Sheedy: it was no easy win

AN EMPHATIC win and an easier-than-anticipated victory for Tipp? Not so fast.

Premier hurling manager Liam Sheedy raised his eyebrows when asked if yesterday’s Munster hurling final was easier than anticipated.

“No, it didn’t feel easy at all. Clare don’t give you anything easy and Munster medals don’t come easy. In the first half we got that little bit of a cushion, but in fairness, they had 10 wides. I’m sure Clare will be disappointed with some of the chances they put wide.

“In the second half we came out and kicked on a bit again, but credit Clare. They came back at us, and even though they didn’t score a goal, they brought it back to five points. I suppose John O’Brien’s goal was the changing of the game — all of a sudden it was eight points, thought Clare had done all the hurling. They could have had a goal at the end — Brendan (Cummins) made a great save.”

Then, ever the manager, he gave thought to the build-up to Cummins’ save: “Thought that ball should have been cleared...”.

It’s in the nature of management to see the little blemishes. When praised for scoring all but two of their total from play, Sheedy could see some cloud with that silver lining.

“That’s fine, but if the forwards are working hard then maybe they should be winning a few more frees in scoring positions. There are pluses and minuses — you could say we won only two scorable frees in the second half. We were struggling to get the ball up to our forwards at times in the second half, we had to make changes, and it was really John O’Brien’s goal that gave us the cushion.

“Still, you don’t walk into a Munster final and expect everything to go your way. They had their moments, we had our moments; it’s great for our lads to come out on top. In the first half we scored 1-11, a very nice first-half return. There’s good unity there, the lads are working hard, and when we stopped working hard in the second half that was probably the cause of some of our problems.”

Tipperary are unbeaten this year, but Sheedy was realistic about the level of performance yesterday.

“That’s not something we talk about. The lads want to be the best they can be every time they go out. The performance today wouldn’t be good enough to win an All-Ireland, but it was good enough to win a Munster championship.”

If that sounds dour, then it wasn’t in delivery. Sheedy was delighted with the win, obviously, and keen to share the credit around. Asked about Tipp’s slick interplay, he was quick to mention his backroom.

“Well, Eamonn O’Shea’s the coach, and what a coach — he does that stuff with the lads. It’s nice to be in an All-Ireland semi-final, and we have five weeks. Whoever we play will be after two tough matches and they’ll be on a high.

“But the lads deserve the break. I can’t speak highly enough of them, and the work they do. I’ve complimented their attitude, and while you’ve no shortage of lads willing to run them down, they show great attitude. They enjoy what they’re doing and I’m delighted for them.

“The lads are level-headed. They’ll go back to the clubs for championship games and in the meantime we’ll be working like tigers to get them ready for Croke Park. That hasn’t been a happy hunting ground for Tipp for a number of years, and we’ll do all we can to change that, but nobody is under any illusions.

“There are no easy passages.”

True. As Tipperary’s opponents are finding out.