Have bright sparks breathed new life into Tipp hurling? 

Hope and optimism were thin on the ground in Tipperary back in May.

WINNING FEELING: Tipperary players celebrate after their side's victory in the Electric Ireland GAA Hurling All-Ireland Minor Championship final Photo by Seb Daly/Sportsfile

A month is a long time in hurling.

Hope and optimism were thin on the ground in Tipperary after their elimination from the Munster senior hurling championship at the end of May.

A hammering by Cork and a humdrum dead-rubber defeat to Clare plunged the Premier county into an early summer crisis. Losing was bad enough, being outnumbered by rival supporters in Thurles of all places was borderline sacrilege.

But the bottom line was that Tipperary hurling wasn’t connecting with its people. Something was lost along the way.

Skip onto the end of June with chants of Tipp Tipp Tipp ringing around Nowlan Park as a sea of blue and gold descended onto the pitch after the All-Ireland minor final. May never seemed so far away and the connection seemed stronger than ever.

In the stand, Uachtaráin Cumann Luthchleas Gael Jarlath Burns hailed their 13 men for their heroics as online, Kilkenny legend Eddie Brennan gave them their dues.

“It doesn’t come easy to say but respect to them Tipp minors,” he tweeted, leaving allegiances to one side to appreciate them.

They were All-Ireland minor hurling champions for the second time in three years and it’s fair to say that there’s a lot more optimism in Tipperary now.

In truth, the tide had began rising in Tipp just two days before that season-ending Munster championship loss to Clare.

The county was at a low ebb at that point but on a Friday night in the Gaelic Grounds, Brendan Cummins’ U20s breathed new life.

A strong Cork side looked set to take them down the home stretch of a brilliant Munster final only for a Senan Butler and Darragh McCarthy inspired Tipp to emerge victorious.

McCarthy’s late match-winning point will go down as one of the scores of the year in any grade.

They were beaten by Offaly in a memorable All-Ireland final but the omens were good.

Brendan Cummins spoke of his pride in the courage shown by his team as, all the while, the minors were preparing for an All-Ireland semi-final as Munster champions.

They showed grit and desire to defeat the gallant 14 men of Galway, setting up the decider in Kilkenny.

Some thought their manager Woodlock was mad bringing them down to the lion’s den but he didn’t see it that way.

All week, Tipperary legends Michael Ryan, Nicky English, Ronan Maher, Éamonn Corcoran and others encouraged the Tipp public to get down and support the minors in Kilkenny in videos posted on the county’s social media.

The people listened as of the 12,000-plus crowd in Nowlan Park on Saturday night, the vast majority of them seemed to be wearing blue and gold.

When the early red cards went against them it only seemed to spur the players and supporters on as the old fire returned.

The roof nearly rose off the stand in response to quality scores from Euan Murray and the brave defending from Cathal O’Reilly. It almost felt like a home game for Tipp.

Afterwards, as he finally got to speak to us after hundreds of pictures and one drenching from his players, the fire was still burning inside, Tipp manager James Woodlock hailed his team for their bravery and the support for the impact.

He knows, everyone knows, that minors at this stage are only young kids and you can’t pin your hopes on young kids but they have already changed the mood in the Premier.

Some two hours after the final whistle, youngsters in the blue and gold were pucking in the Nowlan Park goalmouths. Players and parents and supporters were still standing around hands-on-hips, marvelling at what they’d just witnessed.

Woodlock spoke of a bright future.

“I can’t thank the Tipp support enough,” he said afterwards.

“I think we definitely outnumbered Kilkenny today and when we needed the support, when we needed the help, they came to the fore for us.

“Tipp hurling needed this,” he said tellingly, “These are a great, great bunch of boys. 

“If we mind them and look after them with an S&C programme with the bundle from two years ago, our under-20s now, you know, the future is bright.” 

May never seemed so far away.