Tipperary Ladies Football has massive potential

IN ALL FAIRNESS

 

Tipperary didn't shy away from the fact that it was All Ireland or nothing when it came to this years All Ireland Intermediate Ladies Football Championship.
They won the competition two years ago but were unlucky and unfortunate to be relegated at just one season but now they are back there for 2020 and hopefully they'll stay there for a long time.
And they have the potential to with such a young squad that haven't hit their prime yet and hopefully over the next couple of years we'll see them challenge at senior level.
Even at intermediate level, Tipperary have one of the best players at any level in Aishling Moloney whose seven points from play against Meath was a class contribution considering she was double marked for a lot of it and prevented from making marauding runs through the middle with his long stride.
For long stages it looked as if Meath's approach, as well as the quality of their forwards would upset Tipperary but the Premier girls second half performance was one of champions, restricting Meath to just five points by dominating possession and making their extra quality count.
With just two of the starting line-up being under the age of 23, there is massive potential within this Tipperary team going forward with seventeen year old Caitlin Kennedy at wing back one to keep an eye on as well.
Tipperary were the first ever winners of the All Ireland Senior Ladies Football Championship in 1974 and the next target will be challenging at that level, starting with Cork at Munster level and then trying to take down the Dublin juggernaut who completed a three-in-a-row on Sunday.
On the weekend the main senior All Ireland titles remained in the capital, it is an ominous sign for any county looking to take them down over the next couple of years. As strong as the mens team are, their ladies team have followed in the same vein in terms of preparation and it remains to be seen whether any county, including Tipperary, have the capability to wrestle the title away from them in the coming years.
While it comes down to commitment to better themselves and rural counties are at a disadvantage in that regard in terms of players having to work outside the county and then return home for training two evenings a week where as Dublin players, male and female, all work inside the pale within striking distance of their training ground.
It also comes down to funding which is a stone that is thrown at Dublin and all the extra coaching grants they get compared to other counties with many fearing the monster has become too great for others to challenge in the coming years.
In that respect, government needs to play its part too and as part of LIT Thurles' plans to develop all-weather pitches in the coming years, one of them is to be designated for Ladies Football where they can have a training centre, which would certainly help Tipperary to bridge the gap to Dublin and make them a strong senior team for a sustained period of time.
However, that project requires significant funding which LIT have applied for under the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund and any Tipperary TD or election candidate who wants to be elected next year needs to ensure when the funding is allocated in the coming months that this project is on it, not just for ladies football, but for Tipperary sport in general.

On a separate note, it was disappointing to see the blue and gold bunting removed from the streeets of Nenagh in the middle of last week prior to the All Ireland Intermediate Ladies Football Final on Sunday. 
Football and ladies football might not be the strong in this area of the county with the closest representatives being from Templemore in Maria Curley and Elaine Fitzpatrick, however, we win as a county and we should all share in their success.
Silvermines, and more recently Ballina, have provided green shoots for the club game in this region and off the back of this latest intermediate success, players such as Aishling Moloney, Orla O'Dwyer and Samantha Lambert are now more well known than ever before and will inspire the younger generation to take up the and make COUNTY Tipperary more successful in the future.
In an era where womens sports is prospering more than ever before, they deserve the same level of respect from the local authority in terms of being behind them for such a big game. Would leaving the bunting up for another week have been that much of a logistical challenge?