Squad 'deserves huge credit'

MATCH REACTION TIPPERARY:IN THE breathless saloon bars after last year's All-Ireland hurling final it was easy for Tipperary to assume they'd be back this year: great display, young team, bright future.

Few could have foreseen how relieved manager Liam Sheedy would be to get back to the final in one piece but no one could have anticipated the scale of the defeat by Cork on the first day of the Munster championship last May.

Yesterday in the accounting room in the depths of Croke Park Sheedy paid tribute to his players’ continuing rehabilitation after a hard-fought but ultimately comfortable win over Waterford.

“In fairness they worked really hard out there today. We knew the intensity with which the opposition had played in recent matches. They were Munster champions and we were under no illusions about what they would bring. In fairness to my lads they really upped their game today. I think you saw how much they want to get back into an All-Ireland final.

“We got goals at vital stages of the game and that gave us that bit of breathing space. We needed every one of those green flags before the match was over.” When the counties had met at this stage two years ago, it was Waterford who turned the tables on Tipp, then fresh from a Munster title win of their own – a significant set back on the team’s learning curve.

“There’s no substitute for experience,” said Sheedy. “We experienced two years ago going back down in a coach having lost out at the semi-final stage. It’s a horrible three weeks in the lead-up to an All-Ireland final when you’re not involved. We experienced it and it’s not nice, so for us today it was all about qualification. We’re just delighted to have got over the line and back into an All-Ireland final.

“The squad deserves huge credit in terms of the work they’ve done, the effort they’ve put in and the way they’ve turned it around.”

Centrefielder Shane McGrath, restored to the middle after a sabbatical in the half forwards, talked about the demands of countering Waterford’s tactic of pulling back their half forwards to create space up front by luring the opposition up the field.

“It’s very hard to counteract that. A few times their half-forward line went deep and our boys just stayed in. It’s good to know that the boys have the confidence in us to pick up their men.”

Glad to be back in the middle? “I’m just happy to be back there with Brendan (Maher) – he’s been one of the hurlers of the year so far and we know each other’s game. We were up against two very good midfielders today and I thought we fared okay against them. Shane O’Sullivan and Richie Foley will probably be two All Star nominations at midfield so we’re just happy enough to come out on the winning side.”