Hogan hails ‘committed and honest hurlers’
And maybe there was a mixture of relief in his face also. His team had arrived as 6/4 underdogs and been painted as canon fodder for Anthony Daly’s Clare.
Yet in horrendous underfoot conditions the Premier County fashioned a tremendous victory over their bitter rivals.
“It was never going to be easy coming down here to play Clare. They had enjoyed a very good league run, and reports suggested they were well prepared for this game,” said a jubilant Hogan.
“To be fair we had the benefit of two excellent games against Limerick which clearly stood to us. Today’s game was a tough, physical contest not helped by the difficult conditions, which were possibly worse than they were the last day we were here.
“I have to laud my players for the effort they put in. They showed tremendous bottle in the way they soaked up the Clare pressure. We didn’t have too many goal chances, but the two we got, we took well.
“We are not a team of superstars, but honest and committed hurlers who want to do their very best for Tipperary hurling, and hopefully today’s victory will bring our followers out in their droves for the final in Cork at the end of the month.”
He believes that yesterday’s performance will achieve that ambition.
“I’ve always said to the players that you must earn the respect of you’re supporters, and I would like to think we are gradually doing that every time we win.”
Hogan has not given up hope on full back Philly Maher returning for the June 26th meeting with Cork admitting “it’s touch and go if he will make it in time.”
“Given our injury problems, the players who came in did extremely well. I was very pleased for John Devane who stood in for Maher at full back. Not an easy thing to do when you have been playing as a forward up to this game, but he is no stranger to the position having won a Fitzgibbon Cup medal with Limerick IT earlier this year in the same position.
“I thought our defence was magnificent all through. When we went seven points up, Clare were going for goals to try get back into the game and the fact we didn’t concede any is all down to the composure and calmness under pressure which our backs displayed.”
At the other end of the field Hogan lauded full forward Micael Webster.
“This is Michael’s first season playing at this level and he showed maturity beyond his years. He’s another of those team players I spoke about earlier. He takes a lot of punishment as a full forward and he certainly took more than his share of it out there today. He’s a tremendous battler.”
Asked about the switches that were made and how well they worked, Hogan said: “moving Eoin Kelly out to centre forward was always on the cards. Eoin is first and foremost a team player and is the kind of player who will do well in any position, and that includes corner back if he’s needed here.
“Players must expect to be moved around at this level. It’s a team game, and every player makes whatever sacrifices are called for. All I want from players is honesty and to show that they are battlers.”
