*Tipperary manager, David Power. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill
A huge win for Tipperary was how David Power described his side’s victory over Clare in Sunday’s Munster senior football championship quarter final at Semple Stadium in Thurles.
“Our Munster record hasn’t been great over the past couple of years, we only really have beaten Waterford bar beating Cork in 2016. Today was huge. Its been coming. Every week we have been getting better with certain things”, Power said shortly after the final whistle. We should have killed that game a lot easier and that’s a worry. It’s been similar the last two weekends., we are leaving teams in the game but overall we are very very happy with that result”.
“That’s a big win because Clare are a very very good team. Colm Collins is there six, seven or eight years and he has done an unbelievable job. This was always going to be a very tough game. I am just thrilled for the players. They have put in a huge effort”, Power added
Continuing, the Premier county boss said “the likes of Brian Fox, Conor Sweeney, Philip Austin, all of these guys, they have been there year in year out, great guys. They have been super with the young fellas this year”.
While clearly delighted with the win Power stressed “this is just a game won. Limerick are there waiting for us and we know that. Limerick have had a superb year, Billy Lee is a great manager, they have won the McGrath Cup and got promotion from Division 4. It’s going to be another tough tough test” but one which represented “a huge opportunity” for each county to reach a provincial final.
Acknowledging that “the goals at the start of each half played a big part in the victory”, he stressed “the most disappointing thing was conceding that goal. I thought we were by far the better team really today. In fairness to Clare they kept plugging away, they kept at it and we have to be careful again next weekend. It will be tough in Limerick. Over the last couple of weeks our full backline has been huge. They will be gutted now at having conceded a goal as they were going for three games in a row without conceding a goal. To be fair Clare never really looked like getting a goal These are all things we have to work on”.
According to the Tipperary manager “it’s a tough schedule, people don’t realise it. It’s our third Sunday in a row, we travelled to Carrick-on-Shannon last week. Now it’s about rest, rehab and getting ready for next Saturday”.
Asked if the involvement of former Clare player Joe Hayes in their management had played a big part in their win, Power said “Joe has great knowledge about Clare. This was a very very tough game on him. I remember when I was managing Wexford and playing Tipp in a league game, when you give so much to a county its very hard to stand on the line against them. Tipp and Clare, whether league or Championship have played each other quite a bit over the last few years and the players know each other well”.
