Determination and heart won it, says Teddy

DROM & Inch manager Teddy Kennedy was understandably jubilant at the final whistle – he’d just seen his charges collect a first Tipperary senior hurling title, but he wasn’t forgetting the niceties, paying tribute to the defeated finalists.

“Clonoulty showed great heart and spirit with all the injuries they’ve suffered. They put it up to us to the very end.

“It was a huge battle all the way. Clonoulty threw everything at us and we threw everything at them in return.

“We panicked a little bit at the start of the second half when they got the goal but we got the lads taking points again, and once they’d settled to that then we knew we had a chance.

“We felt if we could get ahead at all that we’d hold on – we have great young lads out there. But we had a great second half. Heart and determination got us over the line in the second half.”

Kennedy added that the wind had been a major influence on the game; Drom had faced it in the first half but had only been two points down at the break.

“The wind was a huge factor – it was something we had to deal with in the first half, just as Clonoulty had to face into it in the second half, but we knew going in at half-time that the wind wasn’t going to win anything for us, though we had it behind us after half-time.

“The fact that there was only a point in it at half-time was a help, too. We could have scored two goals in the first half, but so could Clonoulty. We could have been four down going in at half-time but credit to the lads, we were able to get those two points just before the break. That was a huge help for the second half, and the lads built on it.”