Peter Creedon admitted that Tipperary's 17-point winning margin over Longford came as a complete shock to him.

Buoyed by their sensational victory over Derry in their previous All-Ireland qualifier, Longford travelled to Semple Stadium with high hopes, but were hammered by an improving Tipperary side for who Conor Sweeney posted 0-8.

"It's a surprising result really because genuinely we thought it would be a point or two either way and going to the wire. It was a very comfortable win in the end," the West Cork native said.

Creedon was vindicated by his decision to start the experienced John Coghlan ahead of Ian Fahey at centre back.

"Sometimes you have to change up your team because everyone else will be looking at what you're doing," he explained.

"John Coghlan has been playing well all year in training and we wanted John to mark their centre forward because we knew he was going deep and he did it to perfection. Next week we might have to come up with something different." Tweet

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