the lads being there it would have been quite hard.

“I am coaching the senior team and it is enough in itself but also I am coming into a county where I know nobody really, and I don’t know the ins and outs of things, and what fixtures are going on where. You see lots of faces in front of you and might have up to a hundred players at trials and see lots of faces who look the same.

“You try and coordinate things and try and give them guidance as to which way you want to play and what you are looking for in a player but ultimately the lads were doing all the heavy lifting.”

With such a short period of time to trial players to put a panel together, train and play some challenge games against Carlow and Wexford, it doesn’t leave much time to put a style of play in place and in that respect Christie and his selectors will be following the KISS model (Keep It Simple Stupid)

“We haven’t gotten fancy with things,” he revealed.

“It will be a simple enough gameplan, all focused on basic skills and a high level of workrate. After that then we’ll see what happens. We don’t have time to be doing power-point presentations and fancy tactics boards and that sort of thing.

“It would make you question whether we should be doing them in the first place as these fellas are only eighteen, nineteen, twenty years of age and there is a limit to the information they can take in. That kind of thing needs to be worked on over a period of years, not weeks.”

Tipperary have just three survivors from the team which lost to Limerick last year, including senior panellists Mark O’Meara and Sean O’Connor. With the under 20 hurling championship running along side this year, Kyle Shelly and Paddy Creedon who featured last year, have gone with the hurlers.

Limerick football is also on the rise, not just at senior level and the fruits of their academy system, managed by current senior hurling coach Paul Kinnerk are beginning to bear fruit.

“That’s where Limerick have the advantage,” Christie added.

“They have had the same group for a long time, have had a bit of success and know what they are at.

“Our aim is to win the game by a point and that would give Tipperary football underage a big boost.”

The Tipperary Under 20 Team and subs in full is:

1 (GK) Callan Scully Nenagh Eire Og

2 Sean Daly Grangemockler Ballyneale

3 Tadhg Condon Clonmel Commercials

4 Brian McKeown Moyle Rovers

5 Emmet Butler Kilsheelan Kilcash

6 Billy O Connor Kilsheelan Kilcash

7 Leon Kennedy Grangemockler Ballyneale

8 Cathal Deeley Clonmel Commercials

9 Kevin Grogan Cahir

10 Conor Cadell JK Brackens

11 Ryan Walsh Fethard

12 Jamie Holloway Carrick Swans

13 Mark O Connor Clonmel Commercials

14 Barry Kehoe Kilsheelan-Kilcash

15 Sean O'Connor Clonmel Commercials

16 (GK) Cian O'Mahony Ardfinnan

17 Ben Comerford Grangemockler/Ballyneale

18 Jamie Duncan Knockavilla-Donaskeigh Kickhams

19 Christy English Ballyporeen

20 Jake Kiely Cahir

21 Mikey Lyons Grangemockler-Ballyneale

22 Jason Madigan Kilsheelan/Kilcash

23 Conor McGrath Loughmore-Castleiney

24 Matthew Power Ballina