Dunne: Tipp showed strength to silence doubters

TOMMY DUNNE has described the criticism that Tipperary received in the aftermath of last May’s Munster championship defeat to Cork as “over the top” and believes their impressive performance against Waterford in the All-Ireland semi-final has provided a timely injection of confidence as they bid to topple Kilkenny in Sunday’s decider.

“Of what criticism I read, I felt was over the top,’’ he said. “Any time the criticism is personal, is unfortunate. But the most critical thing is that the management and players learnt themselves from the performance and are strong enough to come back from the bad days.

“The aftermath of the Cork game probably strengthened the bond in the team. They’ve showed a lot of character since Páirc Uí Chaoimh, which you have to give them credit for.