WITH AN UPCOMING All-Ireland semi-final to prepare for, Michael Quinlivan could have been forgiven for keeping a low profile and shying away from the large crowds on marquee football days.
But living in Dublin, the Tipperary footballer was enticed like many fans to Croke Park for last Saturday week’s afternoon of blockbuster showdowns in front of a full house.
“I was on the Hill, funnily enough. €20 for a ticket for those two games is something too good to be passing up so I went to it.
“Living in Dublin, it’s either that or sit at home on the couch and watch it. It’s only just in the road so it was something to do for the day, that’s the way I saw it.
“It’s a bit of a different view. You can see things from the Hill that you can’t from sitting a bit lower down.”
Any Mayo or Tyrone fans recognise him as a potential opponent?
“No, no! I kept quiet. I was surrounded by a good few Tyrone people! It was very interesting to watch.
“The physicality of the game was just on another level. Mayo’s big players stood up when it mattered, that was the overriding feeling that I took from it anyway.
“I actually just enjoyed the game. The scores in it were phenomenal. Lee Keegan’s point with his left leg, under that sort of pressure, is one of the best scores of the championship. The one on the loop from Cillian O’Connor as well, an absolute monster.”
Having admired Mayo from the terrace, he’s bracing himself for close attention next Sunday. Quinlivan is in a rich vein of attacking form, chalking up 3-20 to date this summer.
“Look you take it as it comes. I marked Chrissy McKaigue against Derry and it was the same. It is a different challenged whatever day you take to the field.
“It’s about keeping your head. They probably have a plan for two or three of our players who have been to the fore over the last while. We obviously feel we have quality that can hurt them. I don’t think I won’t be getting wrapped up about it.”
Mayo are unfamiliar opponents but it’s been a summer where Tipperary have had to deal with new challenges. Like a Munster final against Kerry in Killarney.
“I thought the work rate of their forward line really put us under huge pressure,” recalls Quinlivan.
“Maybe they identify the fact that our backs were comfortable on the ball and stop the supply coming in. Paul Geaney and Steven O’Brien and Darran O’Sullivan were probably their three hardest working players on the field I thought.
“They’d loads of turnovers as well, for an inside forward line that’s out of this world. You look at the quality they’re bringing off the bench. You’ve a footballer of the year and a pile of All-Stars.
“For us going into our first Munster final, we knew it was going to be a big challenge albeit that we didn’t perform to the level that we wanted to.”
They’ve been determined to seize opportunities ever since. Quinlivan was part of a Clonmel Commercials team who became the first Tipperary club to contest an All-Ireland semi-final against Ballyboden St-Enda’s last February.
They suffered an agonising defeat after extra-time that day in Portlaoise. Major chances like are not frequent.
“You look at the teams that have got to a semi-final as a bolter, Fermanagh and Wexford, never went back there,” admits Quinlivan.
“So it might be the only opportunity that we get. We’ll try and take it as much as we can. Mayo is going to be a huge step up for us, them being one of the top two or three teams in the country and have been for the last five or six years.”
On a wider level, it’s been a year filled with breakthrough moments for Tipperary football. Quinlivan hopes that 2016 will be a stepping stone rather than an aberration.
“Hopefully, this is the start of this team taking another step. Our legacy will be what comes behind us and whether they commit to playing football.
“I think a lot more people will see it as a more attractive proposition now because of the year we had. But we want to get back to another quarter-final next year, or another Munster final. That would be progression for us.
“The level of interest in football in the county has gone through the roof. I haven’t been down enough, but I’ve been hearing it off my dad.
“It’s obviously great, but hopefully that inspires the next generation. That’s the legacy we want to leave.
“At the moment, it is all about next Sunday. We will have time enough to look back on that in November and December when we are reviewing our year.”
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