TIPPERARY BOSS EAMON O’Shea made no excuses after his side fell flat in their Division 1A opener against Dublin.

Tipp were second-best throughout and left Parnell Park on the wrong end of a 2-20 to 0-14.

O’Shea said: “We were beaten by a team who wanted to win the ball more than we did today. We’re disappointed.”

Eamonn Dillon and Liam Rushe scored a goal in either half as Dublin comfortably outplayed last year’s beaten league and All-Ireland finalists.

It was a first league win for new boss Ger Cunningham, who afterwards called for the Dubs to build a fortress in the capital with home games against Cork and Galway still to come.

O’Shea denied that there was more at stake for Sunday’s hosts and said: “Motivation is never an issue.

Sometimes when we go out and give a performance like that, it seems [that way] but sometimes you don’t get to the pitch of the ball.

And the Tipp boss said there’s no concern of a hangover from their near misses in 2014.

“I’ve stopped saying we’re going well in training. There’s no point in me telling you that we’re going well in training so I won’t use that one.

“In terms of desire, they had strong desire today and we didn’t.

“We’ve been through a fair bit. I wouldn’t rule us out, I wouldn’t rule us out.”

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