The Munster championship still resonates as a stand-alone competition. But after a bumper weekend of hurling in Thurles, there was a heavy sense of finality about the results on Saturday evening while the thoughts of the managers after yesterday's finals were qualified by the tasks that lie ahead.
Nothing was finished here. Tipperary’s central ambition is to get on the right side of an All-Ireland final result and picking up a 41st Munster title in the process was a nice fillip. The delight of their players told its own story. Provincial honours still matter.
“We had players who have been in games which were tight and have been through things,” said Eamon O’Shea in identifying a critical reason as to why Tipp won.
‘Absorbing game’
“I am pleased that we stayed at the game and tried to play the way we wanted to play. Even though it didn’t always come off. And rightly so. Because they were so good. I’d be happy. Absorbing game. Two good teams. I wouldn’t be reading that much into it except that we came through a tough game. They are going to be serious contenders, maybe even this year.”
Derek McGrath’s interpretation ran along similar lines.
“I think the first 10 or 15 minutes Tipp looked a bit more fluid than us. I thought we got a grip in the middle part of the first half and we seemed to be able to grind it out. This much vaunted ‘system’ seemed to be up and running and we were disappointed to go in a point down. But I could have no real qualms overall. I thought Tipp were a slightly better team than us.”
They were. Tipp made fewer mistakes and took the right options more frequently. Waterford's performed well here and made Tipp's gilded forward line work for every score. They engineered some well-worked scores and pressurised Tipperary into mistakes but just couldn't get a spell where they had the local team on the run.
"It was just the nature of the game. Defensively we looked really strong. If you look at the job that Barry Coughlan did, even, on Seamie Callanan . . . I'd say if you said to me this morning that you would keep the offensive six of Tipperary . . . not quiet now but relatively . . . more subdued than they have been, you would take that. I thought they were heroic like. They are very good lads. And getting the balance right between setting up well and breaking at pace . . . I thought there was a bit of emotional tiredness creeping in the second half.
“It was a big day for them and I think they learned from it. Very proud. That is probably the overriding emotion. They are solid fellas. We didn’t mind coming to Thurles but to be in the thick of it with 10 minutes to go. We felt if we could get a break with a goal chance . . . There are three competitions to play for. We have won one, were beaten in the final of this and are in the other now.”
Tipp can disappear now for a month but the spotlight stays on Waterford, with a fascinating match against Dublin next on the cards.
