Former Dublin forward Diarmuid Connolly has praised Tipperary’s Munster SFC winners and claimed they could have beaten Cork by a heavier scoreline in last weekend’s decider.
The county ended an 85-year wait for a provincial football title at Páirc Uí Chaoimh last Sunday and the six-time All-Ireland winner told BoyleSports that their victory was no fluke, singling out AFL star Colin O’Riordan for his influence on the game.
He said: “I spoke about Michael Quinlivan and Conor Sweeney before the game and they delivered 12 of their 17 points. But a big part of it was Colin O’Riordan and whether he was going to be released or not. He hadn’t played a competitive game of Gaelic football for five years, but he was huge.
"Especially in the last quarter, carrying balls and winning dirty ball around the middle. You can see the professionalism in him.
“Tipperary were full value for their win, they were the better team on the day. There was a lot of raw emotion with the Bloody Sunday centenary and the jerseys they were wearing, and you could really see it in their play. They were first to everything and in the end, the scoreline flattered Cork a bit.”
