Howard points the way for Tipp

By Daragh Ó Conchúir

Getting back to the knockout stages of the Glen Dimplex All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship after missing out last year was important for Tipperary but it is far from the extent of their ambitions.

Róisín Howard is part of an experienced core in the squad now and the Cahir dynamo was in typical all-action form during her side’s hard-fought 3-15 to 0-12 triumph over Wexford at Bellefield that ensured the Premiers’ qualification to the quarter-final at least.

Howard scored a brilliant goal in the 60th minute but the damage had been done in the first quarter, when goals from Cáit Devane and Teresa Ryan ensured a 2-10 to 0-8 half-time lead.

Ciara O’Connor totted up nine points for a Wexford team that fought to the last whistle and managed to get within five points at one stage but Tipp’s superior firepower told in the end.

“We got a great start,” said Howard yesterday after the squad’s recovery session. “We were expecting a very physical game and that’s what it was. Wexford would definitely have a big height advantage on us. But I thought we were very solid in the first half and those two goals put us in a very strong position.

“The second half was tight and we were disappointed with not taking five or six more chances. The build-up play was spot on but it was just the execution at the end that let us down a bit.

“That’s going to happen in matches and I thought we reacted well in the fact that when Wexford got a little bit of a purple patch on us, we didn’t suffer too badly. They didn’t get too many scores. That was vital. In games, you’re not going to be on top for the whole lot of the match so it is important to be able to nullify the opposition when they are on top.”

That players of the calibre of All-Stars Mary Ryan and Áine Slattery as well as Mairead Eviston, Ciardha Maher, Ereena Fryday, Niamh Treacy, Nicole Walsh and Clodagh McIntyre were not part of Tipp’s first 15 illustrates the depth of talent available to Denis Kelly this season.

“Out of all the years, I think this is our strongest team and the competition is fierce. You don’t take anything for granted but we are in a very good position. We have good impact on the bench and we have people playing very well and we have top quality players ready to come on if we need them too.”

That will be required when the competition hits the business end but for now, it’s first job done.

“Yeah, that’s it. That’s where we want to be, playing in quarter-finals and semi-finals and it’s what we are working hard for but we have another big game to come now next week which we’ll have to focus on but it is good to be there. That’s why you are playing at this level but we are just taking it every game as it comes.

“There is no doubt it was disappointing for a little while not to make the League final. It was such small margins. When we lost to Kilkenny by a point we needed Cork to beat Galway but Galway won by two points. That’s how tight it was.

“But if those things are going to happen, it’s better for them to happen at that time of year, when you have time to work on things. There were some things we could have done better ourselves in that game and also, we have to remember we were playing a very good team in the All-Ireland champions. But we dusted ourselves down and went back to work.”

That led to winning the Munster Championship and then carrying that form through the Glen Dimplex All-Ireland Championship, where they will be looking to maintain their 100 per cent record with a rematch against the Cats at UPMC Nowlan Park.

Brian Dowling’s charges drew with Wexford in the first round before two goals in five first-half minutes by last year’s All-Ireland-winning captain Aoife Prendergast and Katie Nolan, allied with a tally of 1-9 from Denise Gaule, propelled them to a 3-14 to 0-11 success over Dublin at Parnell Park.

That leaves the Dubs needing to beat Wexford next weekend to avoid being drawn into the relegation play-offs, while the Model County women will be hoping to win well and that Tipp overcome Kilkenny comfortably too, with a 24-point score difference leaving them up against it to progress.

Kilkenny will top the table if they get the better of their neighbours and so there is plenty to play for, as two of the three group winners will go forward directly to the semi-finals.

“You want to win every game you play and that doesn’t change. We’ll be going all out to do the same next week and we’ll come together and look at that through the week but we are under no illusions that Kilkenny are an excellent team and we’re expecting a fierce battle,” Howard commented.