By Shane Brophy
Tipperary manager Liam Sheedy admitted his side were still a work in progress after recording their first victory of the National League against Galway on Saturday.
Having drawn their first two games against Limerick and Cork, there was an element of pressure for the home side to record their first win of the campaign and they did that with a strong finish to run out five-point winners.
“It was nice to get a win on the board,” Sheedy began.
“I thought at 2-7 to 0-6 in the first half we had a good flow and missed a few chances we’d normally take. Then Galway hit us for five (points) just before half time, and after half time they struck two more, so it was seven points without reply and they had all the wind advantage.
“But we hung in there and picked off a few scores. Getting the extra man gave us a bit of impetus. There was a lot of tired bodies out there, I ended up using seven of the bench, but we got some really good scores finishing up and just about shaded it in the finish.
He added: “I would have been disappointed in the last two matches that we didn’t feel we got enough from the bench but today they struck five from play after coming in.
“Also, the quality of ball we were moving up that end of the field was a bit better today. We could have had a couple of more goal chances in the first half if the final pass had come off.
“We are still a work in progress after the third round of the league but for the third week in a row we have come with a real good spirit and attitude. The willingness is there.”
Once again, the defensive performance was the platform the positive result was built on with Cathal Barrett, Barry Heffernan and Ronan Maher leading the way again, however, the Tipperary manager was keen to credit the work done out the field to prevent the Galway forwards getting quality ball.
“Especially in the second half there was no real quality good ball going in,” Sheedy added.
“It was a difficult day for the Galway forwards because it was going in fifty/fifty. I thought we brought a lot of energy to the middle third in the second half and when we bring that level of pressure, I am very happy when the ball is going in fifty/fifty with the defence I have in there.”
There was an improvement in attack, despite another high wides tally of fifteen, but Liam Sheedy was pleased to get the monkey off the back in terms of their first goals of the campaign and they could have gotten a couple more if the right options had been taken.
“We created good chances but sometimes I felt we were shooting from outside when they could have taken one more pass, Jason (Forde) was free inside and Noel had a few chances where they should have gotten the ball.
“But I would be more concerned if we weren’t getting the chances.”
After a gruelling three game schedule off the back of just three weeks training, the two-week break to the next round against Westmeath is timely as they look to step it up a notch and finishing top of the group and reaching a league final is certainly a goal for the Tipp manager.
“With four points, we are in the mix now,” he said of their league prospects.
“We have got to keep driving on. There is a lot of competition in that dressing room. We had seven guys that came on today will want to start come July 4th, so it has to be competitive and is competitive.”
The Tipperary manager also revealed that captain Seamus Callanan should be available for the trip to Mullingar as he is due back in contact training this week after recovering from a back problem.
