Tongue firmly lodged in cheek, Tipperary’s Robbie Kiely tweeted in the closing stages of Sunday’s All-Ireland final: “Any black cards in this match yet?”

Self-awareness has never been Tipperary’s strongest suit. 

In the previous decade, both times I was collared for penalty points happened on the way to meeting the Ó Sés. 

Give or take a day, it was July 23, 2014 when Jim McGuinness put the finishing touches to his successful plan to beat Dublin. Having managed to run the gauntlet of Ulster, he couldn’t have afforded to scheme any earlier.

It’s not how the hell Tipperary have got here so much as why not. Here are 10 reasons behind their march to an All-Ireland semi-final...

If you thought your eyes and ears deceived you last week, you wouldn’t be alone. Aogán Ó Fearghail and Páraic Duffy endorsing more championship matches? 

They’re an obstinate bunch, Tipperary football folk. Small in number but big in pretty much everything else — it took three pleas from the PA announcer in Croke Park to convince them to leave the stadium long after the players had retired to their dressing room.