McGrath: this will silence our critics

TIPPERARY midfielder Shane McGrath believes that capturing back-to-back Munster senior hurling titles for the first time in 20 years will help silence the critics.

Some pundits, including RTÉ analyst Ger Loughnane, have been scathing in their criticism of McGrath, Conor O’Mahony and Eoin Kelly recently.

But O’Mahony showed signs that he’s returning to his best, Kelly scored 1-1 from play before succumbing to a groin injury while McGrath picked off a first-half point.

The Ballinahinch star reflected: “It was a tough game, tough going. People were saying we wouldn’t be able to do it when it counted.

“But a lot of the lads weren’t fully right for the last couple of matches. You only have to look at Conor O’Mahony there – he’s been very sick all year, and Eoin Kelly as well has been injured. They were two of our best men there today.”

Once again, the critics will point to a sluggish second-half performance as evidence that question marks still hang over the staying power of this Tipperary team.

Waterford finished with the last six points of the game but McGrath insisted: “I don’t really care. We’ve the cup now in the dressing room, so they can say what they want.

“I know it is still a worry for us. But we’ll sit down next week and talk about it then. We’ll enjoy this first.”

Tipp now have five weeks to prepare for an All-Ireland semi-final on August 16, still searching for a first championship victory at Croke Park in 2003. But McGrath believes that the Premier County are peaking at just the right time.

The All Star said: “It’s another step to get to where we want: All-Ireland final day.

“A few of us were sick for the last game (against Clare). We got a dose of food poisoning but we came through that.”

Tipperary never looked unduly troubled during the second half, despite seeing an 11-point lead whittled down to just four at the finish.

McGrath admitted: “I felt confident enough throughout the second half. We kept plugging away, got the vital scores when we needed them. Obviously Waterford were going to come back. They’re one of the best teams in the country. They’d the bit of a breeze as well but we were confident enough if we held our own, we’d win.”

McGrath believes this Tipp team has grown even closer, having captured NHL and Munster titles in 2008. McGrath said: “We’re more of a team this year. We’ve trained a lot harder and you don’t win anything unless you’re winning with your friends.”