Sheedy: that wasn’t the real Limerick
And, unlike Brian Cody – who hasn’t had to endure too many calamities over the course of his 10 years in charge of Kilkenny – yesterday was something of a role reversal for the popular Tipperary boss.
Acclaiming their success (their biggest against the Shannonsiders, incidentally since they won 10-9 to 2-1 at the Cork Athletic Grounds in 1962) as “mission accomplished”, he commented: “There was a lot of hurt in our dressing room this time last year (after going under to Waterford). The 17th of August was anything but a nice day and it hurt a lot of us. We waited a year to get back up here and redeem ourselves.”
Admitting that their display was not anything near perfection – and, more pertinently, suggesting it would not be good enough to stop the champions in their quest for four-in-a-row – he focused more on Limerick’s virtual non-display rather than regretting that they didn’t get a tougher test.
“Anyone watching sport, (would know) that just wasn’t Limerick today. I feel for Justin and the lads.
“It has happened to me a few times as manager – when just nothing happens, nothing works out. And, unfortunately for Limerick they had one of those days. (But) have no doubt, they will be back because that just wasn’t their form.”
In terms of how quickly Tipperary got on top and how much of a stranglehold they had on the game even before the break, Sheedy agreed that their first three goals (scored in 21 minutes) gave them the ideal platform. The first one, he accepted, was lucky, in the sense that Stephen Lucey coughed up possession. With the ball breaking behind him, Eoin Kelly “was not going to make a mistake”.
After that, it was a case of building on what they had achieved, while Limerick experienced one of those days when they ball wouldn’t go between the posts for them.
“They had a chance, I think, to get back in the second half and if they had got it down to single figures, it would have been game on. We pushed on and got some nice scores. Overall it was all about qualification for September 6. From that point of view, it was mission accomplished.”
Sheedy indicated that certain aspects of their performance didn’t please him, saying that at times, “they rushed things”. And, he felt that their touch “wasn’t as sublime” as he thought it had been in the Munster championship. “Definitely there were times when we broke on to balls and, typically we would have been gone. But that ball just didn’t break for us. Overall some patches of our play were very good again.’’
One such patch occurred near the end, when they got their last goal, pointing out that it stemmed from a move begun out near the sideline. “There were three passes and it finished up with Lar (Corbett), with the ball in the back of the net. That type of play is always good to see,’’ Sheedy said.
Interestingly, the Tipp boss said that he never had a concern about their inactivity following the Munster final, whereas Limerick had three qualifier games in a row.
“I’d have to compliment the panel. In terms of the way they trained, definitely we were up a step in our preparations. They were a little bit broken after the Munster final last year, when we had a lot of injuries. (This time), we had everyone available to us.”
Without in any way suggesting that merely getting to the final will satisfy him, he recalled a comment made in Thurles following Kilkenny’s victory over them in the league decider. “I said on May 3, when I went into the dressing room, ‘listen lads if we get to meet ye later on in the year it will be a good news for us – because it probably means we are really getting to the business end of the championship!’
“I don’t need to tell ye, they haven’t been beaten in four years. It’s no fluke that they are going for four-in-a-row.’’
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