Premier are ready to take their opportunity in last chance saloon
TIPPERARY ladies football manager Shane Ronayne says the knowledge that they are in ‘last chance saloon’ will spur his side on in today’s crunch relegation final against Cavan in the TG4 All-Ireland Senior Championship.
Defeat by Waterford in last weekend’s play-off game means Tipp now have to go again to maintain their top-flight status, which was only earned 12 months ago with victory over Tyrone.
Relegation would be a huge blow to the Lidl NFL Division 2 champions. ‘We were very disappointed on Saturday evening; we just didn’t perform. Maybe we were over-confident after playing well against Donegal,’ Ronayne says.
‘We did a lot of soul searching but we met on Tuesday and the girls were in great form and we trained really well. We know this is last chance saloon.
‘It would be a severe blow to be an intermediate team playing Division 1 next year and I don’t know how that would go down. Anything could happen if things don’t go our way: players or management could step away.
‘It’s a strange position to be in after the good start we made to the year. The prize for winning on Sunday is huge: it’d be like winning an All-Ireland final all over again.’
On the other side of the fence Cavan have also had a tough summer and have not won a game since their League semifinal victory over Waterford in April.
They faced Tipp in the League final where one point separated the teams and Cavan manager James Daly knows his side face a tough test in their fight to avoid the drop.
‘When you are drawn with Dublin and Mayo in the same group and then face another Division 1 team in the play-off it’s tough,’ said Daly.
‘The scoreboard doesn’t lie but we had four goal chances against Monaghan and if we had taken them it would have put them under pressure.
‘We played Tipp in the League final and lost by a point on the day. People talk about revenge, but when your backs are against the wall you see the character of a team.
‘If we want it bad enough we’ll go out and put in a performance worthy of staying in senior football,’ added Daly. ‘If we go down, we’ll be professional about it but it’s not something we want.’
On the injury front, Tipperary’s Laura Dillon is definitely out with a knee injury, while Cavan continue to plan without the services of Mona Sheridan, Joanne Moore and Bronagh Sheridan. Cavan: E Baugh; R Doonan, L Fitzpatrick, S Reilly; S Greene, G McGlade, S O’Sullivan; A Cornyn, D English; C Smith, A Maguire, C Dolan; A O’Reilly, A Sheridan, C Finnegan. Tipperary: L Fitzpatrick; L Spillane, M Curley, B Condon; AR Kennedy, S Lambert, S Condon; A McCarthy, O O’Dwyer; E Buckley, A Moloney, N Lonergan; R Howard, M Morrissey, G O’Brien.
Cavan are to ratify Michael Graham as their senior intercounty football team manager at a meeting tomorrow night.
The Cavan Gaels man is a former senior player for the county who has managed the Cavan minors and enjoyed club success with Butlersbridge and Drumalee as well as with Mullinalaghta in Longford.