'The biggest winner today was hurling' - Woodlock proud as Tipp minors march onto All-Ireland final
ONTO THE BIG ONE: Tipperary manager James Woodlock. Pic: Ben Brady, Inpho
James Woodlock said that ‘hurling was the biggest winner’ as Tipperary won a thrilling All-Ireland minor semi-final in the TUS Gaelic Grounds on Saturday.
Tipperary were in the driving seat after Galway’s Rhys O’Connor was red-carded for an off-the-ball flick on Darragh O’Hora just before half-time but the fourteen Tribesmen never gave in, and eventually forced extra-time.
They even had one foot in the All-Ireland final leading by two points with five minutes of the additional period to go, but late points from Euan Murray and sub Killian Cantwell levelled the game up for the eleventh time, before the brilliant Cillian Minogue won the game for Tipperary with his seventh point from play.
The Galway players dropped to the turf at the final whistle, partly through tiredness, mostly through heartbreak. They had played their part in eighty minutes of pure entertainment and that was why Tipperary manager Woodlock consoled as many of them as he could after the game.
“What else do you get when it comes to a Tipp-Galway game inside in the Gaelic Grounds, with no safety net, with both teams having to go for it,” Tipp manager Woodlock said afterwards.
“Look at all the young people on the field after the game, it’s fantastic to see it.
“I’m after going around to most of the Galway players, what a magnificent advertisement it was for the game today, both for Galway, for Tipp, for the general public that are watching.
“Both counties probably needed this bit of a boost. I’m delighted to get over the line but I’m a realist, I understand obviously that there was only a puck of a ball between us.”
Tipperary now have an All-Ireland final to look forward to in a fortnight’s with Galway left to rue what might have been. Their manager Kenneth Burke said afterwards that he was ‘proud of his team for fighting until the bitter end.’
Their brilliant full forward Brian Callanan put on an exhibition of shooting as they made light of the numerical disadvantage while centre back Jonah Donnellan and goalkeeper Sean Kelly were also outstanding.
Tipp must have wondered what it was going to take to beat Kelly, who made a string of saves before Euan Murray finally cracked the code to score the game’s only goal in the 50th minute.
A man and four points up at that stage, Tipperary were well on their way but Galway came roaring back again and even had a free to win it deep in injury time.
Tipp survived that scare and Woodlock hailed his team’s composure as they finally overcame their neighbours, scoring the last three points of extra-time.
“It was an honest Galway team that absolutely gave it to us right, left and centre both physically and hurling. I’m delighted we stood up to it.
“The most pleasing part was the way we worked the ball around in those last few minutes.
“We never panicked,” says Woodlock, “We showed complete composure and got the ball to the players that were going to finish for us.
“Look, you were biting your fingernails all along. We demand so much more from the players. We had missed goal chances, and we hit a couple of poor wides too that we’d be disappointed with but that’s hurling isn’t it?
“Myself and the boys try to coach this group of players to hurl in a competitive environment and whether we’re five points up or down, we tell them to still say chomping at the bit.
"I couldn’t have asked any more from them. And we’re delighted with the character shown by them. We’re into the final now, and very happy with that.”
B Callanan (0-15, 9 frees), C Roche (0-3), C Leen (0-2), J Donnellan (0-2, 1 free), R Cahalan (0-2), E Mulleady (0-1), J Ryan (0-1).
E Doughan (0-8, 5 frees, 1 65), C Minogue (0-7), E Murray (1-4), S Tobin (0-3), J Donelan Houlihan (0-1 free), K Cantwell (0-1)
S Kelly; C Maloney, D Burke, R Burke; R O’Connor, J Donnellan, G Maher; R Murphy, S Moran; C Leen, E Mulleady, J Ryan; C Roche, B Callanan, H Holmes.
R Cahalan for Ryan (45), S Keane for Leen (51), D Zimmerer for Roche (54), B Fox for Maher (60) C Leen for Holmes (68), J Ryan for Murphy (76), Roche for Leen (79).
D English; S Ryan, C O’Reilly, P Ryan; D Ryan, O O’Dwyer, J Donelan-Houlihan; T Ryan, D O’Hora, A Ryan, E Murray, B O’Brien; E Doughan, S Tobin, C Minogue.
A Cagney for O’Hora (45), P Cummins for A Ryan (59) K Cantwell for O’Brien (60 +3), A Ryan for Cummins (60) A Duff for Cagney (68) J Cahill for Doughan (76) O’Brien for T Ryan (76).
Chris Mooney (Dublin)
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