We never lost faith, says thrilled O’Shea as Premier find peak performance

Win or lose, on every occasion Tipperary manager Eamon O’Shea has faced the media this season, he has presented a positive face, eternally upbeat, talking up his players and his team.

In this game, as in no other for the past two years of his tenure, they delivered. Their first Championship win since the Munster final of 2012.

“It’s a good feeling,” he said, then repeated, “It’s a good feeling, just for the team, you know?

“I’ve always said that the manager takes the heat at times but the team are the thing that matter because they’re the ones that go out and perform on the pitch. They’re at an age where they want to express themselves and we just encourage them to express themselves.”

Never have this bunch though expressed themselves as they did in the final scintillating 20 minutes, coming from six points behind to win by nine. Did he think it was gone?

“No, absolutely not. I felt at half-time that the lads were determined to do something, we knew they’d have a spell again. When you haven’t lost the will to survive with the hurling we have, then things can happen. It doesn’t always happen, but things can happen, and that’s what I was looking at.”

Didn’t just happen though. Tipperary made it happen on the sideline, with the timely changes and on the pitch, with those unfairly maligned players taking charge.

“I’m absolutely thrilled for the players. Contrary to what people think, they’re actually the easiest bunch to manage. Maybe I’m not a brilliant manager, but they’re actually easy to manage. They work really hard, they make mistakes like everybody does, but they’re actually a thrill to be around, in terms of their hurling. I was just happy that they could show that on a big day, that for me is the thrill.

“It’s such an expressive game that it’s nice, once in a while, when that expression finds itself in a jubilant and exuberant performance that involves the crowd. That’s the big thing for me. I’m thrilled with the win but I’m more thrilled with the momentum and exuberance of the team and their engagement.”

Not that Eamon doesn’t tolerate criticism.

“Criticism is part of sport. It’s a public event that people have a right to be critical of, as long as they don’t get into personalities and so on. That’s the only place I’d draw the line. I don’t mind being criticised as long as people don’t put motives about behaviour that aren’t there.

“We’re doing our best. We fail at times. We absolutely fail. We are human but it’s just nice that the public can see the players in a different light. These are really good men. Life is like that, I am talking about life all the time. You go up and you go down, things are good and things are not good and if you can stay with the course, things will turn.”

Things though had been down more than up for Tipp since Eamon took over at the end of 2012. This then was a must-win game for Tipp, for the management and players.

“There is no point in trying to down play the significance of the game for them and I am not trying to do that. I am trying to put it in perspective that although the win is thrilling, so was the way they went about their game and they stayed at their game. Neither am I saying that this is the beginning of a glorious two or three months. It’s a game won. We’re training tomorrow again at 12pm and then we go on from there but it will be worthless if we don’t put in another performance whenever we play again. Sport at this level is a cruel master. If you are not ready for it you get dumped out of the competition; we have to be ready.”