Quirke focused on Wexford

By Thomas Conway

As far as inter-county championship matches go, Clodagh Quirke had a relatively quiet day last Saturday. The Clonoulty-Rossmore club-woman isn’t complaining. As far as she is concerned, the less work the full-back line has to do the better, because it implies that Tipp are dominating out the field, and that only be a good thing.

But Quirke likes to lead by example. Any time she did grab hold of possession against Dublin, she did so with an air of authority, taking the ball on and zipping it up the field. She helped to keep Dublin’s leading forwards - Ashling Maher and Aisling O’Neill - relatively subdued.

It was a good day at the office for Quirke, and for Tipp, but the vice-captain still acknowledges that her side has work to do. While their first-half performance was top class, they faded slightly in the second period, their momentum disrupted by an unfortunate injury to one of the Dublin players during the half-time interval, which consequently delayed proceedings.

“We were delighted with the performance, definitely,” he admitted.

“Obviously, it’s nice to get off to a good start, to get a win under our belts on our first day out. I think we had a particularly good first-half, a very good first-half, and then obviously with the stoppage at half-time it was a bit harder to get going in the second-half, but we still did what we had to and came out on top, which was a big confidence boost. So overall, we were happy enough with our first day out.”

But what did Quirke make of events in Nowlan Park where Wexford pulled off an outstanding come-back to grind Kilkenny to a stalemate? Quirke wasn’t all that surprised.

She reveals that Tipperary actually played Wexford earlier in the year and witnessed their potential first-hand. She concedes that they will almost certainly be a difficult proposition in Bellefield on Saturday week, although the full-back still believes that Tipp have the composure and the class to defeat the Slaneysiders, even on their own home turf.

“That Wexford-Kilkenny result really does open the group up,” she admitted.

“But I think even when we saw the group at first, we knew it was going to be tough. We had actually played a challenge match against Wexford earlier in the year, so we knew how good they were, we knew they were always going to be strong, and maybe they’re coming into form at just the right moment.

“But it really does leave it wide open, the entire group, particularly with that result going the way it did. It’s up to us now to go down to Wexford and challenge them - that’s our focus now.”

Should they emerge from Bellefield with a positive result, Tipp will seal their progression to the knockout stages with a game in hand, which is an obvious incentive in itself.

Following their Munster Championship success, they now know what it feels like to win big games, and that experience should stand to them in the long-run. Quirke has been cautious not to get too caught up in the ecstasy of winning the provincial decider, but she does acknowledge that the win generated a newfound sense of confidence amongst the players. Success breeds success, and Tipp are now eager for more of it.

“Look, we were never going to get carried away after it, but obviously it’s nice to finally get some silverware,” added vice-captain.

“Any time you win a Munster title it has to be celebrated, but we were anxious to keep our feet on the ground. It probably does give you a new sense of belief, a sense that you can win big games, but as I’ve said we didn’t want to get too carried away. So yes, it is nice to have won Munster, but the All-Ireland Championship is another step up again, and we have to take each game as it comes.”