Minors eager to retain Darcy Cup

By Liam Hogan

There is an air of familiarity about Tipperary minor football fortunes as John McNamara, in his second year as manager, will lead his charges into the Daryl Darcy Cup final when they defend their crown against Limerick in the final at Mallow this Thursday evening (7.00pm).

Twelve months ago, McNamara watched his men sail through phase 1 of the Munster Championship before defeating Limerick in the final at Mallow, before succumbing to a very good Cork side in the Munster semi-final proper.

Twelve months later, his men weaved through phase one with three victories starting with a seven point first round win (1-11 to 0-7) over Limerick in Rathkeale. The team were back on familiar ground at Semple Stadium as they produced a massive 3-18 to 1-3 win over Waterford. With two victories under their belt and an impressive points difference, Tipp had already qualified for the final, but they had to play host to a Clare side in round three and Tipp shook off a stubborn Clare performance and were delighted to win 0-12 to 0-8 in a performance that was not as impressive as one would wish for, but enough on the evening.

“Clare were a good side. We knew attacking wise they were a very good side. They scored 0-15 against Limerick but defensively, which sometimes happens at this level, they conceded a couple of goals and Limerick prevailed 4-6 to 0-15,” he began.

“We were happy enough at half time against Clare on the basis we were leading but we knew they would come back at us, and they came back strong. Saying that, we lost Sean Lewis to a black card in the second half, and we understood at the start of the game that we had a few knocks. Our tanks were starting to be emptied after playing three weeks in a row, but the lads absolutely dug deep and didn’t give Clare anything easy. I’m delighted the boys played to the end and finished stronger.”

The Clonmel native went on to say that the experience of managing the team twelve months ago has stood to him. He says that his team has learned how to manage players and help them play more comfortably and adapt to the game plan.

“We have learned to acknowledge how players are more comfortable in terms of how they play the game rather than trying to impose the game on them,” he explained.

“In terms of the players themselves, I think we have a far broader talent of footballers. You saw last year our first fifteen didn’t change a huge amount. This year we have made at least two to three changes in each of the three games. The standard is very high.

“At inter-county, the entire unit has to play well and there is no room for error. I am very happy with the players who have put in huge effort, even the players that have received no game time at all and they are really putting in a huge effort.”

The Tipperary manager says that injury worries are minimal except for full back Liam Kiely who picked up a knee injury very early in the game against Waterford and since then it has been diagnosed that he has a slight tear on his ACL.

“Ronan O’Brien, our full forward has a few knocks but that won’t hold him back. Billy Tierney our captain has wear and tear and the same for Jamie O’Keeffe, but they will be playing,” revealed the Tipp manager.

So, what are his expectations for this second clash with Limerick.

“As we go into the game next Thursday, the reality is that we want to win the trophy for the second year running,” McNamara added.

“The onus on winning isn’t like last year where we had to win it to get through to the Munster semi-final. There is a little bit of pressure off both us and Limerick. Limerick will play to their strengths.

“It’s a bonus of a game and hopefully it will be a good game of football. We want to win it because we want to play the losers of the Cork v Kerry game and if I had a preference, I would love to play Kerry, just to say we played Kerry. I grew up on Kerry football in the 1980s and they have been the standard bearer and just to say I managed a team that played against them would be good.

“Winning the Daryl Darcy competition gives us the opportunity to lay down a marker to know we are at a certain level with these boys. These players from this year and last year will start pushing on and start attacking the bigger boys in the future and I think they can succeed.”