Tipperary’s tactic? Win every ball, every battle

THERE was a song sung by Tipperary substitute Pat Kerwick at the end of the game yesterday, The Galtee Mountain Boy – I think it was about the famous Tipperary revolutionary, Dan Breen.

Breen used plan ambushes around the country during the War of Independence – in all his time, I don’t think he ever formulated a better plan than the one fabricated by Liam Sheedy in Croke Park yesterday.

This was the ultimate ambush, the most powerful army that hurling has ever seen, destroyed, and destroyed emphatically. Hunger, that was what made it for Tipperary, and that hunger was in every fibre of their bodies – you could see it in their eyes before a ball was pucked. You can only admire Liam Sheedy, Michael Ryan and Eamonn O’Shea, in fact you can only admire everyone involved with this Tipperary team, and foremost among those of course, the players themselves. Last year’s defeat could have set them back, but it didn’t. They used what I call the Never Twins – never give in, and never give up.