Forgotten not gone

It has been easier than ever to forget about Tipperary football this summer. The senior team is one of the last to see championship action (only Leitrim have yet to come into the fray this year) and after Kerry beat Cork in Sunday's Munster semi-final, manager Paidi O Se let it slip that it was "good to win the title back".

Tipperary's anonymity has not been helped by their poor form in the National League and the fact that manager Colm O'Flaherty is in charge for the first time.

Yet O'Flaherty has no shortage of experience, having been involved for some 23 years with the county's football sides at various levels. And on Sunday he leads out the senior side for the first time, hopeful that they can bypass Clare for the right to challenge Kerry in the Munster final.

For the last two years, O'Flaherty has been a senior selector under manager Colm Browne, but he's had a managerial say at county level since his involvement with the minor team back in 1977. At that stage, he was still a member of the senior panel (a position he held from 1968 to 1980) and from there, he spent a period in control of the under-21 side.

There isn't much pressure on Tipperary this season. O'Flaherty describes their form as "totally unpredictable", although he does not believe that their league performances - where they ended up in the lower reaches of Division 2B - reflect their true worth.

"We were under-strength for every one of those games. There wasn't one player who was available for all seven league games due to injury, exams, or whatever, and we were often short up to six or seven regular players."

Last year's sole outing with Kerry is best remembered for the infamous Jerry Murphy goal that wasn't, a situation which upset Tipperary. "It was early in the game and we probably let that get to us more than we should have. But I think we are creeping closer to Kerry.

"I think the league semi-final that Kerry played with Meath was the most entertaining game of the year so far. It looks like a fine Kerry team but I'd like to remind them that they have another game to win before they get back the Munster title."