‘We are under no illusions’ - Kelly

By Joe Scully

TIPPERARY senior camogie manager Denis Kelly is looking forward to Saturday’s senior All-Ireland camogie semi-final against Galway and is excepting a tough battle against a Galway side that are one of the top sides in the country over the last ten years.

Speaking before the match, the Toomevara native had this to say: “Yeah, looking forward to the game, we know we will be in for a tough encounter, it will be a big challenge for us, up against a Galway side which have been at the top table of camogie for the past ten years or so.” We of course are looking to qualify for our first final since 2006, which is a long gap of nineteen years, but we are under no illusions as to how tough the challenge we will be facing.”

Kelly, who now lives in Borrisoleigh, is confident his side has what it takes to beat the Tribeswomen, having beat them twice in the league this year, including the league final, and also in last year’s league. “Yeah, we have beaten them in the last three encounters, twice in this year’s league and also in the league last year, so we are confident we can beat them. But at the same time, we also know Saturday’s game is a totally new game and anything can happen.

“It’s a semi-final and we hope we can bring our a game on the day.

Like the girls have put in a superb effort all year and deserve to be here and hopefully we can go one step further.”

Kelly also knows his side will have to be extremely disciplined also as it could be a key aspect of the game. “We will have to show controlled aggression; discipline will be key, as we know Carrie Dolan will punish us if we give away too many frees, but we also have an excellent free taker in Eimear McGrath, who has been almost impeccable on the frees this year.

“Hopefully, there will be no real incidents, and Liz Dempsey as referee, she has been in great form all year and is one of the top referees in the country.” The Tipp manager also feels both side’s benches will play a massive part on Saturday and is delighted with the depth there is in the Tipp panel this year.

“Yeah, the benches will no doubt play a huge part; we have built great depth this year, and having the likes of Cait (Devane) back available to us is massive. She gives us great options, as well as the likes of Mary Bourke and Aoife McGrath, who have all made an impact off the bench in recent games.

“It’s a tough ask to pick a starting fifteen and what five subs to come on as there is great competition in training every night, but look, I suppose it’s not a bad headache to have at the end of the day.”

Kelly was also delighted with the break his side have had since their final group game, as he feels it has given his side a real opportunity to regroup and refresh.

“The break was very welcome; we had played five games in six weeks, and we needed to recharge the batteries which we have.”

Tipp have no real injury worries heading into the game and are raring to go as they look to make up for last year’s disappointment when they were beaten at the same stage.

“No major injuries, a few niggles but that’s all - everyone is ready and raring to go.

We hope to have learned from last year’s disappointment; we have examined where it went wrong and while you can’t legislate for every outcome, we feel we are suitably prepared for what will be a massive battle, and hopefully we come out on the right side.”