Sunday July 3

Munster Senior Football Championship Final

Kerry v Tipperary, Killarney, 2pm

It was always going to be a demanding summer campaign, but the gritty response of the Tipperary players has heartened Liam Kearns.

Tipperary coped with a determined Waterford challenge before registering a stunning win over Cork at the semi-final stage.

Kearns acknowledged the significance as personal achievement considering all that had occurred in the opening six months of the year.  “It is because of the circumstances, we lost so many players and people wrote us off,” Kearns admitted. “We had so many problems injury wise and any other way that from a management point of view, it wasn't so much that we won, but the performance we gave on the day was superb.

“From attacking performances, it would be top bracket. We got 2-7 from play in the first half with no wide and missed a penalty. We scored 3-10 from play in total and had only three wides in the game. 3-15 was our final total which was more than the hurlers scored in getting to their Munster Final - you can't say that too often.

“It was a really good attacking performance, it wasn't a case of a 0-10 to 0-9 game or putting everyone behind the ball to get it done. We did it the right way, except for the last 10 minutes when we leaked 1-6 and made it very hard for ourselves. I certainly would be happy from the attacking side of things.”

Kevin O’Halloran’s emergence as a sharp finishing free-taker is a boost for Tipp according to Kearns.  “You have got to look at the opposition; we have good forwards and we know we have forwards capable of scoring when they are right. We put a lot of emphasis on our shooting in the last six weeks.

“Free-taking was another thing that killed us in the League and in fairness Kevin O'Halloran didn't miss anything. We put a lot of emphasis on getting that right we well.

“At the end of the day the players have to go out to perform on the day and that's what they did.”

Now the most daunting challenge down south awaits: Kerry.  Eamonn Fitzmaurice’s team are looking to claim a fourth provincial title on the spin and Kearns stresses the importance of playing the game and not being vexed by the occasion.

“At the end of the day it is their fourth Munster Final in a row, my players are playing in their first one. It's imperative we don't play the occasion, we have to play the game.

“Kerry are always there, they are always in Munster Finals, they are going for a fourth in a row and are not going to easy, if you don't turn up to play your game you are going to suffer.”

Fitzmaurice, who highlighted the improvements made by Tipperary during the past decade, is full of respect for the work Kearns has carried out with the Premier County.

“I think the way we look at playing Tipperary the next day is that it is fresh opposition for us, it is a new challenge. That brings a freshness to training, it brings a freshness to the way we, the management, are talking about what can we do with this fella and that fella and how can we hurt them and so on.

“When you are playing a new team, it does bring a great degree of freshness, but, of course, the thing about that then is that have a bigger chance of surprising you with something.

“When you are playing the Division One teams that you have played a lot over the year, generally, you know what they can do and they know what you can do.

“It is harder to surprise them and for them to surprise you. When you are playing an unknown quantity, there is always that room for surprise there. It is fresh opposition for us.

“If we perform to the levels we are capable of, we will have a great chance of winning. If we are any way off, we will be beaten.”