If part of their motivation is rising up against football giants then no wonder Tipperary are on the cusp of winning a first ever All-Ireland under-21 title. If another part of their motivation is rallying against the lure of hurling then no wonder Colin O’Riordan is the young man leading the charge.
It’s not that Tipperary have no football tradition: the bones of the team facing Tyrone in Saturday’s final (re-fixed for Parnell Park) have already won an All-Ireland minor football title, in 2011, including O’Riordan.
Indeed O’Riordan – who doesn’t turn 20 until October, and is under-21 again next year – is considered by many to be a better hurler than footballer, and was actually called into Eamon O’Shea’s senior hurling panel, at the end of last summer. But he’ll always consider himself a footballer first, despite the constant reminder that Tipperary’s tradition will always be hurling.
“Yeah, I get that every day,” O’Riordan says with a smile. “They always say ‘give up the big ball, give up this, give up that’. But sure, I’d say they say it jokingly, or they’d be laughing at you, because football is what I love doing. I said it before, I love playing football, I love togging out with this team, and there’s a massive bond there. And when Tommy Toomey (under-21 manger) made me captain, you’re not just going to turn your back on them.
“And we’ve also been lucky enough to be winning a good bit. It certainly has impacted on my decision, to play football, when you’re winning with a special bunch of lads.”
And right now they’ve been winning against some of most traditional football teams in the country, including Cork (who they beat in the Munster final), then Dublin (the defending All-Ireland champions, who Tipp beat in the semi-final). Against that backdrop they certainly won’t fear Tyrone, who are seeking a first title in 14 years, and fifth in all.
‘Big scalps’
“Anytime you beat Dublin and Cork, take two big scalps like that, it’s always a good feeling, so confidence is fairly high in the camp,” says O’Riordan. “And I suppose the fear factor is gone out of it now. None of us fear the big teams, and that’s crucial when it comes to winning matches like Saturday. If you don’t fear anyone it’s very easy to go out and express yourself.”
Indeed part of the confidence, O’Riordan admits, spills over from when Tipp beat Dublin for that 2011 All-Ireland minor title: “If you can beat them once, it’ll always be in the back of their head. And it would be a massive achievement, to win a minor and under-21, in Tipp. There’s no point saying it wouldn’t. And that’s the goal for Saturday.”
For Toomey, who works closely with Tipp senior manager Peter Creedon, the motivation to get this far was broken into four steps: it’s the ultimate sporting cliche, to take each game as it comes, but when you’ve never even reached an All-Ireland under-21 football final it had to be that way.
“We were always going on about these steps,” confirms O’Riordan. “We had four steps, to get to an All-Ireland final, and this is the fourth step now. And before the Munster final, against Cork, we talked about being sick of being third-best in Munster. This team wants to be the best.
“The mentality is that we’re not expected to win these games, yet we’re still winning them. I suppose we’re trying to make a mark that we can compete with the best and beat the best. Tyrone are favourites again, with the bookies, a good bit clear of us. So we’re going in as underdogs again. We don’t mind that.”
Whatever about beating Cork, few people gave Tipp any chance of beating Dublin, especially when they trailed by five points early in the second half. Yet Dublin under-21 manager Dessie Farrell admitted afterwards he was always fearful of Tipp’s midfield pairing of O’Riordan and Steven O’Brien, and they ultimately drove Tipp to that two-point win.
‘Right chance’
“We always knew, even at five points down, we had a right chance. And Steven and I have played together since minor, for the last five years, around the middle of the field, so I suppose we’re used to playing with each other. We’re going up and down to Dublin together as well (O’Riordan is studying arts in UCD) and there’s a massive friendship, and a huge trust between us. It’s great to be playing with a lad you can trust. The understanding there is huge, and a good midfield partnership is what wins most games. So hopefully it will help on Saturday.”
But win or lose on Saturday, O’Riordan and his young cohorts intend on rising up against football giants all the way to the top: “People thought we were stupid when we said we’d win the All-Ireland minor in 2011. And people thought we were stupid when we said we’d be talking about four steps to an under-21 final in 2015. So there’s no reason why Tipp can’t win an All-Ireland senior title by 2020. You never know what will happen in five years.”
