‘This team will win All-Irelands’

LIAM SHEEDY’S body language told it all.

He was like somebody who’d had a good cry before he faced the media about 20 minutes after the final whistle sounded at Croke Park yesterday and his dream of All-Ireland glory had been shattered.

“I’m hurting. Proud, but hurting,’’ he said mournfully, yet entirely positive, both in relation to key issues in the game and his hopes for the future. “This team WILL win All-Irelands,’’ he asserted.

He felt that referee Diarmuid Kirwan’s late penalty award – from which Henry Shefflin goaled to reinvigorate Kilkenny’s four-in-a-row quest – was the turning point in the game. And, he described the goal from substitute Martin Comerford ‘as the one that really hurt.’

While he resisted the temptation to slam Kirwan’s decision, at the same time he left nobody in any doubt that he didn’t agree with the decision. He made a point of questioning the number of steps taken by Richie Power before the referee blew his whistle.

It showed he was prepared to take defeat on the chin. And that he wasn’t inclined to say anything that would be seen to undermine Kilkenny’s win – all the more so when he acknowledged later that they were deserving of their special place in the history of the game.

“Power started running outside the square and finished inside the square. I didn’t count steps. Did anybody count them,’’ he asked, before getting a response from someone in the group that it had been possibly seven.

“These are big calls. The day you get the call is the day you probably win the match. I would be of the opinion that we were unlucky to have a penalty given against us. At 22/21 it was always going to be tough with the man down. I thought the ten minutes hurling we played before that penalty was absolutely superb. As a Tipperary man I would be very proud,’’ he stated.

Commenting that the dismissal of substitute Benny Dunne had been another ‘big call’ he said that he was ‘hurting’ as much for his player as he was regretting the loss of the game.

“I feel for Benny because he has been the pulse of that team in the last 20 minutes for the four games to date. He has been brilliant. He was so unfortunate. I just watched it outside (on television). Matches are won on big calls.’’

Overall, he delighted in the team’s performance, saying his players ‘gave it everything’ and were denied by the combination of a bit of bad luck and the goalkeeping of PJ Ryan.

“We just needed a goal at some stage to really kick on. We had one or two chances, but we found PJ Ryan on a very good day. Eoin (Kelly) was unfortunate; he just slipped at a vital second. Otherwise I’d say there’d be no stopping his shot and Seamie (Callinan) likewise. I thought the ball was gone into the back of the net.

“I’m very, very disappointed. As a manager these lads have done everything you could possibly want them to do ... and to just come up short. We all came here to win. We knew what we were facing – the best team probably in the history of the game.

“It’s always hard to make history but these guys have done it today, I take my hat off to them. But, likewise I am so proud of my own guys.’’

Sheedy believed they had put themselves ‘in a winning position when they led 0-20 to 0-17. That was in the 57th minute, after they put over points after they lost Dunne. “The other 14 definitely went up a notch after Benny was unfortunately dismissed,’’ he added.

On the other hand, he agreed that there had been ‘loads of moments’ in the second-half which highlighted the level of skill, the work-rate and character in the team – singling out some of Eoin Kelly’s points and a real gem from Shane McGrath.

“Players were throwing their bodies on the line, Pádraic Maher was catching ball at the edge of the square and Declan Fanning was outstanding.

“Right through the team I am so proud. Everyone worked their socks off. That’s what we asked for and that was what we got!’’

“Make no mistake about it, these boys will win All-Irelands. We just came up that little bit short today. We matched them and I felt we definitely matched their intensity. Unfortunately with the two big calls in the second half we just came up short at the finish.

“We came up short last year in the semi-final and we learned from it. The challenge for all of us it to put ourselves in a position to be back challenging for this big prize again next year!’’