Sending off really ignited the rest of the players, says Cahill

Darragh McCarthy was dismissed after catching Kilkenny goalkeeper Eoin Murphy.

FINAL STEP: Tipperary manager Liam Cahill during the GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship semi-final against Kilkenny. Pic: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

Tipperary manager Liam Cahill believed his players were inspired to win this All-Ireland semi-final after losing Darragh McCarthy to a second bookable offence.

McCarthy caught Kilkenny goalkeeper Eoin Murphy late and was dismissed in the 59th minute having picked up a yellow card in the fourth.

Tipperary trailed by a point at the time but outscored Kilkenny 1-4 to 0-4 for the remaining 15 minutes, Oisín O’Donoghue providing the goal as he did against Galway last day out.

Unlike the second round game in Munster where McCarthy was sent to the line before pucking a ball, here Tipperary had every chance of defying the odds.

Cahill admitted Darragh McCarthy could have no complaints about picking up a second yellow. The young Toomevara man was visibly emotional afterwards following a second sending off in this championship.

“Look, it's misfortune, the second yellow. By the rulebook it's there, as a second yellow. We had no complaints with it at all. Just disappointed for Darragh, he commits to everything.

“I suppose just before that we probably had really discussed getting Oisín in at that time. Lo and behold, Darragh was coming off alright but we can't get Oisín in to replace him. It was a bit of a blow at the time but look, I think it really ignited the rest of the players on the field.

“Again, the impact of our bench coming in had a big bearing on today's game. I really thought they gave us huge energy. [Alan] Tynan in particular was superb when he came on. Obviously, Oisín and Noel [McGrath] as usual, giving us that calming influence. Just happy, as I said, that the job is done now. We try and turn the page as quick as we can and look forward to two weeks's time.” Although he also missed a couple of frees, Cahill has no fear about McCarthy’s mindset for the final. 

“He's a very resilient young man and I think over the next fortnight and the next couple of sessions, he'll arrive here in a good place in two weeks's time.” 

Sitting beside Cahill, defender Michael Breen cited the example of Tipperary’s last semi-final in 2019 when they beat Wexford despite losing John McGrath to a double yellow dismissal.

“When it went to 14 men, you just have to be that bit smarter and you have to be a little bit braver because you are down a man and your use of the ball has to be a bit better.

“So I suppose you do raise your levels in those scenarios, and we've seen that before, which is great. We've seen it this year (v Cork) and the last time we got to the final, we saw that. I suppose maybe that a bit of experience helped us do that.” This victory would not have been possible if everyone wasn’t singing from the same hymn-sheet, insisted Cahill. 

“These fellas set really high standards for themselves to be fair and they committed to that. We have a really tight group.

“I know every manager says that when they sit in front of you guys after a win. It takes a lot of work to create that because if you haven't everybody on the same wavelength, days like today just don't happen.

“I mean not just players, I mean the backroom team we have, the people that support them. We're a unit that keeps things really tight and we have one another's back.

“That's what really makes it proud for me is that when you can create something like that and the tests come like they came today outside there at Croke Park, the players usually find the answers.” 

Cahill conceded he might have made too much out of Tipperary’s Croke Park inexperience after beating Galway but it was only for the good of his team. 

“Probably in my naivety after the quarter-final, I did mention it was probably (a factor) just to keep things at bay really around the hype, if there was any hype to be created going into Croke Park.

“Look, what can we do? You can't give these guys experience unless you're here, But they have experience of playing in a packed Páirc Uí Chaoimh and Semple Stadium.

“I know this is a different set-up out here, but at the end of the day I suppose grass is grass and we have to have to go at it and see what happened. We had a number of experienced players that had been here before and done it, and then the mixture of the younger fellas that have brought just an abandonment of just no fear and just hurling, and I don't think anything fazes the younger fellas that came into this squad. So it was a big ask of them today and they passed the test with flying colours.”